Other editions of book Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes, 1939–1943

“An absorbing and thoroughly well documented account” of WWII naval intelligence and the Allied hunt for the Nazi code machine known as the Enigma (Warship). From the start of World War II to mid-1943, British and American naval forces fought a desperate battle against German submarine wolfpacks. And the Allies might have lost the struggle at sea without an astounding intelligence coup. Here, the author brings to life the race to break the German U-boat codes. As the Battle of the Atlantic raged, Hitler’s U-boats reigned. To combat the growing crisis, ingenious amateurs joined the nucleus of dedicated professionals at Bletchley Park to unlock the continually changing German naval codes. Their mission: to read the U-boat messages of Hitler’s cipher device, the Enigma. They first found success with the capture of U-110,—which yielded the Enigma machine itself and a trove of secret documents. Then the weather ship Lauenburg seized near the Arctic ice pack provided code settings for an entire month. Finally, two sailors rescued a German weather cipher that enabled the team at Bletchley to solve the Enigma after a year-long blackout. In “a highly recommended account with a wealth of materials” Seizing the Enigma tells the story of a determined corps of people who helped turn the tide of the war (Naval Historical Foundation).

For almost four desperate years, from 1939 to the middle of 1943, the British and, in time, American navies fought a savage, losing battle against German U-boat wolf-packs. The Allies might never have turned the tide without an intelligence coup. The race to break the German U-boat codes is one of the greatest untold stories of the Second World War. Kahn expertly brings this tale to life in this updated edition of his classic book.Soon after war broke out, Hitler’s U-boats began to sever Allied lifelines. In the grey wasteland of the North Atlantic, submarines prowled; at night, the sky lit up with the flames of torpedoed and sinking merchant ships and tankers.To meet the growing crisis, ingenious amateurs joined the nucleus of dedicated professionals at Bletchley Park. As the Battle of the Atlantic raged, they raced to unlock the continually changing German naval codes. Their mission: to read the U-boat messages of Hitler’s cipher device, the Enigma.Critical to their success was a series of raids at sea. U-110, captured intact in the mid-Atlantic, yielded an example of the Enigma machine itself – as well as a trove of secret documents. The weather ship Lauenburg, seized near the Arctic ice pack, provided code-settings for an entire month. In the Mediterranean, two sailors rescued a German weather cipher than enabled the team at Bletchley to solve the Enigma after a yearlong blackout.

Seizing the Enigma tells the thrilling story of the Royal Navy's battle to crack the Germans' supposedly unbreakable U-boat Enigma code, which would allow the vital Allied convoys in the North Atlantic to be routed away from Dönitz's wolfpacks. This battle was fought both on shore and at sea: by an assortment of scientists, chess champions and linguists, including Alan Turing, the father of the modern computer, who struggled to crack Enigma at Bletchley Park, and in the Atlantic by sailors and intelligence officers, such as Ian Fleming, the future creator of James Bond, who undertook dangerous and often fatal missions to seize the essential encryption keys and Enigma machine components from Kriegsmarine surface ships and U-boats. Kahn expertly brings this unparalleled intelligence operation to life in this revised paperback edition of his classic book.