Today I visited the USS Pampanito, a museum u-boat at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. I was especially interested in the encryption machine that is allegedly on display on this ship. My trip ended up as a disappointment.
After my visit to crypto collector Ralph Simpson on Monday, I spent the last three days at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. As many readers will know, the RSA Conference is the world’s leading cryptography event with over 40,000 attendants and hundreds of exhibition booths. I had the honor of giving a talk titled “Understanding and Explaining Post-Quantum Crypto with Cartoons“, along with other speakers such as Bruce Schneier, Adi Shamir, Ron Rivest, and Whitfield Diffie.
Source: Schmeh
My employer cryptovision had a booth at the exhibition. The following picture shows my co-workers Adam Ross and Lutz Feldhege.
Source: Schmeh
More pictures will soon be available on cryptovision’s Instagram site.
Today, I took the chance to visit one of San Francisco’s crypto sights (for others check the cryptologic travel guide): the museum u-boat USS Pampanito, located at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Source: Schmeh
Several people had told me that an ECM Mark II cipher machine, better known as SIGABA, was on display on this ship. The SIGABA was one of the best encryption machines of the Second World War. Contrary to the Enigma and many others, it was never broken.
Fisherman’s Wharf is one of San Francisco’s most popular tourist places and one of the most expensive ones, too. I paid 20 Dollars to get on board the USS Pampanito (not too bad for a 20-minutes experience) and walked my way through the u-boat.
Source: Schmeh
A well-made audio guide provided on an iPod (interesting to know that such a thing still exists) explained the ship and its history. The section I had waited for started as follows: “Look to your left into the Radio Room. The device that looks like a typewriter …”. These words were even written on a sign for orientation.
Source: Schmeh
The sentence about the device that looks like a typewriter continued: “… is an ECM Mark II.” It was followed by a short descrption of this machine and its role in the Second World War. When I Iooked into the Radio Room, I actually saw an item that looked like a typewriter.
Source: Schmeh
There was only one problem with this device: it was not an encryption machine, let alone an ECM Mark II (SIGABA). It was an ordinary typewriter.
I immediately went out to the guy who sold the tickets and told him about my disappointment. He didn’t understand what I was talking about. When I said that the device that looked like typewriter actually was a typewriter, he was confused. “Of course, this is a typewriter”, he replied, “but a special one that writes in a secret code.” So, I finally gave up and left the place. This was clearly a case of labeling fraud. Considering the fact that the cipher machine was the reason why I had visited the USS Pampanito, I really regretted to have spent $20 for getting on board.
Back in the hotel, I consulted Google about my problem and soon found the solution. On a website hosted by the San Francisco Maritme National Park Association, the following can be read:
From July of 1996 until November of 2004 one of the NSG [SIGABA] machines was on loan aboard Pampanito. After cleaning, lubrication and minor repair it was put on display. At the time it was returned to the Navy …
Apparently, there was an ECM Mark II on board the USS Pampanito – until the year 2004. As it seems, neither the audio guide nor the technology used to present it (i.e., the Apple iPod) has changed over the last 16 years. While the iPods still do their job, the audio guide appears to be outdated now.
The next thing I need to do is kick out the USS Pampanito of the Cryptologic Travel Guide.
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Further reading: The M-138: a simple but good cipher device
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