29/01/2024
Preconcerted Code Words Used by Secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots, is known to have used various ciphers, including very simple ones as well as ones with quite a few code symbols. I recently learned Gilbert Curll, her Scottish secretary, also used preconcerted language (code words) such as "the merchant of London" (Queen of England). I added it to "Ciphers of Mary, Queen of Scots".
28/01/2024
What Code Was Used when Nisho Maru Oil Tanker Broke Blockade of the Royal Navy?
The Nissho Maru Incident (日章丸事件) (Wikipedia) was a 1953 incident in which the Japanese oil tanker Nissho Maru broke an embargo on Iranian oil posed by Britain. The mission required utmost secrecy, and coded messages played a role.
When in 1951 Iran nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which had been drawing off most of the profits from oil business in Iran, Britain imposed economic sanctions on Iran and, in July 1952, the Royal Navy seized the Italian tanker Rose Mary, claiming that its oil was stolen property. However, seeing that the nationalization was being accepted internationally (『ペルシャ湾上の日章丸』p.53-54, 61, 148-149, etc.), the Japanese petroleum firm Idemitsu Kosan acted quickly to purchase the Iranian oil before other companies in the world still dared not challenge the British blockade.
The Nissho Maru set sail on 23 March 1953, purportedly for Saudi Arabia. When cruising in the Indian Ocean, a radio message from the home office revealed the real purpose of the voyage was to receive petroleum at Abadan, Iran. The sealed packet entrusted with the captain contained a message to the crew from the president of the firm, declaring his resolution to have a direct access to the oil resources without interference from the monopolozing major oil companies (ibid. p.152-155). After this, the Nissho Maru kept radio silence until 30 April, when it came back as far as the East China Sea. The Nissho Maru received a hero's welcome when she safely arrived at Kawasaki, Japan, on 9 May 1953 (ibid. p.172). No less welcome awaited her on her second, no longer secret, visit to Abadan in June (ibid. p.211-217).
Where does code come in?
The crucial message revealing the real destiation as Abadan is said to have been a coded message (NIKKEIリスキリング). The conclusion of a contract with Iran had been reported in code (『ペルシャ湾上の日章丸』p.138). When the Nissho Maru was returning to Japan, the home office sent a coded message to tell her to lower speed so as to arrive at noon on Saturday, 9 May 1953, because then even if AIOC requested seizure of cargo, a provisional disposition of the court would not be issued at least until Monday.
A businessman, Takeshi Hotoku (宝徳健), notes on his blog that it was his mother who actually operated sending of the coded messages. It appears the coded messages are preserved in Idemitsu Kosan.
I have not found detailed description of the code.
The reporting of the contract may have been sent by telegram. Telegrams were commonly sent by using a codebook. It was also common for businesses to use their proprietary codebooks. Radio messages to/from ships at sea were commonly sent by Morse code until about 1978 (Idemitsu Tanker). The radio messages to/from the Nissho Maru could have been encrypted with some special codebook or cipher.
I first learned of this episode in relation to a best selling novel, A Man Called Pirate (海賊と呼ばれた男) by Naoki Hyakuta (百田尚樹) (Wikipedia). Although his writing tends to have many historical inaccuracies, his description about coded messages in the novel may be of some interest. (The names in the novel are pseudonyms.)
『海賊とよばれた男』下 より
p.130
「翌日は帰国予定だったが，数日ずらすことにし，本社にその旨を電報で送った．今回，正明らと本社のやりとりは，通信の秘匿のためにすべて暗号を使用していた．暗号文を知らされているのは限られた者だけだった．この暗号を作ったのは武知と元ラジオ部の部長である藤本壮平である．旧中野学校の教官であった武知にとって暗号はお手のものだった．かつてラジオ修理を持ち込んで国岡商店に入った藤本も元海軍大佐である．二人は専門家でなくても使える便利な暗号を作った．」
イラン行きの文脈．
p.172
四月五日正午，日章丸がセイロンの南，コロンボ沖にさしかかったとき，国岡本社から無電が入った．日本を出て十三日目のことだった．
「SAKUR NXRQT LPRDX BFNOW TXKPJ」
通信長は意味のわからない無電に首を傾げながら，船長の新田に電文を持ってきた．
新田は「とうとう来たな」と思った．これは事前に打ち合わせておいた暗号電だった．彼はすぐに手帳の暗号解読表を見て電文を読み解いた．
そこにはこう書かれていた．
「アバダンへ行け」
p.205
日章丸は川崎に到着すると聞かされていた徳山の従業員たちは驚いた．慌てて，九州からも助っ人を要請してタンクの清掃に取り掛かった．
にわかに徳山が日本中の注目を浴びた．報道記者たちも続々と徳山に集まった．
しかしこれは鐡造の陽動作戦だった．彼は前もって，日章丸に向けて，暗号電文で次の指令を送っていたのだ．
「川崎において差し押さえの懸念あるにつき，九日午後より揚荷開始の予定．九日正午，検疫錨地に入港するよう適宜考慮して航海せよ」
初めから鐡造は九日に日章丸を川崎港に入港させるつもりだった．九日にこだわったのは，その日が土曜日だったからだ．
When in 1951 Iran nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which had been drawing off most of the profits from oil business in Iran, Britain imposed economic sanctions on Iran and, in July 1952, the Royal Navy seized the Italian tanker Rose Mary, claiming that its oil was stolen property. However, seeing that the nationalization was being accepted internationally (『ペルシャ湾上の日章丸』p.53-54, 61, 148-149, etc.), the Japanese petroleum firm Idemitsu Kosan acted quickly to purchase the Iranian oil before other companies in the world still dared not challenge the British blockade.
The Nissho Maru set sail on 23 March 1953, purportedly for Saudi Arabia. When cruising in the Indian Ocean, a radio message from the home office revealed the real purpose of the voyage was to receive petroleum at Abadan, Iran. The sealed packet entrusted with the captain contained a message to the crew from the president of the firm, declaring his resolution to have a direct access to the oil resources without interference from the monopolozing major oil companies (ibid. p.152-155). After this, the Nissho Maru kept radio silence until 30 April, when it came back as far as the East China Sea. The Nissho Maru received a hero's welcome when she safely arrived at Kawasaki, Japan, on 9 May 1953 (ibid. p.172). No less welcome awaited her on her second, no longer secret, visit to Abadan in June (ibid. p.211-217).
Where does code come in?
The crucial message revealing the real destiation as Abadan is said to have been a coded message (NIKKEIリスキリング). The conclusion of a contract with Iran had been reported in code (『ペルシャ湾上の日章丸』p.138). When the Nissho Maru was returning to Japan, the home office sent a coded message to tell her to lower speed so as to arrive at noon on Saturday, 9 May 1953, because then even if AIOC requested seizure of cargo, a provisional disposition of the court would not be issued at least until Monday.
A businessman, Takeshi Hotoku (宝徳健), notes on his blog that it was his mother who actually operated sending of the coded messages. It appears the coded messages are preserved in Idemitsu Kosan.
I have not found detailed description of the code.
The reporting of the contract may have been sent by telegram. Telegrams were commonly sent by using a codebook. It was also common for businesses to use their proprietary codebooks. Radio messages to/from ships at sea were commonly sent by Morse code until about 1978 (Idemitsu Tanker). The radio messages to/from the Nissho Maru could have been encrypted with some special codebook or cipher.
I first learned of this episode in relation to a best selling novel, A Man Called Pirate (海賊と呼ばれた男) by Naoki Hyakuta (百田尚樹) (Wikipedia). Although his writing tends to have many historical inaccuracies, his description about coded messages in the novel may be of some interest. (The names in the novel are pseudonyms.)
