We continue with JUDE’s comments on breaking of the ENIGMA TRITON codes.

“If the possibilities could be evaluated at the rate of 1,000,000 per second, it world still take some 141,167,096.5 seconds (approximately 4,473 years)! And that is to break the code for a SINGLE DAY.

Now consider using the bombe to randomly process the intercepted signals and contemplate the potential for success. My guess is that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters would probably produce Shakespeare first. Please feel free to disagree if you wish.

The daily settings were prepared, indicating which wheels were to be used on a given day; the individual wheel settings as well as the overall wheel arrangement, the plug-in settings and other information. The setting sheet I saw at the Smithsonian was a LUFTWAFFE one, for a three-wheel machine as I recall. These were done for each 30-day period. Obviously because of the length of a U-Boat voyage, each boat ad to be equipped with the ENIGMA KEY for an extended period of time - I recall reading somewhere, for six months. SEIZING THE ENIGMA and THE CODEBREAKERS by David Kahn are quite interesting and quite informative in regard to the mechanics and history of the machines themselves as well as codebreaking in general.

I’ve always thought that one of the most fascinating and revealing aspects of this is the fact that while the KRIEGSMARINE HEIMAT (Home Waters) Code was broken, the AUSSLAND (Foreign Waters) code was not. However, both were transmitted using identical ENIGMA equipment, only the keys were different.

Logic would lead one to the conclusion that if it was possible to break the HEIMAT code - of which TRITON was one, then it should have been possible to break the AUSSLAND code as well. However, there is no evidence that was the case.

More Jude and Ultra

Jude and Ultra [KTB 104]
Jude and Ultra [KTB 105]
Jude and Ultra [KTB 106]
Jude and Ultra [KTB 107]
Jude and Ultra [KTB 108]
Jude and Ultra (End) [KTB 109]