The Secret in Building 26: The Untold Story of How America Broke the Final U-boat Enigma Code

by Jim Debrosse, Colin Burke

For the first time, the inside story of the brilliant American engineer who defeated Enigma and the Nazi code-masters

Much has been written about the success of the British “Ultra” program in cracking the Germans’ Enigma code early in World War II, but few know what really happened in 1942, when the Germans added a fourth rotor to the machine that created the already challenging naval code and plunged Allied intelligence into darkness.

Enter one Joe Desch, an unassuming but brilliant engineer at the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio, who was given the task of creating a machine to break the new Enigma settings. It was an enterprise that rivaled the Manhattan Project for secrecy and complexity–and nearly drove Desch to a breakdown. Under enormous pressure, he succeeded in creating a 5,000-pound electromechanical monster known as the Desch Bombe, which helped turn the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic–but not before a disgruntled co-worker attempted to leak information about the machine to the Nazis.

After toiling anonymously–it even took his daughter years to learn of his accomplishments–Desch was awarded the National Medal of Merit, the country’s highest civilian honor. In The Secret in Building 26, the entire thrilling story of the final triumph over Enigma is finally told.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Military History, Technology, World War II

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and researched. A good combination of the human story of the NCR engineers and navy WAVES involved in the development and manufacture of the bombe decoding machines in WW2. Maybe not the first book to read about American navy decoding work during the war. It helps to know what the Navy did with the machines once they were sent to Washington DC to be used. The Woman Who Smashed Codes, about Elizabeth Friedman is good background, and Code Girls about the naval code breaking complex in DC during the war are great books to read before this.

[MD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I became fascinated by code breaking after seeing the film “Enigma” when it came out and sought out all of the books I could find on it. I found a few about the English and Polish efforts, but I saw almost nothing about what was happening in the US other than mention in passing that the Americans had broken Purple, a Japanese code. I don’t know how I missed finding this book for so long.

I learned so much from this! The US code breaking effort was huge. The book deals primarily with Navy efforts at NCR (yes, that NCR!) related to Enigma codes but also touches on efforts in the UK and elsewhere in the US government (Army, NSA) with an occasional mention of IBM. And focuses particularly on the designing and building of the Bombes though it also touches on how they were used and on other codebreaking methods.

I liked that the authors named the people who were involved in these efforts where they could. They were able to personally interview a surprising number of the people who were actually involved at the time. I’m glad that at least some of these people’s contributions will not be lost to history now.

[Kevin Keir · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great untold story of America's efforts in breaking the German naval Enigma. When you say the word Enigma, Bletchley park(GCHQ) and Great Britain is what comes to most people's mind. Little do people know that starting in late 1942 the US, paired with NCR(National Cash Register...yes they made exactly what you think) began an enormous effort, comparable to the Manhattan Project, to design and build an decryption device to break the 4 wheeled German Naval Engima. Led by an unsung engineer named Joseph Desch, The United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory struggled and ultimately triumphed, the first US Bombe being completed and tested on May 3rd, 1943.

[John Kues · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read. Some of it is very technical and a bit hard to read, but the facts, plus the hardships the people involved went through, the stress and the guilt! NCR's involvement and the work accomplished in a contact with the Navy at no profit is difficult to comprehend. NCR was such a big corporation, and now and was reduced to nearly nothing today because of some poor decisions. The story of Joe Desch, who years later received the National Metal of Merit, yet wasn't allowed to tell anyone. He was involved with Alan Turing in solving the German code and developing the machines to break it. The movie (The Imitation Game) about Alan Turing never mentioned the role of the NCR in the work.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a fascinating look into the mental game played by the Allies and Germans. The book, however was somewhat "choppy" in it's storyline as it is written completely as a historical reference. The book follows the subject's roles during WWII and jumps to a new subject after the prior's role is told. This is what makes the story somewhat fractured.

Otherwise a great book that gives a description of the mental strain caused on so few people over the effort to break Enigma.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Superbly written and researched. The combination of DDN writer and Historian/researcher have made for a succinctly written history about this oft forgotten chapter in WW2 and American history. Dayton Ohio has rich, and deep roots across the American landscape and this book brings that to the forefront.

[Paulcbry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This must have been a difficult book to write since some of the background material in cracking the Enigma code is still classified. I would have liked to see more illustrations of the bombe since the complexity of the machine makes it difficult to visualize. But given the limitations of surviving documents, a riveting account.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have to like history, and it helps if you have some technical background, electrical, engineering or something of the nature. It's a very dry read, but very interesting to technical history buffs.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This can be a dry book, but I found it fascinating. If you already have a good working knowledge about WWII code breaking and Bletchley Park, this is a four star book. If you don't bring a lot of prior knowledge to the table, its only a three star book.

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro / background reading to the code-breaking progress and development during World War II.

[Chuck Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect book to accompany "The Code Breakers," I really get in to books of code breaking and the history of the various enigma machines of WWII.

[John Grafton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for computer nerds who grew up in Dayton, Ohio (myself included). May be a bit of a bore for others.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read most of it. Wouldn't recommend it.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit less interesting than I had hoped. Lots of tedious details about actual codes. Personal stories seemed, to me, to be too scarce.

[Andrew Scholes]

I had not known much of what was discussed. It was also interesting to hear of some of the history in the buildings around Dayton or that used to be around.