This page gives a complete overview of all known Enigma wirings, plus instructions on how to measure it. The wiring of the early printing Enigma machines is currently unknown. In the tables below, the wiring is given for each cipher rotor, the entry disc (ETW) and the reflector (UKW).
Understanding the way the machine encrypts requires taking into account the current position of each rotor, the ring setting and its internal wiring. The right side of a rotor, showing the pin electrical contacts. The Roman numeral V identifies the wiring of the rotor. The left side of an Enigma rotor, showing the flat (plate) electrical contacts.
The reflector, Umkehrwalze or UKW in German, is a unique feature of the Enigma machine. On the internal wiring of all movable rotors, each letter can be wired with any other letter. An 'A' could be wired to 'F', where the 'F' is wired to 'K'.
Figure 3 shows the internal structure of the Enigma machine, focusing on how the wiring of the three rotors makes it possible to encrypt information as it passes from one side of the machine to the other. Typing a character on the keyboard automatically advances the rotor on the right, thereby changing the pattern of connections inside the machine.
Catalog of wheel (rotor) wirings for the German cipher machine Enigma. Many of the wirings are raw data with errors or they represent reverse wiring data. The information should therefore be used with this in mind.
The Enigma machine is a cipher device developed and used in the early- to mid-20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. It was employed extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II, in all branches of the German military. The Enigma machine was considered so secure that it was used to encipher the most top ...
Wheel wirings, as ordinarily given by sources, are with the rings set at letter A. The letters "r" and "1" represent "right" and "left", indicating the direction of the flow of current through the wheels. The appendices comprise four documents of interest from TICOM sources. Indices to all wiring sequences and individual machines begin on page 219.
Although the wiring of the rotor I to V was identical for all military Enigma machines during WWII, other versions used a different wiring. This wiring could be different for each customer. Different rotor wirings. Rotor stepping
No wiring was found for the 4-I Enigma. The machine proved to be the Service wheels I, II, and III, with the fixed Bruno reflector and Stocker. It is the only example known to the U.S. Coast Guard of the Service machine being used for clandestine traffic.
The military Enigma machines (Enigma I and Enigma M1-M4) were equipped with a Steckerbrett (plugboard) mounted at the front behind a hinged panel. This board allows any two letters to be swapped by plugging a cable between two of the marked sockets.