“Wavescan” is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson , Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave).
Dr. Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian. For more than two decades, he has concentrated on researching the early days of radio and has an extraordinary knowledge of the very first shipboard radio broadcasts.
We are reproducing those reports below, with Dr. Peterson’s kind permission and assistance.
Wavescan 280, May 7th, 2000 Australian Army Radio Wavescan 333, May 13th, 2001 Early Wireless Wavescan 336, June 3, 2001 The Great White Fleet Wavescan 343, July 22, 2001 Radio Broadcasting from Ships: Europe and the Atlantic Wavescan 347, August 19, 2001 Radio Broadcasting from Ships – The Americas Wavescan 351, September 16, 2001 Radio Broadcasting from Ships 5 – Americas in Recent Years Wavescan 362, December 2, 2001 Ship Broadcasting in the Pacific, Part I Wavescan 376, March 10, 2002 Ship Broadcasting in the Pacific, Part II Wavescan 381, April 14, 2002 Ship Broadcasting in Australian Waters Wavescan 384, May 5, 2002 The Australian “Kanimbla” – A unique and remarkable radio broadcasting station Wavescan 387, May 26, 2002 A listener story regarding his part in a historic radio broadcast from a ship Wavescan 395, July 21, 2002 America’s First Floating Broadcaster – A 78 Year Old Story Wavescan 396, July 28, 2002 First Music Broadcast from a Ship Wavescan 397, August 4, 2002 Kanimbla Update – What happened to this ship afterwards? Wavescan 405 – Sept. 29, 2002 Radio Broadcasting from Ships in New Zealand Waters and The Story of the Wandering “Apache” Wavescan 407, October 13, 2002 The Story of the Little Radio Ship, the FP47 Wavescan 408, October 20, 2002 The famous “I Will Return” broadcast by General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines Wavescan 411, November 10, 2002 Radio Broadcasting from Ships – Radio ZMBJ on the “Awatea” (The Eye of the Dawn), in New Zealand Waters Wavescan 417, December 22, 2002 BBC Radio Station on Board Ship? Wavescan 425, February 16, 2003 The Good Ship KKOL: An American Radio Station on Board a Ship and We Didn’t Know About It! Wavescan 429, March 16, 2003 VOA Relay Station on board the Battleship Texas Wavescan 434, April 27, 2003 Marconi’s Birthday – The Story of the “Elettra” Wavescan 438, May 25, 2003 Historic Radio Broadcast from the Statue of Liberty Wavescan 440, June 8, 2003 The Story of a Burning Passenger Liner Wavescan 442, June 22, 2003 Shortwave Broadcast from a Ship in Florida [WLW 1930] Wavescan 450, August 17, 2003 The Story of Another Radio Ship – The VOA Phoenix Wavescan 452, August 31, 2003 On the Air in Tokyo Bay Wavescan 453, September 7, 2003 Two Ships and a Hotel [Australia] Wavescan 456, September 28, 2003 The Ship that Never Sailed! Wavescan 466 – Dec. 7, 2003 The Boat Under the Bridge [Awatea] Wavescan 467, December 14, 2003 VLC – Another Recycled Callsign Wavescan N38 – Nov. 15, 2009 The Bermuda Story – Ship Broadcasting Wavescan N51 – Feb. 14, 2010 The Story of the Good Ship Seth Parker Wavescan N64 – May 16, 2010 Radio Broadcasting from Japanese Ships Wavescan N72 – July 11, 2010 Early Ship QSLs Wavescan N76 – Aug. 8, 2010 Deception on the High Seas Wavescan N129 – Aug. 14, 2011 The Voice of America – Shipboard Radio Stations – Ship No. 1: The Story of the USS Texas Wavescan N131 – Aug. 28, 2011 The Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – VOA Ship No. 2: The Story of the Historic KSL Transmitter in Salt Lake City, Pt. 1 Wavescan N133 – Sept. 11, 2011 The Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – VOA Ship No. 2: The Mystery Story of the Radio Ship Phoeni xWavescan N135 – Sept. 25, 2011 The Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – VOA Ship No. 3: The Apache – The American Ship with its Australian Cargo Wavescan N140 – Oct. 30, 2011 The Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – VOA Ship No. 4: The Spindle Eye, Another American Radio Ship in the Pacific Wavescan N144 – Nov. 27, 2011 Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – Three More American Radio Ships in the Pacific Wavescan N150 – Jan. 8, 2012 Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – 8: This Time in the Mediterranean – The Vagabond A “Courier” Wavescan N169 – May 20, 2012 Voice of America: Shipboard Relay Stations – 9: The Vagabond Series Wavescan N192 – Oct. 28, 2012 Other American Radio Ships in the Pacific Wavescan N194 – Nov. 11, 2012 Australian Radio Ships in the Pacific Wavescan N302 – Dec. 7, 2014 The Story of the Good Ship Radio Scotland Wavescan N676, Feb. 6, 2022 Voice of America Relay Station in a Submarine – <Podcast> Wavescan N681, March 13, 2022 The Second VOA Relay Station in the Philippines – <Podcast Wavescan N696, June 26, 2022 Another Radio Wedding – <Podcast Wavescan N709, September 25, 2022 The Saga of Radio Antwerp in Belgium – <Podcast
Wavescan
The program frequently covers radio stations aboard ships. These reports are documented here.
Wavescan N752, July 23, 2023 Fiftieth Anniversary of the Radio Ship Voice of Peace – <Podcast> Wavescan N765, October 22, 2023 History of Radio Jingles, part 1 – <Podcast Wavescan N767, November 5, 2023 History of Radio Jingles, part 2 – <Podcast Wavescan N778, January 21, 2024 History of 648 kHz in the UK, part 1 – <Podcast Wavescan N779, January 28, 2024 History of 648 kHz in the UK, part 2 – <Podcast Wavescan N783, February 25, 2024 Sweden, part 2 – <Podcast Wavescan N787, March 24, 2024 Libya, part 3 – Mebo II & Angela – <Podcast> Wavescan N803, July 14, 2024 The SS Malolo and Captain Dobbsie – <Podcast> Wavescan N811, September 8, 2024 Radio Caroline – Update – <Podcast> Wavescan N812, September 15, 2024 Radio Weddings, part 10 – <Podcast> Wavescan N816, October 13th, 2024 The Story of K-BIG – <Podcast> Wavescan N817, October 20th, 2024 An Offshore Radio Station Against Adolf Hitler – <Podcast> Wavescan N825, December 15th, 2024 First English-Language Offshore Station in the North Sea (CNBC) – <Podcast> Wavescan N846, May 11th, 2025 Radio Brod (“Radio Boat”): Freedom of Speech in the Adriatic – <Podcast> Wavescan N854, July 6th, 2025 Ireland, part 3 – Longwave (Atlantic 252 & RTE) – <Podcast> Wavescan N855, July 13th, 2025 BBC Offshore Radio & Rhodesia – <Podcast> The German Offshore Station that Never Was – <Podcast> US Coast Guard Cutter ‘Courier’ – <Podcast> 
Wavescan N877, December 14th, 2025