page_title: Enigma machine
section_title: Accessories
hierarchical_section_title: Enigma machine / Design / Accessories
caption_attribution_description: One of two Enigma machines recovered from U-505. This machine is fitted with an experimental printing unit. The Enigma is exhibited at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. An accompanying description reads: "This is one of two Enigma machines captured from U-505 on June 4th, 1944. It has an experimental printing device in place of the normal illuminated letter board. The printer eliminated the need to write down the coded letters. Since it was experimental, a second machine was present as a backup. Two enigma machines and nine mailbags of code books and manuals weighing a combined 1100 pounds were removed from U-505 by the boarding party."English: The "Schreibmax" was a printing unit which could be attached to the Enigma, removing the need for laboriously writing down the letters indicated on the light panel. Nederlands: De Schreibmax, gemonteerd op een Kriegsmarine M4 Enigma
context_page_description: The Enigma machine is an encryption 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.
  Enigma has an electromechanical rotor mechanism that scrambles the 26 letters of the alphabet. In typical use, one person enters text on the Enigma's keyboard and another person writes down which of 26 lights above the keyboard lights up at each key press. If plain text is entered, the lit-up letters are the encoded ciphertext. Entering ciphertext transforms it back into readable plaintext. The rotor mechanism changes the electrical connections between the keys and the lights with each keypress. The security of the system depends on a set of machine settings that were generally changed daily during the war, based on secret key lists distributed in advance, and on other settings that were changed for each message. The receiving station has to know and use the exact settings employed by the transmitting station to successfully decrypt a message.
context_section_description: Other features made various Enigma machines more secure or more convenient.
caption: The Schreibmax was a printing unit which could be attached to the Enigma, removing the need for laboriously writing down the letters indicated on the light panel.
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