![]() ![]() ![]() “That's not how we found out Midway was the target, it’s often interpreted that way,” Symonds clarifies. ![]() Two days later, a Japanese message was intercepted that reported “AF” was running out of fresh drinking water. Via submarine, they sent a message to the base on Midway instructing personnel there to radio Pearl Harbor that the salt-water evaporators on the base had broken down. West Coast.ĭetermined to dispel such doubts, Rochefort’s team famously devised a ruse. Rather than accept Midway as the target, Redman and others in Washington suspected the Japanese might be preparing another attack in the South Pacific, against Port Moseby, New Caledonia or Fiji, or even an attack on Hawaii or the U.S. Redman, director of OP-20-G, the Navy’s Code and Signals Section.Ĭodebreakers Set a Trap to Confirm Japanese Attack Officially, Rochefort reported to Captain John R. “Rochefort’s job was to gather information, raw data for the most part, and send to Washington,” says Craig Symonds, professor of maritime history at the Naval War College and author of The Battle of Midway. Back in March, a Japanese plane reporting weather conditions near the islands had also mentioned “AF,” suggesting strongly that the designator referred to Midway.īut not everyone was convinced the codebreakers were right. naval and air base on Midway Atoll, two tiny islands located in the central Pacific, around 1,200 miles northwest of Pearl Harbor. Station Hypo had little doubt as to what “AF” referred to: the U.S. The radio traffic they intercepted that May suggested that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind behind the Pearl Harbor attack, was preparing a major invasion, involving four Japanese aircraft carriers along with many other ships, at a location designated with the initials “AF.” Navy's cryptologic and intelligence developments from 1925 to 1947. Captain Joseph John Rochefort was a major figure in the U.S. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |