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Joe Rochefort's War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway
Elliot Carlson's biography of Captain Joe Rochefort is the first to be written of the officer who headed the U.S. Navy's decrypt unit at Pearl Harbor and broke the Japanese Navy's code before the Battle of Midway. Listeners will share his frustrations as he searches in vain for Yamamoto's fleet prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and share his joy when he succeeds in tracking the fleet in early 1942 and breaks the code that leads Rochefort to believe Yamamoto's invasion target is Midway. His conclusions, bitterly opposed by some top Navy brass, are credited with making the U.S. victory possible and helping change the course of the war. The author tells the story of how opponents in Washington forced Rochefort's removal from the decrypt unit at Pearl and denied him the Distinguished Service Medal recommended by Admiral Nimitz. In capturing the interplay of policy and personality and the role played by politics at the highest levels of the Navy, Carlson reveals a side of the intelligence community seldom seen by outsiders.
For a full understanding of the man, Carlson examines Rochefort's love-hate relationship with cryptanalysis, his adventure-filled years in the 1930s as the right-hand man to the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet, and his return to code-breaking in mid-1941 as the officer in charge of Station Hypo at Pearl Harbor. He traces Rochefort's career from his enlistment in 1918 to his posting in Washington as head of the Navy's code-breaking desk at age twenty-five, and beyond. In many ways a reinterpretation of Rochefort, the book makes clear the key role his code-breaking played in the outcome of Midway and the legacy he left of reporting actionable intelligence directly to the fleet. An epilogue describes efforts waged by Rochefort's colleagues to obtain the medal denied him in 1942, a drive that finally paid off in 1986, when the medal was awarded posthumously.
For a full understanding of the man, Carlson examines Rochefort's love-hate relationship with cryptanalysis, his adventure-filled years in the 1930s as the right-hand man to the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet, and his return to code-breaking in mid-1941 as the officer in charge of Station Hypo at Pearl Harbor. He traces Rochefort's career from his enlistment in 1918 to his posting in Washington as head of the Navy's code-breaking desk at age twenty-five, and beyond. In many ways a reinterpretation of Rochefort, the book makes clear the key role his code-breaking played in the outcome of Midway and the legacy he left of reporting actionable intelligence directly to the fleet. An epilogue describes efforts waged by Rochefort's colleagues to obtain the medal denied him in 1942, a drive that finally paid off in 1986, when the medal was awarded posthumously.
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First published September 1, 2011
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August 15, 2021
Pull is greater than push
Old Naval Academy expression
In the first engagement of what would become the Battle of Midway, Army Air Force bombers attacked the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet. Returning pilots made, as was usual very optimistic reports of success. So it was that there was a period when people believed that the Bombers had, if not won the battle, at least began the winning process. In fact, they had hit no ships. It would not be util after waves of other American Flyers would fail to damage any attacking ships, before the famous minutes that saw the dive bombers fatally damage three Japanese’s carriers and later accomplish the same on their last carrier. It would be some time before the Navy would not just claim their victory but replace the earlier memory of the AAF mis-statements.
It would be many years later before. the world gradually came to know the back story to the warfighter’s win. In a, damp underground office, equipped with a very early version of an IBM computer, staffed with a sometimes pick-up collection of Navy –(Including the former Ship’s Band from the just sunken USS California) and a Marines were busily making sense of the contents of secret Japanese codes.
Joe Rochefort’s War by Elliot Carlson is an accessible and detailed biography of the man who led this unit, Code Named Hypo. He was the unit commander in the run up to the intelligence failure that was Pearl Harbor and the unit commander who got his higher ups to accede to his teams certainty that Midway was to be attacked, at the day time and location that they concluded they would. Then having at the least redeemed himself, Commander Rochefort was transferred into various jobs, far from the war where he could hardly feel like he was being honored.
In taking us through the life of then Commander, later Captain, and never Admiral Rochefort’s biography author Elliot Carlson clarifies much about the battle to win the battle of Midway, but makes at least two sets of observations beyond the competition between the various centers of Naval Intelligence.
Beginning with the man; Joe Rochefort’s story was not that of a typical Naval Officer of his generation. He was not only not a college graduate, he rather finessed his status on that point, but he was not a Naval Academy Graduate. Whatever his actual academic achievements, this last fact placed him outside of the ‘Club” and would cost him some of the automatic insider’s access that went with an academy ring. His original commission was through a WWI program to train pilots. The war and the program ended before he had his wings. For almost everyone in his situation, that fact alone would have cost them their job. For some reason Roshefort was kept on. Later he would be among the few who were chosen by the Navy to survive the austere years of the depression.
Much of his service was typic for a young Navy officer, but he was ‘sidelined’ into becoming a cryptographer. Among officers in the rest of the Navy, breaking codes was not understood to be important. Later Rochefort was among a few officers sent to Japan for the purpose of learning the language and coming to understand the people. The language skills would serve Rochefort well, his appreciation of the Japanese mind set would take a bruising before he fully internalized this experience.
In the months before Pearl Harbor, Joe Rochefort was denied a promotion. That very nearly ended his service in the Navy, but someone, interceded and he was promoted.