『海賊とよばれた男』下 より
p.130
「翌日は帰国予定だったが，数日ずらすことにし，本社にその旨を電報で送った．今回，正明らと本社のやりとりは，通信の秘匿のためにすべて暗号を使用していた．暗号文を知らされているのは限られた者だけだった．この暗号を作ったのは武知と元ラジオ部の部長である藤本壮平である．旧中野学校の教官であった武知にとって暗号はお手のものだった．かつてラジオ修理を持ち込んで国岡商店に入った藤本も元海軍大佐である．二人は専門家でなくても使える便利な暗号を作った．」
イラン行きの文脈．
p.172
四月五日正午，日章丸がセイロンの南，コロンボ沖にさしかかったとき，国岡本社から無電が入った．日本を出て十三日目のことだった．
「SAKUR NXRQT LPRDX BFNOW TXKPJ」
通信長は意味のわからない無電に首を傾げながら，船長の新田に電文を持ってきた．
新田は「とうとう来たな」と思った．これは事前に打ち合わせておいた暗号電だった．彼はすぐに手帳の暗号解読表を見て電文を読み解いた．
そこにはこう書かれていた．
「アバダンへ行け」
p.205
日章丸は川崎に到着すると聞かされていた徳山の従業員たちは驚いた．慌てて，九州からも助っ人を要請してタンクの清掃に取り掛かった．
にわかに徳山が日本中の注目を浴びた．報道記者たちも続々と徳山に集まった．
しかしこれは鐡造の陽動作戦だった．彼は前もって，日章丸に向けて，暗号電文で次の指令を送っていたのだ．
「川崎において差し押さえの懸念あるにつき，九日午後より揚荷開始の予定．九日正午，検疫錨地に入港するよう適宜考慮して航海せよ」
初めから鐡造は九日に日章丸を川崎港に入港させるつもりだった．九日にこだわったのは，その日が土曜日だったからだ．
23/01/2024
Mary Stuart's Ciphers in Papers of Earl of Moray
When I browsed the stack of papers in my study, I came across a photocopy of an old book about ciphers of Mary, Queen of Scots. I looked for this when I uploaded "Ciphers of Mary, Queen of Scots", but I couldn't find it at the time because it was put in a wrong folder.
I had to go to a university library in Tokyo to make the photocopy, but now the book is available on line.
Now, I added a section "Ciphers in Papers of Earl of Morray" in the above article.
I had to go to a university library in Tokyo to make the photocopy, but now the book is available on line.
Now, I added a section "Ciphers in Papers of Earl of Morray" in the above article.
17/01/2024
Venetian Ciphers with Superscripts in ASVe
I'm collecting specimens of ciphers with superscript figures or letters in "Venetian Ciphers with Superscripts". I made additions about materials preserved in the State Archives of Venice (ASVe) by consulting the DECODE database and Paolo Bonavoglia's papers.
I launched this page hoping to find a clue to solve unsolved ciphers from the 1520s (see the section "Older Use"), but the added materials are from the second half of the century, and do not seem to help.
I launched this page hoping to find a clue to solve unsolved ciphers from the 1520s (see the section "Older Use"), but the added materials are from the second half of the century, and do not seem to help.
15/01/2024
Specimens of Caselle Cipher
The caselle cipher (cifra delle caselle) is a Venetian cipher with superencryption, adopted in 1578 and used for almost two decades by the ambassadors to Germany, France, Spain, and Constantinople (Paolo Bonavoglia (2021), "The ciphers of the Republic of Venice an overview", Cryptologia).
Related materials are in the DECODE database.
The four grids used for superencryption are in R1788 (State Archives of Venice [ASVe], "IT ASVe 0045 010 (Serie) Busta 4 Reg. 8"). This is quoted as "ASVe, CX Cifre, chiavi e scontri di cifra, busta 4, reg.8" in Figure 6 of Bonavoglia (2021).
