412:, had the idea of faking a failure of the water supply on Midway Island. He suggested using an unencrypted emergency warning in the hope of provoking a Japanese response, thus establishing whether Midway was a target. Rochefort took the idea to Layton, who put it to Nimitz. Nimitz approved, and the garrison commander was told by submarine cable to immediately radio in "plain-language" an emergency request for water as an explosion in the water desalination system meant that they had only enough water for two weeks. An apparently "follow-up" report was to be made in one of the strip-cipher code systems that the Japanese were known to have captured on Wake. As the plan was to convince Washington, Rochefort tactfully let Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (
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458:, the recommendation was rejected by King who unfairly considered Rochefort “one of the most unmilitary-looking officers he had ever encountered.” Rochefort also told Nimitz to stop the recommendation since it would only "make trouble". Other sources suggest Rochefort received no official recognition during his lifetime because he was made a scapegoat for the embarrassment of OP-20-G. CDR John Redman (whose brother was the influential Rear Admiral
462:) complained to King about the operation of the Hawaii cryptologic station; as a result, Rochefort was reassigned from cryptanalysis to command the floating dry dock ABSD-2 at San Francisco. Rochefort never served at sea again. The fact that Rochefort received no higher recognition at the time is considered by some to have been an outrage and an example of King’s counterproductive personal vendettas. However, he was decorated with the
378:), combined to break enough JN-25 traffic to provide useful intelligence reports and assessments regarding Japanese force disposition and intentions in early 1942. Rochefort would often go for days without emerging from his bunker, where he and his staff spent 12 hours a day, or even longer, working to decode Japanese radio traffic. He often wore slippers and a bathrobe with his khaki uniform and sometimes went days without bathing.
40:
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433:, who disliked Rochefort intensely, still was not convinced, however, as to the date of the attack. The date-time data in Japanese naval messages was "superenciphered," or encrypted even before it was encoded in JN-25. HYPO made their all-out effort to crack this by searching the stacks of printouts and
218:
while still in high school in Los
Angeles, without obtaining a diploma. He enlisted in the Navy in 1918, lying that he was born in 1898 so as to appear almost 21 and eligible for the service. This adjustment lasted his entire career. He was commissioned as an Ensign after a 14 June 1919 graduation
441:
for discovering "the method that the
Japanese had used to lock up their date-time groups." An intercept of 26 May with orders for two destroyer groups escorting invasion transports was analyzed with this table and "really clinched the pivotal date of the operation" as either 4 or 5 June.
401:, a communications officer untrained in cryptanalysis) agreed the attack was scheduled for mid-June, not late May or early June, as Rochefort maintained. Redman also said that Rochefort was being "un-cooperative", and should concentrate on additive recovery. Admiral
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During May 1942, Rochefort and his group decrypted, translated, reviewed, analyzed, and reported as many as 140 messages per day. During the week before Nimitz issued his final orders, "decrypts were being processed at the rate of five hundred to a thousand a day."
416:) notify the main objects of the deception (Washington) of the Japanese message by reporting a message from the AF Air Unit saying that they had only enough water for two weeks: "This will confirm identity of AF". Rochefort then sent a reminder on Friday.
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Prior to 1941, Rochefort spent nine years in cryptologic or intelligence-related assignments and fourteen years at sea with the U.S. Fleet in positions of increasing responsibility.
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Sr., whom he first met on the voyage to Tokyo where both men were sent to learn
Japanese at the Navy's request. In 1941, Layton was the chief intelligence officer for Admiral
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equipment, confirming
Rochefort's analysis. Layton notes the instructions also "produced an unexpected bonus". They revealed the assault was to come before mid-June.
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321:. Rochefort's team was assigned to break the Japanese Navy's most secure cypher system, the Flag Officers Code, while Navy cryptographers at
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for five-digit number sequences. After finding low-grade codes, the team set about to unravel the cipher itself. Layton credits
Lieutenant
358:, the highest level diplomatic cypher, in the months before the Japanese attack, on the orders of the director of the War Plans Division,
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A fellow officer observed that
Rochefort had a penchant for solving crossword puzzles and adept skills at playing the advanced card game
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in 1924. He then served a stint as second chief of the
Division of Naval Communications' newly created cryptanalytic organization,
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405:, Nimitz's superior in Washington, was persuaded by OP-20-G. Rochefort believed an unknown codegroup, AF, referred to Midway.
