QuickCheck: Did an American newspaper leak a military secret during WW2 ?


A scene from the 2019 movie Midway depicting part of the US Pacific Fleet in World War 2 just before the Battle of Midway.

GENERALLY, it goes without saying that a nation must balance press freedom with a need to keep vital information secret – especially when a war is raging. On one hand, a lack of information could spur panic should unfounded rumours be taken as true, but on the other any information that gets across to the enemy could give them a significant advantage. It has been said in newspaper articles, in books and online that the Chicago Sunday Tribune had inadvertently leaked that the United States had broken Japanese naval codes in the lead-up to the Battle of Midway.

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