The (, ) was the
navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the
Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
(1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
. The was one of three official
branches
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually r ...
, along with the and the , of the , the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.
In violation of 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 1 ...
, the grew rapidly during
German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s.
ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
(1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing
non-intervention
Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed t ...
, but in reality supported the
Nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
against the
Spanish Republicans.
In January 1939,
Plan Z
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) ordered by Adolf Hitler in early 1939. The fleet was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom, and was to be completed by 194 ...
, a massive shipbuilding program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
by 1944. When
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s) instead of
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
surface warships, and land and air forces were given priority of strategic resources.
The Commander-in-Chief of the (as for all branches of armed forces during the period of absolute Nazi power) was
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
, who exercised his authority through the ('High Command of the Navy').
Among the 's most significant ships were its U-boats, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II.
Wolfpacks were rapidly assembled groups of submarines which attacked British convoys during the first half of the
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
but this tactic was largely abandoned by
May 1943 when U-boat losses mounted. Along with the U-boats, surface commerce raiders (including auxiliary cruisers) were used to disrupt Allied shipping in the early years of the war, the most famous of these being the heavy cruisers ''
Admiral Graf Spee'' and ''
Admiral Scheer
Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer (30 September 1863 – 26 November 1928) was an Admiral in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commandi ...
'' and the battleship ''
Bismarck''. However, the adoption of convoy escorts, especially in the Atlantic, greatly reduced the effectiveness of surface commerce raiders against convoys.
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the 's remaining ships were divided up among the
Allied powers and were used for various purposes including
minesweeping
Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...
. Some were loaded with superfluous
chemical weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
s and scuttled.
History
Post–World War I origins
Under the terms of the 1919
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 1 ...
, Germany was only allowed a minimal navy of 15,000 personnel, six
capital ships
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 ...
of no more than 10,000 tons, six
cruisers, twelve
destroyers
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
, twelve
torpedo boats
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...
and no
submarines
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
or
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s. Military aircraft were also banned, so Germany could have no
naval aviation
Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based ...
. Under the treaty Germany could only build new ships to replace old ones. All the ships allowed and personnel were taken over from the ''Kaiserliche Marine'', renamed 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 ...
''.
From the outset, Germany worked to circumvent the military restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans continued to develop U-boats through a submarine design office in the Netherlands (''
NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw
NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (''Dutch: engineer-office for shipbuilding''), usually contracted to IvS, was a Dutch dummy company set up in The Hague and funded by the ''Reichsmarine'' after World War I in order to maintain and develop G ...
'') and a torpedo research program in Sweden where the
G7e torpedo
The G7e torpedo was the standard electric torpedo used by the German ''Kriegsmarine'' submarines in World War II. It came in 20 different versions, with the initial model G7e(TII) in service at the outbreak of the war. Due to several problems, le ...
was developed.
Even before the
Nazi seizure of power
Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...
on 30 January 1933 the German government decided on 15 November 1932 to launch a prohibited naval re-armament program that included U-boats, airplanes and an aircraft carrier.
The launching of the first
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 ...
, in 1931 (as a replacement for the old
pre-dreadnought battleship
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...
) was a step in the formation of a modern German fleet. The building of the ''Deutschland'' caused consternation among the French and the British as they had expected that the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles would limit the replacement of the pre-dreadnought battleships to
coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
s, suitable only for defensive warfare. By using innovative construction techniques, the Germans had built a heavy ship suitable for offensive warfare on the high seas while still abiding by the letter of the treaty.
Nazi control
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Adolf Hitler soon began to more brazenly ignore many of the Treaty restrictions and accelerated
German naval rearmament. The
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA) of 18 June 1935 was a naval agreement between the United Kingdom and Germany regulating the size of the '' Kriegsmarine'' in relation to the Royal Navy.
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement fixed a ratio whe ...
of 18 June 1935 allowed Germany to build a navy equivalent to 35% of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
surface ship tonnage and 45% of British submarine tonnage; battleships were to be limited to no more than 35,000 tons. That same year the ''Reichsmarine'' was renamed as the ''Kriegsmarine''. In April 1939, as tensions escalated between the United Kingdom and Germany over
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, Hitler unilaterally rescinded the restrictions of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement.
The building-up of the German fleet in the time period of 1935–1939 was slowed by problems with marshaling enough manpower and material for ship building. This was because of the simultaneous and rapid build-up of the German army and air force which demanded substantial effort and resources. Some projects, like the
D-class cruisers and the
P-class cruiser
The P class was a planned group of twelve heavy cruisers of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine''; they were the successor to the s. Design work began in 1937 and continued until 1939; at least twenty designs were submitted with nine of them being con ...
s, had to be cancelled.
Spanish Civil War
The first military action of the ''Kriegsmarine'' came during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
(1936–1939). Following the outbreak of hostilities in July 1936 several large warships of the German fleet were sent to the region. The heavy cruisers ''Deutschland'' and , and the light cruiser were the first to be sent in July 1936. These large ships were accompanied by the 2nd
Torpedo-boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
Flotilla. The German presence was used to covertly support
Franco's
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from ...
Nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
although the immediate involvement of the ''Deutschland'' was humanitarian relief operations and evacuating 9,300 refugees, including 4,550 German citizens. Following the brokering of the
International Non-Intervention Patrol to enforce an international arms embargo the ''Kriegsmarine'' was allotted the patrol area between
Cabo de Gata
Cabo de Gata is a cape located in Níjar, Almería in the south of Spain, one of the biggest capes. It is the driest place in the Iberian Peninsula (150-170 mm average precipitation, being the lowest 52 mm in 1981). However, the area th ...
(Almeria) and
Cabo de Oropesa. Numerous vessels served as part of these duties including . On 29 May 1937 the
''Deutschland'' was attacked off
Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...
by two bombers from the
Republican Air Force. Total casualties from the Republican attack were 31 dead and 110 wounded, 71 seriously, mostly burn victims. In retaliation the ''Admiral Scheer''
shelled Almeria on 31 May killing 19–20 civilians, wounding 50 and destroying 35 buildings. Following further attacks by Republican submarines against the off the port of
Oran
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
between 15 and 18 June 1937 Germany withdrew from the Non-Intervention Patrol.
U-boats also participated in covert action against Republican shipping as part of
Operation Ursula. At least eight U-boats engaged a small number of targets in the area throughout the conflict. (By comparison the Italian ''
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...
'' operated 58 submarines in the area as part of the ''Sottomarini Legionari''.)
Plan Z
The ''Kriegsmarine'' saw as her main tasks the controlling of the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
and winning a war against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in connection with the German army, because France was seen as the most likely enemy in the event of war. But in 1938 Hitler wanted to have the possibility of winning a war against Great Britain at sea in the coming years. Therefore, he ordered plans for such a fleet from the ''Kriegsmarine''. From the three proposed plans (X, Y and Z) he approved
Plan Z
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) ordered by Adolf Hitler in early 1939. The fleet was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom, and was to be completed by 194 ...
in January 1939. This blueprint for the new German naval construction program envisaged building a navy of approximately 800 ships during the period 1939–1947. Hitler demanded that the program was to be completed by 1945. The main force of Plan Z were six
H-class battleships. In the version of Plan Z drawn up in August 1939 the German fleet was planned to consist of the following ships by 1945:
* 4
aircraft carriers
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a n ...
* 10
battleships
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 o ...
* 15 armored ships (''
Panzerschiffe
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 ...
'')
* 3
battlecruisers
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
* 5
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...
s
* 44
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
s
* 158
destroyers
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
and
torpedo boats
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...
* 249
submarines
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
* Numerous smaller craft
Personnel strength was planned to rise to over 200,000.
The planned naval program was not very far advanced by the time
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
began. In 1939 two s and two H-class battleships were laid down and parts for two further H-class battleships and three s were in production. The strength of the German fleet at the beginning of the war was not even 20% of Plan Z. On 1 September 1939, the navy still had a total personnel strength of only 78,000, and it was not at all ready for a major role in the war. Because of the long time it would take to get the Plan Z fleet ready for action and shortage in workers and material in wartime, Plan Z was essentially shelved in September 1939 and the resources allocated for its realization were largely redirected to the construction of
U-boats
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...
, which would be ready for war against the United Kingdom more quickly.
World War II
The ''Kriegsmarine'' participated in the
Battle of Westerplatte and the
Battle of the Danzig Bay
__NOTOC__
The Battle of Danzig Bay ( pl, bitwa w Zatoce Gdańskiej) took place on 1 September 1939, at the beginning of the invasion of Poland, when Polish Navy warships were attacked by German Luftwaffe aircraft in Gdańsk Bay (then Danzig Bay ...
during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
. In 1939, major events for the ''Kriegsmarine'' were the sinking of the British
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
and the British
battleship
A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, 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 1 ...
and the loss of the at the
Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...
. Submarine attacks on Britain's vital maritime supply routes (
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
) started immediately at the outbreak of war, although they were hampered by the lack of well placed ports from which to operate. Throughout the war the ''Kriegsmarine'' was responsible for
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...
protecting major ports and important coastal areas. It also operated anti-aircraft batteries protecting major ports.
In April 1940, the German Navy was heavily involved in the
invasion of Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...
, where it suffered significant losses, which included the
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...
sunk by artillery and torpedoes from Norwegian shore batteries at the
Oscarsborg Fortress
Oscarsborg Fortress ( no, Oscarsborg festning) is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small town of Drøbak in Viken county, Norway. The best known part is situated on two small islets. The main artillery batteries are on the island ...
in the
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the N ...
. Ten destroyers were lost in the
Battles of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War.
...
(half of German destroyer strength at the time), and two light cruisers, the ''
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
'' which was bombed and sunk by Royal Navy aircraft in Bergen, and the ''
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
'' which was sunk off the coast of Kristiansand by a British submarine. The ''Kriegsmarine'' did in return sink some British warships during this campaign, including the aircraft carrier .
The losses in the
Norwegian Campaign left only a handful of undamaged heavy ships available for the planned, but never executed, invasion of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
(
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...
