Computers and Code Breaking

1. Computers and Code Breaking • British Collosus used (first electronic computer to break codes) • Alan Turing (British mathematician and cryptanalyst) laid foundations of modern computers • Breaking of ENIGMA code at Bletchley Park helped allies win the war • Played influential role in code breaking at Midway Island, where Japanese posed a threat to American Navy

2. Aircraft carriers • Replaced battleships as center of naval warfare doctrine • Most US battleships turned into ACCs, but some into floating anti-aircraft stations • Impacted effectively of long ranged flights and anti-air defenses

3. Rubber • Developed as part of U-boot program • Made U-boots more stealthy (absorbed more radar waves) • Also made it quieter (did not return sonar waves as much as metal hull) • Developed by Albrecht (Germany)

4. Amphibious Landing Vehicle • Developed prior to D-Day ( Operation Neptune under Admiral Bertram Ramsay), 6 June 1944 • Used in evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) • Built by requirement rather than through invention

5. Assault Rifles • Germans developed first assault rifle: Sturmgehwer (STG-44) aka Maschinenpistole 43, Maschinenpistole 44 (MP 43, MP 44) • Name used for propaganda to induce fear (Sturm=storm, so storm gun) • Very accurate and could be adapted to virtually any scenario (sniping, assault, single fire, double fire, camouflage, etc..)

6. Submachine Guns • Maschinenpistole 40 (MP 40) • Developed by Berthold Geipel of Germany • Characterized by low rate of fire and recoil • Used by paratroopers, platoon, and squad leaders • Thompson • Developed by John T. Thompson (1919) of US • Very compact with large barrel = favourable • Known as "Tommy Gun", the "Trench Broom", the "Trench Sweeper", the "Chicago Piano", the "Chicago Typewriter", and the "Chopper“ for its effectiveness in “sweeping” the enemy trench

7. Canned Foods • Developed by the French Nicolas Appert but widely adopted by all armies • Ability to preserve food without contamination, spoiling • Able to contain acidic and basic foods (fruits, vegetables and beans, etc..) • Prevented spread of disease through contamination

8. Gas Chambers • Large sealed rooms in which a toxic gas (in Germany often Zyklon (Cyclone) B) • Extensively used for Capital punishment in the US since 1928 • Also currently in use in North Korea • Used by Germany’s Third Reich as part of genocide program • Effectively killed up to 200 people in one chamber • Often done in large vans called Gaswagen when there was not enough room

9. Plastics • Bakelite was the first completely synthetic plastic that resisted melting when heated to a certain temperature • Uses involved radios, telephones, billiards balls, guns, planes, furniture, rocket heads, etc…) • After the copper shortage in the US during WWII, US government wanted to begin production of 1 cent coins purely out of Bakelite

10. Submarines • Technology significantly enhanced • Enabled longer runs with more economically spent fuel • Rubber coating to minimize detection by SONAR and RADAR of British • Equipped with up to 6 torpedoes each with up to 0.5 mile blast radius • Used in Medway Island battles • Extensive use by Germans (Unterseeboot) in Battle of Britain (1940)