Kamina Funkstation, Togo
Kamina Funkstation was a large wireless transmitter in the German-occupied colony of Togoland (now Togo) in West Africa.
Background
[edit]The wireless station was built by Telefunken near the village of Kamina, in Togoland, where the nearest large settlement was Atakpamé about 5 km (3.1 mi) away.[1] The transmitter was built on behalf of the German government, as part of a secret communications strategy as cable communications were subject to disruption at time of war.[2] The second step of this strategy was to build wireless stations with a range of at least 4,000 km (2,500 mi).[3] The station was designed as a node and switching point for other shorter range German colonial radio stations.[4] There were initially four coastal stations with ranges of only 1,500 km (930 mi) in German colonial Africa, but the Kamina station as planned could connect with these, Germany, German East Africa (Tabora) and Windhoek, at least 3,700 km (2,300 mi) away.[5] The initial key decision to build a station in Togo was made in December 1910.[6] Construction was from 1911 to 1914.[7] By 1913 reasonably good reception from a 100 kW transmitter 5,200 km (3,200 mi) away in Germany was achieved,[8] with full reception by April 1914.[9] The station had its own power station for its 100 kW transmitter,[1] with the antenna of a total length of 3,800 m (12,500 ft) strung between four 100 m (330 ft) and three 75 m (246 ft) high steel towers.[9]
War
[edit]At the outbreak of the First World War, the station repaid its construction costs several fold by promptly informing all German merchant ships in the South Atlantic and Caribbean to visit neutral ports.[10]. It also undertook military and intelligence work but it transpired that the German colonial forces had no plan in place for its organised defence.[11] Shortly after the beginning of the First World War, Togoland was invaded by British and French forces from the neighbouring colonies of Gold Coast (Ghana) to the west and French Dahomey (Benin) to the east in the Togoland campaign. The station was destroyed on night of August 24th to 25th, 1914 by the operators to prevent it from coming under British and French control.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Azamede 2014.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 5.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 6.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 7.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, pp. 3–9.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 8.
- ^ a b Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 9.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 10.
- ^ Friedewaldurl 2001, p. 11.
Sources
[edit]- Azamede, Kokou (2015). Auf deutschen Spuren in Togo/Vestiges allemands au Togo [On German Tracks in Togo/German Remains in Togo] (in German). Translated by Bigus, Sophia (trans. ed.). Lomé: Goethe-Institut Togo. OCLC 965625722.
- Azamede, Kokou (November 2014). "Die Funkstation von Kamina]" (in German). Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- Friedewaldurl, Michael (8 September 2001). "Funkentelegrafie und deutsche Kolonien. Technik als Mittel imperialistischer Politik. Vortrag auf der Jahrestagung der Georg-Agricola-Gesellschaft in München" [Radiotelegraphy and German colonies. Technology as a means of imperialist politics. Lecture at the annual meeting of the Georg Agricola Society in Munich]. pp. 1–12. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
Further reading
[edit]- Esau, Abraham (July 1919). "Die Großstation Kamina und der Beginn des Weltkrieges" [The Great Kamina Station and the Beginning of World War I] (PDF). Telefunken Zeitung (pdf) (in German). III (16) (online 06/2007 by Thomas Günzel for www radiomuseum org ed.): 31–36. OCLC 465338637. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- Klein-Arendt, Reinhard (1995). "Kamina ruft Nauen!": die Funkstellen in den deutschen Kolonien, 1904–1918 [Kamina calls Nauen!" The Stations in the German Colonies from 1904–1918] (in German). Cologne: Wilhelm Herbst Verlag. ISBN 978-3-923925-58-2.