But the forward-looking Denning had also been able to establish the principle that a new sub-section of the NID, the Operational Intelligence Centre,
有远见的唐宁还成立了一个新的海军情报部门的子部门，即作战情报中心，
which replaced the old Movements Section, should receive and coordinate information from all sources.
取代了原来的行动部，来接收并处理来自各个渠道的情报。
This had been impossible in the First World War and represented a revolutionary advance.
这在第一次世界大战期间是不可能的，这代表了一个革命性的进步。
On the eve of war the OIC stood by with a staff of thirty-six.
在战前，作战情报中心有36名工作人员。
They had many problems to overcome, but the main problem of 1939 was that they had virtually no information to coordinate.
他们有许多困难需要克服，但是1939年的主要问题是他们实际上没有什么情报可处理。
Like Tweedledee, the Admiralty could hit out bravely at anything it could see, but it could see very little.
就像叮当弟一样，海军可以勇敢地进攻任何它能看见的东西，但问题是它几乎什么也看不见。
Occasionally, Coastal Command aircraft would catch sight of U-boats, and the RAF had been persuaded to inform the Admiralty when this happened.
通常情况下，海岸司令部的飞机会看到U型潜艇，然后皇家空军会将此通知海军。
Aerial reconnaissance was limited to the hiring of a commercial pilot to take shots of the German coastline.
空中侦察仅仅是雇了一名商业飞行员，去拍摄德国的海岸线。
Information from agents in Europe was 'scanty.
在欧洲的间谍提供的情报是很少的，
The best … came from a black market dealer in silk stockings with a contact in the German Naval Post Office,
最好的情报就是来自一个丝袜商人，他与德国海军邮局有联系，
who from time to time was able to give the address of mail for certain ships, thus providing some fragmentary clues to their whereabouts.'
时不时能得到一些船只的邮政地址，因此能为它们的行踪提供一些零星的线索。