laststandonzombieisland

Prior to the adoption of a new international standard in 1956 by NATO and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the phonetic alphabet was a good bit different.

I give you the old WWII-era U.S. signals:

Balanced with the WWII German phonetics:

So those of you writing historical fiction, steer away from the NATO standard to remain period-correct. The more you know…