It has taken nearly fifteen years to rebuild the Mark II Colossus computer in the same position as Colossus 9 originally occupied in Block H. Colossus was not included in the history of computing hardware for decades, and Flowers and his associates were deprived of the recognition they were due for many years. The use to which the Colossi were put was of the highest secrecy, and Colossus itself was highly secret, and remained so for many years after the War. The first fully programmable digital electronic computer capable of running a stored program was still some way off - the 1948 Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine. Colossus, however, was the first that was digital, programmable, and electronic. The notion of a computer as a general purpose machine - that is, as more than a calculator devoted to solving difficult but specific problems - would not become prominent for several years.Ĭolossus was preceded by several computers, many of them being a first in some category. After a functional test, Colossus Mk 1 was delivered to Bletchley Park in late December 1943 / January 1944, was assembled there by Harry Fensom and Don Horwood, and was working in early February 1944.Ĭolossus was the first of the electronic digital machines with programmability, albeit limited in modern terms. Tommy Flowers spent eleven months designing and building Colossus at the Post Office Research Station, Dollis Hill, in North West London. Much work has still to be done to complete perhaps the world's most exciting computing exhibit, but already Colossus is viewable by the public as never before and is set to inspire future generations of engineers and computer scientists. In 2012, a major fundraising campaign, led by TNMOC trustee Tim Reynolds, was launched to convert the old Colossus workshop room into a brand new Gallery. Once again Colossus was able to crack the Lorenz code (in 3.5 hours), but was beaten in the race by Joachim Schueth, a professional computer software engineer, who wrote special software for his PC to break the ciphertext in just 46 seconds! They succeeded and in 2007 it was tested in the global Colossus Cipher Challenge. In 1992, Tony Sale and his team began the ambitious task of rebuilding a working Colossus. Not until 1975 when the first information about Colossus was declassified could the story begin to be told. The cipher text was input via paper tape and the 2500 valves of Colossus would find the Lorenz machine chi-wheel settings.īy the end of the war, 63 million characters of high-grade German communications had been decrypted by 550 people helped by the ten Colossus computers. The information gleaned from the decrypted messages is widely acknowledged to have shortened the war by many months, saving tens of thousands of lives. As the First Order threatened to capture Kaz and the rest of Team Fireball, he and his friends launched a daring plan to drain the ship and make the Colossus spaceworthy once more.Colossus reduced the time to work out the Lorenz chi-wheel settings and enabled more messages to be deciphered and the whole code-breaking operation to be accelerated. Ultimately, he also learned that the Colossus wasn't just a platform – it was actually a waterlogged ship that had been docked deep below the surface. Using the platform as his base, Resistance spy Kazuda Xiono infiltrated the bustling community there in an attempt to gain valuable intel on the First Order. A favorite target for Kragan Gorr's pirate gang, the refueling station eventually caught the attention of the First Order, whose leaders aimed to take the platform as their own in a tactical move for a war not yet started. But beneath the surface, the Colossus was much more. At first look, the Colossus seemed like an oasis on the watery planet of Castilon, a forgotten refueling platform filled with traders, businesses, and protected by a group of renowned racers who spent their free time in competition for sport.
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