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Navy WAVES
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Enlist in the WAVES
1943
John Falter, USNR
The Mariners' Museum
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After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941, the U.S. Navy began building more ships and creating new bases
and facilities.
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Proud--I'll Say
1943
John Falter, USNR
The Mariners' Museum
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Facing a shortage of men for active and support
jobs, in January 1942 the Secretary of the Navy petitioned the U.S.
Congress for a women's reserve. Also in January 1942, the Office of
Naval Intelligence began looking to colleges for women who could work
in intelligence. Once the training was completed, the women were sworn
in as ensigns in the U.S. Navy.
In July 1942, the Navy Women's Reserve Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The organization's official name became Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, or "WAVES."The word "emergency" was intended to denote the temporary nature of the women's service. As the war continued, more WAVES were sent overseas to cover noncombat duties. By 1945 there were more than 84,000 women enlisted in the navy.
Codebreaking
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Women Working to Decipher Codes
1944
The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives
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WAVE at a Bombe Decoding Machine
The Mariners' Museum Research
Library and Archives
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Plotting Sheet
Courtesy of the National Archives
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Between June and August 1942, Axis submarines sank
more than 600 Allied ships, and the need to intercept German radio
signals became more urgent. Allied intelligence officers on both sides
of the Atlantic hoped to break the encrypted codes that were allowing
Axis commanders to organize and carry out attacks on Allied convoys.
The Axis codes created by the "Enigma" machine were difficult
to break because they changed so often. When Polish and French resistance
fighters captured parts of the Enigma machine, they delivered the
information to the British, who developed a decoding device called
the "Bombe."British and American codebreakers, including
many WAVES, used this new high- speed system to decipher the messages
sent by German U-boat captains. Many of the WAVES did not understand
the messages, because the decoding had been broken into a series of
steps. Once the messages were decoded, the position of the U-boat
was plotted on a map by a WAVE and the information was sent to Allied
ships.
Activity:
Women testing to work in the
codebreaking sections of the navy had to pass a series
of tests. One demonstrated how quickly they could complete
a crossword puzzle. The same mental processes used to
decipher a crossword puzzle might be used to break a code.
Print this
crossword puzzle and time yourself and your friends
to see how quickly you can complete the problem. Here
are the answers. |
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Section 4 of 5 |
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