) in the summer of 1940. There were serious doubts that the invasion sea routes could have been protected against British naval interference. The
Fall of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
and the conquest of Norway gave German submarines greatly improved access to British shipping routes in the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. At first, British
convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
s lacked escorts that were adequate either in numbers or equipment and, as a result, the submarines had much success for few losses (this period was dubbed the
First Happy Time by the Germans).
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
entered the war in June 1940, and the
Battle of the Mediterranean
The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945.
For the most part, the campaign was fought between the Kingdom of Italy, Italian Re ...
began: from September 1941 to May 1944 some 62 German submarines were transferred there, sneaking past the British naval base at
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = "Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gibr ...
. The Mediterranean submarines sank 24 major Allied warships (including 12 destroyers, 4 cruisers, 2 aircraft carriers and 1 battleship) and 94 merchant ships (449,206 tons of shipping). None of the Mediterranean submarines made it back to their home bases, as they were all either sunk in battle or
scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
by their crews at the end of the war.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-M2KBK-245-12, Frankreich, M-Boot im Hafen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101II-M2KBK-245-12%2C_Frankreich%2C_M-Boot_im_Hafen.jpg)
In 1941 one of the four modern German battleships, sank while breaking out into the Atlantic for commerce raiding. ''Bismarck'' was in turn hunted down by much superior British forces after being crippled by an air-launched torpedo. She was subsequently scuttled after being rendered a burning wreck by two British battleships.
In November 1941 during the Battle of the Mediterranean, German submarine ''
U-331'' sank British battleship ''
Barham'', which had a magazine explosion and sank in minutes, with the loss of 862, or 2/3 of her crew.
During 1941, the ''Kriegsmarine'' and the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
became
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
belligerent
A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning ...
s, although war was not formally declared, leading to the sinking of the . This course of events were the result of the American decision to support Britain with its
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
program and the subsequent decision to escort Lend-Lease convoys with American war ships through the western part of the Atlantic.
The Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
and the subsequent
German declaration of war against the United States
On 11 December 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, Nazi Germany declared war against the United States, in response to what was claimed to be a serie ...
in December 1941 led to another phase of the Battle of the Atlantic. In
Operation Drumbeat and subsequent operations until August 1942, a large number of Allied merchant ships were sunk by submarines off the American coast as the Americans had not prepared for submarine warfare, despite clear warnings (this was the so-called
Second Happy Time
The "Second Happy Time" (; officially Operation Paukenschlag ("Operation Drumbeat"), and also known among German submarine commanders as the "American Shooting Season") was a phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines at ...
for the German Navy). The situation became so serious that military leaders feared for the whole Allied strategy. The vast American ship building capabilities and naval forces were however now brought into the war and soon more than offset any losses inflicted by the German submariners. In 1942, the submarine warfare continued on all fronts, and when German forces in the Soviet Union reached the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
, a few submarines were eventually transferred there.
In February 1942, the three large warships stationed on the Atlantic coast at
Brest were evacuated back to German ports for deployment to Norway. The ships had been repeatedly damaged by air attacks by the
RAF, the supply ships to support Atlantic sorties had been destroyed by the Royal Navy, and Hitler now felt that Norway was the "zone of destiny" for these ships. The two battleships and and the heavy cruiser passed through the English Channel (
Channel Dash
The Channel Dash (german: Unternehmen Zerberus, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the Second World War. ( Cerberus), a three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades. A (German Navy) squadron comprisin ...
) on their way to Norway despite British efforts to stop them. Not since the
Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...
in 1588 had any warships in wartime done this. It was a tactical victory for the ''Kriegsmarine'' and a blow to British morale, but the withdrawal removed the possibility of attacking allied convoys in the Atlantic with heavy surface ships.
With the German attack on the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in June 1941 Britain started to send
Arctic convoys with military goods around Norway to support their new ally. In 1942 German forces began heavily attacking these convoys, mostly with bombers and U-boats. The big ships of the ''Kriegsmarine'' in Norway were seldom involved in these attacks, because of the inferiority of German
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
technology, and because Hitler and the leadership of the ''Kriegsmarine'' feared losses of these precious ships. The most effective of these attacks was the near destruction of
Convoy PQ 17
PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the port of Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, ...
in July 1942. Later in the war German attacks on these convoys were mostly reduced to U-boat activities and the mass of the allied freighters reached their destination in Soviet ports.
The
Battle of the Barents Sea
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...
in December 1942 was an attempt by a German naval surface force to attack an Allied
Arctic convoy. However, the advantage was not pressed home and they returned to base. There were serious implications: this failure infuriated Hitler, who nearly enforced a decision to scrap the surface fleet. Instead, resources were diverted to new U-boats, and the surface fleet became a lesser threat to the Allies.
After December 1943 when had been sunk in an attack on an Arctic convoy in the
Battle of North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic naval operations of World War II, Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the ...
by , most German surface ships in bases at the Atlantic were blockaded in, or close to, their ports as a ''
fleet in being
In naval warfare, a "fleet in being" is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. Were the fleet to leave port and face the enemy, it might lose in battle and no longer influence the enemy's actions, but while ...
