In Depth

There are many documented sources of information regarding the Dayton code breaking effort. The most dramatic and detailed are at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. The library at the National Cryptologic Museum is building an impressive collection of books and documents. However, some documents remain in the NCR Archive at Dayton History, and there is much research yet to be done. The list below contains links to documents and information available at this site.

Highlights

  • Transcription of Report written by Capt. Ralph I. Meader to the Vice Chief, Naval Operations, January 1949
  • Commendation for USNCM by J. N. Wenger, Jan. 1945
  • Personnel Orders Orders making it possible to identify some WAVES

In This Section

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  • Sources

    This site has material from many sources. Some are use by permission. Before using, ASK. More specific information here.

  • Inside You’ll Find…

    WHO worked during the war? Find the Personnel section. Also, Joseph R. Desch
    WHAT were their goals? By the Numbers. Also, The US Bombe
    WHY? History of the Bombe Project A contemporary account of the reasons and the plans for their project for the Director of Naval Communications, 1944.
    WHERE was the project: In Dayton, it was in Building 26. In Washington, it was housed at the Naval Communications Annex

    • Recent Updates

    • Stray Thoughts in the Information Age

      Although the calculating technologies available through the 1930s served business and scientific users well, during World War II they were not up to the demands of the military, which wanted to break codes, prepare firing tables for new guns, and design atomic weapons. The old technologies had three shortcomings: they were too slow in doing their calculating, they required human intervention in the course of computation, and many of the most advanced calculating systems were special purpose rather than general-purpose devices.

      Because of the exigencies of the war, the military was willing to pay whatever it would take to develop the kinds of calculating machines it needed…

      Computer, Martin Campbell-Kelly et al., p. xii

    This page last updated Last updated: June 29, 2022 at 7:22 am

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