Bletchley Park was made of several different huts, each with its own focus. Hut 6 dealt with the German Army and Air Force Enigma, while Hut 8, led by Alan Turing, was assigned with the German Naval Enigma.
The Bombe
Bletchley Park received Polish notes, including notes on Enigma's wirings, the Polish Bomba, and the cyclometer in August 1939. Turing's goal was to continue where the Polish left off and create a faster "superbombe".
Turing created a machine that systematically tested configurations to determine rotor positions, stecker positions, etc.
"This is a method for finding the connections when we do not know the diagonal... It depends on making hypotheses about pairs of letters being on the same rod, and drawing conclusions to the effect that other pairs of letters are on the same rod." |
Effect of Turing's Leadership in Building the Bombe
Though it was not the only factor, Turing's invention did have a significant impact on the outcome of the war.
"The knowledge not only of the enemy's precise strength and disposition, but also how, when and where he intends to carry out his operations brought a new dimension to the prosecution of the war."
- Hugh Alexander
Deputy to Turing in Hut 8
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was a German campaign starting in 1940 that attacked ships carrying supplies, troops, and food using U-boats, ships, and aircrafts. Using the Enigma encryption system, the location and time of attacks were transferred.
"The great feature there was that the Enigma was used in the first instance not to fight the U-Boats but to evade them."
- Harry H. Hinsley
Cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park
The decryption of Enigma that Turing led allowed for the exact location and time of the attack to be intercepted to avoid attacks and even confront the attack at some times.
"Hut 8's decrypts enabled evasive measure to be taken so successfully that the North Atlantic U-boats did not make a single sighting of a convoy for 23 days straight."
- Professor B. Jack Copeland
University of Canterbury
"There should be no question in anyone's mind that Turing's work was the biggest factor in Hut 8's success. In the early days he was the only cryptographer who though the problem worth tackling and not only was he primarily responsible for the main theoretical work within the hut but he also shared with Welchman and Keen the chief credit for the invention of the Bombe. It is always difficult to say that anyone is absolutely indispensable but if anyone was indispensable to Hut 8 it was Turing." |