Mar 25, 2016

The National Cryptologic Museum, which opened in 1993, is the National Security Agency’s “principal gateway to the public.”

: Steve Johnson of Fairhaven NJ looks at an exhibit of communications devices at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: A wood carving nicknamed “The Thing” is a replica of the Great Seal of the United States that was presented by Soviet school children to the U.S. Ambassador in 1945. The carving, which contained an undetected bugging device, hung in his residence in Moscow and recorded conversations until it was detected in 1952. The replica is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a detail of a Japanese Enigma-type cypher machine from World War II that is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: A man walks by the Frostburg Supercomputer, left, at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Kimberly Sauer of Warrenton VA looks at a display of Enigma cipher machines at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is an SME PED, (Secure Mobile Environment Portable Encryption Device) which was the first rugged handheld mobile device that allowed users in the FBI and the U.S. military to switch between classified and unclassified networks. It iwas used around 2007-2008 and is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a detail of a KSD 64 Key Device on display at the National Cryptologic Museum. They are crypto ignition keys that were used to unlock devices for use in their secure modes. Over a million were produced. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This cipher machine called the Hebern Electric Code Machine was invented by Edward Hebern of California around 1918. It is made of solid brass and is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a display of SIGSALY items at the National Cryptologic Museum. SIGSALY enabled the use of a random noise “mask” to encrypt voice conversations. It was a secure speech system used in World War II. The recordings were then unscrambled on the receiving end. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Kimberly Sauer of Warrenton, VA, tries out a real Enigma cipher machine at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a detail from a display showing a US Intercept Station in Verdun, France, that was used to monitor radio transmissions during World War I. It is at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: A Cray Research XMP 24, an early supercomputer that was used by the NSA from 1983-1993 is seen at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Larry Will of Ontario, Canada, looks at Vietnam War-era communications equipment in a display case at the National Cryptologic Museum. He said he used identical equipment during his years in the Canadian Army Signal Corps. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Steve Johnson of Fairhaven, NJ, looks at an exhibit about the Battle of Midway at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: A SIGABA cipher machine that was used for President Roosevelt’s communications during his World War II conferences with Winston Churchill is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

Photos and text by Barbara Haddock Taylor

Museum visitors catch glimpses into the secret world of our nation’s efforts at codemaking and codebreaking throughout its history, from the time of Thomas Jefferson until the early 2000s. Thousands of artifacts help tell the story of the United States’ efforts to keep its secrets and to learn those of other nations.

Several of the exhibits focus on the many unsung heroes in the cryptology world, such as the Navajo codebreakers of World War II and Frank Rowlett, an American who invented the SIGABA machine, a message encryption machine with 15 rotors whose code was never broken and was used from World War II until the 1950s.

Visitors can see fascinating machines such as the Frostburg Super Computer, used from 1990 until 1997, which did computations at the rate of 65 billion per second. They can encrypt their own message on a genuine German “Enigma” machine from World War II, which was considered unbreakable until a group of mathematicians from Poland solved the cipher system. Their efforts enabled the United States and its allies to read all the German plans for World War II.

Codemaking and codebreaking on display at the National Cryptologic Museum

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