View source for Joseph Rochefort

{{Short description|American naval officer and cryptanalyst (1900–1976)}}
{{for|the Canadian politician|Joseph Irenée Rochefort}}
{{for|the fictitious Captaine Rochefort|Comte de Rochefort}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Joseph Rochefort
|image= joseph rochefort.jpg
|image_size= 
|alt= 
|caption= 
|nickname= 
|birth_date= {{birth date|1900|05|12}}
|birth_place= [[Dayton, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date= {{death date and age|1976|7|20|1900|05|12}}
|death_place= [[Torrance, California]], U.S.
|placeofburial= [[Inglewood Park Cemetery]]
|allegiance= United States
|branch= [[United States Navy]]
|serviceyears= 1918–1947<br/>1950–1953
|rank= [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]]
|servicenumber= 
|unit= 
|commands= [[Station Hypo]]<br/>[[USS ABSD-2]]
|battles= [[World War II]]<br/>[[Korean War]]
|awards= [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]<br/>[[Legion of Merit]]
|relations= 
|laterwork= 
}}
'''Joseph John Rochefort''' (May 12, 1900<ref>[http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=Rochefort&firstname=Joseph&nt=exact "Social Security Death Index Search"] 10 April 2010</ref> – July 20, 1976) was an American naval officer and [[cryptanalyst]]. He was a major figure in the [[United States Navy]]'s cryptographic and intelligence operations from 1925 to 1946, particularly in the [[Battle of Midway]]. His contributions and those of his team were pivotal to victory in the [[Pacific War]].

==Early career==
Rochefort was born May, 12, 1900, in [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref>[http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=Rochefort&given=Joseph "California Death Records" ''note: lists year of birth 1901''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307151149/http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=Rochefort&given=Joseph |date=March 7, 2018 }} 10 April 2010</ref> In 1917, he joined the [[United States Navy]] while still in high school in Los Angeles, without obtaining a diploma.<ref name="Carlson">{{cite book|last1=Carlson|first1=Elliot|title=Joe Rochefort's War|date=2013|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1591141617|page=574|edition=Reprint}}</ref> When enlisting he gave his birth date as 1898; this adjustment lasted his entire career.<ref>Carlson, p.37.</ref> He was commissioned as an Ensign after a 14 June 1919 graduation from the US Navy's Steam Engineering School at [[Stevens Institute of Technology]],<ref>Carlson, p.39.</ref> and later in 1919, became engineering officer of the tanker [[USS Cuyama (AO-3)|USS ''Cuyama'']].<ref name=Stinnett-RB-p61>{{cite book |author=Stinnett, Robert B. |year=2001 |title=Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor |publisher=New York, New York: Simon and Schuster |page=[https://archive.org/details/dayofdeceittruth00stin_0/page/61 61] |isbn=978-0-7432-0129-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/dayofdeceittruth00stin_0/page/61 }}</ref>

A fellow officer observed that Rochefort had a penchant for solving crossword puzzles and adept skills at playing the advanced card game [[auction bridge]] and recommended him for a Navy [[cryptanalysis]] class in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=Stinnett-RB-p61 />

Until 1941, Rochefort split his time between sea duty and cryptologic or intelligence-related assignments.

Rochefort's tours ashore included cryptanalytic training as an assistant to Captain [[Laurance Safford]],<ref name=Stinnett-RB-p61 /> and work with the master codebreaker [[Agnes Meyer Driscoll]] in 1924.<ref>Stinnett. pp.74–76.</ref>  He then served a stint as second chief of the Division of Naval Communications' newly created cryptanalytic organization, [[OP-20-G]], from 1926 to 1929.  

The US Navy sent him to Japan for training in the [[Japanese language]] from 1929 to 1932.  He had a two-year intelligence assignment in the [[Eleventh Naval District]], [[San Diego]], from 1936 to 1938.

==World War II==
===Pearl Harbor===
By 1941 Rochefort was both an expert Japanese linguist and trained cryptanalyst.  Early that year Laurance Safford, again chief of OP-20-G in Washington, sent him to [[Pearl Harbor]] on the island of [[Oahu]], [[Territory of Hawaii]], to become officer in charge of [[Station Hypo]] ("H" for Hawaii in the Navy's [[Spelling alphabet|phonetic alphabet]] at the time). 

