Colossus and other vintage computers from The National Museum of Computing - TechRepublic
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Colossus and other vintage computers from The National Museum of Computing

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    Colossus

    Built by engineer Tommy Flowers in 1943, the Colossus computer was the first digital, programmable, and electronic computing device. The machine was used by British code breakers during World War II to help decipher messages encrypted with the German Lorenz SZ40/42 machine.

    In 1993, Tony Sale started the Colossus Rebuild Project and in 1994 a team led by Sale began to recreate the massive machine at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park in the UK. On June 6th, 1996, the recreated Colossus was first switched on and by 2007 a fully functional replica of the Colossus Mark 2 was completed.

    Andy Taylor, a systems analyst and retro computer enthusiast in the UK, visited the museum in March 2010 and took these photos.

    Many thanks to Andy for allowing TechRepublic to republish these photos. For more information on Andy’s collection of vintage computers, check out his website Retro Computers or his Flickr photostream.

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus teletype

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus vacuum tubes and cables

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus vacuum tubes (also called "valves")

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus Rebuilt Project

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus Rebuilt Project

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus Rebuilt Project photos

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Colossus Rebuilt Project commemorative plaque

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Heath Robinson

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Rebuilt Tunny machine

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Tunny machine teletype

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Radios used before and during WWII

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • More radios

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Radio receiver

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • The Turing Bombe rebuild project

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Alan Turing's Bombe - Front

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Alan Turing's Bombe - Back (1 of 2)

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Alan Turing's Bombe - Back (2 of 2)

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Statue of Alan Turing

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • German Enigma machine (1 of 2)

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • German Enigma machine (2 of 2)

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Transposition cipher demonstration

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Repair room

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • More machine being repaired

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Powers Samas electronic multiplying punch EMP

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Paper tape reader

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • BCL SUSIE terminal

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Information card on BCL SUSIE

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Pace TR-48 analog computer

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Solartron analog computer

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Digital PDP11

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Analog computer

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Calculators

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Anita 1010 calculator

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • The World of Personal Computers vintage poster

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Apricot poster

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • IBM XT PC

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • ICL workstations

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • ICL Mainframe

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • 200 Mb hard disk drive

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • 200Mb hard disk information card

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Wang VS7130

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Wang VS ORCHID information card

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Digital PDP11/84

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • ATC radar receiver

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Digital PDP11/84

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Storage racks at The National Museum of Computing

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Integrated computer collection (Torch, Apple, Commodore and Amstrad)

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Harwell Witch vacuum tubes

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Digital PDP-8

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Dragon 32 and Commodore PET

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Oric-1, Oric Atmos, RM 380Z, NewBrain and other machines

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • ZX81, Amstrad CPC464, and Research Machines Link 380Z

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Acorn BBC model B + co-processors

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • ZX Spectrums, QL, and a Memotech MTX512

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Commodore Amiga 500

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Various hand-held devices

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Epson HX20

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Amstrad CPC464

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Cray Y-MP EL

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Cray Y-MP EL information card

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Joysticks

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • IBM PC Compatible Laptop

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Commodore SX-64

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Apple SE, BBC Model B, and a ZX Spectrum

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • BBC Model B and CUB monitor

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • BBC Model B

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • ZX Spectrum

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Apple IIe, Acorn Archimedes 3020, and Amstrad PC1640

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Acorn Archimedes A3020 playing Lemmings

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Research Machines 380Z

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Bletchley Park Manor

    Photo by Andy Taylor

  • Bletchley Park grounds

    Photo by Andy Taylor

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Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Previously, Bill was an IT manager in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.