BATTLE OF MIDWAYEXTERIOR EXHIBITS VIDEO:

CODE BREAKERS - KEY TO VICTORY

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In early 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States knew that the Imperial Japanese Navy was preparing to strike again. 1a

YouTube: How Pearl Harbor was Attacked. The True Story(2:20) – Japanese planes dropping bombs – F1(2:22) – Bombs/explosions – US battle ships – F2(2:39) – Ships on fire, black smoke – F3 (Add’l footage: 3:04-3:45)

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But what the U.S. Navy didn’t know was where…or when.

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YouTube: Pearl Harbor The View From Japan 1994:Footage of aftermath of PH attack – F4Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: (1:36-3:34) – burning/destroyed ships – F5

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That vital information was hidden in coded Japanese Naval message traffic. The code was made up of 33,000 words, phrases and letters expressed in strings of numbers. 2a

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle (9:50) – Jap code with Jap characters – F6

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Cracking the code would give the US a chance to strategically prepare for battle. Failure to break the code would spread the United States limited combat resources too thin, putting them at a strategic disadvantage. 2b

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle (9:10) – Jap code over battle footage. Jap armed forces – F7

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It was code breaking and traffic analysis that would become our best first line of defense. 2c

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Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle (9:10) – Jap code over battle footage. Jap armed forces – F7 Continued

Inside a windowless basement room code named “HYPO,” located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a team of U.S. Navy code breakers worked to intercept, decipher and analyze the Japanese Naval Code they named “JN-25.” 3a

Inside a windowless basement room code named “HYPO,” located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a team of U.S. Navy code breakers worked to intercept, decipher and analyze the Japanese Naval Code they named “JN-25.” 3b

JN-25

They relied on their superior language and mathematical skills and used simple punch card tabulating machines and cipher machines in an attempt to break the Japanese code. 3c

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle(8:02 ) Footage of punch cards stacked and CU of one superimpose – F8(8:17) Punch cards stacked up/guy working – F9

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This team of highly dedicated individuals was under the direction of Commander Joseph J. Rochefort. 3d

A brilliant linguist gifted in crypto analysis, Rochefort’s impeccable attention to detail had supplied accurate information about earlier Japanese battle plans - 4a

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- reports that convinced Admiral Chester Nimitz of the powerful value of Rochefort’s intelligence team. 4b

YouTube: Pearl Harbor the View from Japan 1994(28:50) – Nimitz & Rochefort working – F10(28:57) – Nimitz, Rochefort & team working (pull on still) – F11

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Rochefort and his team first unraveled the way the Japanese used their radio system.

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Then, using their fluency in Japanese they identified commonly used language styles. Patterns emerged and were soon recognized. 5b

Personnel assigned to Station HYPO often worked 36 hour shifts, deciphering hundreds of messages … 6a

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle

Footage of HYPO code breakers working -F12

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…selecting them from thousands transmitted by the Japanese each day, sorting through the clutter to find true kernels of intelligence. 6b

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle(7:47) – 2 guys working – pull – F13(7:54) – guys looking at punch cards – F14

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They finally experienced a breakthrough when they determined that the Japanese code group “AF” stood for two possible locations – the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, or Midway Island. 6c

“AF”

Rochefort and his unit identified AF as Midway Island. Based on their previous successes, Admiral Nimitz had confidence in their report. 6d

Yet Navy leaders in Washington were not convinced.

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Still photo: War Dept 1942 Still Photo: Washington leaders WWII

DVD: 360 Battle /History Channel: (7:32) – shot or radio tower turning *NOTE: could not grab a still off the DVD

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To satisfy the doubters and validate his information, Rochefort developed a plan to send an un-coded message to see if the Japanese would intercept it and respond.

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To satisfy the doubters and validate his information, Rochefort developed a plan to send an un-coded message to see if the Japanese would intercept it and respond.

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To satisfy the doubters and validate his information, Rochefort developed a plan to send an un-coded message to see if the Japanese would intercept it and respond.

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To satisfy the doubters and validate his information, Rochefort developed a plan to send an un-coded message to see if the Japanese would intercept it and respond.

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To satisfy the doubters and validate his information, Rochefort developed a plan to send an un-coded message to see if the Japanese would intercept it and respond.

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The message that “water supplies were running low on Midway Island,” was intercepted by the Japanese. They advised their commanders, “water supplies are low on ‘AF’.” 8a

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle (13:45) – telegraph of low water supply/CU of message –

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The message that “water supplies were running low on Midway Island,” was intercepted by the Japanese. They advised their commanders, “water supplies are low on ‘AF’.” 8b

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle (13:45) – telegraph of low water supply/CU of message –

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“WATER SUPPLIES ARE RUNNING LOW ON MIDWAY ISLAND.”

The message that “water supplies were running low on Midway Island,” was intercepted by the Japanese. They advised their commanders, “water supplies are low on ‘AF’.” 8c

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle (13:45) – telegraph of low water supply/CU of message –

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“WATER SUPPLIES ARE RUNNING LOW ON MIDWAY ISLAND.”

“WATER SUPPLIES ARE RUNNING

LOW ON AF.”

Intelligence confirmed! “AF” was the code for Midway. Soon, a battle strategy was in place to defend the Island. 9a

YouTube: Battle of Midway (Ford)(1:35) – US ships/boats docked at Midway – F16(2:00) – US Marines marching on Midway– F17

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Station HYPO also discovered the date code in JN-25, and later uncovered details on Japanese ships and aircraft assigned to attack Midway. 9b

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YouTube: War in the Pacific, Coral Sea(6:22) – Naval radio guys (intercepting messages) – F19

YouTube: Admiral Yamamoto Documentary(1:28) Japanese radio / transmitter machine – F18

HYPO used only select pieces of the code to keep the Japanese from knowing that the US was monitoring their transmissions. 10a

YouTube: War in the Pacific, Coral Sea(6:22) – Naval radio guys (intercepting messages) – F20

Vimeo: Codebreaking Victory: The Midway Battle – (12:50) – Capitan Holmes (HYPO personnel) – F21

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As a result, the Japanese never learned that their Midway code was deciphered until after the war. 10b

YouTube: Pearl Harbor the View from Japan 1994(18:04) – Yamamoto at desk – F22(15:44) – Japanese pilots on deck meeting – F23(:18) – Jap carrier deck with planes ready & flight crews – F24

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Because of Commander Rochefort and his code breakers’ historic breakthrough, the US knew to prepare for an attack on Midway Island. 11

YouTube: Battle of Midway (Ford):(6:16) – Anti-aircraft guns on Midway – F25(7:16) – Damage/burning bldgs – F26(7:37) – US troops raising Am. flag – F27(7:56) – black smoke from burning bldgs – F28

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Winning the Battle of Midway kept Japan from advancing their conquest in the Pacific and shortened the war by more than a year. 12a

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YouTube: Battle of Midway (Ford):(6:09) – Anti-aircraft guns on Midway – F29(8:04) – WS burning buildings – F30(12:54) – Two US troops on Midway after attack – F31

It was also a defining moment for code breaking, helping the US Navy to win the most strategic battle in the Second World War. 12b

Various stills as options