Joseph Desch
Encyclopedia
Joseph Raymond Desch was an American electrical engineer and inventor. During World War II, he was Research Director of the project to design and manufacture the US Navy version of the bombe
, a cryptanalytic machine designed to read communications enciphered by the German Enigma
.
, in 1907 into a family of German
descent whose livelihood was blacksmithing and wagon-making. He attended the Catholic elementary school
of his neighborhood parish
, then won a scholarship
to the preparatory (high) school of the University of Dayton
. While attending college at University of Dayton
, Desch worked evenings as an inspector at Day-Fan Electric in Dayton
, supervising radio testing and production.
research for Telecom Laboratories, a company financed by Charles Kettering
of automotive pioneering fame through General Motors and Delco
. Two years later he was hired by Harry Williams
to be foreman on the Process Laboratory at the Frigidaire Division of General Motors, once again in Dayton. He then followed Williams to the National Cash Register
Company in 1938 to form the innovative Electrical Research Laboratory at the direction of Edward A. Deeds
, then president of the company.
At Deeds' direction he conducted research to implement pioneering ideas regarding the use of tubes and circuitry in counting devices, with the idea of developing high speed mathematical computing machines to augment or replace the Company's mechanical machines. The idea of applying electronic counting to calculating mechanisms occurred to him when reading of a thyratron
(gas-filled tube) counting ring of five places (5 digits, not five orders) developed by English
scientist
Wynn Williams. As a result Desch's lab received an introduction to and work with the MIT Electrical Engineering Department led by Vannevar Bush
.
. These contracts made use of Desch's research into fast-firing vacuum tubes, including a high-speed thyratron
Desch developed. This tube was used in a counter capable of millisecond speed for the University of Chicago Manhattan Project
. This was followed by contract with the OP-20-G
section of the Office of Naval Communications. In 1942 his research in the area of electronic counting made him a candidate to evaluate the design for a totally electronic deciphering device created by a group of MIT academics. He gave the opinion that the implementation of the design was not possible, primarily because of the large number of tubes necessary. Believing that the American
version of the bombe
decryption machine could be built using mechanical and electronic components, and recognizing the National Cash Register Company's capabilities, the Navy moved ahead with a contract. Desch's lab became the United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory
.
In 1943 Desch's team, working in NCR's Building 26
began delivery of completed machines to Op-20-G
in Washington. Desch's department was immediately asked to research the problems of breaking Japanese communications. The pressure of cryptanalytic work and the continuing toll of the loss of life in the Pacific theater led to Desch's withdrawal from the project in late 1944. He returned to assist in 1945.
on an electronic calculator designed by him and Bob Mumma, as part of an application initiated in March 1940. This brought about three interferences filed in the US Patent Office between their application and one by Arthur Dickinson
of IBM
.
Eventually these were settled in favor of Desch, in part because he proved Dickinson's design unworkable, and gave Desch and Mumma the first patent on the modern digital computer
. His career after this point was noteworthy, and he was especially proud in later years of his work with Bob Mumma in the development of the NCR 304
, the first completely solid state computer. He continued to be an integral part of NCR until his retirement in 1972.
in 1947.
Desch was an 2011 Inductee to the NSA/CSS Hall of Honor
Bombe
The bombe was an electromechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted signals during World War II...
, a cryptanalytic machine designed to read communications enciphered by the German Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
.
Early life
Desch was born in Dayton, OhioDayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, in 1907 into a family of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
descent whose livelihood was blacksmithing and wagon-making. He attended the Catholic elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
of his neighborhood parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, then won a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to the preparatory (high) school of the University of Dayton
University of Dayton
The University of Dayton is a private Roman Catholic university operated by the Society of Mary located in Dayton, Ohio...
. While attending college at University of Dayton
University of Dayton
The University of Dayton is a private Roman Catholic university operated by the Society of Mary located in Dayton, Ohio...
, Desch worked evenings as an inspector at Day-Fan Electric in Dayton
Dayton
Dayton is a city in Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States.Dayton may also refer to:-United States:*Dayton, Alabama*Dayton, California, in Butte County*Dayton, Lassen County, California*Dayton, Idaho*Dayton, Indiana...
, supervising radio testing and production.
