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Operation Ruthless was the name of an intrepid deception operation devised by the British Admirality during World War II in a desperate attempt to gain access to an Enigma encryption machine.
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The Ian Fleming connection
The plan was developed by Operational Intelligence Centre (OIC) which was a leading user of Ultra decrypts. Commander Ian Fleming, Personal Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence (Admiral Godfrey) at the OIC, showed his talent for fantastical plots when he suggested the plan.
The plan
This was a plan to obtain a German codebook by crashing a captured German aeroplane into the English Channel, where the British crew could be rescued by a German minesweeper. The 'survivors' would then kill the German crew, and hijack the ship thus obtaining the Enigma equipment.
Outcome
It never actually happened, as on the day it was planned, there were no German ships in the Channel. Other source say it developed glitches and so was never implemented.
Additional reading
- Singh, Simon. The Code Book, New York: Anchor Books/Random House. Softcover. 1st printing: 29 August 2000; 5th printing. ISBN 0385495323
- Budiansky, Stephen. Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, Penguin Books Ltd, 2001, ISBN 0140281053, 448 pgs.
- Hoare, Oliver. Code Breaking in World War II, Public Record Office, 2002, ISBN 1903365406, 20 pgs.