The point of all this, is that leading into his assignment as head of Station Hypo, Rochefort left behind both hurt feeling and important friends. As a junior officer serving on the staff of the senior most Navy Admirals, he made full use of a tendency to be more forceful than was normally allowed a low-ranking officer, but he generally earned the respect and gratitude of his commanding officers. It was this combination of fine service, not wearing the ring and not always making friends that becomes a major theme in the career of Joe Rochefort.
A second point is that the success of station Hypo was not the result of any one man. A number of different kinds of skills act in the process from decoded messages to battle planning. Cracking codes is only one part of the problem. Mathematically minded personnel could find the patterns, after examining many encoded messages. They would over time learn to replace some code groups with text. Absent linguistic skills, these decoded groups were so many words. Translators could at least approximate the intended meanings of these words, but then someone with the ability to decern intentions from these partial translations was needed to convert phrases into actionable intelligence. And finally, some one had to have the access to higher command, and the credibility to have this intelligence integrated into strategic, or tactical planning.
It has since been argued that in no part of this process did Joe Rochefort leave behind any one particular technique or advancement. As leader of the unit, he inspired not only loyalty to his person, but promoted an atmosphere that aided the process of his several technicians. Further he was often the one who had the suggestions, or the intuitive understanding of the Imperial Japanese High Command, that helped to point his staff towards reaching more accurate conclusions. Station Hypo was a success built on collaboration, lead by a Commander Joe Rochefort who positively contributed to the combined effort.
For many readers the important part of the book is the friction between Station Hypo and in particular Two Navy officers, the brothers Redman. Rochefort would come to be a subordinate under the senior Redman. I think they came to understand each other. In the case of the junior Redman, the evidence is that he never appreciated Hypo’s success, felt they we reacting outside of their proper bureaucratic role and that Rochefort needed to be brought to heel.
Whatever the friends Rochefort had had pulling for him, clearly, he was pushed out of his role as a proven success in the Navy’s Cryptographic war effort. The insiders who had been there for him leading into WWII were either gone or unwilling to expend the time in his favor immediately after Midway. Even Admiral Nimitz, comes off as ungracious.
The audience for Joe Rochefort’s War is clearly the Naval enthusiast, student of America’s War in the Pacific and anyone with an interest in the role of office politics in the making and breaking of careers. Elliot has a fine eye for detail, a delicate sense of when opinion is necessary and integrity in following the information and admitting when the paper trail is not there.
Old Naval Academy expression
In the first engagement of what would become the Battle of Midway, Army Air Force bombers attacked the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet. Returning pilots made, as was usual very optimistic reports of success. So it was that there was a period when people believed that the Bombers had, if not won the battle, at least began the winning process. In fact, they had hit no ships. It would not be util after waves of other American Flyers would fail to damage any attacking ships, before the famous minutes that saw the dive bombers fatally damage three Japanese’s carriers and later accomplish the same on their last carrier. It would be some time before the Navy would not just claim their victory but replace the earlier memory of the AAF mis-statements.
It would be many years later before. the world gradually came to know the back story to the warfighter’s win. In a, damp underground office, equipped with a very early version of an IBM computer, staffed with a sometimes pick-up collection of Navy –(Including the former Ship’s Band from the just sunken USS California) and a Marines were busily making sense of the contents of secret Japanese codes.
Joe Rochefort’s War by Elliot Carlson is an accessible and detailed biography of the man who led this unit, Code Named Hypo. He was the unit commander in the run up to the intelligence failure that was Pearl Harbor and the unit commander who got his higher ups to accede to his teams certainty that Midway was to be attacked, at the day time and location that they concluded they would. Then having at the least redeemed himself, Commander Rochefort was transferred into various jobs, far from the war where he could hardly feel like he was being honored.
In taking us through the life of then Commander, later Captain, and never Admiral Rochefort’s biography author Elliot Carlson clarifies much about the battle to win the battle of Midway, but makes at least two sets of observations beyond the competition between the various centers of Naval Intelligence.
Beginning with the man; Joe Rochefort’s story was not that of a typical Naval Officer of his generation. He was not only not a college graduate, he rather finessed his status on that point, but he was not a Naval Academy Graduate. Whatever his actual academic achievements, this last fact placed him outside of the ‘Club” and would cost him some of the automatic insider’s access that went with an academy ring. His original commission was through a WWI program to train pilots. The war and the program ended before he had his wings. For almost everyone in his situation, that fact alone would have cost them their job. For some reason Roshefort was kept on. Later he would be among the few who were chosen by the Navy to survive the austere years of the depression.
Much of his service was typic for a young Navy officer, but he was ‘sidelined’ into becoming a cryptographer. Among officers in the rest of the Navy, breaking codes was not understood to be important. Later Rochefort was among a few officers sent to Japan for the purpose of learning the language and coming to understand the people. The language skills would serve Rochefort well, his appreciation of the Japanese mind set would take a bruising before he fully internalized this experience.
In the months before Pearl Harbor, Joe Rochefort was denied a promotion. That very nearly ended his service in the Navy, but someone, interceded and he was promoted.
