April 1951 |
Plans for a series of shipborne radio stations to broadcast Voice of America programmes were first announced by the US Department of State. |
|
late 1951 |
A former merchant ship, Coastal Messenger was transferred to the control of the Department of State, renamed Courier and fitted out as a floating radio station. |
|
15th February 1952 |
Courier was commissioned into the US Coastguard Service |
|
4th March 1952 |
President Harry S. Truman visited the Courier when she docked in Washington, D.C. and used the occasion to broadcast a major policy speech beamed at Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union |
|
18th April 1952 |
Test transmissions from the Courier take place in the Panama Canal Zone, using the call sign KU2XAJ |
|
22nd August 1952 |
The Courier arrived in the Mediterranean and anchored off the Greek Island of Rhodes. |
|
7th September 1952 |
Broadcasts of the Voice of America - |
|
May 1964 |
Broadcasting from the Courier ends when the Voice of America operation is transferred to a landbased transmitter in Rhodes. |