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After the
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Station HYPO maintained the coming
Japanese attack would be in the Central Pacific, and convinced Admiral
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Layton, Edwin T., Admiral, USN, Ret., with Pineau, Roger, Captain USNR, Ret., and
Costello, John,
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Rochefort headed the Pacific Strategic Intelligence Group in Washington after the war. He died in
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The Japanese took the bait. Within hours they broadcast instructions to load additional water
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780:(Bantam, 1976). They succeeded in making limited breaks by October 1940 and December 1941.
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In early 1941, Laurance Safford, again chief of OP-20-G in Washington, sent Rochefort to
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in Washington (NEGAT, "N" for Navy Department) concentrated on the main fleet cipher,
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Rochefort's tours ashore included cryptanalytic training as an assistant to Captain
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1162:"Pearl Harbor Revisited: United States Navy Communications Intelligence, 1924–1941"
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1141:"How Cryptology enabled the United States to turn the tide in the Pacific War"
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651:(Reprint ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 574.
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as Rochefort was an expert Japanese linguist and trained cryptanalyst.
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from 1929 to 1932. He had a two-year intelligence assignment in the
1062:(Press release). National Security Agency | Central Security Service
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39:
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Battle Of Wits: The Complete Story Of Codebreaking In World War II
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Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II
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Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power
586:. Rochefort died a month after the movie premiered. In 2019 film
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186:(May 12, 1900 – July 20, 1976) was an American naval officer and
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Please Note: incorrectly gives Rochefort's year of birth as 1898
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facility within a Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam Annex, Hawaii.
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And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway – Breaking the Secrets
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And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway – Breaking the Secrets
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1116:"Afterthoughts: Oral history of Captain Joseph Rochefort, USN"
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Rochefort handpicked many of HYPO's staff, and by the time of
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NSA/CSS Public and Media Affairs Office (January 6, 2012).
1164:. Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency
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at the end of the War over Admiral King’s objection.
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Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor
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American naval officer and cryptanalyst (1900–1976)
1252:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal
914:. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. p.
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701:. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. p.
313:had gotten many of the Navy's best cryptanalysts,
262:The US Navy sent him to Japan for training in the
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340:Rochefort had a close working relationship with
219:from the US Navy's Steam Engineering School at
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1222:United States Navy personnel of World War II
494:. In 1986, he was posthumously awarded the
1143:. National Security Agency. Archived from
750:Hanson, Victor Davis (December 18, 2007).
38:
1247:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
454:When Nimitz recommended Rochefort for a
889:Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.427–8.
850:Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.421–2.
828:Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.412–4.
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1014:"Valor awards for Joseph J. Rochefort"
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898:Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.422.
348:, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet (
1217:Military personnel from Dayton, Ohio
880:Layton, Pineau, and Costello, p. 421
756:. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
745:
743:
613:"Social Security Death Index Search"
498:. In 2000, he was inducted into the
1060:"NSA/CSS Unveils New Hawaii Center"
1003:Holmes, Double-Edged Secrets, p.117
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1272:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
14:
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1257:Recipients of the Legion of Merit
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554:CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building
19:For the Canadian politician, see
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518:Navy Distinguished Service Medal
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492:Navy Distinguished Service Medal
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168:Navy Distinguished Service Medal
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294:to become officer in charge of
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237:and recommended him for a Navy
221:Stevens Institute of Technology
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190:. He was a major figure in the
865:A Glorious Page in Our History
815:Layton, Pineau, and Costello,
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627:note: lists year of birth 1901
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298:("H" for Hawaii in the Navy's
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1267:American expatriates in Japan
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582:, Rochefort was portrayed by
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530:Presidential Medal of Freedom
496:Presidential Medal of Freedom
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176:Presidential Medal of Freedom
1160:Frederick D. Parker (1994).
804:First South Pacific Campaign
695:Stinnett, Robert B. (2001).
592:, he was portrayed by actor
7:
1262:United States Navy officers
1242:20th-century cryptographers
908:Budiansky, Stephen (2000).
625:"California Death Records"
317:, and linguists, including
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1177:Stephen Budiansky (2000).
