jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The Battle of Midway was considered a turning point in the war in the Pacific. If it wasn't for code breaker Joseph Rochefort, the Japanese might have been unopposed, and they would have established a base on Midway. Rochefort was an avid crossword fan and worked as a cryptologist for the Navy. He cracked the complex "uncrackable" Japanese JN-25 code. Despite resistance from his boss, he told Admiral Nimitz that the Japanese were bringing a large fleet to Midway Island. Rochefort set a trap for the Japanese that proved he was right. As a result, the US navy was prepared, and the Japanese presence in the Pacific was severely weakened.

Coincidentally, two other crossword fans, a Brooklyn teacher and his wife, cracked the Zodiac Killer's code.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

W9OD Loc: Wisconsin

Interesting and insightful information.

HamB

Rochefort some how annoyed Navy brass and as a reward for his Midway triumph he was relagated to an obscure post.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right. Rochefort went directly to Nimitz, probably realizing that his boss, Redman, would sit on the information and "analyze" it, wasting time. Redman thought the Midway prediction was wrong. Rochefort had to arrange a trap for the Japanese to prove he was right. Rochefort eventually received a medal and recognition. Bosses don't always do what's right for the organization.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

Same thing with Alan Touring breaking the German Enigma code which later spawned several movies. Throughout history, intelligence has almost always made the difference between winning and losing a war.

Midway was the first naval battle in history where neither side's ship fired a single shot at each other. It was entirely decided by airplanes. There's another great "what if" in that the U.S. navy couldn't locate the Japanese fleet even through they knew it was somewhere out in the Pacific. A reconnaissance airplane was finished with its assigned search area and was supposed to return to base but the pilot decided to fly another few minutes whereupon he spotted the Japanese fleet's lead ship through a hole in the clouds. If he hadn't gone those few miles further and happened to see the ship through the hole in the clouds, the Japanese fleet might have made it to Midway, changing the outcome of the battle.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, indeed! Airpower showed its importance.

bw79st Loc: New York City

The trap he set was to have Midway report they were low on water. The Japanese intercepted that message and relayed it to the fleet saying the "target" was low on water. We then read the Japanese coded message that confirmed the target was Midway.

pendennis

Rochefort actually reported to Captain Edwin Layton, who was the head of Station Hypo at Pearl Harbor.

Rochefort had Midway sent an "in the clear" message stating they were having problems with the fresh water condensers. Rochefort had already suspected the code word for Midway was "AF". An aircraft flew to Midway with Rochefort's instructions, and the rest, they say, is history.

The problem lay with the Navy Intel staff in Washington, DC. Edwin Layton was the Station Hypo commander at Pearl Harbor and reported directly to Admiral Nimitz. This annoyed the Intel staff to no end, since they couldn't override COMINCH Pacific. As a result the CNO refused to approve Nimitz' recommendation for Rochefort's medals.

BTW, not only was Rochefort a crossword expert, he was previously assigned as a Naval attache to the American embassy in Tokyo. He became well-educated on Japanese culture, which gave him a huge advantage in intelligence.

And BBTW - The battle of Coral Sea was the first engagement where opposing ships never caught sight of the enemy.

There are a number of great books written on the subject. Among them are "Miracle at Midway" by the late Gordon Prange, and "And I Was There" by Edwin T. Layton.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

twowindsbear

Actually it was Coral Sea where opposing naval forces didn't see each other or fire on each other.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

HamB

Alan Turing was part of a huge effort to read the Enigma traffic.
His automation (punch cards) helped to speed up the process..

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Joseph Rochefort took a bath about once a month and probably changed clothes weekly. Oh by the way, according to reports he smelled, but he and his crew helped the Navy stop Japanese expansion in the Pacific

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia

No good deed goes unpunished… especially in the military