History of the US-USSR hotline
THE WASHINGTON-MOSCOW HOT LINE (via Beyond the Beyond)
The method to be used was one-time tape. Section 4 of the annex to the memorandum stated: "The USSR shall provide for preparation and delivery of keying tapes to the terminal point of the link in the United States for reception of messages from the USSR. The United States shall provide for the preparation and delivery of keying tapes to the terminal point of the link in the USSR for reception of messages from the United States. Delivery of prepared keying tapes to the terminal points of the link shall be effected through the Embassy of the USSR in Washington (for the terminal of the link in the USSR) and through the Embassy of the United States in Moscow (for the terminal of the link in the United States).For its one-time tape hardware, the US would employ the ETCRRM II, or Electronic Teleprinter Cryptographic Regenerative Repeater Mixer II. One of many 'one-time' tape mechanisms sold by commercial firms, it was produced and sold for about $1,000 by Standard Telefon Kabelfabrik of Oslo, the Norwegian subsidiary of International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, the same company which installed the American terminal in the National Military Command Center deep within the Pentagon. It has four teleprinters -- two with English alphabet and two with Russian -- and four associated ETCRRM II's . In Moscow, the terminus was installed in the Kremlin, near the office of the Premier".
The Washington to London portion of the link was carried over the TAT-1 (Transatlantic No. 1), the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable system. It was laid between Gallanach Bay, near Oban, Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland between 1955 and 1956 and was inaugurated on September 25, 1956.
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"well Dimitri, one of our generals did a silly thing...."
The fate of the whole world hung on a piece of tape holding a decryption key !!!
The hotline between Russia and the USA was implemented on German hardware. Go figure.
It is amusing how thoroughly Hollywood etc. has convinced us that the hotline was a red telephone. If you haven't read the article, it goes on at great length as to how bad a telephone would be for such a task.
"I'm sorry, too, Dmitri... I'm very sorry... *All right*, you're sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well... I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri! Don't say that you're more sorry than I am, because I'm capable of being just as sorry as you are!"
#3 In one of my cross-country drives, I stopped by the SAC Air Museum in Omaha. They have an exhibit of a SAC console with and original "Red Phone" - The article makes perfect sense but there was a phone on the console.
Not nearly as cool as this one, but I found a hotline languishing in a committee room drawer at our City Council Chambers, just last week.
It was the special secure direct line for the President of France (Not sure which, probably Mitterand or Chirac) to talk to the Elysee palace from Glasgow when he visited a while back. Its just been sitting in this drawer with dusters, old committtee minutes and odds and ends ever since.
@nixiebunny, 3:
Being Norwegian (and indeed in Oslo right now), I'm not sure if I appreciate being called German. ;)
The system was obsolete by the time it was deployed. It was conceived in an era of bombers with long flight times and the capability to be recalled by radio. ICBM's then SLBM's changed the negotiating and decision making window from several hours to 15 minutes down to less than 5 minutes.
In a crisis, leadership would have no time to go to their teletype rooms to talk. Nuclear authority would be pre-delegated to generals and battle staff and diplomatic leadership would be in hasty transit to shelter. Shoot first, ask questions later, wait for the smoke to settle before you can see who won.