Codebreaking In Ww2

The ever evolving method of cryptography, or sending messages through code, can be traced throughout the history of the world. Early Egyptians communicated through mysterious hieroglyphics. Ancient Greeks concealed secret messages beneath wax on tables or with tattoos on a slave’s head. During the Renaissance in Europe, citizens would use a substitution cipher to carry messages about political and religious revolutions. During World War I and previous battles, most countries used codes to contact their navy or army branches abroad, in case of enemy interception. Which subsequently brings us to World War II, and the major role that codebreaking played in the results of the war. Some of the main codebreaking events during World War II, the breaking

Station HYPO sent orders to Midway by cable to broadcast a radio message that the island's water plant had broken down. The radio message was broadcast without encryption to ensure that Japan could read it if it was intercepted. The radio message was indeed intercepted by Japan and then reported by a message encoded in JN-25 stating that “AF’s” desalination plant was out of order. That message was intercepted by Station HYPO, and “AF” was thus confirmed as Midway. Station HYPO concluded that the attack would come in late May to early June 1942, while Washington argued late June. Station HYPO's intelligence persuaded US Pacific Fleet Commander Nimitz to risk the three remaining US carriers in the Pacific in an attempt to ambush the Japanese attack on Midway, which turned successful by sinking four Japanese carriers. Station HYPO won out again because they had succeeded in cracking JN-25, and later put “cryptanalysis on the map for military, it gave codebreakers the respect and reliability when they needed it the most.” (Carlson, 35:10-35:30). The intelligence that HYPO was able to gather and put into action helped change the course of the Japanese