On 30 July 1942, the WAVES were established. The name was an acronym for “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service” (as well as an allusion to ocean waves). Their official name became the U.S. Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve), but the nickname “WAVES” stuck. The word “emergency” in WAVES implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of World War II, and at the end of the war the women would not be allowed to continue in Navy careers, but it or its successors continued for decades afterwards. On 12 June 1948, women gained permanent status in the armed services of the United States.
Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) worked day and night helping to solve German Enigma messages during World War II.
About 600 of these patriotic women joined the Navy starting in 1943 to help build and work on 121 U.S. Navy Cryptanalytic Bombes that would solve the four-rotor problem persisting in the Atlantic. The project and their job was so secret, it was said they did not even know the exact function of these 2 1/2 ton machines. Because of the secrecy of the work going on, WAVES at the National Cash Register Company (where the machines were built) had to show their identification to the Marines standing guard to enter the room to which they were assigned.
WAVES were never told implications of their work, nor the activities going on in other rooms or work spaces. They were not allowed to discuss their work with anyone outside their specific assignment. The WAVES kept the secret. Serving their country as nobly and proudly as anyone, they helped solve Enigma and win the Battle of the Atlantic.