https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/f2bba1f067af9c26ffb8f1571eb35d55.pdf b017170317255d256ae0ed05274e407e PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acdl^m GGC/HMP APEil 4, 1946. M J[ SECRET M MEMORANDUM FOR MR. ROBERTSON During our recent.visit to London Mr. Glazebrook and I discussed informally the future of Hydra. , During the course of our conversations we put forward tentatively the suggestion that the Canadian Government might be willing to take over and operate Hydra. The United Kingdom authorities appeared to favour this proposal and suggested that they would probably be prepared to transfer the present installations to the Canadian Government without charge. Prom our point of view there appear to be three main reasons why this would be desirable: (1) To carry External Affairs traffic between Ottawa and London and Ottawa and Washington; (ii) To carry Sigint traffic, which would include all raw intercept material between Ottawa and London and Ottawa and Washington; (iii) By ownership and operation of Hydra we should be contributing substantially to the post-war signal intelligence effort of the Commonwealth and the U.S.A. It is thought that it would ensure the co- operation of the United Kingdom and the United States in our cryptographic effort, and the reception by External Affairs of all ultra intelligence, which we might require. Hydra would, in addition to carrying the traffic indicated above, also carry traffic between the Foreign Office and the British Embassy in Washington, and between the United Kingdom and United States Sigint authorities. From the Sigint point of view the use of Hydra would speed up the process of examining raw material very substantially. The alternative is that important raw material would be handled by cable companies and the remainder sent by diplomatic bag. At the recent Technical Conference in London the. latter alternative was iV • - '^ • sT ?i 000273 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a {'information -2not considered desirable by either the Americans or 'f ourselves and, in principle, it was decided to use wireless facilities under the control of the Sigint authorities as much as possible. APPENDIX A I attach an estimate of External cable costs at the present time, the cable costs of other possible users of Hydra, the running costs of Hydra and the estimated capital expenditures. The installation of a new transmitter is considered necessary in order to carry the future peak load of Sigint traffic and to ensure that the station is open for traffic for the best part of twenty-four hours a day. The Installation of a new transmitter, however, is not considered essential in order to start operating the scheme. At the present time Hydra is capable of handling 120,000 groups a day. cost iso,25^ per group. The estimated ultimate It will be noted that the estimated costs of the Examination Unit traffic esam plus the present cable charges and land-line charges borne by External, Urcapproximately equal to the running costs of Hydra. ' APPENDIX B I enclose a statement of the volume of cable traffic between External and London for the month of January. APPENDIX C I attach a statement of the estimated cost of the installment'of Rockex II equipment at any terminal. It should be pointed out in this connection that there are at present at Hydra four Rockex machines,, which would presumably be handed over to us by the United Kingdom authorities, if it is decided to take over Hydra, 600274 �Document disclosed under the Acft Document divulgue en vertu de la Lois 'APPENDIX "A Estimated monthly cost of Hydra facilities Estimated present monthly costs of cable and teletype facilities between Ottawa and London - Ottawa and Washington Cost of External cables Ottawa-London at bz<f per word (including incoming and outgoing traffic to Canada House, and outgoing traffic to the Dominions Office.) Cost of teletypewriter Line Ottawa - Washington Ottawa - Hydra 906.38 356.67 $4,863.05 Estimated monthly cable costs of other possible users of HydraGps.per day Examination Unit 3,000 ? (5ic' per gp) British S.L.U. London Washington 1,200 ) P.O. to British (8i£ per Embassy 10,000 , group) Arlington Hall 15,000 J Dominions Office to External $3,600.00 [bzj ^r$f>-) Hydra wireless station, fuel, light, power and telephone Transportation Signal maintenance Building and grounds maintenance Salaries (40 people) . TOTAL • Ottawa - Hydra Line s Hydra - Washington Line " and cable companies (for emergency traffic) o cL $ 800.00 100.00 500.00 250.00 7,350.00 $9,000.00 * 356.67 -708.95-55.00- $10,120.62 Estimated c a p i t a l expenditures: $5,400.00 Hydra: 3,060.00 Hew t r a n s m i t t e r Installation and buildings Emergency power supply 160,000.00 25,500.00 37,000.00 (Approx.) 2,000.00 * Additional. 000275 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la LoJ sur I'acces a finformatioh • • APPENDIX B Outgoing to Dominions Office, January, 1946. Cypher Groups 2,796 Code Groups ' 74 Incoming from Dominions Office. Cypher Groups Code Groups 33,673 2,794 Outgoing to High Commissioner, London January, 1946. Cypher Groups Code Groups 21,150 8,170 Incoming from High Commissioner London, January, 1946. Cypher Groups 29,244 Code Groups 4,386 Approximate cost outgoing groups to Dominions Office $ 157.85 Approximate cost incoming groups from Dominions Office ^2,005.68 Approximate cost outgoing groups to H.C. London 1,612.60 Approximate cost incoming groups from H.C. London 1,849.65 / / 000276 �Document disclosed under the Access ip Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a {'information •4 * *9 # • • APPENDIX C USE OF ROCKEX II The capital cost of a terminal of Rockex II is as follows: 2 Rockex II units at flOOO. 2 19 Printer 2 15 2 14 Reperforators at 400 " #2000. 3200. at 825 This is the minimum terminal recommended. 1650. 800. $7650. It provides for complete simultaneous encyphering and deciphering and in case of breakdown still provides 100$ spare equipment. The installation will handle a total incoming and outgoing traffic of 100,000 groups over a 24 hour day. For 24 hour a day service at full output required 8810 operators. Minimum operator requirements for small station: one. / 000277 _A_ 1 ' � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Hydra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HY00001 Title A name given to the resource Memorandum for Mr. Robertson Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 04/04/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Hydra Communications - Policy, RG24, 1250-36 Vol. 1, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Department of National Defence Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Canadian takeover of Hydra, Oshawa Wireless Station, SIGINT, signals intelligence, intelligence sharing Description An account of the resource Memorandum from G.G. Crean to N.A. Robertson detailing proposed Canadian takeover of Hydra for three reasons: 1. To carry External Affairs traffic between Ottawa and London, Ottawa and Washington 2. To carry SIGINT, including raw intercept between Ottawa and London and Ottawa and Washington 3. To contribute to the post-war SIGINT effort of the Commonwealth and the US. Additionally, Hydra to speed up process of examining raw SIGINT, and it is said to be preferable to have wireless under control of sigint authorities rather than have raw material handled by cable companies or send by diplomatic bag. Document includes appendices detailing traffic volume and costs of potential Hydra users, as well as cost of Rockex encryption equipment. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en