enigma a story.doc

8/8/2019 ENIGMA a Story.doc

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ENIGMA

The Enigma was one of the best of the new electromechanical cipher machines

produced for the commercial market in the 1920s. Hugo Koch, a utchman,

concei!ed of the machine in 1919. "rthur #cherbius first produced it commerciall$

in 192%. &mpressed b$ its securit$, which was based on statistical anal$sis, the

'erman go!ernment ac(uired all rights to the machine and adapted it to the needs

of its new, modern militar$ forces. &t became the standard cipher machine of the

militar$ ser!ices, of 'erman agents, and of the secret police. &t was also used at allechelons from high command to front)line tactical units including indi!idual

airplanes, tanks, and ships. "n ordinar$ three)wheel Enigma with reflector and si*

plug connections generated the following number of coding positions+

%,2%,%,-1%,9/,9,19,00,2,0/9,2,-2,,%9,9--,2/1,09-,/2%,/-,,0-

-,%1-,22/,00/,

%%,/1/,/2,09,///,9%%,12,%1,1-,02,/9,920,000, 000,000

'i!en this statistical capabilit$, proper communications procedures and practices,

and the fact that sol!ing the Enigma on a timel$ basis would re(uire rapid anal$tic

machiner$ which did not e*ist, the 'ermans regarded the Enigma as impenetrable

e!en if captured. The 'ermans, howe!er, did not alwa$s practice proper

communications securit$, and, more importantl$, the "llies, e!en in 19%)%9, were

on the !erge of creating the necessar$ cr$ptanal$tic machiner$ which would

unlock the Enigmas secrets. The e!olution of this technolog$ and its application

were maor contributing factors to the ultimate "llied !ictor$ in 3orld 3ar &&.



This is no ordinar$ Enigma ) this ones special because it is out in the

open at the 4ational 5r$ptologic 6useum. 7isitors can actuall$ cipher

and decipher messages and watch the machine in operation. " sign below

the unit sa$s 8lease :e 'entle8. (Photo by Jerry Proc)



" close up !iew of a disassembled Enigma rotor. (Photo by Jerry Proc)



This photo montage shows !arious Engima rotors in their

storage cases. These e*amples are held b$ the 4orwegian

"rmed ;orces 6useum in <slo, 4orwa$ (Photo courtesy of

Reidar Olsen, Norway. E-mail: trolo!"#c$i.net )

=otor contact detail from #erial "999. (E-bay

%hoto)



=otor assembl$ detail from #erial "999. (E-bay

Photo)

:asic operating instructions from #erial "999. (E-

bay Photo)



>id decal from #erial "999. (E-bay Photo)

lug board detail from #erial "999. (E-bay Photo)

;ront co!er of manual. (E-bay Photo)



" rare rotor Enigma used b$ the 'erman

Kreigsmarine. ? Photo by Jerry Proc)



4igel 3est, an leading author speciali@ing in securit$ and intelligence issues,

is also an Enigma collector and has this 3ehrmacht three rotor Enigma in

his collection. He would be pleased to suppl$ other Enigma photographs to

an$one who needs them. E)mail+ nigel?atAwestintel.co.uk (Photo courtesy of &rai' on'hurst, Readin', ershire, *+ e-mail:

crai'lon'hurst(at)hotmail.com )



Here is a fine e*ample of a pre)33&& built >uftwaffe Enigma machine ?serial

"/%- dated 19%A with the added benefit of three high)(ualit$, matched, rotors and

the Bmkehrwal@e option. The 'erman designation is 5hiffriermaschine

'esellschaft and it was made b$ Heimsoeth und =inke of :erlin. (Photo courtesy

John leander, /0/&+ eicester, En'land.

The machine abo!e carries serial number "/%- with matching serial numbers on

all the rotors. <ption Bmkehrwal@e ?BK3A is the unusual and rare part.

'erman$ began to introduce the BK3 to make the Enigma e!en more comple*

and secure in 19. " full description of the BK3 , b$ hilip 6arks, can be

found in 5=CT<><'&" 7ol DD7 2 ?"pr F01A, 7ol DD7 % ?Gul F01A and 7ol

DD7 ?<ct F01A .

The importance of this BK3 t$pe is that it is re)wireable. =emo!ing the outer case

?a tight fitA re!eals mo!eable plugs and their sockets. The BK3 was introduced to

the >uftwaffe and caused :letchle$ ark some concern. There is a special Enigma

at : e!en now ) one specificall$ modified to tackle BK3 . ;ortunatel$, 'erman

operators in the field did not like the hassle in!ol!ed in using this additional part

so its use ne!er became popular. 1ee 2useum 3nfo section)

Enigma4E6" t$pe light bulbs ?%.-!A can be found with 2-0, %00, %-0 and 00

ma ratings. 6ost seem to be %00 or %-0 ma.



" three rotor pre)war Enigma machine in operation. The manusing the machine is a 3affen)## 45<. (Photo courtesy of

1ynder4s 5reasures, owie, 2aryland).

6ore Enigma info+

Enigma #tor$ 1 ) " olish 7iew

Enigma #tor$ 2 ) " ;rench 7iew

:ack to 6enu age Nov 16/05

http://jproc.ca/crypto/enigs1.html


http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/menu.html





enigma a story.doc

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