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The first lamp-based Enigma
The Enigma C was the first Enigma machine that used light bulbs
(German: Glühlampen) for its output.
It was introduced in 1924 and was much smaller, and therefore more
portable, than the printing Enigma (German: Schreibende Enigma),
Enigma A, that was introduced a year earlier.
It was also far more affordable: with a price of RM 1000
it was 1/8th of the price of the Enigma A.
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Several versions of the Enigma C were built. The basic model had
26 contact points on the cipher wheels and used the standard international
alphabet. The keys on the keyboard were placed in the order of the alphabet
(ABCDEF...) rather than in the more common QWERTZ order.
A special version was built for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine). It was called
Funk Schlüssel C and had 28 contact points on each cipher wheel.
The keyboard however, had 29 keys, of which the letter X was wired
'straight through'. The UKW was fixed in this version (could not be set),
but could be mounted in 4 different orientations.
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The image above shows a Swedish version of the Enigma C. This image,
and the images below, were taken at
the Enigma Reunion 2009
at Bletchley Park, where the FRA
[1] showed this rare Enigma C from their own private collection
and allowed us to make some photographs of it.
This version of the Enigma C was built for the Swedisch government [1].
Like Funkschlüssel C it had 28 contacts on each cipher wheel,
but it had just 28 keys on the keyboard.
A special alphabet was used in which the Swedish letters Å, Ä and Ö
were added and the letter W was omitted (replaced by VV).
It had a fixed reflector (UKW) that could be mounted in 2
different orientations.
The wiring of this machine is currently unknown.
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- Försvarets Radioanstalt (FRA), Enigma C
Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment.
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© Copyright 2009-2013, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Monday, 11 February 2013 - 00:13 CET
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