The point of all this, is that leading into his assignment as head of Station Hypo, Rochefort left behind both hurt feeling and important friends. As a junior officer serving on the staff of the senior most Navy Admirals, he made full use of a tendency to be more forceful than was normally allowed a low-ranking officer, but he generally earned the respect and gratitude of his commanding officers. It was this combination of fine service, not wearing the ring and not always making friends that becomes a major theme in the career of Joe Rochefort.
A second point is that the success of station Hypo was not the result of any one man. A number of different kinds of skills act in the process from decoded messages to battle planning. Cracking codes is only one part of the problem. Mathematically minded personnel could find the patterns, after examining many encoded messages. They would over time learn to replace some code groups with text. Absent linguistic skills, these decoded groups were so many words. Translators could at least approximate the intended meanings of these words, but then someone with the ability to decern intentions from these partial translations was needed to convert phrases into actionable intelligence. And finally, some one had to have the access to higher command, and the credibility to have this intelligence integrated into strategic, or tactical planning.
It has since been argued that in no part of this process did Joe Rochefort leave behind any one particular technique or advancement. As leader of the unit, he inspired not only loyalty to his person, but promoted an atmosphere that aided the process of his several technicians. Further he was often the one who had the suggestions, or the intuitive understanding of the Imperial Japanese High Command, that helped to point his staff towards reaching more accurate conclusions. Station Hypo was a success built on collaboration, lead by a Commander Joe Rochefort who positively contributed to the combined effort.
For many readers the important part of the book is the friction between Station Hypo and in particular Two Navy officers, the brothers Redman. Rochefort would come to be a subordinate under the senior Redman. I think they came to understand each other. In the case of the junior Redman, the evidence is that he never appreciated Hypo’s success, felt they we reacting outside of their proper bureaucratic role and that Rochefort needed to be brought to heel.
Whatever the friends Rochefort had had pulling for him, clearly, he was pushed out of his role as a proven success in the Navy’s Cryptographic war effort. The insiders who had been there for him leading into WWII were either gone or unwilling to expend the time in his favor immediately after Midway. Even Admiral Nimitz, comes off as ungracious.
The audience for Joe Rochefort’s War is clearly the Naval enthusiast, student of America’s War in the Pacific and anyone with an interest in the role of office politics in the making and breaking of careers. Elliot has a fine eye for detail, a delicate sense of when opinion is necessary and integrity in following the information and admitting when the paper trail is not there.
July 22, 2014
This is a biography of the military career of Joe Rochefort, famous for leading the group at Pearl Harbor that was able to read enough of the Japanese Navy’s code in the spring of 1942. This group was able to ascertain the Japanese intent to invade the atolls at Midway Island in the central Pacific, a move whose purpose was to lure the U.S. Navy into a battle that the Japanese hoped would allow them to destroy the American carriers, allowing Japan to control the Pacific Ocean and solidify its hold on its conquests with the hope that the U.S. would sue for peace.
Rochefort was uniquely qualified, because he was expert in Cryptanalysis, radio communications, and the Japanese language – the only USN officer skilled in those three fields. And, while it was a team effort to develop the Midway theory (including the identification of “AF” as Midway by the unit that was on Corregidor and later in Melbourne), it was Rochefort who championed it. In doing so, he made enemies in Washington who were jealous of his success – and upset with Rochefort’s acerbic responses to their predictions that the focus of the imminent attack was the U.S. west coast, Alaska, Samoa, the Panama Canal, and pretty much anywhere other than Midway. These enemies saw to it that Rochefort was relegated to other duties that kept him from being involved in the postwar intelligence apparatus and contributed to his not getting the medal that Nimitz recommended him for until 1986, when it was awarded posthumously.
After Midway, Rochefort’s team also was able to ascertain that the Japanese were building an airstrip on Guadalcanal – within bombing range of the vital Port Moresby. This altered Admiral Nimitz’s plans to begin with that base in the “island hopping” campaign.
The appendices of the book are also excellent. The first tells about how difficult it would be to crack the Japanese code, and the second pertained to the impact of Midway on the rest of the war. Without the intelligence developed by Rochefort’s team, and assuming the Japanese successfully lured the American carriers into the trap and sunk them, the Japanese would have had free reign, with the only opposition being the carriers Saratoga (damaged at Coral Sea) and Wasp (transferred from the Atlantic). The plans called for the next Japanese conquests to be Samoa, New Guinea, and New Caledonia, and these would have cut off Australia from other Allied countries. In July, they would have taken Johnston Island, about 600 miles southwest of Hawaii, perhaps forcing the Navy to move its headquarters back to San Diego, and the west coast would feel the threat from the Japanese Navy. This would cause a rethinking of the “Europe first” strategy of Roosevelt and Churchill.
