To avoid confusion from letters which sound alike, the military introduced a phonetic alphabet in WWII where letters were pronounced as distinctive words. For example, the word "Navy" would be "Nan Able Victor Yoke". The following phonetic alphabet was used throughout WWII, but was later replaced by a NATO set in 1957.
|
World War II |
Signal Flag |
Morse Code |
NATO*
|
||
|
A |
Able |
|
.- |
A |
Alpha |
|
B |
Baker |
|
-... |
B |
Bravo |
|
C |
Charlie |
|
-.-. |
C |
Charlie |
|
D |
Dog |
|
-.. |
D |
Delta |
|
E |
Easy |
|
. |
E |
Echo |
|
F |
Fox |
|
..-. |
F |
Foxtrot |
|
G |
George |
|
--. |
G |
Golf |
|
H |
How |
|
.... |
H |
Hotel |
|
I |
Item |
|
.. |
I |
India |
|
J |
Jig |
|
.--- |
J |
Juliette |
|
K |
King |
|
-.- |
K |
Kilo |
|
L |
Love |
|
.-.. |
L |
Lima |
|
M |
Mike |
|
-- |
M |
Mike |
|
N |
Nan |
|
-. |
N |
November |
|
O |
Oboe |
|
--- |
O |
Oscar |
|
P |
Peter |
|
.--. |
P |
Papa |
|
Q |
Queen |
|
--.- |
Q |
Quebec |
|
R |
Roger |
|
.-. |
R |
Romeo |
|
S |
Sugar |
|
... |
S |
Sierra |
|
T |
Tare |
|
- |
T |
Tango |
|
U |
Uncle |
|
..- |
U |
Uniform |
|
V |
Victor |
|
...- |
V |
Victor |
|
W |
William |
|
.-- |
W |
Whiskey |
|
X |
X Ray |
|
-..- |
X |
X Ray |
|
Y |
Yoke |
|
-.-- |
Y |
Yankee |
|
Z |
Zebra |
|
--.. |
Z |
Zulu |
|
Figure |
Pronounced |
Morse Code |
|
0 |
Zeero |
----- |
|
1 |
Wun |
.---- |
|
2 |
Too |
..--- |
|
3 |
Tree or Thr-ee |
...-- |
|
4 |
Fower |
....- |
|
5 |
Fife |
..... |
|
6 |
Siks |
-.... |
|
7 |
Seven |
--... |
|
8 |
Ate |
---.. |
|
9 |
Niner |
----. |
Information courtesy of www.valoratsea.com
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Revised: 04/11/10