Rochefort handpicked many of HYPO's staff, and by the time of [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|the attack on Pearl Harbor]] had obtained many of the Navy's best cryptanalysts, [[Traffic analysis|traffic analyst]]s, and linguists, including [[Joseph Finnegan (cryptographer)|Joseph Finnegan]]. Rochefort's team was assigned to break the Japanese Navy's most secure cypher system, the Flag Officers Code,<ref>Holmes, W. J. ''Double-Edged Secrets''</ref> while Navy cryptographers at [[Station CAST]] ([[Cavite]] in the Philippines) and [[OP-20-G]] in Washington (NEGAT, "N" for Navy Department) concentrated on the main fleet cipher, [[JN-25]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>Holmes; Blair, ''Silent Victory'' (Bantam, 1976). They succeeded in making limited breaks by October 1940 and December 1941.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2011}}

Rochefort had a close working relationship with [[Edwin T. Layton]] Sr., whom he first met on the voyage to Tokyo where both men were sent to learn Japanese at the Navy's request. In 1941, Layton was the chief intelligence officer for Admiral [[Husband E. Kimmel]], Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet (<small>[[Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet|CINCPAC]]</small>). Both he and Rochefort were denied access to decrypts of diplomatic messages sent in [[Purple (cipher machine)|Purple]], the highest level diplomatic cypher used by the Japanese Foreign Office, in the months before the Japanese attack, on the orders of the director of the War Plans Division, [[Richmond K. Turner]].<ref>Layton, Edwin T., Admiral, USN, Ret., with Pineau, Roger, Captain USNR, Ret., and Costello, John, ''And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway – Breaking the Secrets'' (New York, 1985), p.115.</ref>

===Battle of Midway===
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Navy cryptographers, with assistance from both British cryptographers at the [[Far East Combined Bureau]] (in Singapore; later Colombo, Kenya, Colombo), and Dutch cryptographers (in the [[Dutch East Indies]]), combined to break enough JN-25 traffic to provide useful intelligence reports and assessments regarding Japanese force disposition and intentions in early 1942.  Rochefort would often go for days without emerging from his bunker, where he and his staff spent 12 hours a day, or even longer, working to decode Japanese radio traffic. He often wore slippers and a bathrobe with his khaki uniform and sometimes went days without bathing.

Station HYPO maintained the coming Japanese attack would be in the Central Pacific, and convinced Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]] (who replaced Kimmel).<ref name=":0" /> OP-20-G (with support from Station CAST) insisted it would be elsewhere in the Pacific, probably the [[Aleutian Islands]],<ref>Lundstrom, ''First South Pacific Campaign'', p.155.</ref> possibly [[Port Moresby]] in [[Papua New Guinea]], or even the west coast of the United States.<ref>Layton, Pineau, and Costello, ''And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway – Breaking the Secrets'', p.421.</ref> OP-20-G, which had been restructured (Safford having been replaced by Commander [[John R. Redman|John Redman]], a communications officer untrained in cryptanalysis) agreed the attack was scheduled for mid-June, not late May or early June, as Rochefort maintained. Redman also said that Rochefort was being "un-cooperative", and should concentrate on {{clarification needed span|text=additive recovery.|reason=What does this term mean?  Please provide either an appropriate WP link or reliable clarifying citation.|date=January 2025}} Admiral [[Ernest King]], Nimitz's superior in Washington, was persuaded by OP-20-G. Rochefort believed an unknown codegroup, AF, referred to Midway.<ref>Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.412–4.</ref><ref name="Holmes, Double-Edged Secrets">Holmes, ''Double-Edged Secrets''.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2011}}