Other far-reaching effects: re-supplying the Soviet Union would be hampered by the acceleration of the war effort in the Pacific (meaning there would be less for Europe), and the tanks that helped the British beat Rommel at El Alamein might not have been there. The timetable to beat the Italians and eliminate them from the opposition would be pushed back, and the invasion at Normandy would have been delayed further, perhaps as much as a year, meaning the Atlantic Wall fortifications would have become even more formidable. The Japanese Navy would also be free to harass Soviet shipping, and there could have conceivably been an effort to involve the USSR in a two-front war. This would have allowed the Germans to either move more deeply into Russia (perhaps prevailing at Moscow or Stalingrad?) or else allowed them to resume plans for Operation Sea Lion. At the very least, it would have made the war more difficult in Western Europe.
My main criticism of the book, both in the early part and again in the epilogue, is that the author refers to Rochefort as a “mustang” specifically because he didn’t attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis. My navy friends pointed out to me that a “mustang” in the parlance of the USN is an officer who began as an enlisted man, as was true of Rochefort, and while it was true that his not being a graduate of the Academy may have hurt him in the controversy (and in his knowing when not to “criticize city hall”), that inaccuracy is a very small blight on an otherwise outstanding book about a great man who made a significant contribution during the war.
Rochefort was uniquely qualified, because he was expert in Cryptanalysis, radio communications, and the Japanese language – the only USN officer skilled in those three fields. And, while it was a team effort to develop the Midway theory (including the identification of “AF” as Midway by the unit that was on Corregidor and later in Melbourne), it was Rochefort who championed it. In doing so, he made enemies in Washington who were jealous of his success – and upset with Rochefort’s acerbic responses to their predictions that the focus of the imminent attack was the U.S. west coast, Alaska, Samoa, the Panama Canal, and pretty much anywhere other than Midway. These enemies saw to it that Rochefort was relegated to other duties that kept him from being involved in the postwar intelligence apparatus and contributed to his not getting the medal that Nimitz recommended him for until 1986, when it was awarded posthumously.
After Midway, Rochefort’s team also was able to ascertain that the Japanese were building an airstrip on Guadalcanal – within bombing range of the vital Port Moresby. This altered Admiral Nimitz’s plans to begin with that base in the “island hopping” campaign.
The appendices of the book are also excellent. The first tells about how difficult it would be to crack the Japanese code, and the second pertained to the impact of Midway on the rest of the war. Without the intelligence developed by Rochefort’s team, and assuming the Japanese successfully lured the American carriers into the trap and sunk them, the Japanese would have had free reign, with the only opposition being the carriers Saratoga (damaged at Coral Sea) and Wasp (transferred from the Atlantic). The plans called for the next Japanese conquests to be Samoa, New Guinea, and New Caledonia, and these would have cut off Australia from other Allied countries. In July, they would have taken Johnston Island, about 600 miles southwest of Hawaii, perhaps forcing the Navy to move its headquarters back to San Diego, and the west coast would feel the threat from the Japanese Navy. This would cause a rethinking of the “Europe first” strategy of Roosevelt and Churchill.
Other far-reaching effects: re-supplying the Soviet Union would be hampered by the acceleration of the war effort in the Pacific (meaning there would be less for Europe), and the tanks that helped the British beat Rommel at El Alamein might not have been there. The timetable to beat the Italians and eliminate them from the opposition would be pushed back, and the invasion at Normandy would have been delayed further, perhaps as much as a year, meaning the Atlantic Wall fortifications would have become even more formidable. The Japanese Navy would also be free to harass Soviet shipping, and there could have conceivably been an effort to involve the USSR in a two-front war. This would have allowed the Germans to either move more deeply into Russia (perhaps prevailing at Moscow or Stalingrad?) or else allowed them to resume plans for Operation Sea Lion. At the very least, it would have made the war more difficult in Western Europe.
My main criticism of the book, both in the early part and again in the epilogue, is that the author refers to Rochefort as a “mustang” specifically because he didn’t attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis. My navy friends pointed out to me that a “mustang” in the parlance of the USN is an officer who began as an enlisted man, as was true of Rochefort, and while it was true that his not being a graduate of the Academy may have hurt him in the controversy (and in his knowing when not to “criticize city hall”), that inaccuracy is a very small blight on an otherwise outstanding book about a great man who made a significant contribution during the war.
July 29, 2019
An interesting, balanced and well-written biography of Rochefort, and a great history of US efforts against Japanese naval codes.
Carlson ably covers the achievements of Rochefort and his team, how his unique experiences prepared him for the job, and how they led him to a mistaken belief that he was irreplaceable; Rochefort would be demoted within months of the battle at Midway and would end the war in command of a floating dry dock. Carlson does a fine job explaining Rochefort’s talent and dedication as well as his indiscretion regarding his own opinions on colleagues and superior officers.
The writing is engaging, and the time period shortly before Midway is particularly gripping. Carlson does a great job showing the long, painstaking drudgery often involved in intelligence work. However, there seems to be too much on Rochefort’s feud with the Redmans, and Carlson also writes about Ring’s “Flight to Nowhere” as if it were an established fact. Some of the sections also read like Carlson tries too hard to find conspiracies in Rochefort’s feuds, when they seem more like bureaucratic screwups. The narrative can also transition awkwardly at times.
A comprehensive, well-researched work.
