Enigma Machine

If you want a peek at the device that shortened WWII by an estimated three years, head on down to the Naval Gallery to check out the famous Enigma Machine.

This machine looks like a briefcase full of gears, keys, and other mechanisms. It was first invented in 1918 and was used by Germans to encode and decode vital information and coordinate U-boat attacks.

With more than 159 quintillion different settings, the Enigma Machine was nearly impossible to crack, but mathematician Alan Turing and his team did just that by creating their own Enigma Machine and finding a weak spot in the Nazi-encrypted messages. With the code cracked, Allied Forces could actively avoid danger and go after enemy U-boats.

The Enigma Machine at the Naval Gallery is known as the Enigma-K and was introduced in 1927.