One of the Station HYPO staff, [[Wilfred Holmes|Jasper Holmes]], had the idea of faking a failure of the water supply on Midway Island. He suggested using an unencrypted emergency warning in the hope of provoking a Japanese response, thus establishing whether Midway was a target. Rochefort took the idea to Layton, who put it to Nimitz. Nimitz approved, and the garrison commander was told by submarine cable to immediately radio in "plain-language" an emergency request for water as an explosion in the water desalination system meant that they had only enough water for two weeks. An apparently "follow-up" report was to be made in one of the strip-cipher code systems that the Japanese were known to have captured on Wake. As the plan was to convince Washington, Rochefort tactfully let Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne ([[FRUMEL]]) notify the main objects of the deception (Washington) of the Japanese message by reporting a message from the AF Air Unit saying that they had only enough water for two weeks: "This will confirm identity of AF". Rochefort then sent a reminder on Friday.<!-- The Layton book refers to Station Belconnen in Melbourne, but Belconnen is a suburb of Canberra! HMAS_Harman in Canberra provided intercepts to FRUMEL in Melbourne --><ref>Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.421–2.</ref>

The Japanese took the bait. Within hours they broadcast instructions to load additional water [[desalination]] equipment, confirming Rochefort's analysis.<ref>Cressman ''et al.'', ''A Glorious Page in Our History'', p.34; Holmes, ''Double-Edged Secrets''.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2011}} Layton notes the instructions also "produced an unexpected bonus". They revealed the assault was to come before mid-June.

In Washington, [[Admiral]] [[Ernest J. King]], who disliked Rochefort intensely, still was not convinced, however,<ref>Layton, Pineau, and Costello, p. 421</ref> as to the date of the attack. The date-time data in Japanese naval messages was "superenciphered," or encrypted even before it was encoded in JN-25. HYPO made their all-out effort to crack this by searching the stacks of printouts and [[punched cards]] for five-digit number sequences. After finding low-grade codes, the team set about to unravel the cipher itself. Layton credits Lieutenant [[Joseph Finnegan (cryptographer)|Joseph Finnegan]] for discovering "the method that the Japanese had used to lock up their date-time groups."<ref>Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.427–8.</ref> An intercept of 26 May with orders for two destroyer groups escorting invasion transports was analyzed with this table and "really clinched the pivotal date of the operation" as either 4 or 5 June.

During May 1942, Rochefort and his group decrypted, translated, reviewed, analyzed, and reported as many as 140 messages per day. During the week before Nimitz issued his final orders, "decrypts were being processed at the rate of five hundred to a thousand a day."<ref>Layton, Pineau, and Costello, pp.422.</ref>

===After Midway===
When Nimitz recommended Rochefort for a [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]], the recommendation was rejected by King who unfairly considered Rochefort "one of the most unmilitary-looking officers he had ever encountered." Rochefort also told Nimitz to stop the recommendation since it would only "make trouble".<ref>{{cite book |author=Budiansky, Stephen |year=2000 |title=Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II |publisher=New York, New York: Simon and Schuster |page=[https://archive.org/details/battleofwitscomp00budi/page/22 22] |isbn=978-0-684-85932-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofwitscomp00budi/page/22 }}; Holmes, ''Double-Edged Secrets''.{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref> Other sources suggest Rochefort received no official recognition during his lifetime because he was made a scapegoat for the embarrassment of OP-20-G. CDR John Redman (whose brother was the influential Rear Admiral [[Joseph Redman]]) complained to King about the operation of the Hawaii cryptologic station; as a result, Rochefort was reassigned from cryptanalysis to command the floating dry dock ABSD-2 at San Francisco.<ref>{{cite book |author=Smith, Michael |year=2000 |title=The Emperor's Codes |url=https://archive.org/details/emperorscodesble0000smit_l9m6 |url-access=limited |publisher=Bantam Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/emperorscodesble0000smit_l9m6/page/144 144] |isbn=0-593-04781-8 }}; Holmes, ''Double-Edged Secrets''.{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref><ref>Carlson, p. 560.</ref> Rochefort never served at sea again.<ref>Holmes, ''Double-Edged Secrets''.{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref> The fact that Rochefort received no higher recognition at the time is considered by some to have been an outrage and an example of King’s counterproductive personal vendettas.<ref>Holmes, Double-Edged Secrets, p.117</ref> However, he was decorated with the [[Legion of Merit]] at the end of the War over Admiral King’s objection.<ref name="Valor awards for Joseph J. Rochefort ">{{cite web | url = http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=312576 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170410050440/http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=312576 | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 10, 2017 | access-date = 4 April 2017 | work = valor.militarytimes.com | title = Valor awards for Joseph J. Rochefort | publisher = Militarytimes Websites }}</ref>