Carlson ably covers the achievements of Rochefort and his team, how his unique experiences prepared him for the job, and how they led him to a mistaken belief that he was irreplaceable; Rochefort would be demoted within months of the battle at Midway and would end the war in command of a floating dry dock. Carlson does a fine job explaining Rochefort’s talent and dedication as well as his indiscretion regarding his own opinions on colleagues and superior officers.
The writing is engaging, and the time period shortly before Midway is particularly gripping. Carlson does a great job showing the long, painstaking drudgery often involved in intelligence work. However, there seems to be too much on Rochefort’s feud with the Redmans, and Carlson also writes about Ring’s “Flight to Nowhere” as if it were an established fact. Some of the sections also read like Carlson tries too hard to find conspiracies in Rochefort’s feuds, when they seem more like bureaucratic screwups. The narrative can also transition awkwardly at times.
A comprehensive, well-researched work.
February 16, 2012
Well written, superb research, full of technical and personal details but with a focus for the big picture. Many new findings but none as important as when Rochefort reviews the causes of the Pearl Harbor attack and realizes that the cultural mindset prevented americans to really believe in a probable Japanese attack and its ensuing consequences. The book is full of similar observations.
March 16, 2012
Absolutely an outstanding book... one of those historical tales that should have come to light 40 years ago!
Elliot Carlson did a masterful job in pulling together the facts and stories about Joe Rochefort who was instrumental in bringing communicaton/crypto intelligence into the modern age... and just in time to predict the assult on Midway Island by the Japanese in June of '42. As has been said, the Battle of Midway was not just a game-changer for the outcome of WWII; it very well may have been a game-changer for the outcome of Western history as we now know it... to follow this logic, one must read the book and its subsequent appendicies.
This book is not so much about the actual Battle of Midway (there are other fine books on that subject), but it gives us an insight as to how the US Navy under ADM Nimitz was able to foresee the coming battle and to be in place to take advantage of an historic situation. Of course there is far more to this book than the "breaking" of the Japanese codes which was absolutely insturmental in preparing for the Battle of Midway; it is the story about a young naval officer who put his all into every assignement he undertook throughout his Navy career; Joe Rohefort was a unique officer with strong convictions who was at the right place at the right time.
This book should become a classic to all students of naval history.
Elliot Carlson did a masterful job in pulling together the facts and stories about Joe Rochefort who was instrumental in bringing communicaton/crypto intelligence into the modern age... and just in time to predict the assult on Midway Island by the Japanese in June of '42. As has been said, the Battle of Midway was not just a game-changer for the outcome of WWII; it very well may have been a game-changer for the outcome of Western history as we now know it... to follow this logic, one must read the book and its subsequent appendicies.
This book is not so much about the actual Battle of Midway (there are other fine books on that subject), but it gives us an insight as to how the US Navy under ADM Nimitz was able to foresee the coming battle and to be in place to take advantage of an historic situation. Of course there is far more to this book than the "breaking" of the Japanese codes which was absolutely insturmental in preparing for the Battle of Midway; it is the story about a young naval officer who put his all into every assignement he undertook throughout his Navy career; Joe Rohefort was a unique officer with strong convictions who was at the right place at the right time.
This book should become a classic to all students of naval history.
August 10, 2019
Excellent book. Amazing the bureaucracy, backstabbing, and just staff red-tape happened before, during, and after WW2. Unfortunately it seems this is a time-honored tradition that is just about the same as it was over 70 years ago; just with better communication systems to stab others in the back and torpedo (pun intended) their careers.
Nonetheless a great victory for his true legacy and am happy his merits were recognized, though unfortunately posthumously.
His brilliance was finally recognized and documented, piece by piece in how he mastered analysis, cryptography, and fusion with his knowledge of the Japanese language and customs.
I hope I and others take these lessons to heart.
Nonetheless a great victory for his true legacy and am happy his merits were recognized, though unfortunately posthumously.
His brilliance was finally recognized and documented, piece by piece in how he mastered analysis, cryptography, and fusion with his knowledge of the Japanese language and customs.
I hope I and others take these lessons to heart.
June 17, 2018
Like Rochefort's work, this book is a rich, well-researched, and detail oriented history of his life as it paralleled the genesis and eventual heyday of Naval cryptology, radio and communications intelligence.
Through a lifetime of effort and struggle, it is a shining example of how the right man, in the right place, at the right moment can have an outsized effect on history, even if not well known or appreciated for years.
Through a lifetime of effort and struggle, it is a shining example of how the right man, in the right place, at the right moment can have an outsized effect on history, even if not well known or appreciated for years.
August 12, 2014
Brilliant biography of the man who is arguably The Battle of Midway's most unsung hero. We all know the story of the epic naval battle that gave the US Navy it's decisive victory that ultimately turned the tide in The War in the Pacific, but most have never heard of Joseph Rochefort nor know about how crucial his intelligence work was to America's ultimate destruction of the IJN's strike carrier force. Sadly a victim of a power play that would see his role being downplayed and in his lifetime would not get the recognition that he so deserved.