I noted three specimens in this cipher in DECODE.
R1844 ("Busta 11 f.114-115") enciphered with the key Franza (or Francia). Hieronimo Sippomano[?], Paris, 13 October 1578.
R1848 ("Busta 13 f.142-143") enciphered with the key Germania. Prague, 11 October 1578. This is the same as the specimen in Figure 6 of Bonavoglia (2021) cited as "ASVe, CCX, Dispacci degli ambasciatori, busta 13, c.142." [CX=the Council of Ten, CCX=Chiefs of the Council of Ten]
R1863 ("Busta 28 f.83-85") enciphered with the key Francia. 22[?] January 1580.
Figure 2 of Paolo Bonavoglia (2022), "The Enigma of Franceschi's Falso Scontro", HistoCrypt2022, presents another specimen with the Germania key, dated Prague, 23 January 1581, by Venetian ambassador A. Badoer, cited as "ASVe CCX Lettere degli Ambasciatori in Germania, b.12 c.155."
Related materials are in the DECODE database.
The four grids used for superencryption are in R1788 (State Archives of Venice [ASVe], "IT ASVe 0045 010 (Serie) Busta 4 Reg. 8"). This is quoted as "ASVe, CX Cifre, chiavi e scontri di cifra, busta 4, reg.8" in Figure 6 of Bonavoglia (2021).
I noted three specimens in this cipher in DECODE.
R1844 ("Busta 11 f.114-115") enciphered with the key Franza (or Francia). Hieronimo Sippomano[?], Paris, 13 October 1578.
R1848 ("Busta 13 f.142-143") enciphered with the key Germania. Prague, 11 October 1578. This is the same as the specimen in Figure 6 of Bonavoglia (2021) cited as "ASVe, CCX, Dispacci degli ambasciatori, busta 13, c.142." [CX=the Council of Ten, CCX=Chiefs of the Council of Ten]
R1863 ("Busta 28 f.83-85") enciphered with the key Francia. 22[?] January 1580.
Figure 2 of Paolo Bonavoglia (2022), "The Enigma of Franceschi's Falso Scontro", HistoCrypt2022, presents another specimen with the Germania key, dated Prague, 23 January 1581, by Venetian ambassador A. Badoer, cited as "ASVe CCX Lettere degli Ambasciatori in Germania, b.12 c.155."
14/01/2024
Double Reading Caused by Omission of Breaks
Two pre-war Japanese telegram cipher tables are presented in a blog (痩田肥利太衛門残日録その二). They are simple substitution ciphers for kana from 1923 and 1938 and are for internal use by the staff of Sendai Communication Office (serving both as a post office and a telegraph office).
The example message in the illustration of the blog is a famous double-reading message in Japanese.
The message:
kaneokuretanomu
is to be parsed as
Kane Okure. Tanomu. (Send money, please.)
but may also be parsed as
Kane Okureta. Nomu. (Money delayed. I'll drink.)
Whether enciphered or not, telegrams without punctuation are prone to this kind of parsing errors.
This reminded me of another example of such double reading I read when I was in elementary school.
A note in a clinic:
kokodehakimonowonuidekudasai.
should be read as:
Kokode Hakimono-wo Nuide Kudasai. (Take off your shoes here.)
but may also be parsed as
Kokode-ha Kimono-wo Nuide Kudasai. (Take off your clothes here.)
Such multiple possibilities of reading tend to occur in deciphering. One such example is given in my coauthored paper, "Deciphering Mary Stuart's lost letters from 1578-1584" (Cryptologia) (note 344). When introducing a codename for a secret messenger, Mary, Queen of Scots, writes:
"Le porteur s'appellera cy a present Renous Banque" (The bearer will now be called "Renous Banque").
