Sgt. Mac's Blog

Japanese Cipher Machines and Cryptology:

The  Japanese  Model ’31 Cipher Machine, led to a diplomatic machine known to the U.S. Army as RED. Another machine designed for the Japanese Navy was known as Naval attaché RED or the “M-1.” Agnes Myer Driscoll, Technical Assistant to the Officer in Charge, solved the complex code by 1935. The Americans designed their own version of the Japanese machine at the Washington Navy Yard.

An original Japanese version, required the user to crank a handle after every letter. The Japanese Navy redesigned it, making it completely electrical and more efficient. They named this model 97 Siki Inziki aka the ’37 model printer. The diplomatic version was PURPLE, while the Naval attaché and fleet versions were known as CORAL and JADE.

The JADE machine didn’t live up to expectations in the field and it’s use disbanded.

One of the users of CORAL was Vice Admiral Abe Hiroaki, of the Imperial Japanese Navy.(Nicknamed “Honest Abe,” by the Americans). As a Japanese representative to the Axis powers, he passed considerable information about German deployments through the CORAL system. The translated messages, provided the Allies with essential information in the European theater of war.

Source/Credits:

nsa.gov
Purple Cipher Machine-public-domain-content.com
Imperial Japanese navy Jade code machine 1.jpg, Lic.-CC BY-SA 2.5
Pictures taken by Mark Pellegrini at the US National Cryptologic Museum. 28 December 2007