Hartwig Looks Commander of german submarine U 264 The Lost ENIGMA Message

In Feb. 2006 the Enigma "M4 Message Breaking Project" broke one of the last unbroken Naval Enigma M4 messages. About 60 years after the message was transmitted by Hartwig Looks, commander of the German submarine U-264. The M4 Project was an effort to break 3 original Enigma messages with the help of massive distributed computing via internet. This was necessary because of the enormous keyspace of the M4 Naval Enigma: Comparable to 86 Bit! (DES - A Modern Data Encryption Standard has only 56 Bit! - broken in 1997, replaced in 2001 by 256 Bit AES). The huge keyspace of the German Naval Enigma M4 is the result of a fourth rotor slot, 8 different rotors and the so called "Steckerbrett" (plugboard).

The interview dates from 2003.

This is a historical document and no glorification of WW2 !
Don´t try to leave comments with that intention ...

Enigma related source:
http://www.bytereef.org/m4_project.html

Enigma ciphertext (stripped of indicator groups):

nczwvusxpnyminhzxmqxsfwxwlkjahshnmcoccakuqpmkcsmhkseinjusblkiosxckubhmllxcsjusrr­dvkohulxwccbgvliyxeoahxrhkkfvdrewezlxobafgyujqukgrtvukameurbveksuhhvoyhabcjwmakl­fklmyfvnrizrvvrtkofdanjmolbgffleoprgtflvrhowopbekvwmuqfmpwparmfhagkxiibg

Plaintext (as seen in the server logs):

Date: 2006-02-20 11:02:26
Score: 6259047
UKW: B
W/0: B241
Stecker: ATBLDFGJHMNWOPQYRZVX
Rings: AAAV
Message key: VJNA

vonvonjlooksjhffttteinseinsdreizwoyyqnnsneuninhaltxxbeiangriffunterwassergedruec­ktywabosxletztergegnerstandnulachtdreinuluhrmarquantonjotaneunacht
seyhsdreiyzwozwonulgradyachtsmystossenachxeknsviermbfaelltynnnnnnooovierysichtei­nsnull

Preliminary interpretation:

Von Looks:

Funktelegramm 1132/19 Inhalt:

Bei Angriff unter Wasser gedrueckt, Wasserbomben. Letzter Gegnerstandort 0830 Uhr, Marqu AJ 9863, 220 Grad, 8 Seemeilen, stosse nach. 14 Millibar
faellt, NNO 4, Sicht 10.

Preliminary translation:

From Looks:

Radio signal 1132/19 contents:

Forced to submerge during attack, depth charges. Last enemy location 0830 h, Marqu AJ 9863, 220 degrees, 8 nautical miles, (I am) following
(the enemy). (Barometer) 1014 Millibar (tendency) falling, NNO 4, visibility 10.

Category:

Education

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• project
• hartwig
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• u264
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• german
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[hornerm5]

Well good testimony