'i --·- ! • 

REF ID:~358 

i!TJ:L::CTEI - CO~TID1.::i~TIAL 

TO 

~oinM.a.~ding Officer V / 

Assistant Ccmmanda-n~t-----.-h~----­ rtdl>V" Dir of Comm Research ~ ----Control 0 . ----------- -----Adm in is tr --..,,.----------------- at iv e 0 ----- Adjutant -------------- Int ell i gen ------------------- o e 0 

~------------ Provost. Marshal ---------- 2nd Sig; Serv Bn --------------- Chief, Pers & Trng Div --- Chier, ---------- Pers Br ---------~-~ Chief, Trng Br ---------------- Chief, Opor Serv Div ----- Chief, Colrli.lunicati ------------ ans Br 

Chief, ----- La.boratorJ Br 

Chief, Hachine Br ---- Property & ---=------ Supply 0 

Purchasing & Contracting ------- 0 

Fiscal e~ Certifying 0 

ore, 1.19.il Section ------ -------- Chief, Security Div ----- Chief, Protective ------------ Seo Br 

Chief, Cryptographic Br ----- Chief', Development Br ------ ----- Chief, Intelligence Div ----- -------- ---- Chjef, Language Br----------

Chief, Hil Cryptanalytic Br 

Chief, Gen Cryptanalytic Br--

Chief, T/A and Control Br -

Chief, I & L Br efti:'-,....,._ ~ -~--,_._-H--.. )1..., 

h.. .L. '""- ,, tan? 

lA.n c 

As discussed ----As requested ---------------- -----Comments a...id_r_e_t_u_r_n ___________ _ 

I ormation and file ~---_J --....... ------- nforma ti on and forwarding ----....~ ------ I fonr.ation and return 

--I'--,£ -------

See note on reverse .....:.--~Signature if approvecr 

Your action ------ ---

SIS-SC Form No. 96 (Rev) 

23 August 1944 

eclassified and .. 

pproved for release by 

SA on 01-02-2014 

ursuant to E.O. 13526 

&-· .- - ,:--....... .:::.:....- I "' 

--·-------- --- ---;---------·-..&:::::""" ---- ---

c6PYact:NmL 

ll/29/~ 

In reply" refer to 

Fife No. 110.2-RB/rb 

REF ID:A69358 

AMFRICAN CONSULAR SF.R.VICE 

Special Consultant to the 

Sir: 

Assistant Secretary, Kr. Sha.w, 

Room 551, Department of State, 

Washington, D. C. 25. 

Madras, India, November l?, 1944 

The preface to "Keying Instructions for Converter ll-32511 

invites comments, to be addressed as above. 

I received the contraptions on November 12, 1944, and spent 

the Sunday and ever-r evening since in learning how to -use them. 

One aet may or may not be detective; when there is time I will 

test it again. The other appears to work in the way intended, 

perhaps simply because I made no mistakes in setting it up. I 

have now bec!JDl.e so adept that I can set it up in an hour • . The device may be a cryptographic marvel, and as such its 

adoption, especially in war time, is a necessary evil. It is 

fantastically inefficient as a machine and I trust that it will 

only be used when ultra-secrpt messages muat be sent. Except 

because driven to it tor want or a better device, no man could .... have wanted it i.t he were the man who was to work it. I am 

impelled to write you because you may not generally receive the 

comments of code clerks and junior vice consuls who actually 

will use the horror. Being the only American at this poet, I 

am. the one to do so. 

An o.t:f'ice which sends or receives enough messages to employ 

a code clerk might !ind the machine efficient, on the theory that 

when it is once set up tor the day the time thus taken is saved 

bf the ease and rapidity of coding and decoding the rest of the 

day. It is very doubt!u.l whether even this is the case, and !or 

an ot!ice without a code clerk, the amount of time taken to set up 

and to codify is disproportionate, and moreover cannot be spared 

' during o.t.tice hours as a rule. · 

The smallness or the machine chief'ly' accounts for its 

inefficiency as an ot!ioe device. Apart trom the machine' a 

liability to break-down and the coincident difficulty ot repair, the :C'ollowing f'aults are to be found with it when in good working 

orders 

1. Even 
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REF ID: A69350 -

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1. 'Even with the most careful. handling and delicate lubricating, 

greaae from the rotors gets on the fingers and thence on other parts 

at the apparatus, the pa.per, pencil, etc. 

2. Far from rotating easily by hand, the rotors are most awkward 

to move except with the stepping button, which itself is none too 

easy • 

.3. The 26-letter check appears by experiment to be quite 

essential, but involves a .further handling of the greasy rotors. 

4. The jack board wiring is so tiny as to require great care 

under a good light, and errors are practically impossible to trace 

without removing all jacks and beginning again. The need to use 

tweezers to remove jacks is unfortunate, as the tweezers hurt the 

fingers, they slip and damage the wiring, and the process takes time. 

5. The wiring of the reversing rotor is a moat paintul business. 

The sharp, sti!t and tiny clips need,the horny fingers of a stevedore 

and delicate touch of a violinist. 

6. The mental and physical irritation and f'atigue caused by the 

above add their small quota to the day's strain, not to mention 

increasing the chance of errors when coding or decoding is begun 

after getting the agony over. 

7. The physical process of coding and decoding could hardly 

be more awkward. A code clerk in c~nstant practice might acquire 

the necessary ha.bits, but even he could not avoid the slow pushbutton, ietter-by-letter requirement, often with the hand covering 

one or the two lighted letters witil moved awkwardly. 

Comparatively, the al.phabet strip systems, particularly the 

Navy's (which are superior to those of the State-AI'm1' Signal Corps), ar~ simple to operate. I! the justification of' the K-325 is greater 

security, we may have to put up with it. If', however, there is some 

thought that ll-325 is a convenience, let that idea be discarded at 

once. Nor is anyone who praises the .machine to be believed. unless 

he certifies that he himself has used it and is under no compulsion 

to be less than candid. 

The 9~nsulate at Madras receives and sends very few messages 

requiring-security beyond the slightly confidential nature or the 

Brown code. There must be many offices in a similar position. It 

is hoped that the use of K-325 will not become routine merely because 

all offices possess it and those with code clerks would prefer to 

use but one system.• It would be considerate of the Department 

and 
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and or ot!ices with code clerks to use the Brown or the alphabet 

strip codes whenever possible in communicating with any small 

ottice where the already very bus;r consular officers can ill spare 

time to struggle with K-325. 

Veey truly yours, 

/a/ Roy E. B. Bower 

American Consul 

Copy to American Consulate General, Calcutta.