'', for fear of losing them in action and to tie up British naval forces. The largest of these ships, the battleship , was stationed in Norway as a threat to Allied shipping and also as a defence against a potential Allied invasion. When she was sunk, after several attempts, by British bombers in November 1944 (
Operation Catechism
Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that destroyed the German battleship ''Tirpitz''. It was conducted on 12 November 1944 by 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers that attacked the battleship at its anchorage near the Norwegia ...
), several British capital ships could be moved to the Far East.
From late 1944 until the end of the war, the surviving surface fleet of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (heavy cruisers: , , , , light cruisers: , , ) was heavily engaged in providing artillery support to the retreating German land forces along the Baltic coast and in ferrying civilian refugees to the western
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
parts of Germany (
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
,
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
) in large rescue operations. Large parts of the population of
eastern Germany
The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990.
The new st ...
fled the approaching
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
out of fear for Soviet retaliation (mass rapes, killings and looting by Soviet troops did occur). The ''Kriegsmarine'' evacuated two million civilians and troops in the
evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia was the movement of German civilian population and military personnel from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by Nazi Germany, state authorities but quickly ...
and
Danzig from January to May 1945. It was during this activity that the catastrophic sinking of several large passenger ships occurred: and were sunk by Soviet submarines, while was sunk by British bombers, each sinking claiming thousands of civilian lives. The ''Kriegsmarine'' also provided important assistance in the evacuation of the fleeing German civilians of
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
and
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
in March and April 1945.
A desperate measure of the ''Kriegsmarine'' to fight the superior strength of the
Western Allies
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...
from 1944 was the formation of the ''
Kleinkampfverbände'' (Small Battle Units). These were special naval units with
frogmen
A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, comb ...
, manned torpedoes, motorboats laden with explosives and so on. The more effective of these weapons and units were the development and deployment of
midget submarine
A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...
s like the ''
Molch
''Molch'' (German language: "newt" or "salamander") was an unsuccessful series of one-man midget submarines created during World War II. Built in 1944, it was the first mini-submarine of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'', but was not successful in ...
'' and ''
Seehund
''Seehund'' (German: "seal"), also known as Type XXVII, was a midget submarine built by Nazi Germany during World War II. Designed in 1944 and operated by two-man crews, it was used by the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German Navy) during the closing month ...
''. In the last stage of the war, the ''Kriegsmarine'' also organized a number of divisions of infantry from its personnel.
Between 1943 and 1945, a group of U-boats known as the
''Monsun'' Boats (''Monsun Gruppe'') operated in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
from Japanese bases in the occupied
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and
Malaya. Allied convoys had not yet been organized in those waters, so initially many ships were sunk. However, this situation was soon remedied. During the later war years, the ''Monsun'' Boats were also used as a means of exchanging vital war supplies with Japan.
During 1943 and 1944, due to Allied
anti-submarine tactics and better equipment the U-boat fleet started to suffer heavy losses. The turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic was during
Black May in 1943, when the U-boat fleet started suffering heavy losses and the number of Allied ships sunk started to decrease.
Radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
, longer range air cover,
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
, improved tactics and new weapons all contributed. German technical developments, such as the
''Schnorchel'', attempted to counter these. Near the end of the war a small number of the new ''
Elektroboot
An elektroboot ("electric boat" in German) was a submarine designed to operate entirely submerged, rather than as submersibles that could submerge as a temporary means to escape detection or launch an attack.
History
Even before the Second ...
'' U-boats (types
XXI and
XXIII) became operational, the first submarines designed to operate submerged at all times. The ''Elektroboote'' had the potential to negate the Allied technological and tactical advantage, although they were deployed too late to see combat in the war.
War crimes
![Nazi orders against Jews Liepaja 1941 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Nazi_orders_against_Jews_Liepaja_1941_01.jpg)
Following the capture of
Liepāja
Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...
in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
by the Germans on 29 June 1941, the town came under the command of the ''Kriegsmarine''. On 1 July 1941, the town commandant ''
Korvettenkapitän
() is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies.
Austro-Hungary
Belgium
Germany
Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy.
Address
The offici ...
'' Stein ordered that ten hostages be shot for every act of sabotage, and further put civilians in the zone of targeting by declaring that
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
soldiers were hiding among them in civilian attire.
On 5 July 1941 ''Korvettenkapitän'' Brückner, who had taken over from Stein, issued a set of anti-Jewish regulations
[Ezergailis, ''The Holocaust in Latvia'', at page 209] in the local newspaper, ''
Kurzemes Vārds
''Kurzemes Vārds'' (from lv, "The Word of Kurzeme") is a Latvian language, Latvian regional newspaper published in Liepāja, Latvia. The first issue was published on November 27, 1918. The newspaper is issued five times a week from Monday to Fri ...
''.
[''Kurzemes Vārds'', 5 July 1941, page 1, at website of National Library of Latvia.]