1039:"California Death Records"
311:the attack on Pearl Harbor
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214:. In 1917, he joined the
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1095:"America's Code Breaker"
1020:. Militarytimes Websites
952:. Bantam Press. p.
793:(New York, 1985), p.115.
647:Carlson, Elliot (2013).
504:Central Security Service
500:National Security Agency
372:Far East Combined Bureau
329:in the Philippines) and
1232:American cryptographers
1183:. Simon & Schuster.
1018:valor.militarytimes.com
944:Smith, Michael (2000).
552:On 6 January 2012, the
486:In 1985, Rochefort was
268:Eleventh Naval District
259:, from 1926 to 1929.
89:Inglewood Park Cemetery
21:Joseph Irenée Rochefort
1044:March 7, 2018, at the
633:March 7, 2018, at the
274:, from 1936 to 1938.
210:Rochefort was born in
1237:Intelligence analysts
1126:on September 28, 2007
556:was dedicated at the
184:Joseph John Rochefort
116:Years of service
1085:NSA online biography
992:Double-Edged Secrets
970:Double-Edged Secrets
932:Double-Edged Secrets
869:Double-Edged Secrets
839:Double-Edged Secrets
736:Double-Edged Secrets
476:Torrance, California
253:Agnes Meyer Driscoll
77:Torrance, California
1147:on December 9, 2006
1139:Patrick D. Weadon.
948:The Emperor's Codes
725:Stinnett. pp.74–76.
649:Joe Rochefort's War
568:In the 1976 movie
360:Richmond K. Turner
216:United States Navy
192:United States Navy
110:United States Navy
925:978-0-684-85932-3
763:978-0-307-42518-8
712:978-0-7432-0129-2
383:Chester W. Nimitz
376:Dutch East Indies
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346:Husband E. Kimmel
300:phonetic alphabet
264:Japanese language
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1188:Joseph Rochefort
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366:Battle of Midway
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302:at the time) in
249:Laurance Safford
243:Washington, D.C.
196:Battle of Midway
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1192:Find a Grave
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1166:. Retrieved
1151:December 16,
1149:. Retrieved
1145:the original
1130:December 16,
1128:. Retrieved
1124:the original
1119:
1105:December 16,
1103:. Retrieved
1099:the original
1093:Herb Kugel.
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1064:. Retrieved
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188:cryptanalyst
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140:Station Hypo
72:(1976-07-20)
60:Dayton, Ohio
57:May 12, 1900
25:
1212:1976 deaths
1207:1900 births
1168:January 19,
1114:Rochefort.
802:Lundstrom,
580:Henry Fonda
478:, aged 76.
403:Ernest King
399:John Redman
389:, possibly
200:Pacific War
1201:Categories
968:; Holmes,
930:; Holmes,
600:References
564:Portrayals
470:After WWII
158:Korean War
144:USS ABSD-2
96:Allegiance
53:1900-05-12
1120:CRYPTOLOG
859:Cressman
272:San Diego
241:class in
121:1950–1953
119:1918–1947
1066:June 29,
1042:Archived
1024:April 4,
990:Holmes,
837:Holmes,
819:, p.421.
806:, p.155.
631:Archived
136:Commands
104:Service/
428:Admiral
351:CINCPAC
331:OP-20-G
257:OP-20-G
130:Captain
960:
922:
861:et al.
760:
709:
655:
589:Midway
571:Midway
548:Legacy
482:Awards
414:FRUMEL
356:Purple
327:Cavite
292:Hawaii
227:Cuyama
164:Awards
106:branch
84:Buried
79:, U.S.
62:, U.S.
574:with
335:JN-25
1170:2023
1153:2006
1132:2006
1107:2006
1068:2012
1026:2017
958:ISBN
920:ISBN
758:ISBN
707:ISBN
653:ISBN
578:and
225:USS
126:Rank
67:Died
47:Born
1190:at
954:144
558:NSA
393:in
1203::
1118:.
1016:.
956:.
918:.
916:22
863:,
742:^
705:.
703:61
685:^
596:.
502:,
362:.
337:.
270:,
230:.
202:.
1172:.
1155:.
1134:.
1109:.
1070:.
1028:.
994:.
972:.
966:.
934:.
928:.
871:.
841:.
766:.
715:.
661:.
325:(
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23:.
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