But this passage, known from contemporary decipherment and printed in Labanff, v, p.479, seems to be a decipherment error. It would make better sense if parsed as
"Le porteur s'appellera cy-apres entre nous Banque" (The bearer from now on will be called between us "Banque")
There is always a possibility of this kind of double reading when deciphering a ciphertext without word breaks.
The example message in the illustration of the blog is a famous double-reading message in Japanese.
The message:
kaneokuretanomu
is to be parsed as
Kane Okure. Tanomu. (Send money, please.)
but may also be parsed as
Kane Okureta. Nomu. (Money delayed. I'll drink.)
Whether enciphered or not, telegrams without punctuation are prone to this kind of parsing errors.
This reminded me of another example of such double reading I read when I was in elementary school.
A note in a clinic:
kokodehakimonowonuidekudasai.
should be read as:
Kokode Hakimono-wo Nuide Kudasai. (Take off your shoes here.)
but may also be parsed as
Kokode-ha Kimono-wo Nuide Kudasai. (Take off your clothes here.)
Such multiple possibilities of reading tend to occur in deciphering. One such example is given in my coauthored paper, "Deciphering Mary Stuart's lost letters from 1578-1584" (Cryptologia) (note 344). When introducing a codename for a secret messenger, Mary, Queen of Scots, writes:
"Le porteur s'appellera cy a present Renous Banque" (The bearer will now be called "Renous Banque").
But this passage, known from contemporary decipherment and printed in Labanff, v, p.479, seems to be a decipherment error. It would make better sense if parsed as
"Le porteur s'appellera cy-apres entre nous Banque" (The bearer from now on will be called between us "Banque")
There is always a possibility of this kind of double reading when deciphering a ciphertext without word breaks.
08/01/2024
A Cipher of Margret of Austria?
A cipher used in the correspondence of Margaret of Austria, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands in 1507-1515, 1519-1530, is preserved in Archives départementales du Nord (Un jour, une œuvre : un code secret aux Archives départementales!, 1 June 2022).
I believe the third image posted, if any, belongs to Margaret of Austria. It is a short list of symbols for names. Historians will be able to date it from entries such as
Soliciteur
de Zorn
de Bure
de fiennes
de Sempy
de Silstein
Brossart de fauquemont
Paule de Lichtein
The first image shows a simple substitution cipher alphabet which assigns numbers to the letters A-Z plus J at the end, with homophones for A, E, I, O, S, V. The syllable section assigns number to some (fa is enciphered as 35, fe is 36, etc.), but substitutes syllables for others (da is enciphered as fa, de is fe, etc.). Such mixed ciphers are known from Spanish ciphers in the 17th century (e.g., Cp.59, Cp.64, for which see my article).
The second image is part of a nomenclature, assigning numbers 266 to 614 to letters, syllables, words, names, and some functions. The entry of Queen Christina clearly shows it is no earlier than 1632. The following shows some entries of interest, from which I guess this is from 1682-1689.
269,313,357 chifre nul
270,314,358 annulle le chifre qui suit
271 Mr le Dauphin
276 Mr De Croissy *Colbert de Croissy, who assumed the title in 1662 and died in 1696
280 le Roy de Hongrie
299 Elect^r Palatin
300 la maison de B[r]aunswic et Lunebourg
303 la Reyne de Dannemark
328 Ill.[?] de Sreues[?]
365 La P^cesse d'Orange *Mary, Princess Royal (holding the title 1647-1650, died 1660)? or Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (holding the title 1625-1647, died in 1675 as dowager) or Mary of York (holding the title 1677-1694)
371 lEl^r de Mayences
373 le Card^l de furstenbourg
392 le Roy de Suede *Queen Christina (see below), not King, reigned 1632-1654.