Summarized these were as follows:
[Ezergailis, ''The Holocaust in Latvia'', at page 233, n.26 and page 287]
* All Jews were to wear the
yellow star on the front and back of their clothing;
* Shopping hours for Jews were restricted to 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Jews were only allowed out of their residences for these hours and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.;
* Jews were barred from public events and transportation and were not to walk on the beach;
* Jews were required to leave the pavement if they encountered a German in uniform;
* Jewish shops were required to display the sign "A Jewish-owned business" in the window;
* Jews were to surrender all radios, typewriters, uniforms, arms and means of transportation
On 16 July 1941, ''
Fregattenkapitän
Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy.
Address
In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...
'' Dr. Hans Kawelmacher was appointed the German naval commandant in Liepāja.
[Dribins, Leo, Gūtmanis, Armands, and Vestermanis, Marģers, Latvia's Jewish Community: History, Tragedy, Revival (2001) at page 224] On 22 July, Kawelmacher sent a telegram to the German Navy's Baltic Command in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
, which stated that he wanted 100
SS and fifty ''
Schutzpolizei
The ''Schutzpolizei'' (), or ''Schupo'' () for short, is a uniform-wearing branch of the ''Landespolizei'', the state (''Land'') level police of the states of Germany. ''Schutzpolizei'' literally means security or protection police, but it is b ...
'' (protective police) men sent to Liepāja for "quick implementation Jewish problem".
[Anders and Dubrovskis, ''Who Died in the Holocaust'', at pages 126 and 127] Kawelmacher hoped to accelerate killings complaining: "Here about 8,000 Jews... with present SS-personnel, this would take one year, which is untenable for
hepacification of Liepāja." Kawelmacher on 27 July 1941: "Jewish problem Libau largely solved by execution of about 1,100 male Jews by Riga SS commando on 24 and 25.7."
[
In post-war 1945, U-boat Commander ]Heinz-Wilhelm Eck
Heinz-Wilhelm Eck (27 March 1916 30 November 1945) was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War who was tried, convicted, condemned and executed postwar for ordering his crew to shoot the survivors of a Greek merchantman sunk by .
Servi ...
of was tried and executed with two of his crewmen for shooting at survivors; was alleged to have shot at sunken ship survivors, but as the vessel was lost at sea with its crew, there was no investigation.
Post-war division
After the war, the German surface ships that remained afloat (only the cruisers and , and a dozen destroyers
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
were operational) were divided among the victors by the Tripartite Naval Commission
The Tripartite Naval Commission (TNC) was a naval commission founded by the United States, United Kingdom and the USSR in order to allocate seized German ships and submarines to the said nations. France was excluded due to Soviet intervention.
I ...
. The US used the heavy cruiser in nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll
Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll consisted of the detonation of 23 nuclear weapons by the United States between 1946 and 1958 on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Tests occurred at 7 test sites on the reef itself, on the sea, in the air, ...
in 1946 as a target ship for the Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the ...
. Some (like the unfinished aircraft carrier ) were used for target practice with conventional weapons, while others (mostly destroyers and torpedo boats) were put into the service of Allied navies that lacked surface ships after the war. The training barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
SSS ''Horst Wessel'' was recommissioned USCGC ''Eagle'' and remains in active service, assigned to the United States Coast Guard Academy
The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast Gu ...
. The British, French and Soviet navies received the destroyers, and some torpedo boats went to the Danish and Norwegian navies. For the purpose of mine clearing, the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
employed German crews and minesweepers from June 1945 to January 1948, organized in the German Mine Sweeping Administration
The German Mine Sweeping Administration (GMSA) was an organisation formed by the Allies from former crews and vessels of the Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' for the purpose of mine sweeping after the Second World War, predominantly in the North Se ...
, the GMSA, which consisted of 27,000 members of the former ''Kriegsmarine'' and 300 vessels.
The destroyers and the Soviet share light cruiser were all retired by the end of the 1950s, but five escort destroyers were returned from the French to the new West German navy in the 1950s and three 1945 scuttled type XXI and XXIII U-boats were raised by West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and integrated into their new navy. In 1956, with West Germany's accession to NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, a new navy was established and was referred to as the ''Bundesmarine
The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
'' (Federal Navy). Some ''Kriegsmarine'' commanders like Erich Topp
Erich Topp (2 July 1914 – 26 December 2005) was a German U-boat commander of World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. He sank 35 ships for a total of . After the war, h ...
and Otto Kretschmer
Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War.
From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. For ...
went on to serve in the ''Bundesmarine''. In East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
the ''Volksmarine
The ''Volksmarine'' (VM, ; en, People's Navy) was the naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The ''Volksmarine'' was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a coastal d ...
'' (People's Navy) was established in 1956. With the reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990, it was decided to use the name ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy
The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
).
Major wartime operations
* ''Wikinger'' ("Viking") (1940) – foray by destroyers into the North Sea
* ''Weserübung'' ("Operation Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...
") (1940) – invasion of Denmark and Norway
* ''Juno'' (1940) – operation to disrupt Allied supplies to Norway
* ''Nordseetour'' (1940) – first Atlantic operation of ''Admiral Hipper''
* ''Berlin'' (1941) – Atlantic cruise of ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau''
* '' Rheinübung'' ("Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
exercise") (1941) – breakout by ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen''
* ''Doppelschlag'' ("Double blow") (1942) – anti-shipping operation off Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...
by ''Admiral Scheer'' and ''Admiral Hipper''
* ''Sportpalast'' (1942) – aborted operation (including ''Tirpitz'') to attack Arctic convoys
* ''Rösselsprung'' ("Knights
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
Move") (1942) – operation (including ''Tirpitz'') to attack Arctic convoy PQ 17
PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the port of Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, aft ...
