Summary heading
Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne (FRUMEL)
Abolition
Creation
In February 1942, the U.S. Navy joined a small signals intelligence unit from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to form the joint military organisation Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne (FRUMEL).
Functions and activities
The overall mission of FRUMEL was to obtain intelligence from Japanese naval and diplomatic communications to support the the U.S. Navy and British commands in Southwest Pacific theatres. FRUMEL operated jointly with the Fleet Radio Unit Oacific (FRUPAC) to provide full coverage of naval intelligence in the Pacific.
FRUMEL directly distributed its communications intelligence to the Commander of the Seventh Fleet, Admiral Nimitz; to the Commander of the Southwest Pacific theatre, General MacArthur; and to the submarine command in Western Australia..
Although FRUMEL was a joint military organisation of U.S. and Australian personnel, each had its own administration covering personnel, supplies, etc. Each navy maintained its own communications, had separate code rooms, and handled reporting functions separately. The important traffic analysis, crypt analysis and language sections were operated jointly.
In January 1945, the Americans turned FRUMEL facilities over to the Australians. A small nucleus of Americans remained in Melbourne until the end of the war. The U.S. took this action because the war front was now a considerable distance north of Australia. FRUMEL continued to provide communications intelligence to the RAN until the end of the war. In the immediate post-war period the remaining FRUMEL elements became a component of the Directorate of Naval Intelligence.
Principal records of Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne WWII operations were repatriated to the United States along with those of the USN 7th Fleet. The records are located in the United States Navy Special Research Collection and in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) collection.
National Archives of Australia (NAA) holds a small collection of FRUMEL records. These records can be located under Commonwealth Record Series: A10909 (Canberra) and B5553, B5554, B5555, B5823 (Melbourne).
Legislation administered
Administrative structure
Historical agency address
Victoria Barracks, St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC
Monterey Apartments, Queens Road, Melbourne VIC
S Block, Albert Park Barracks, Melbourne VIC
State/regional structure
Records created by the agency
Additional information
End notes
Sources