Mission

To celebrate the past, present, and future of Navy Cryptology.

Vision

To post quality content that celebrates the history of Navy Cryptology, keeps members of the Cryptologic community up to date on current events and developments, and sparks discussion about our future.

Background

Station HYPO, also known as Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC), was the United States Navy signals monitoring and cryptographic intelligence unit in Hawaii during World War II. It was one of two major Allied signals intelligence units, called Fleet Radio Units in the Pacific theaters, along with FRUMEL in Melbourne, Australia. The station took its initial name from the phonetic code at the time for “H” for Heʻeia, Hawaii radio tower. The precise importance and role of HYPO has been the subject of considerable controversy, reflecting internal tensions amongst US Navy cryptographic stations. HYPO was under the control of the OP-20-G Naval Intelligence section in Washington. It was located, prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941, and for some time afterwards, in the basement of the Old Administration Building at Pearl Harbor. Later on, a new building was constructed for the station, though it had been reorganized and renamed by then.

(Note: The opinions and views expressed on StationHYPO are those of the authors alone and are presented in their personal capacity. They do not represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.)