August 10, 2018
This incredibly fascinating book was a follow on from my Pacific War read last year. This is not a story of war at sea, at least not specifically. It is, as the subtitle clearly indicates, the amazing story of how code breaking led to one of the most significant U.S. Naval victories in its history. Joe Rochefort was in charge of a super secret unit at Pearl Harbor whose mission was to try to read or even break the Fleet Officer’s code of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Rochefort’s unit was not alone in this endeavor as Australian and Dutch cryptographers were all working on bits of the code. Additionally there were other U.S. Navy codebreaking units working on the Japanese diplomatic code, as well as the main Japanese naval fleet cipher. This was a classic bureaucracy and of course, naturally, the codebreakers in D.C. were reluctant to share with the Pearl Harbor group. Despite these obstacles and failures (Pearl Harbor was certainly a failure of cryptanalysis) they kept at it. How they did it is beyond summary but it is a mesmerizing tale.The great historical story here is how Rochefort and his team persevered extrapolating the most arcane bits of data (they never completely broke the code but were able to read bits of messages and then use radio direction finding equipment to locate the Japanese fleet.
So why was it a famous victory? If you don’t know here’s the brief version. Six months after the Japanese navy left much of the Pacific battle fleet burning hulks at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy ruled the western Pacific. The Japanese plan was to lure the remnants of the Pacific fleet to destruction somewhere near Hawaii. We were grievously outnumbered with only three aircraft carriers but due to Rochefort’s codebreaking team we knew where the Japanese fleet would be. In the end the U.S. Navy sunk four Japanese aircraft to the loss of one. From that moment on, and this was less than six months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese Navy went on the defensive. They never regained the offense. And it was a tremendous gamble or perhaps a tremendous trust in the Rochefort unit. It’s a great story.
So why was it a famous victory? If you don’t know here’s the brief version. Six months after the Japanese navy left much of the Pacific battle fleet burning hulks at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy ruled the western Pacific. The Japanese plan was to lure the remnants of the Pacific fleet to destruction somewhere near Hawaii. We were grievously outnumbered with only three aircraft carriers but due to Rochefort’s codebreaking team we knew where the Japanese fleet would be. In the end the U.S. Navy sunk four Japanese aircraft to the loss of one. From that moment on, and this was less than six months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese Navy went on the defensive. They never regained the offense. And it was a tremendous gamble or perhaps a tremendous trust in the Rochefort unit. It’s a great story.
January 6, 2012
I'm not normally a WWII history buff, but I heard about this book on NPR, thought it sounded intriguing, and decided to give it a shot. What an interesting read! The book is a biography of the naval officer in charge of the intelligence team at Pearl Harbor that (first) missed clues about the impending Pearl Harbor attacks and (second) discovered the upcoming Japanese objective, Midway. Their intelligence allowed the U.S. Navy and Marines to be prepared for the Midway attacks, after which the Japanese were never again on the offensive in the Pacific. The book is paced well, moving quickly through many parts of Rochefort's life and dwelling in detail on the time from Pearl Harbor through Midway. The chapters on the days leading up to Pearl Harbor were particularly engrossing. My one quibble with the author is that he uses the term "comedy of errors" to describe the mistakes made before Pearl Harbor. Perhaps a better term would be "tragedy of errors," considering the large loss of life involved. Overall, though, the book was an engrossing read.
May 21, 2012
This is an exceptional book, wonderfully written and meticulously documented, that tells key events hidden behind the history that most are familiar with. Joe Rochefort was the cryptographer who's work informed ADM Nimitz of Japanese intentions and timing at Midway, enabling the most important naval victory of WWII. As a biography, the story is as entertaining as a novel. It provides insight on the challenges of intelligence work: the unknowns, the wrong conclusions, the bureaucracy, politics, relationships with senior leaders, the value of prediction, the agony of being wrong and not seeing what is happening, and the joy of being dead on. This is easily an introduction to the art and science of the more timeless aspects of all-source intelligence and cryptography. ...And it's a great story.
June 5, 2012
Fascinating albeit a bit laborious read (the details get a bit confusing) about a real hero who didn't fit that "mold" but quite possibly was one of the stars responsible for preserving Western civilization from the Japanese. Seriously, that may not be much of a stretch, and this is the story of a man most have never really heard of altho they may have seen Hal Holbrook playing his character in the movie "Midway!"
This is about the struggle to break the codes of the Japanese and consequently discern/discover where the Japanese fleet planned to attack and lend the final blow "coup de grace" to the U.S. Navy in the Pacific. Had they succeeded, you and I'd be likely speaking Japanese today. Thanks Joe!
This is about the struggle to break the codes of the Japanese and consequently discern/discover where the Japanese fleet planned to attack and lend the final blow "coup de grace" to the U.S. Navy in the Pacific. Had they succeeded, you and I'd be likely speaking Japanese today. Thanks Joe!
May 28, 2012
Carlson's bio of Joe Rochefort is a quite interesting read of a fascinating character. The twists and turns of his life and career are laid out in some detail, and the period leading up to the battle of Midway explicated in depth. The book is important on one level for what it adds to the general knowledge about the war in the Pacific and how intelligence gathering affected the course of events. However, it also speaks to the fact that organizations are composed of people; therefore operations are facilitated or impeded depending on relationships. I found this aspect of the book totally engrossing. And, of course, the role of pure unadulterated luck plays its part.
