Battle of Midway: Code Breaking | NMPW Webinar

www.pacificwar...
This month’s webinar explores code breaking and its pivotal importance in Military advancement.
Dr. Vince Houghton is the author of two books and has a Ph.D. in Diplomatic and Military History from the University of Maryland. He will explore The Battle of Midway, which ran from the fourth through the seventh of June 1942, and was one of the American Navy’s biggest victories over the Japanese Navy during World War II. Navy cryptanalysts had begun breaking Japanese communication codes early in 1942 and knew for weeks ahead of time that Japan was planning an attack in the Pacific at a location they called “AF.” The Navy suspected it was Midway and decided to send out a false message from the base claiming it was short of fresh water. Japan’s radio operators sent out a similar message about “AF” soon afterward, confirming the location of the planned attack.
National Cryptologic Museum
www.nsa.gov/mu...
International Spy Museum
www.spymuseum....
From the National Museum of the Pacific War, thank you to our guest presenters for
providing the content for this program. Any research, historical information, and opinions expressed are their own.
This is a recording from the National Museum of the Pacific War. Copyright 2024.
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[@5thGenNativeTexan]

Just returned from visiting the museum. It's been nearly 50 years since I last visited as a little boy, and how impressive things have changed! We spent a few hours there, and frankly could have spent two days to really see it all in detail. Thanks for such great work!

[@rondav41]

Dr. Vince Houghton always does good presentations. Thank you.

[@keithrosenberg5486]

Station Hypo was a part of OP-20-G, but not all of it.

[@rondav41]

Looking forward to your next presentations also.

[@rafaelj.benero4880]

Very good presentation, thank you for your time!...

[@warrenklein7817]

On January 19, 1944, the Australian Ninth Infantry Division uncovered the Japanese 20th Division’s entire cryptographic library in Sio, New Guinea. This find allowed the Central Bureau, the Southwest Pacific Area’s multinational signals intelligence organization, to master the Imperial Army's codes and ciphers and provide timely intelligence to Allied forces. Would like to see more detail on this. For instance, does it mean Allies were reading all IJA codes in all theatres of operation, China, Burma, Philippines, etc, or just New Guinea?

[@keithrosenberg5486]

The use of tabulation machines helped a lot.

[@garymackey850]

Battle of Midway a decisive battle? Absolutely....however the turning point of WWII was Guadalcanal....//

[@JLeonard-hy2bc]

The interesting thought-game is whether there even would have been a battle of midway without all that intelligence. Even coral sea came about from intelligence, but assuming it still occurred as in history Halsey would have taken hornet and enterprise to replace Yorktown after the battle. Midway would not have been reinforced so there’s a chance it would have fallen. Nimitz would have stewed in Pearl Harbor with Saratoga on the west coast and the other three carriers somewhere in the South Pacific. Pearl itself was probably safe as all those planes were still there and not on midway. Perhaps there would have been a battle like midway when the us decided to recover it or a delayed Guadalcanal campaign might have sprang from defending the supply line to Australia. No effect on the ultimate outcome as the Essex and light carriers would still have appeared.k

[@johnslaughter5475]

Dr. Houghton's description of the breaking of JN-25 prior to Midway sounds an awful lot like how it is portrayed in the movie "Midway." This includes comments about the lack of hygiene.