--- description: Jane Fawcett and the Codebreakers are some of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Jane Fawcett and Codebreakers: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3a5eb49abf3ab2c/698a0af6b3fce315e30c6657/social-1941_Jane-Fawcett-And-The-Codebreakers.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1941: Jane Fawcett and the Codebreakers Mar 5, 2020 11:34 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Mark Summers for TIME; Fawcett Family/Anthony Crowley/Camera Press/Redux by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:34 AM CUT Even for the most public figures, it can take years for influence to be recognized. When the Official Secrets Act—British legislation criminalizing unauthorized disclosure of state secrets—is involved, it can take decades. So it wasn’t until the 1990s that [Jane Fawcett’s work during World War II](https://time.com/4974299/hacker-history-code-girls/?page=6 "undefined") became widely known. In 1940, the 18-year-old debutante joined a covert project at Bletchley Park, headquarters for Allied military codebreaking. The 8,000 women there were underrepresented at the highest tiers of the operation but played a key role in shortening the war. In 1941, Fawcett was sitting in a cramped, dark decoding room when a message came in that revealed the location of the _Bismarck,_ Germany’s most fearsome battleship. Fawcett translated the message and, immediately recognizing its importance, relayed the intel to the navy—which, two days later, found and sank the ship. This marked the first significant victory by the Bletchley Park Codebreakers but, Fawcett later said, she “never told a soul, not even my husband.” _—Billy Perrigo_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/jane-fawcett-and-the-code-breakers-1941-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793498/jane-fawcett-codebreakers-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793498/jane-fawcett-codebreakers-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1941: Jane Fawcett and the Codebreakers","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:34:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:20:35.596Z","description":"Jane Fawcett and the Codebreakers are some of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793498/jane-fawcett-codebreakers-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year","Women of the Year - Tech/Athletes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3a5eb49abf3ab2c/698a0af6b3fce315e30c6657/social-1941_Jane-Fawcett-And-The-Codebreakers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3a5eb49abf3ab2c/698a0af6b3fce315e30c6657/social-1941_Jane-Fawcett-And-The-Codebreakers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1941_Jane-Fawcett-And-The-Codebreakers","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793498/jane-fawcett-codebreakers-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1941: Jane Fawcett and the Codebreakers"}}]}] ```