By Andy McCue, 18 March 2008 12:00
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The Lorenz machine pictured here had 12 pinwheels and each message sent by it was enciphered using a different starting position for each wheel.
Codebreakers at Bletchley Park found the code was not completely random and that the correct wheel starting positions could be found by analysing the messages at high speed.
Colossus' main task was discovering the pin patterns for all 12 wheels. It could then be used to work out the starting wheel settings for the enciphered messages.
Photo Credit: Andy McCue
See more photos from Colossus here
Comments
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1. W.S.Becket
Thank God it was built by Bletchley Park and not Microsoft. Had we had to rely on MS during the war, I would be writing this in German.
2. Don Tregartha
And the Americans reckon they invented the computer...
Am I right in thinking this predated the ENIAC or whatever they call the first computer. Colossus was programmable, could store data, and of course was capable of thousands of complex calculations. Its only that our secret service was so paranoid that someone would find out they ever existed that this achievement was never recognised.
I've been to have a look when they were rebuilding it, I'm going back soon.
3. Dr John Dimmock
Sir Tommy Flowers, if you don't mind.
It took him 50 years, due to the Official Secrets Act before he could get this accolade.
Sir Tommy Flowers invented the world's first electronically programmable computer, and only quite recently have we been able to prove to the Yanks who for 50-odd years have claimed that honour.
My mother - still alive - and several of her friends who are also still alive and kicking were involved with the project. Interestingly, my mum was conscripted to the Royal Air Force (RAF) not the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF).
4. James Lewis-Williams
"Am I right in thinking this predated the ENIAC or whatever they call the first computer."
Yes, but it did not predate the Z3, developed by German aircraft engineer Konrad Zuse in 1941. This was a binary electronic computer that used holes punched in old movie film as its programming medium, because paper was in short supply in Germany during the war. He even formed a company, Zuse Apparetebau, to manufacture his machines.
Zuse tried to interest the Nazi government in funding a fully electronic computer using valves ("tubes" in USA) but the Nazis were not interested!
5. Philip Virgo
So who did order the destruction of the Colossi?
6. Dan Clement
Makes me proud to live in Bletchley.