* ''Wunderland'' (1942) – anti-shipping operation in Kara Sea by ''Admiral Scheer''
* ''Paukenschlag'' ("Drumbeat" ("Beat of the Kettle Drum"); "Second Happy Time") (1942) – U-boat campaign off the United States east coast
* ''Neuland'' ("New Land") (1942) – U-boat campaign in the Caribbean Sea; launched in conjunction with Operation Drumbeat
* ''Regenbogen'' ("Rainbow") (1942) – failed attack on Arctic convoy JW 51B, by ''Admiral Hipper'' and ''Lützow''
* ''Cerberus'' (1942) – movement of capital ships from Brest to home ports in Germany (Channel Dash
The Channel Dash (german: Unternehmen Zerberus, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the Second World War. ( Cerberus), a three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades. A (German Navy) squadron comprisin ...
)
* ''Ostfront'' ("East front") (1943) – final operation of ''Scharnhorst'', to intercept convoy JW 55B
Convoy JW 55B was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely.
...
* ''Domino'' (1943) – second aborted Arctic sortie by ''Scharnhorst'', ''Prinz Eugen'' and destroyers
* ''Zitronella'' ("Lemon extract") (1943) – raid upon Allied-occupied Spitzbergen (Svalbard)
* ''Hannibal'' (1945) – evacuation proceedings from Courland
Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
, Danzig-West Prussia and East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
* ''Deadlight'' (1945) – the British Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
's postwar scuttling of ''Kriegsmarine'' U-boats
Ships
By the start of World War II, much of the ''Kriegsmarine'' were modern ships: fast, well-armed and well-armoured. This had been achieved by concealment but also by deliberately flouting World War I peace terms and those of various naval treaties. However, the war started with the German Navy still at a distinct disadvantage in terms of sheer size with what were expected to be its primary adversaries – the navies of France and Great Britain. Although a major re-armament of the navy (Plan Z
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) ordered by Adolf Hitler in early 1939. The fleet was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom, and was to be completed by 194 ...
) was planned, and initially begun, the start of the war in 1939 meant that the vast amounts of material required for the project were diverted to other areas. The sheer disparity in size when compared to the other European powers navies prompted German naval commander in chief Grand Admiral Erich Raeder to write of his own navy once the war began "The surface forces can do no more than show that they know how to die gallantly." A number of captured ships from occupied countries were added to the German fleet as the war progressed. Though six major units of the ''Kriegsmarine'' were sunk during the war (both ''Bismarck''-class battleships and both ''Scharnhorst''-class battleships, as well as two heavy cruisers), there were still many ships afloat (including four heavy cruisers and four light cruisers) as late as March 1945.
Some ship types do not fit clearly into the commonly used ship classifications. Where there is argument, this has been noted.
Surface ships
The main combat ships of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (excluding U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s):
Aircraft carriers
Construction of the was started in 1936 and construction of an unnamed sister ship was started two years later in 1938, but neither ship was completed. In 1942 conversion of three German passenger ships ( ''Europa'', ''Potsdam'', ''Gneisenau'') and two unfinished cruisers, the captured French light cruiser and the German heavy cruiser , to auxiliary carriers was begun. In November 1942 the conversion of the passenger ships was stopped because these ships were now seen as too slow for operations with the fleet. But conversion of one of these ships, the ''Potsdam'', to a training carrier was begun instead. In February 1943 all the work on carriers was halted because of the German failure during the Battle of the Barents Sea
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...
which convinced Hitler that big warships were useless.
All engineering of the aircraft carriers like catapults, arresting gears and so on were tested and developed at the ''Erprobungsstelle See'' Travemünde
Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...
(Experimental Agency Sea in Travemünde) including the airplanes for the aircraft carriers, the Fieseler Fi 167
The Fieseler Fi 167 was a 1930s German biplane torpedo and reconnaissance bomber designed for use from the Graf Zeppelin class aircraft carriers under construction from 1936 to 1942.
Development
In early 1937, the ''Reichsluftfahrtministerium ...
ship-borne biplane torpedo and reconnaissance bomber and the navalized versions of two key early war ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft: the Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
T fighter and Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...
C Stuka dive bomber.
Battleships
The ''Kriegsmarine'' completed four battleships during its existence. The first pair were the 11-inch gun , consisting of the and , which participated in the invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung (german: Unternehmen Weserübung , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign.
In the early morning of 9 Ap ...
) in 1940, and then in commerce raiding until the ''Gneisenau'' was heavily damaged by a British air raid in 1942 and the ''Scharnhorst'' was sunk in the Battle of the North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the Soviet Union, was ...
in late 1943. The second pair were the 15-inch gun , consisting of the and . The ''Bismarck'' was sunk on her first sortie into the Atlantic in 1941 (Operation Rheinübung
Operation Rheinübung ("Exercise Rhine") was the sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship and heavy cruiser on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II. This operation to block Allied shipping to the United Kingdom culminated w ...
