Noreen, or BID 590, was an off-line one-time tape cipher machine of British origin.

Usage

As well as being used by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, Noreen was used by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was widely used in diplomatic stations. According to the display note on a surviving unit publicly displayed at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

in the

, the system was predominantly used "by the foreign office in British embassies overseas where the electricity supply was unreliable." Usage lasted from the mid-1960s through 1990.

Compatibility

It was completely compatible with Rockex.

Power Supply

The units were powered by two batteries of six and twelve volts respectively, though some were known to have been powered by mains.

Other uses of the name "Noreen"

* Noreen was the name of a wooden dragger that was acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II and converted into the minesweeper USS ''Heath Hen'' (AMc-6). * Noreen is a common name in the Americas, Ireland, Scotland, and the Middle East. Also spelt Naureen, Noirin and Nowrin (نورين). In

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, the word means "luminous"'. In Ireland and Scotland, 'Noreen' is the anglicized version of 'Nóirín', which is the diminutive of ' Nora'.

External links

Jerry Proc's page on Noreen

Noreen on Crypto Museum website
Noreen {{crypto-stub