396 Versailles *Court of Louis XIV from 1682.
411 Mr de Benting *William Bentinck (1649-1709, created Earl of Portland in 1689)
434 Republique
436 lEvesq. de Munster
439 le Mar^al d'humieres *Marechal d'Humieres, created in 1668 and died in 1694
440 le Card^l Cibo *Innocenzo Cybo was cardinal 1513-1550. Alderano Cibo was cardinal 1645-1700
443 M-r de Lauardin[?]
445 ce chifre est nul
455 M^r Diekvelt *Everard van Weede van Dijkvelt (1626 - 1702)?
484 le Car^dl D'Estree *Cesar d'Estrees (1628-1714)?
487 le Pro^ce de Groninge
489 chifre nul
495 M^r le Peletier
528 Les Provinces unies *1581-1795
530 La Reyne christine *reigned 1632-1654, died in 1689
533 annule le precedent
586 M^r Heinsius *Daniel Heinsius (1580-1655)?? or Anthonie Heinsius (1641-1720)
589 Le Con^el de Vienne
I believe the third image posted, if any, belongs to Margaret of Austria. It is a short list of symbols for names. Historians will be able to date it from entries such as
Soliciteur
de Zorn
de Bure
de fiennes
de Sempy
de Silstein
Brossart de fauquemont
Paule de Lichtein
The first image shows a simple substitution cipher alphabet which assigns numbers to the letters A-Z plus J at the end, with homophones for A, E, I, O, S, V. The syllable section assigns number to some (fa is enciphered as 35, fe is 36, etc.), but substitutes syllables for others (da is enciphered as fa, de is fe, etc.). Such mixed ciphers are known from Spanish ciphers in the 17th century (e.g., Cp.59, Cp.64, for which see my article).
The second image is part of a nomenclature, assigning numbers 266 to 614 to letters, syllables, words, names, and some functions. The entry of Queen Christina clearly shows it is no earlier than 1632. The following shows some entries of interest, from which I guess this is from 1682-1689.
269,313,357 chifre nul
270,314,358 annulle le chifre qui suit
271 Mr le Dauphin
276 Mr De Croissy *Colbert de Croissy, who assumed the title in 1662 and died in 1696
280 le Roy de Hongrie
299 Elect^r Palatin
300 la maison de B[r]aunswic et Lunebourg
303 la Reyne de Dannemark
328 Ill.[?] de Sreues[?]
365 La P^cesse d'Orange *Mary, Princess Royal (holding the title 1647-1650, died 1660)? or Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (holding the title 1625-1647, died in 1675 as dowager) or Mary of York (holding the title 1677-1694)
371 lEl^r de Mayences
373 le Card^l de furstenbourg
392 le Roy de Suede *Queen Christina (see below), not King, reigned 1632-1654.
396 Versailles *Court of Louis XIV from 1682.
411 Mr de Benting *William Bentinck (1649-1709, created Earl of Portland in 1689)
434 Republique
436 lEvesq. de Munster
439 le Mar^al d'humieres *Marechal d'Humieres, created in 1668 and died in 1694
440 le Card^l Cibo *Innocenzo Cybo was cardinal 1513-1550. Alderano Cibo was cardinal 1645-1700
443 M-r de Lauardin[?]
445 ce chifre est nul
455 M^r Diekvelt *Everard van Weede van Dijkvelt (1626 - 1702)?
484 le Car^dl D'Estree *Cesar d'Estrees (1628-1714)?
487 le Pro^ce de Groninge
489 chifre nul
495 M^r le Peletier
528 Les Provinces unies *1581-1795
530 La Reyne christine *reigned 1632-1654, died in 1689
533 annule le precedent
586 M^r Heinsius *Daniel Heinsius (1580-1655)?? or Anthonie Heinsius (1641-1720)
589 Le Con^el de Vienne
02/01/2024
British Codebreakers' Keys of French Ciphers during the War of American Revolution
Back in 2015, I reported use of four codes by the French during the American Revolutionary War in "Code Switching in French Diplomatic Correspondence and Intercepted Letter of Barbé-Marbois (1782)". (By the way, code switching, the theme of the article, was also prescribed during the reign of Louis XIV, as reported by Jörg Ulbert, quoted in "Code Switching in French Diplomatic Correspondence during the Peace Negotiation at Rijswijk (1696-1697)").
