CUTTER COURIER

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard 

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Courier (WAGR/WTR-410) played a most unusual role during the Cold War.

It was a mobile radio relay platform for the U.S. government's overseas broadcasting network, the Voice of America. Courier's oceangoing VOA programming to the people of the Soviet bloc evaded Russian jamming by shifting position and transmitting patterns. The Red jammers used fixed-site transmitters by and large. A salt water environment also helps improve the strength of radio signals. 

Courier's transmitters were the most powerful installed on a ship, including a 150-kilowatt medium wave unit - a real "blowtorch." To illustrate, that's three times more powerful than the transmitter at today's KOA 850AM Denver, the Voice of the Rockies, as well as AM radio stalwarts like WBBM in Chicago, WLW in Cincinnati and WBBR in New York City.

The unarmed Courier was placed under the auspices of the Coast Guard, instead of the war-focused Navy, in the name of diplomacy, according to Wikipedia, and operated in conjunction with the State Department. When the cutter called on Washington, D.C. on March 4, 1952, President Harry Truman went aboard to broadcast a speech to the peoples of the Soviet Bloc. 

Courier's homeport was Rhodes, Greece.

As for the Voice of America, it debuted in World War Two, directing programing to Nazi-occupied Europe. After the war it beamed its broadcasts to the Soviet Union. In 1949, the Soviets started jamming VOA frequencies with deliberate interference, a practice that continued though the Cold War.

According to Wikipedia, VOA's debut broadcast during World War Two opened with this statement: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."