US Navy Cryptanalytic Bombe

The 120 machines, the U.S. Navy’s Cryptanalytic Bombes, were seven feet high, two feet wide, and ten feet long. Each one weighed 5,000 lbs.

The front and back of the Bombes each had eight columns of four rotors. The top wheel mimicked the Enigma’s new fourth rotor while the bottom commutator represented the rightmost, or fastest, rotor of the Enigma. The bottom rotor spun at a speed of approximately 1,725 revolutions per minute, which allowed the machine to complete its run in only twenty minutes.

This information comes from a booklet written by Jennifer Wilcox, Assistant Curator at the National Cryptologic Museum. The text of this booklet is now online.

Because so much excellent information is available through the NSA web site, I have taken the liberty of reproducing their index here. I recommend their publications as a primer of documented facts.

PDF or text file versions are available for most of the monographs and brochures. Printed copies of publications marked with an asterisk (*) may be requested from the Center for Cryptologic History via email at history@nsa.gov. Rather than include links with this list that can become troublesome broken links I’ve just listed the titles. All links can be found at the Publications Index Page

Subject	Title	Author	Date	Available Format
Bombes	The Secret of Adam and Eve	Jennifer Wilcox	2003	“The Secret of Adam and Eve Brochure”
Cipher Machines	German Cipher Machines of World War II *	David Mowry	2003	“German Cipher Machines of World War II Brochure”
Code Talkers	Origins of the Navajo Code Talkers	Patrick Weadon	2002	“Origins of the Navajo Code Talkers Brochure”
COMINT	A History of US Communications Intelligence during WWII: Policy and dediCated-administration *	Robert Louis Benson	1997	“A History of US Communications Intelligence during WWII: Policy and Dedicated-administration Monograph”
Enigma	Solving the Enigma – History of the Cryptanalytic Bombe *	Jennifer Wilcox	2001	“Solving the Enigma – History of the Cryptanalytic Bombe Brochure”
Mathematics	John Clabby	2005
Holocaust	Eavesdropping on Hell: Historical Guide to Western Communications Intelligence and the Holocaust, 1939-1945 *	Robert Hanyok	2004	“Eavesdropping on Hell: Historical Guide to Western Communications Intelligence and the Holocaust, 1939-1945 Monograph”
Mathematics	How Mathematicians Helped Win WWII	John Clabby	2005	“How Mathematicians Helped Win WWII Brochure”
Midway	The Battle of Midway: AF is Short of Water	Patrick Weadon	2000	“The Battle of Midway: AF is Short of Water Brochure”
Pearl Harbor	Pearl Harbor Revisited: United States Navy Communications Intelligence, 1924-1941	Frederick Parker	1994	“Pearl Harbor Revisited: US Navy Communication Intelligence, 1924-1941 Monograph”
Pearl Harbor	West Wind Clear: Cryptology and the Winds Message Controversy – A Documentary History *	Robert Hanyok and David Mowry	2008	“West Wind Clear: Cryptology and the Winds Message Controversy – A Documentary History Monograph”
SIGSALY	A History of Secure Voice Coding: Insights Drawn from the Career of One of the Earliest Practitioners of the Art of Speech Coding	Joseph P. Campbell, Jr., and Richard A. Dean	2001	“A History of Secure Voice Coding: Insights Drawn from the Career of One of the Earliest Practioners of the Art of Speech Coding Brochure”
SIGSALY	SIGSALY Story	Patrick Weadon	2000	“SIGSALY Story Brochure”
SIGSALY	The Start of the Digital Revolution: SIGSALY – Secure Digital Voice Communications in WWII *	J. V. Boone and R. R. Peterson	2000	“The Start of the Digital Revolution: SIGSALY – Secure Digital Voice Communications in WWII Brochure”
War in the Pacific	The Quiet Heroes of the Southwest Pacific Theater: An Oral History of the Men and Women of CBB and FRUMEL *	Sharon A. Maneki	1996	“The Quiet Heroes of the Southwest Pacific Theater: An Oral History of the Men and Women of CBB and FRUMEL Monograph”
War in the Pacific	A Priceless Advantage: U.S. Navy Communications Intelligence and the Battles of Coral Sea, Midway and the Aleutians *	Frederick D. Parker	1993	“A Priceless Advantage: U.S. Navy Communications Intelligence and the Battles of Coral Sea, Midway and the Aleutians Monograph”
Women	Sharing the Burden: Women in Cryptology during WWII *	Jennifer Wilcox	1998	“Sharing the Burden: Women in Cryptology during WWII Brochure”