To facilitate identifying the four codes, labelled A-D in my article, the letter "E" is assigned the following numbers according to my reconstruction:
Code A: E=94, 395, 709, 865, 1043
Code B: E=302, 461, 590, 871
Code C: E=164
Code D: E=51, 475, 485
I noticed related keys are among the collection in BL, Add MS 32263:
f.220-225 (DECODE* R7681)
f.226-227 (DECODE R7682)
f.228-229 (DECODE R7683)
f.230-231 (DECODE R7684)
f.234-235 (DECODE R7687)
Of these, the "left" key in R7687 matches Code C and the "left" key in R7683 matches Code D. I was hoping the British codebreakers' keys might shed light on the indication system for code switching, but I have not been able to find a clue. (In particular, I thought "867" might be an indicator for Code D, but I find nothing to support it.)
As a starting point for future search, the following describes these items.
R7682, R7683, R7684, and R7687 are the British codebreakers' key worksheets, with printed numbers 1 - 1100. It seems to cover two different codes, one written left to the number and the other written right to the number.
Endorsed "De La Luzerne a Montmorin, Nov^r 1780" In a different hand, "Vergennes" is written above the name, and "Luz-ne a Vergennes Dec^re[?] 1783.
The left key corresponds to Code C.
This includes many substitution alphabets (but Codes A-D are not among them). The following lists the working title (?) and the "E" section. (It should be noted that sometimes it is not clear which lines belong to the section. In the first place, the same number occurs multiple times, and the meaning of the list is not completely clear.)
"587 la" 272 270 -- 135 187
705 718 -- 24 17
"361 de" 17 634 -- 267 270
817 533 -- 402 250 116 339 -- 616 522
267 87 -- 211 185
"250 l" 361 402 -- 740 135
"607 le" 587 240 -- 305 801
211 185 -- 817 303
"794 de" 961 632 -- 951 449
"816 C" [None. Though "e" is the most frequent letter, it often occurs in syllables and so it is possible that "e" does not occur in a short specimen.]
"1125 de" 28 386 -- 451
"144 Ameriq" 985 401 -- 285 751
"377 B" [None.]
"670 de la" 119_ 767 -- 430 486 342 139 -- 207 49
672 900 -- 588 869
"223" 369_ 1021 -- 290 119_
"342" 143 1070 -- 315 439
903 869 -- 139 670
"103 de" 1 767 -- 516 426
293 591 -- 903 869
"767 gs[?]" 162 1133 -- 802 63
290 119_ -- 670 430
481 1 -- 103 516
799 898 -- 253 369
"297" [None]
"812 des" [None]
*DECODE
Héder, M ; Megyesi, B. The DECODE Database of Historical Ciphers and Keys: Version 2. In: Dahlke, C; Megyesi, B (eds.) Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt 2022. Linkoping, Sweden : LiU E-Press (2022) pp. 111-114. , 4 p. [pdf] Megyesi Beáta, Esslinger Bernhard, Fornés Alicia, Kopal Nils, Láng Benedek, Lasry George, Leeuw Karl de, Pettersson Eva, Wacker Arno, Waldispühl Michelle. Decryption of historical manuscripts: the DECRYPT project. CRYPTOLOGIA 44 : 6 pp. 545-559. , 15 p. (2020) [link] Megyesi, B., Blomqvist, N., and Pettersson, E. (2019) The DECODE Database: Collection of Historical Ciphers and Keys. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Historical Cryptology. HistoCrypt 2019, June 23-25, 2019, Mons, Belgium. NEALT Proceedings Series 37, Linköping Electronic Press. [pdf]
To facilitate identifying the four codes, labelled A-D in my article, the letter "E" is assigned the following numbers according to my reconstruction:
Code A: E=94, 395, 709, 865, 1043
Code B: E=302, 461, 590, 871
Code C: E=164
Code D: E=51, 475, 485
I noticed related keys are among the collection in BL, Add MS 32263:
f.220-225 (DECODE* R7681)
f.226-227 (DECODE R7682)
f.228-229 (DECODE R7683)
f.230-231 (DECODE R7684)
f.234-235 (DECODE R7687)
Of these, the "left" key in R7687 matches Code C and the "left" key in R7683 matches Code D. I was hoping the British codebreakers' keys might shed light on the indication system for code switching, but I have not been able to find a clue. (In particular, I thought "867" might be an indicator for Code D, but I find nothing to support it.)
