Enigma code

Cracking the Enigma Codes at Bletchley Park

By William F. Floyd Jr.

The small craft from the British destroyer HMS Bulldog launched into the choppy, frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Read more

Enigma code

The Second Great War (and the Weather that Defined it)

By Eric Niderost

Weather has long played a vital role in human history. Kublai Khan’s attempted conquest of Japan was foiled when his invasion fleet was destroyed by a typhoon. Read more

Enigma code

The Miracle of Bletchley Park

By Hervie Haufler

Great Britain’s military intelligence leaders learned from their experience in World War I that the kinds of minds capable of breaking codes are a rare commodity and are often not likely to blossom in a military atmosphere. Read more

Enigma code

The Codebreakers’ War in the Atlantic

By Gene J. Pfeffer

The Battle of the Atlantic was a life-and-death struggle between the German Kriegsmarine and the Allied navies that was fought for control of Britain’s lifeline to its empire and to the United States. Read more

Enigma code

The Winds Message Controversy: The Intelligence That Predicted Pearl Harbor?

By Peter Kross

The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941—a “Day of Infamy,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it—left the American Pacific Fleet in almost total ruin, plunged the United States into World War II, and set off a controversy regarding the events that led up to the attack that is still being hotly debated. Read more

Enigma code

The Capture of German Submarine U-505

by David Alan Johnson

“Frenchy to Blue Jay—I have a possible sound contact,” squawked from USS Guadalcanal’s bridge intercom at 1110 hours. Read more

Enigma code

British Military Intelligence: The ULTRA Project

by Brooke C. Stoddard

The casual reader of World War II history will come across the assertion that the Allies in Europe were reading the German codes. Read more

Enigma code

Trade of 50 American Destroyers for British Bases in World War II

By William H. Langenberg

In early September 1940, the world was in turmoil. The battle of Britain was nearing its climax, and elsewhere global tensions ran high. Read more

Enigma code

‘Goosebumps’: Flint Whitlock Visits the D-Day Invasion Landings

By Flint Whitlock

I feel deeply honored to have been chosen by the Smithsonian Institution to lead D-Day trips to England and France (one took place in May; the other two were scheduled to take place in September and October). Read more