==After WWII==
Rochefort headed the Pacific Strategic Intelligence Group in Washington after the war. He died in 1976 in [[Torrance, California]], aged 76.<ref>[http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=Rochefort&given=Joseph "California Death Records"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307151149/http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=Rochefort&given=Joseph |date=March 7, 2018 }} 10 April 2010</ref>

==Awards==
In addition to earning the U.S. Legion of Merit at the end of World War II, Rochefort was [[posthumous recognition|posthumous]]ly awarded the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]] in 1986.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kastor |first1=Elizabeth |title=Medal Ends 44-Year Campaign |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/05/31/medal-ends-44-year-campaign/4ddd061c-0e9f-4405-8c59-f935665cb560/ |access-date=March 11, 2025 |date=May 31, 1986}}</ref> In 2000, he was inducted into the [[National Security Agency]], [[Central Security Service]] Hall of Fame.
<gallery>
File:NavyDSM.gif|Navy Distinguished Service Medal
File:Us legion of merit legionnaire.png|Legion of Merit
</gallery>

==Legacy==
On 6 January 2012, the ''CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building'' was dedicated at the [[National Security Agency|NSA]] facility within a Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam Annex, Hawaii.<ref>{{cite press release |author1=NSA/CSS Public and Media Affairs Office |title=NSA/CSS Unveils New Hawaii Center |publisher=National Security Agency {{!}} Central Security Service |url=https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/press-room/Article/1630554/nsacss-unveils-new-hawaii-center/ |access-date=29 June 2012 |date=January 6, 2012 |archive-date=September 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918073120/https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/press-room/Article/1630554/nsacss-unveils-new-hawaii-center/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Portrayals==
In the 1976 movie ''[[Midway (1976 film)|Midway]]'' with [[Charlton Heston]] and [[Henry Fonda]], Rochefort was portrayed by [[Hal Holbrook]]. Rochefort died a month after the movie premiered. In the 2019 film ''[[Midway (2019 film)|Midway]]'', he was portrayed by actor [[Brennan Brown]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic-heritage/historical-figures-publications/hall-of-honor/2000/jrochefort.shtml NSA online biography] ''Please Note: incorrectly gives Rochefort's year of birth as 1898''
*{{cite web|url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/cs/worldwar2/a/codebreakerhk_5.htm |access-date=2006-12-16 |title=America's Code Breaker |author=Herb Kugel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520052841/http://militaryhistory.about.com/cs/worldwar2/a/codebreakerhk_5.htm |archive-date=May 20, 2006 }}
*{{cite web|url= http://www.usncva.org/clog/clog-features.html|access-date= 2006-12-16|last= Rochefort|title= Afterthoughts: Oral history of Captain Joseph Rochefort, USN|work= CRYPTOLOG|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070928060131/http://www.usncva.org/clog/clog-features.html|archive-date = 2007-09-28}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00023.cfm |access-date=2006-12-16 |title=How Cryptology enabled the United States to turn the tide in the Pacific War |author=Patrick D. Weadon |publisher=National Security Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209193829/http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00023.cfm |archive-date=2006-12-09 |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/pearl-harbor-revisited-usn-communications-intelligence.html |access-date=2023-01-19|title=Pearl Harbor Revisited: United States Navy Communications Intelligence, 1924–1941|author=Frederick D. Parker|publisher=Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency|year=1994}}
*{{cite book|url=http://www.worldwar2history.info/Midway/intelligence.html|title=Battle Of Wits: The Complete Story Of Codebreaking In World War II|author=Stephen Budiansky|year=2000|publisher=Simon & Schuster}}
* {{Findagrave|60275058}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochefort, Joseph}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American naval officers]]
[[Category:20th-century cryptographers]]
[[Category:American cryptographers]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Japan]]
[[Category:Battle of Midway]]
[[Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:Intelligence analysts]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Dayton, Ohio]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:United States Navy captains]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]