As a starting point for future search, the following describes these items.
R7682, R7683, R7684, and R7687 are the British codebreakers' key worksheets, with printed numbers 1 - 1100. It seems to cover two different codes, one written left to the number and the other written right to the number.
R7682
Endorsed "... Luzerne a Verg[enne]s April 1780 ..."R7683
The "left" key matches Code D.Endorsed "De La Luzerne a Montmorin, Nov^r 1780" In a different hand, "Vergennes" is written above the name, and "Luz-ne a Vergennes Dec^re[?] 1783.
R7684
Endorsed "C^te de Rochambeau avec la Chevalier de la Luzerne, July 1781"R7687
Endorsed "Luzerne et Marbois au Marquis de Castiris 1782"The left key corresponds to Code C.
R7681
Endorsed "Oct. 1780 Luzerne à Verg[ennes] Philad[elphia]"This includes many substitution alphabets (but Codes A-D are not among them). The following lists the working title (?) and the "E" section. (It should be noted that sometimes it is not clear which lines belong to the section. In the first place, the same number occurs multiple times, and the meaning of the list is not completely clear.)
"587 la" 272 270 -- 135 187
705 718 -- 24 17
"361 de" 17 634 -- 267 270
817 533 -- 402 250 116 339 -- 616 522
267 87 -- 211 185
"250 l" 361 402 -- 740 135
"607 le" 587 240 -- 305 801
211 185 -- 817 303
"794 de" 961 632 -- 951 449
"816 C" [None. Though "e" is the most frequent letter, it often occurs in syllables and so it is possible that "e" does not occur in a short specimen.]
"1125 de" 28 386 -- 451
"144 Ameriq" 985 401 -- 285 751
"377 B" [None.]
"670 de la" 119_ 767 -- 430 486 342 139 -- 207 49
672 900 -- 588 869
"223" 369_ 1021 -- 290 119_
"342" 143 1070 -- 315 439
903 869 -- 139 670
"103 de" 1 767 -- 516 426
293 591 -- 903 869
"767 gs[?]" 162 1133 -- 802 63
290 119_ -- 670 430
481 1 -- 103 516
799 898 -- 253 369
"297" [None]
"812 des" [None]
*DECODE
Héder, M ; Megyesi, B. The DECODE Database of Historical Ciphers and Keys: Version 2. In: Dahlke, C; Megyesi, B (eds.) Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt 2022. Linkoping, Sweden : LiU E-Press (2022) pp. 111-114. , 4 p. [pdf] Megyesi Beáta, Esslinger Bernhard, Fornés Alicia, Kopal Nils, Láng Benedek, Lasry George, Leeuw Karl de, Pettersson Eva, Wacker Arno, Waldispühl Michelle. Decryption of historical manuscripts: the DECRYPT project. CRYPTOLOGIA 44 : 6 pp. 545-559. , 15 p. (2020) [link] Megyesi, B., Blomqvist, N., and Pettersson, E. (2019) The DECODE Database: Collection of Historical Ciphers and Keys. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Historical Cryptology. HistoCrypt 2019, June 23-25, 2019, Mons, Belgium. NEALT Proceedings Series 37, Linköping Electronic Press. [pdf]
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