Nazi Enigma Code machine found on seabed

[BVI Hunter]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...ed-Nazis-send-secret-messages-Baltic-Sea.html

 

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[Mackaydon]

Thankfully, we got our hands on one during the war.
Don......

 

[BVI Hunter]

The trouble with the "popular" story is that, although the Americans did capture a submarine with an Enigma machine on board, that happened in 1944, three years too late to make a difference.
The British destroyer HMS Bulldog had captured a German sub carrying an Enigma machine and the accompanying material for decoding messages in 1941, and that actually led to the breaking of the Nazi code.

 

[Boatlode]

The trouble with the "popular" story is that, although the Americans did capture a submarine with an Enigma machine on board, that happened in 1944, three years too late to make a difference.
The British destroyer HMS Bulldog had captured a German sub carrying an Enigma machine and the accompanying material for decoding messages in 1941, and that actually led to the breaking of the Nazi code.

Yes. The enigma machine itself is useless without the book that tells you which of the interchangeable wheels are used, their sequence, and their initial position. And these changed daily. A u-boat left port with enough daily settings for however many weeks their mission was anticipated to last. If for some reason the mission was extended past that number of daily settings, they would have to rendezvous with a sub tender or another ship to be hand delivered a new book with more settings. Broadcasting settings via radio was verboten.
The German navy added another wheel in 1942, so then Bletchley Park was back to square one.

 

[Salvor6]

After 85 years underwater there must not be much left.

 

[Magoopeter]

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06149-y

 

[Mudflap]

They said maybe thrown off a scuttled sub. That is one cool find. Wonder if the divers know what it was when found....

 

[Blak bart]

Whats up BVI....good to hear from ya. Cool story, hope your finding some good stuff. Cheers mate !!

 

[xaos]

I would concur with most of the posts, the enigma machine, while "exciting" an underwater find is virtually worthless at this point.

so much for the afterglow...

cheers!

 

[Mackaydon]

Yet nearly priceless from an historical and educational viewpoint.
Don....

 

[Boatlode]

After 85 years underwater there must not be much left.

They have two perfect ones in the U-505 exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago.

 

[Salvor6]

I visited this sub when I lived in Chicago.

 

[Boatlode]

I visited this sub when I lived in Chicago.

I made a point to see it when I visited Chicago many years ago. It was still outside when I saw it. Now it's in its own building.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

it says in the article, the ones on the ships had 3 decoding wheels, the ones on the u-boats had 4, so this one came from a ship

 

[Boatlode]

it says in the article, the ones on the ships had 3 decoding wheels, the ones on the u-boats had 4, so this one came from a ship

The u-boats started the war with three, and then added the fourth wheel in 1942.

 

[ivan salis]

a huge mistake the Nazi's made in thinking that their codes were unbreakable ...it cost them the u boat war which was crippling england until the tide of battle turned

 

[Boatlode]

a huge mistake the Nazi's made in thinking that their codes were unbreakable ...it cost them the u boat war which was crippling england until the tide of battle turned

They were unbreakable, until the British navy forced the badly damaged U-110 to the surface and H.M.S. Bulldog sent a boarding party to grab the code manuals.