NATO Phonetic Alphabet

In sailing, the phonetic alphabet is an important thing to know and know well. Since so much communication is heard through the poor fidelity of small radio speakers and takes place in sometimes loud windy conditions, it’s vital to have a means to communicate clearly and precisely. These specifically chosen words used to represent the alphabet’s letters service that goal. In the maritime world the NATO phonetic alphabet is most often used.

• A

  ALPHA

  AL fah

• B

  BRAVO

  BRAH voh

• C

  CHARLIE

  CHAR lee

• D

  DELTA

  DEL tah

• E

  ECHO

  EKK oh

• F

  FOXTROT

  FOKS trot

• G

  GOLF

  GOLF

• H

  HOTEL

  HO tell

• I

  INDIA

  IN dee ah

• J

  JULIET

  JEW lee ett

• K

  KILO

  KEY loh

• L

  LIMA

  LEE mah

• M

  MIKE

  MIKE

• N

  NOVEMBER

  NOH vem ber

• O

  OSCAR

  OSS car

• P

  PAPA

  PAH pah

• Q

  QUEBEC

  keh BECK

• R

  ROMEO

  ROW me oh

• S

  SIERRA

  see AIR ah

• T

  TANGO

  TANG go

• U

  UNIFORM

  YOU nee form

• V

  VICTOR

  VIK ter

• W

  WHISKEY

  WISS key

• X

  XRAY

  EKS ray

• Y

  YANKEE

  YANG kee

• Z

  ZULU

  ZOO luu