The Commander of Ships of the Line (''Befehlshaber der Linienschiffe'') was a naval command of the

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the ''Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the ''K ...

, as well as briefly the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

, from 1930 through 1936. The commander of liners was an administrative posting assigned to oversee the development and deployment of German

capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...

s, but did not operationally control the ships once at sea (this function was reserved for naval station commands).

History

The office of Commander of Ships of the Line was first established in the Reichsmarine in 1930 and was intended as a command to encompass larger vessels, such as the

pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

s. Previously the Reichsmarine had administratively maintained these vessels under the Leader of Torpedo-boats. As Germany was prohibited from developing

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

technology by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, the office of Commander of Ships of the Line was intentionally set up to avoid any references to larger battleship type vessels. Under the Reichsmarine, four officers held the position of Commander of Ships of the Line *

Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (also spelled ''Kont ...

Walther Franz: 1 Jan 1930 - 27 Feb 1930 *

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to '' Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and ''Generalstabsarzt'' in the '' ...

Richard Foerster: 27 Feb 1930 - 27 Sep 1932 * Konteradmiral Max Bastian: 1 Oct 1932 - 28 Sep 1934 * Konteradmiral

Rolf Carls Rolf Hans Wilhelm Karl Carls (29 May 1885 – 24 April 1945) was a high-ranking German admiral during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Carls served as ''Flottenchef'' (Fleet Commander), th ...

: 29 Sep 1934 - 20 May 1935

Transition to Kriegsmarine

On May 21, 1935, the German Navy was renamed as the Kriegsmarine with most of the former Reichsmarine offices carried over into the new

organizational structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the foundat ...

. The Commander of Ships of the Line remained under Rear Admiral Rolf Carls who held the position as a Kriegsmarine flag officer from 21 May 1935 to 30 September 1936. On October 1, 1936 the Kriegsmarine was reorganized and the position of Commander of Ships of the Line was disbanded. On November 25, 1936, the command was reestablished as the ''Befehlshaber der Panzerschiffe (B.d.P.)'' (Commander of Armored Ships) with Rolf Carls reappointed to the position. The battleship command was in turn left vacant in 1939 until reestablished in 1941 and the following year merged with the type command for German

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

s.Lohmann W. & Hildebrand H., Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, Bad Nauheim (1956)

References

{{German Navies Kriegsmarine Reichsmarine Battleships