) although she did sink the battlecruiser ''Hood'' and severely damaged the battleship ''Prince of Wales'', while the ''Tirpitz'' was based in Norwegian ports during most of the war as a fleet in being
In naval warfare, a "fleet in being" is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. Were the fleet to leave port and face the enemy, it might lose in battle and no longer influence the enemy's actions, but while ...
, tying up Allied naval forces, and subject to a number of attacks by British aircraft and submarines. More battleships were planned (the H-class), but construction was abandoned in September 1939.
Pocket battleships (''Panzerschiffe'')
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 were the (renamed ''Lützow''), , and . Modern commentators favour classifying these as "heavy cruisers" and the ''Kriegsmarine'' itself reclassified these ships as such (''Schwere Kreuzer'') in 1940. In German language usage these three ships were designed and built as "armoured ships" (''Panzerschiffe'') – "pocket battleship" is an English label.
The ''Graf Spee'' was scuttled by her own crew in the Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...
, in the Rio de la Plata
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
estuary in December 1939. ''Admiral Scheer'' was bombed on 9 April 1945 in port at Kiel and badly damaged, essentially beyond repair, and rolled over at her moorings. After the war that part of the harbor was filled in with rubble and the hulk buried. ''Lützow'' (ex-''Deutschland'') was bombed 16 April 1945 in the Baltic off Schwinemünde just west of Stettin, and settled on the shallow bottom. With the Soviet Army advancing across the Oder, the ship was destroyed in place to prevent the Soviets capturing anything useful. The wreck was dismantled and scrapped in 1948–1949.
Pre-dreadnought battleships
The World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
era Pre-dreadnought battleships and were used mainly as training ships, although they also participated in several military operations, with the latter bearing the distinction of firing the opening shots of WWII. and were converted into radio-guided target ships in 1928 and 1930 respectively. was decommissioned in 1931 and struck from the naval register in 1936. Plans to convert her into a radio-controlled target ship for aircraft was canceled because of the outbreak of war in 1939.
Battlecruisers
Three s were ordered in 1939, but with the start of the war the same year there were not enough resources to build the ships.
Heavy cruisers
, , and
Never completed: ,
Light cruisers
The term "light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
" is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
". Light cruisers were defined under the Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Nav ...
by gun caliber. Light cruiser describes a small ship that was armoured in the same way as an armoured cruiser. In other words, like standard cruisers, light cruisers possessed a protective belt and a protective deck. Prior to this, smaller cruisers tended to be of the protected cruiser
Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
model and possessed only an armoured deck. The Kriegsmarine light cruisers were as follows:
*
*
*
*
*
*
Never completed: three s
Never completed: KH-1 and KH-2 (''Kreuzer'' (cruiser) Holland 1 and 2). Captured in the Netherlands 1940. Both being on the stocks and building continued for the ''Kriegsmarine''.
In addition, the former ''Kaiserliche Marine'' light cruiser was captured by Germans on 11 September 1943 after the capitulation of Italy. She was pressed into ''Kriegsmarine'' service for a brief time before being destroyed by British MTBs.
Auxiliary cruisers
During the war, some merchant ships
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...
were converted into "auxiliary cruisers" and nine were used as commerce raiders sailing under false flags to avoid detection, and operated in all oceans with considerable effect. The German designation for the ships was Handelstörkreuzer''' thus the HSK serial assigned. Each had as well an administrative label more commonly used, e.g. Schiff 16 = Atlantis, Schiff 41 = Kormoran, etc. The auxiliary cruisers were:
* (HSK-1, Schiff 36)
* (HSK-2, Schiff 16)
* (HSK-3, Schiff 21)
* (HSK-4, Schiff 10)
* (HSK-5, Schiff 33)
* (HSK-6, Schiff 23)
* (HSK-7, Schiff 45)
* (HSK-8, Schiff 41)
* (HSK-9, Schiff 28)
* (HSK number not assigned, Schiff 14, never active in raider operations.)
* (HSK not assigned, Schiff 5, never active in raider operations, used as a training ship)
Destroyers
Although the German World War II destroyer (''Zerstörer'') fleet was modern and the ships were larger than conventional destroyers of other navies, they had problems. Early classes were unstable, wet in heavy weather, suffered from engine problems and had short range. Some problems were solved with the evolution of later designs, but further developments were curtailed by the war and, ultimately, by Germany's defeat. In the first year of World War II, they were used mainly to sow offensive minefields in shipping lanes close to the British coast.
Torpedo boats
These vessels evolved through the 1930s from small vessels, relying almost entirely on torpedoes, to what were effectively small destroyers with mines, torpedoes and guns. Two classes of fleet torpedo boats were planned, but not built, in the 1940s.
E-boats (''Schnellboote'')
The E-boats were fast attack craft with torpedo tubes. Over 200 boats of this type were built for the ''Kriegsmarine''.
Troop ships
, , , , .