September 4, 2012
Commander Rochefort led the code-breaking unit (HYPO) that played a key role in the early days of WWII.
It is interesting and through although a bit dull. The author spends a lot of time on the details of Rochefort's Naval Career.
The main thing I took away from this reading (I already knew the basics of Hypo's role in the war) was how much the Navy was embroiled in politics, egos, and dysfunctional organizations during the War. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; after all is is a huge, tradition-bound organization.
It is interesting and through although a bit dull. The author spends a lot of time on the details of Rochefort's Naval Career.
The main thing I took away from this reading (I already knew the basics of Hypo's role in the war) was how much the Navy was embroiled in politics, egos, and dysfunctional organizations during the War. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; after all is is a huge, tradition-bound organization.
May 3, 2013
First off, this was a fascinating book. I love reading about major anonymous players in history. My quibble is that it just had too much stuff in it and it lagged in many places. There's details about this guy's background that just didn't seem pertinent and took awhile to get through. Sometimes, that works. I felt it didn't here.
If someone is a true history buff, I would recommend it.
If someone is a true history buff, I would recommend it.
October 24, 2012
What an excellent story of the intelligence that preceded the Battle of Midway. Joe Rochefort and his folks in "The Basement" at Pearl Harbor are owed a huge debt of gratitude. Elliot Carlson has done a fantastic job of telling this story. Thank you.
January 27, 2014
I learned a lot about code breaking in the pacific leading up to WW II. Good history book
April 10, 2023
Joe Rochefort was in charge of the intelligence group (known by its code Hypo) stationed in Pearl Harbor. Rochefort was there in 1941 and 1942, and his group was responsible for cryptanalysis (code breaking), radio analysis (analysis of radio traffic to help determine, among other things, ship movements), and translation. His team was instrumental in putting all these aspects together and in the process giving US commanders such as Admiral Nimitz the intel that Japan was going to attack Midway and when. Rochefort thus played a key part in the battle that changed the tide of the war in 1942.
But Rochefort hated Navy politics, and hated officers who were in it for self glorification and promotion. He was also blunt, and was several times given performance evaluations by superiors that could be boiled down to "is a great office but needs more tact." As such, he made enemies, including some in the areas overseeing intel efforts in Washington. This eventually enabled them to remove Rochefort from his leadership at Hypo not long after Midway, and also prevented him from getting the Distinguished Service Medal during his lifetime (something that would be rectified posthumously under the Reagan administration).
Carlson's book starts out a bit dry in the first couple of chapters, but once it gets into the details of Rochefort's career, particularly in the events around Pearl Harbor and Midway, it becomes completely absorbing. This is a part of American history not enough people know about, and I'm glad to have read this book.
But Rochefort hated Navy politics, and hated officers who were in it for self glorification and promotion. He was also blunt, and was several times given performance evaluations by superiors that could be boiled down to "is a great office but needs more tact." As such, he made enemies, including some in the areas overseeing intel efforts in Washington. This eventually enabled them to remove Rochefort from his leadership at Hypo not long after Midway, and also prevented him from getting the Distinguished Service Medal during his lifetime (something that would be rectified posthumously under the Reagan administration).
Carlson's book starts out a bit dry in the first couple of chapters, but once it gets into the details of Rochefort's career, particularly in the events around Pearl Harbor and Midway, it becomes completely absorbing. This is a part of American history not enough people know about, and I'm glad to have read this book.
June 30, 2017
A good recounting of the intricacies of communications intelligence in the years leading up to the Pacific War and its first year, in addition to a biography of Cdr. Joe Rochefort. Carlson does a good job of stripping away a lot of the mythology around Rochefort without lessening any of his crucial importance. The book also is effective at highlighting not only the incredible possibilities stemming from effective COMINT, but the remarkable dangers as well. Interestingly, the reader comes away from the book with more appreciation for the challenges faced by commanders like Admirals Kimmel and Nimitz in how to apply incomplete intelligence and the conclusions produced by Rochefort and his team (as well as CDR Edwin Layton), as much as for Rochefort and the Station HYPO team themselves.
Also a solid (if highly depressing) account of the internal Navy politics that worked against effective COMINT at various times before and during the war, as well as the personal feuds with senior Navy officers that eventually conspired to remove Rochefort at what should have been the height of his triumph. Even in war, the personal, petty, bureaucratic bullshit never goes away.
Also a solid (if highly depressing) account of the internal Navy politics that worked against effective COMINT at various times before and during the war, as well as the personal feuds with senior Navy officers that eventually conspired to remove Rochefort at what should have been the height of his triumph. Even in war, the personal, petty, bureaucratic bullshit never goes away.
March 10, 2024
The Battle of Midway was a significant event during the Pacific War. CDR. Joseph Rochefort played a crucial role in breaking the IJN's operational code, JN-25, which allowed ADM. Nimitz to position his outmanned carrier force to ambush the IJN Mobil Force (Kido Butai) around 200 miles NW of Midway. As a result, four fleet carriers were sunk on June 4, 1942, turning the tide of the Pacific war. However, little has been written about Rochefort's life after this event or how he held such a vital position.