Career
After graduation in 1929 he began to work at General Motors Radio where he supervised radio testing, and met Robert E. Mumma, who quickly began a friendship which lasted over 50 years. After supervising the liquidation of General Motors Radio in 1933, he conducted teleprinter communicationsInformation transfer
In telecommunications, information transfer is the process of moving messages containing user information from a source to a sink.Note: The information transfer rate may or may not be equal to the transmission modulation rate.-See also:...
research for Telecom Laboratories, a company financed by Charles Kettering
Charles Kettering
Charles Franklin Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. He was a founder of Delco, and was head of research for General Motors for 27 years from 1920 to 1947. Among his most widely used automotive inventions were the electrical starting motor and...
of automotive pioneering fame through General Motors and Delco
Delco
Delco may refer to:* Delaware County, Ohio* Delaware County, Pennsylvania* Delco, North Carolina* Delco Electronics...
. Two years later he was hired by Harry Williams
Harry Williams
Harry Hiram Williams was an American composer, lyricist, and publisher of popular music from 1903 until his death in 1922....
to be foreman on the Process Laboratory at the Frigidaire Division of General Motors, once again in Dayton. He then followed Williams to the National Cash Register
NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
Company in 1938 to form the innovative Electrical Research Laboratory at the direction of Edward A. Deeds
Edward A. Deeds
Edward Andrew Deeds was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio area.-Biography:...
, then president of the company.
At Deeds' direction he conducted research to implement pioneering ideas regarding the use of tubes and circuitry in counting devices, with the idea of developing high speed mathematical computing machines to augment or replace the Company's mechanical machines. The idea of applying electronic counting to calculating mechanisms occurred to him when reading of a thyratron
Thyratron
A thyratron is a type of gas filled tube used as a high energy electrical switch and controlled rectifier. Triode, tetrode and pentode variations of the thyratron have been manufactured in the past, though most are of the triode design...
(gas-filled tube) counting ring of five places (5 digits, not five orders) developed by English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
Wynn Williams. As a result Desch's lab received an introduction to and work with the MIT Electrical Engineering Department led by Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
.
Inventions during WWII
Beginning 1940 Desch's lab was awarded several contracts by the National Defense Research CommitteeNational Defense Research Committee
The National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
. These contracts made use of Desch's research into fast-firing vacuum tubes, including a high-speed thyratron
Thyratron
A thyratron is a type of gas filled tube used as a high energy electrical switch and controlled rectifier. Triode, tetrode and pentode variations of the thyratron have been manufactured in the past, though most are of the triode design...
Desch developed. This tube was used in a counter capable of millisecond speed for the University of Chicago Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
. This was followed by contract with the OP-20-G
OP-20-G
OP-20-G or "Office of Chief Of Naval Operations , 20th Division of the Office of Naval Communications, G Section / Communications Security", was the US Navy's signals intelligence and cryptanalysis group during World War II. Its mission was to intercept, decrypt, and analyze naval communications...
section of the Office of Naval Communications. In 1942 his research in the area of electronic counting made him a candidate to evaluate the design for a totally electronic deciphering device created by a group of MIT academics. He gave the opinion that the implementation of the design was not possible, primarily because of the large number of tubes necessary. Believing that the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of the bombe
Bombe
The bombe was an electromechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted signals during World War II...
decryption machine could be built using mechanical and electronic components, and recognizing the National Cash Register Company's capabilities, the Navy moved ahead with a contract. Desch's lab became the United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory
United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory
The United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory was a highly secret design and manufacturing site for code-breaking machinery located in Building 26 of the National Cash Register company in Dayton, Ohio and operated by the United States Navy during World War II...
.
In 1943 Desch's team, working in NCR's Building 26
United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory
The United States Naval Computing Machine Laboratory was a highly secret design and manufacturing site for code-breaking machinery located in Building 26 of the National Cash Register company in Dayton, Ohio and operated by the United States Navy during World War II...
began delivery of completed machines to Op-20-G
OP-20-G
OP-20-G or "Office of Chief Of Naval Operations , 20th Division of the Office of Naval Communications, G Section / Communications Security", was the US Navy's signals intelligence and cryptanalysis group during World War II. Its mission was to intercept, decrypt, and analyze naval communications...
in Washington. Desch's department was immediately asked to research the problems of breaking Japanese communications. The pressure of cryptanalytic work and the continuing toll of the loss of life in the Pacific theater led to Desch's withdrawal from the project in late 1944. He returned to assist in 1945.
Electronic calculator
In 1946 Desch filed an application for a patentPatent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
on an electronic calculator designed by him and Bob Mumma, as part of an application initiated in March 1940. This brought about three interferences filed in the US Patent Office between their application and one by Arthur Dickinson
Arthur Dickinson
Arthur Dickinson was manager and honorary secretary of Sheffield Wednesday. He became Sheffield Wednesday's first manager in 1891 and its honorary secretary two years later. He remains the club's longest serving and most successful manager with 393 wins, 338 losses, and 188 draws in 919 games with...
of IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
.
