• EDUCATE
    EDUCATE

    ...our citizens to be cyber smart, and develop pathways for the future cyber workforce.

  • ENGAGE
    ENGAGE

    ...and convene partners to address emerging cyber and cryptologic issues.

  • COMMEMORATE
    COMMEMORATE

    ...our cryptologic history & those who served within the cryptologic community.

THE NCF VISION

Advance the nation’s interest in cyber and cryptology through leadership, education, and partnerships.

1944: U-505 Captured by U.S. Navy Task Group.

Thursday, June 4, 2020

On 4 June 1944 a U-505 was captured by U.S. Navy Task Group 22.3, headed by USS Guadalcanal off the coast of Africa. The cryptographic materials found on board assisted Allied codebreaking operations.

From Wikipedia:
The U-505 is one of six U-boats captured by Allied forces during World War II, and was the first warship to be captured by U.S. forces on the high seas since the War of 1812. In 1954, U-505 was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois and is now a museum ship.

The cipher materials captured on U-505 included the special "coordinate" code, the regular and officer Enigma settings for June 1944, the current short weather codebook, the short signal codebook, and bigram tables due to come into effect in July and August respectively.

The material from U-505 arrived at the decryption establishment at Bletchley Park on 20 June 1944. While the Allies were able to break most Enigma settings by intense cryptanalysis (including heavy use of the electromechanical "bombes"), having the Enigma settings for the U-boats saved a lot of work and time, which could be applied to other keys. The settings break was only valid until the end of June and therefore had an extremely limited outcome on the eventual cracking of the Enigma code, but having the weather and short signal codebooks and bigram tables made the work easier.

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  • The first hire at SIS was Annie Louise Newkirk, hired as a cryptographic clerk. Interesting note, when a phone call came in for someone working in the vault room, Ms. Newkirk would buzz the back room using a Morse code equivalent for the first initial of the individual's name. In honor of Women's History Month - click to learn about more female cryptologic pioneers!

About Us

The NCF's Vision is to strengthen trust in the digital ecosystem.

The NCF Mission: Advance the nation’s interest in cyber and cryptology as we:

Educate citizens to be cyber smart individuals, 

Develop pathways for the future cyber and cryptologic workforce, 

Engage and convene partners to address emerging cyber and cryptologic issues and, 

Commemorate our cryptologic history and those who served. 

The Foundation provides exceptional cryptologic programs, encourages young minds to learn about cryptology and to explore cyber-related career opportunities, hosts educational, cryptology-related exhibits at various community events, and honors the people— past and present—whose contributions to our national security protect and make possible our way of life.

The NCF also provides needed support to the National Cryptologic Museum (NCM), the first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community. Located adjacent to the National Security Agency (NSA) in Maryland, the NCM houses a unique and priceless collection of artifacts that represent our Nation's history in code making and code breaking, as well as a world class library of cryptologic media. The NCF has acquired rare and invaluable artifacts for the Museum and helps to support new educational and interactive exhibits.

The NCF is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Learn more about our MISSION, VISION, and VALUES.