The first biography about Rochefort, who headed Station Hypo - the U.S. Navy's cryptographic unit at Pearl Harbor, provides an in-depth account of his life. It covers his birth, schooling, 28-year naval career, and the 20 years after retirement. Rochefort was a competent and highly competitive man who worked harder and was better prepared than many of his contemporaries to climb the officer ranks since he did not have a U.S. Naval Academy education. Ironically, his continuous high-level performance was offset by his fierce individualism, which often put him at odds with high-level officials.
The first biography about Rochefort, who headed Station Hypo - the U.S. Navy's cryptographic unit at Pearl Harbor, provides an in-depth account of his life. It covers his birth, schooling, 28-year naval career, and the 20 years after retirement. Rochefort was a competent and highly competitive man who worked harder and was better prepared than many of his contemporaries to climb the officer ranks since he did not have a U.S. Naval Academy education. Ironically, his continuous high-level performance was offset by his fierce individualism, which often put him at odds with high-level officials.
March 19, 2020
Excruciatingly detailed and often repetitive, this weighty tome suffers noticeably from a lack of primary sources. The titular officer burned almost all of his personal papers and wartime effects prior to his death. The author attempts to compensate for the absence by providing the aforementioned excruciatingly minute details and giving far too much weight to bland annual performance report statements. For serious history readers, there are some worthwhile nuggets of information, particularly about Pearl Harbor and Midway, but for casual fans, I’d say skip this one. I slogged my way through it.
November 30, 2019
An outstanding book about the history of Joe Rochefort. This was my first dive into radio intelligence and the battle of midway, so I cannot yet attest to the accuracy of the work, but from what I could tell it was pretty close.
It was an enjoyable read that spanned his early career, through pearl harbor, midway, and his battles with main navy that started in late 1942. I am now reading "Shattered Sword" in attempt to increase my knowledge of the overall battle and hopefully put this work into a more complete perspective.
It was an enjoyable read that spanned his early career, through pearl harbor, midway, and his battles with main navy that started in late 1942. I am now reading "Shattered Sword" in attempt to increase my knowledge of the overall battle and hopefully put this work into a more complete perspective.
December 15, 2019
Good book. The biography of a man that rose to the occasion when he was needed. We all know of his and his team's accomplishments concerning the Battle of Midway, but this gets behind the process, and how a time in his earlier life in Japan immersed in Japanese language school helped him come to the conclusion at Midway. The book is much deeper than that one battle though, and the "war" mentioned in the title concerns the confrontation Rochefort had with the intelligence personnel back in Washington DC.
January 18, 2022
Very long, very detailed, and very, very good. Carlson did a wonderful job of diving deep into an oft-overlooked part of our history, as well as a part of the Navy's history.
This book is probably only suited for those with an interest in Navy cryptology; even Pearl Harbor buffs (without the cryptologic interest) would probably struggle with the density of the text. But if you are interested, it's an invaluable history.
This book is probably only suited for those with an interest in Navy cryptology; even Pearl Harbor buffs (without the cryptologic interest) would probably struggle with the density of the text. But if you are interested, it's an invaluable history.
August 4, 2025
An excellent volume for those interested in Military Intelligence. Captain Rochefort was ahead of his time in combining traffic analysis, cryptographic intelligence, direction finding and foreign translation, to provide Commanders to intelligence to conduct military actions. His actions following Pearl Harbor and anticipating The Battle of Midway are the "meat and potatoes" of this book. Very easy to read. Fast paced. Highly recommended.
March 4, 2020
A deep and interesting look at the Naval career of a somewhat reluctant cryptanalyst. The author does an excellent job of attempting to tell both sides of the story throughout Rochefort's career and his run-ins with superiors and his ferocious protection of and support of his subordinates. An excellent story, well worth the read and time investment.
December 6, 2023
A generally little known hero whose contribution to the victory in the Battle of Midway was all important but was diminished for decades by political machinations at Navy headquarters in Washington where under rivals claimed credit for the work and then destroyed his career.
The book is well written, but will appeal only to the devoted readers of the topic area.
The book is well written, but will appeal only to the devoted readers of the topic area.
June 11, 2017
Probably the best book I have read on how institutional thinking and group think in general hampered the Navy in World War II. As usual, it was someone on the periphery of the clique who figured out exactly what was going on with the Japanese and how to communicate and exploit that knowledge.
May 2, 2018
Great Read, very detailed
The book was written and researched. I found myself wanting more info on Rochefort himself as the book talked a lot about the War and the surrounding affects. Either way, great read and definitely worth the time.
The book was written and researched. I found myself wanting more info on Rochefort himself as the book talked a lot about the War and the surrounding affects. Either way, great read and definitely worth the time.
March 30, 2019
A really incredible story that taught me much about the life and work of one the US Navy’s most well known and celebrated intelligence officers. Highly recommended, especially for those serving in uniform.
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