Published May 01, 2015
DAYTON, Ohio -- Cryptology exhibit on display in the World War II Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
DAYTON, Ohio -- American SIGABA machine on display with the cryptology in exhibit in the World War II Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
DAYTON, Ohio -- A three-rotor Enigma machine used by the Luftwaffe is on display with the cryptology exhibit in the World War II Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
German forces depended on Enigma machines to encode and decode secret messages transmitted over the radio during World War II. The Enigma machine is on the left. (Photo courtesy of Helge Fykse, Norway)
The Japanese PURPLE machine. At the end of World War II, the Japanese destroyed nearly all of their code machines, and very few parts exist today. This fragment is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of National Cryptologic Museum, NSA)
An Enigma decryption machine, called a "bombe." This machine, made by National Cash Register of Dayton, Ohio, eliminated all possible encryptions from intercepted messages until it arrived at the correct solution. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Luftwaffe troops use an Enigma machine. One man types while another records the enciphered or deciphered letters. (Photo courtesy of Helge Fykse, Norway)
These Luftwaffe personnel are using two Enigma machines, probably to encrypt and decrypt at once. (Photo courtesy of Helge Fykse, Norway)
Enigma rotors from the machine on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The rotors formed the heart of the Enigma machine: Each was wired differently and had 26 contacts corresponding to letters of the alphabet. (Photo courtesy National Cryptologic Museum, NSA)
A typical Enigma intercept from the Bletchley Park operation in England. These messages were transmitted in Morse code as groups of five letters, which were easily intercepted -- but were impossible to understand without sophisticated decryption. (Photo courtesy Dr. David Hamer)
An Enigma decryption from Bletchley Park, formed from parts of two messages to the German Army Group Courland (Kurland) on Feb. 14, 1945. The basic German form has been mostly deciphered, but would have been further analyzed by language and military experts to gain maximum information. (Photo courtesy Dr. David Hamer)
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is located at:
1100 Spaatz Street Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433
(near Dayton, Ohio)