World War II
Radar picket ships first came into being during World War II to aid in the Allied advance to Japan. As they were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields, and hence the first seen, they were often heavily attacked by kamikaze aircraft.
From 1943 the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) operated several radar-equipped night fighter guide ships (Nachtjagdleitschiffe), including NJL Togo. which was equipped with a FuMG A1 Freya radar for early warning and Würzburg-Riese gun laying radar, plus night fighter communications equipment. From October 1943 the NJL Togo cruised the Baltic Sea under the operational control of the Luftwaffe. In March 1944, after the three great Soviet bombing raids on Helsinki, she arrived in the Gulf of Finland to provide night fighter cover for Tallinn and Helsinki.
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