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 ne of the most interesting and important aspects of NCR's history is also one of its least known. During World War II, NCR helped design, develop, and produce a machine to break the German Enigma code, helping win the battle for control of the Atlantic Ocean. During the war, this project was second only to the atom bomb in terms of national security and secrecy. Information about this machine, known as the "Bombe," and NCR's contributions is only now being declassified more than fifty years later. The primary use of the Enigma code was for communication between German U-boats (submarines) and their commanders in Europe. These U-boats patrolled the Atlantic Ocean searching for ships transporting much needed supplies to England. When the U-boats found these ships they would attack and sink as many as possible, including many ships from the United States. By destroying the supplies going to England, Germany could greatly diminish England's ability to wage war. Until the Enigma code was broken, England would be unable to locate the U-boats or effectively protect the supply ships. In September of 1939, England started trying to design a machine to decipher the German code. The first of these machines, also called a "bombe," was finished in August of 1940, but it was not until May of 1941 that the English were finally able to break the Navy Enigma code. This occurred after England captured a German U-boat that still had its encryption equipment onboard. For the rest of the year, England was able to read the German U-boat messages with relative ease, but that was about to change. Sensing that the Navy Enigma code had been compromised, German Admiral Doenitz had the Enigma machine improved and made more complex in early 1942. This new machine, known as the four-rotor Enigma machine, once again made it impossible for the British to decipher the German Enigma code. Between January and March of 1942 more than two hundred supply ships were sunk off the East Coast of the United States. Due to the lack of success by the British in breaking the four rotor Enigma code, the U.S. Navy decided to undertake their own attempt at deciphering the code. In September 1942, the U.S. Navy contracted with NCR for the development and building of a "Bombe" capable of breaking the four-rotor code. Here in Dayton, that project was lead by Joseph Desch, an engineer at NCR. By April 1943, he had 200 sailors and 600 Waves working with the regular NCR staff to design and build the "bombes." Many of these same people were then trained to run the machines and assisted in the code breaking. The project was so secret that most people involved had no idea of what they were making or its importance, until many decades later. Some historians claim that World War II could have gone on for as much as two more years, with an untold loss of life, had it not been for the Allies' ability to read Enigma messages. Those messages could not have been read without the "bombes" and the men and women who built them. Due to the secret nature of the project, we are only beginning to learn about the role that NCR and Dayton played. We are lucky to have several important resources to help us tell the story. Key among these is the involvement of Debbie Anderson and her desire to know more about what her father, Joe Desch, did during World War II. Through her research and records, along with the records at the NCR Archive and the National Security Agency, the story of this amazing project is coming to light. Recently, Jim Debrosse, of the Dayton Daily News, wrote an award-winning eight-part story for the newspaper chronicling the history of project. If you would like to learn more about NCR and the "Bombe," please follow the links below. Dayton Daily News Articles, Jim Debrosse The American Bombe Project, Deb Anderson BACK TO TOP |
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