|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| biography |
classifications |
major works |
cross references |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
biography
| name: |
Rochefort, Joseph J(ohn)
|
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1898–1976)
|
| biography:
| US naval officer, born in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He enlisted in the US Naval Reserve (1918) during World War 1, became an ensign (1919), and transferred to the US Navy, where he was made captain. In 1925–7 he took charge of the cryptographic section of the Office of Naval Communications until he went back to sea. In 1929 he went to the American Embassy in Tokyo to study Japanese, and returned to the Office of Naval Intelligence in 1932. By June 1941, he was in charge of the Combat Intelligence Unit located at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian territory. He broke the Japanese coded messages and relayed them to Admiral Chester Nimitz prior to and during the Battle of Midway during World War 2, and for this he was given several awards, including the Legion of Merit. In 1947 he retired from the navy, but was recalled in 1950 for the Korean War, and retired permanently in 1953. He was a consultant for the film Tora, Tora, Tora (1953). Never a public figure, he was recognized posthumously when President Reagan awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal for his invaluable service in breaking the Japanese code. |
|
|
|
|