Eventually these were settled in favor of Desch, in part because he proved Dickinson's design unworkable, and gave Desch and Mumma the first patent on the modern digital computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
. His career after this point was noteworthy, and he was especially proud in later years of his work with Bob Mumma in the development of the NCR 304
NCR 304
The NCR 304, introduced in 1957, was National Cash Register 's first transistor-based computer. The 304 was developed and manufactured in cooperation with General Electric.Its follow-on was the NCR 315....
, the first completely solid state computer. He continued to be an integral part of NCR until his retirement in 1972.
Awards
Desch was awarded the Medal for Merit by President Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
in 1947.
Desch was an 2011 Inductee to the NSA/CSS Hall of Honor
NSA Hall of Honor
The Hall of Honor is a memorial at the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. It honors individuals who rendered distinguished service to American cryptology.-The Hall of Honor:...
Patents
- 2,177,133. Measuring Instrument. Filing date: Nov 25, 1936. Issue date: Oct 24, 1939. Inventor: Joseph. R. Desch, Dayton, Ohio. Assignee: Commonwealth Engineering Co.
- 2,399,473. Electronic Devices. Filing date: Aug 20, 1941. Issue date: Apr 30, 1946. Inventors: Joseph R. Desch and Robert E. Mumma, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,401,621. Electronic Accumulator. Filing date: Dec 31, 1941. Issue date: Jun 1946. Inventors: J. R. Desch and Lawrence D. Kilheffer, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,404,697. Calculating Device. Filing date: Mar 21, 1942. Issue date: Jul 23, 1946. Inventors: J. R. Desch and Robert E. Mumma, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,451,812. Electron Tube Variable Impulse Transmitter. Filing date: Sep 16, 1942. Issue date: Oct 19, 1948. Inventors: Joseph R. Desch, Ernest V. Gulden and Robert E. Mumma, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,462,613. Communication System. Filing date: Sep 16, 1942. Issue date: Feb 22, 1949. Inventors: J. R. Desch, Ernest V. Gulden, and Robert E. Mumma, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,419,485. Electronic Device. Filing date: Jun 3, 1943. Issue date: Apr 22, 1947. Inventors: Joseph B. Desch and Robert E. Mumma, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,467,257. Electronic Remote Control Device. Filing date: May 11, 1944. Issue date: Apr 12, 1949. Inventors: J. R. Desch and Ernest V. Gulden, assignors to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,644,087. Electronic Impulse Generator. Filing date: Dec 4, 1951. Issue date: Jun 30, 1953. Inventor: J. R. Desch, assignor to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,644,110. Filing date: Feb 20, 1952. Issue date: Jun 30, 1953. Inventor: Joseph R. Desch, assignor to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,717,334. Filing date: Apr 21, 1953. Issue date: Sept. 6, 1955. Inventor: Joseph R. Desch, assignor to The National Cash Register Company
- 2,871,408. Filing date: Apr 21, 1953. Issue date: Jan 27, 1959. Inventor: Joseph R. Desch, assignor to The National Cash Register Company
See also
- BombeBombeThe bombe was an electromechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted signals during World War II...
- Op-20-GOP-20-GOP-20-G or "Office of Chief Of Naval Operations , 20th Division of the Office of Naval Communications, G Section / Communications Security", was the US Navy's signals intelligence and cryptanalysis group during World War II. Its mission was to intercept, decrypt, and analyze naval communications...
- Joseph WengerJoseph WengerJoseph Wenger was a Rear-Admiral of the United States Navy who served as the first Deputy Director of the Armed Forces Security Agency , and later as the first Vice Director of the National Security Agency, from December 1952 to November 1953, after the separate divisions of the AFSA merged into...
- Edward A. DeedsEdward A. DeedsEdward Andrew Deeds was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio area.-Biography:...
- Vannevar BushVannevar BushVannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
- National Defense Research CommitteeNational Defense Research CommitteeThe National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
- National Security AgencyNational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
- Harold KeenHarold KeenHarold Hall "Doc" Keen was a British engineer who produced the engineering design, and oversaw the construction of, the British bombe, a codebreaking machine used in World War II to read German messages sent using the Enigma machine. He was known as "Doc" Keen because of his habit of carrying...
External links
- Dayton Daily News, Dayton's Code Breakers.
- Jim DeBrosse and Colin Burke, The Secret in Building 26: The Untold Story of America's Ultra War Against the U-boat Enigma Codes, 2004, ISBN 0-375-50807-4.
- Dayton Codebreakers Web site, DaytonCodebreakers.org. Information about Desch, personnel of the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory, declassified documents.