downloaded "Imitation Game" and going to watch it tonight with GF after dinner.
I've started getting into this book called "Very Special Intelligence" by Patrick Beesly. Its about the OIC ( Operational Intelligence Centre) in the NID ( Naval Intelligence Department). I believe I saw somewhere that this book was the first to mention B.P. Bletchley Park, Enigma and Ultra.
O.I.C. formed an integral part of the Intelligence Division. It was the recognized centre for the collection, coordination and evaluation of all information bearing on the movements and intentions of enemy maritime forces, whether this information originated with the cryptanalysts at B.P., with agents of the Secret Service, or with reports from warships or merchant ships at sea, or with the aircraft of the R.A.F. flying over it, or with the D/F stations listening to the enemy W/T transmissions.
I need to watch "Sink the Bismarck!" again but I think this is what is represented in the movie. I did read C.S. Forester's "Sink the Bismarck!" but I'll have to do so again after reading Beesly's book.
It (O.I.C.) was adequately, if not perfectly housed in an underground complex beneath the Admiralty with an efficient communication system. Beesly's book talks about the pneumatic vacuum tube system to send communications about the department which you can see being used in the movie. Actually you can see it at the back of the picture above, it is that nasty entangled bunch of pipes running ceiling to the desk behind actor Kenneth More and actress Dana Wynter.
I am several chapters away from their (O.I.C.) tracking the Bismarck in Beesly's book but I can't wait
