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280:, the Japanese fleet's operational code used for the most important of messages. She successfully solved the cipher component of the "5-num" system which used number groups as substitutes for words and numbers which was further encrypted with a digital cipher. After that, the Navy could read some standard format messages, such as weather reports, but the bulk of the messages remained to be discovered. This work was later developed and exploited after the attack on
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Staying with the Navy as a civilian, Mrs. Driscoll was instrumental in breaking
Japanese naval systems between the wars. In 1930, she solved the Japanese system used during their Grand Maneuvers. The information learned indicated that the Japanese knew American operational plans. Later, she broke the
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who had traveled to the United States to advise her. Besides, the US and UK did not communicate effectively and her approach was both fruitless and had been tried by the
British, who determined that it was unlikely to work. Ultimately this work was superseded by the US-UK cryptologic exchanges of
341:). After almost two years of work on her new assignment, Driscoll and her team were unable to make progress in solving the German device. That was partly due to her unwillingness to use machine support or a mathematical approach, but she also refused the help of British code breakers from
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Her efforts were not limited to manual systems; she was involved also in the emerging machine technology of the time, which was being applied both to making and breaking ciphers. In her first days in the Code and Signal section, she co-developed one of the U.S. Navy's cipher machines, the
170:, having majored in mathematics and physics and studied foreign languages, statistics and music. She was fluent in English, French, German, Latin and Japanese. From her earliest days as a college student, she pursued technical and scientific studies. After graduation, she moved to
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Japanese "Blue Book" which required solving both the code and the overlaying cipher simultaneously. Mrs. Driscoll also assisted in the development of an early cipher machine and encouraged the use of tabulating machines for cryptanalysis. She retired from NSA in 1959.
248:, creator of the fledgling Hebern Electric Code Company, was attempting to create a more secure rotor-driven cipher machine. Driscoll left the Navy to test the machine, but it failed to deliver a more secure encryption system. She returned to the Navy in spring 1924.
198:. After the war ended, she made use of an option to continue working at her post as a civilian. Except for a two-year break, when she worked for a private firm, she remained a leading cryptanalyst for the U.S. Navy until 1949.
397:'s Hall of Honor. In 2017, an Ohio Historical Marker was placed in front of the Meyer home in Westerville honoring Agnes Meyer Driscoll and her achievements, referring to her as "the first lady of naval cryptology."
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In 1943, she worked with a team to break the
Japanese cipher Coral. It was broken two months later, although Driscoll is said to have had little influence on the project.
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From 1946 until her retirement from the
National Security Agency, she filled a number of positions, but she did not advance to the ranks of senior leadership.
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785:. Center for Cryptologic History Special Series, Volume 10. Washington, DC: National Security Agency: Center for Cryptologic History
273:(also known to the U.S. as the ORANGE machine), which was used to encrypt the messages of Japanese naval attaches around the world.
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and after some time in the Postal Cable and
Censorship Office she was assigned to the Code and Signal section of the
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in 1952. While with the Armed Forces
Security Agency she may have contributed to attacking a cipher called
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After starting the work against JN-25, Driscoll was transferred to a new group, which attacked the German
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awarded
Driscoll $ 15,000, which she shared with the widow of the machine's co-inventor, William Greshem.
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Driscoll was part of the navy contingent that joined the new national cryptologic agencies, firstly the
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and is now home to the Anti-Saloon League Museum and the
Westerville Local History Center.
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America had just started allowing women to enlist, Driscoll enlisted in the
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The original version of this article appears to have been copied from the
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During this period, Driscoll mentored the following naval cryptographers:
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In 1920, while continuing to work with the Navy, Driscoll studied at the
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In 1945, she appears to have worked on attacking
Russian ciphers.
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449:"Biographies of Women Mathematicians: Agnes Meyer Driscoll"
190:. She was recruited at the highest possible rank of chief
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Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
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for Agnes Meyer Driscoll, which is in the public domain.
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She retired from Armed Forces Security Agency in 1959.
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On June 22, 1918, about one year after America entered
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and was known as "the first lady of naval cryptology."
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251:In August 1924, she married Michael Driscoll, a
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500:"Agnes Meyer Driscoll | American cryptologist"
269:In early 1935, Driscoll led the attack on the
640:"Cryptologic Almanac 50th Anniversary Series"
337:ciphers using a catalog approach (similar to
142:. In 1909, he donated the family home to the
134:, in 1889, Driscoll moved with her family to
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162:from 1907 to 1909. In 1911, she received a
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782:The Neglected Giant: Agnes Meyer Driscoll
675:. New York: Scribner. pp. 415, 417.
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276:In 1939, she made important inroads into
950:American women civilians in World War II
418:"Agnes Meyer Driscoll Historical Marker"
209:, where fellow code breakers, including
940:National Security Agency cryptographers
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985:20th-century American women scientists
930:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
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925:20th-century American women educators
597:Hanyok, Robert (September 12, 2020).
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955:20th-century American mathematicians
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271:Japanese M-1 cipher machine
260:Lieutenant Joseph Rochefort
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130:Born Agnes May Meyer in
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765:NSA Hall of Honor entry
607:Encyclopædia Britannica
504:Encyclopedia Britannica
862:"Agnes Meyer Driscoll"
848:"Agnes Meyer Driscoll"
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599:"Agnes Meyer Driscoll"
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528:"Agnes Meyer Driscoll"
244:In 1923, the inventor
239:United States Congress
235:Communications Machine
219:American Black Chamber
203:Riverbank Laboratories
935:Intelligence analysts
716:on September 18, 2013
709:. NSA. Archived from
652:on September 18, 2013
645:. NSA. Archived from
359:in 1949 and then the
168:Ohio State University
94:Ohio State University
980:Yeoman (F) personnel
812:United States portal
671:Kahn, David (1996).
284:for the rest of the
105:Agnes Meyer Driscoll
35:Agnes Meyer, aged 21
23:Agnes Meyer Driscoll
856:Agnes Scott College
613:on October 10, 2016
457:Agnes Scott College
211:William F. Friedman
188:United States Navy
158:Driscoll attended
144:Anti-Saloon League
63:September 16, 1971
682:978-0-684-83130-5
673:The Code Breakers
160:Otterbein College
140:Otterbein College
136:Westerville, Ohio
132:Geneseo, Illinois
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740:www.nsa.gov
313:Thomas Dyer
286:Pacific War
184:World War I
126:Early years
116:World War I
889:Categories
789:2023-08-08
750:2021-07-28
617:August 13,
427:2021-07-28
401:References
75:Miss Aggie
346:1942–43.
329:1940–1959
178:1918–1939
154:Education
82:Education
720:June 14,
656:June 14,
541:June 14,
461:Archived
255:lawyer.
109:American
77:Madame X
872:July 2,
561:nsa.gov
221:run by
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389:Honors
365:Venona
335:Enigma
192:yeoman
714:(PDF)
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377:Death
278:JN-25
874:2013
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677:ISBN
658:2014
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543:2014
511:2019
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