Miscellaneous
Thousands of smaller warships and auxiliaries served in the ''Kriegsmarine'', including minelayers, minesweeper (ship), minesweepers, mine transports, netlayers, floating AA and torpedo batteries, command ships, decoy ships (small merchantmen with hidden weaponry), gunboats, monitors, escorts, patrol boats, sub-chasers, landing craft, landing support ships, training ships, test ships, torpedo recovery boats, dispatch boats, aviso, fishery protection ships, survey ships, harbor defense boats, target ships and their radio control vessels, motor explosive boats, weather ships, tankers, colliers, tenders, supply ships, tugs, barges, icebreakers, hospital and accommodation ships, floating cranes and docks, and many others. The ''Kriegsmarine'' employed hundreds of auxiliary ''Vorpostenboote'' during the war, mostly civilian ships that were drafted and fitted with military equipment, for use in coastal operations.
Submarines
The Submarine Arm of the ''Kriegsmarine'' was titled the ''U-bootwaffe'' ("submarine force").
At the outbreak of war, it had a fleet of 57 submarines. This was increased steadily until mid-1943, when losses from Allied counter-measures matched the new vessels launched.
The principal types were the German Type IX submarine, Type IX, a long range type used in the western and southern Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans; the German Type VII submarine, Type VII, the most numerous type, used principally in the north Atlantic; and the small German Type II submarine, Type II, for coastal waters. German Type X submarine, Type X was a small class of minelayers and German Type XIV submarine, Type XIV was a specialized type used to support distant U-boat operations – the "''Milchkuh''" (Milkcow).
Types XXI and XXIII, the "''Elektroboot
An elektroboot ("electric boat" in German) was a submarine designed to operate entirely submerged, rather than as submersibles that could submerge as a temporary means to escape detection or launch an attack.
History
Even before the Second ...
''", could have negated much of the Allied anti-submarine tactics and technology, but only a few of this new type of U-boat became ready for combat at the end of the war. Post-war, they became the prototype for modern conventional submarines, such as the Soviet .
During World War II, about 60% of all U-boats commissioned were lost in action; 28,000 of the 40,000 U-boat crewmen were killed during the war and 8,000 were captured. The remaining U-boats were either surrendered to the Allies or scuttled by their own crews at the end of the war.
Captured ships
The military campaigns in Europe yielded a large number of captured vessels, many of which were under construction. Nations represented included Austria (riverine craft), Czechoslovakia (riverine craft), Poland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States (several landing craft) and Italy (after the armistice). Few of the incomplete ships of destroyer size or above were completed, but many smaller warships and auxiliaries were completed and commissioned into ''Kriegsmarine'' during the war. Additionally many captured or confiscated foreign civilian ships (merchantmen, fishing boats, tugboats etc.) were converted into auxiliary warships or support ships.
Major enemy warships sunk or destroyed
The first warship sunk in World War II was the destroyer , of the Polish Navy, by Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...
dive bombers from the carrier air group of aircraft carrier on 3 September 1939. This carrier air group (Trägergeschwader 186) was part of the ''Luftwaffe'', but at that time under command of the ''Kriegsmarine''.
Organization
Command structure
Adolf Hitler was the Commander-in-Chief of all German armed forces, including the ''Kriegsmarine''. His authority was exercised through the ''Oberkommando der Marine'', or OKM, with a Commander-in-Chief (''Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine''), a Chief of Naval General Staff (''Chef des Stabes der Seekriegsleitung'') and a Chief of Naval Operations (''Chef der Operationsabteilung''). The first Commander-in-Chief of the OKM was Erich Raeder who was the Commander-in-Chief of the ''Reichsmarine'' when it was renamed and reorganized in 1935. Raeder held the post until falling out with Hitler after the German failure in the Battle of the Barents Sea
The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...
. He was replaced by Karl Dönitz on 30 January 1943 who held the command until he was appointed President of Germany (1919–1945), President of Germany upon Hitler's suicide in April 1945. Hans-Georg von Friedeburg was then Commander-in-Chief of the OKM for the short period of time until Germany surrendered in May 1945.
Subordinate to these were regional, Squadron (naval), squadron and temporary flotilla commands. Regional commands covered significant naval regions and were themselves sub-divided, as necessary. They were commanded by a ''Generaladmiral'' or an Admiral (Germany), Admiral. There was a ''Marineoberkommando'' for the Baltic Fleet, Nord, Nordsee, Norwegen, Ost/Ostsee (formerly Baltic), Süd and West. The ''Kriegsmarine'' used a form of encoding called ''Gradnetzmeldeverfahren'' to denote regions on a map.
Each squadron (organized by type of ship) also had a command structure with its own Flag Officer. The commands were Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, Submarines (''Führer der Unterseeboote''), Torpedo Boats, Minesweepers, Reconnaissance Forces, Naval Security Forces, Big Guns and Hand Guns, and Midget Weapons.
Major naval operations were commanded by a ''Flottenchef''. The ''Flottenchef'' controlled a flotilla and organized its actions during the operation. The commands were, by their nature, temporary.
The ''Kriegsmarine'' ship design bureau, known as the ''Marineamt'', was administered by officers with experience in sea duty but not in ship design, while the Naval architecture, naval architects who did the actual design work had only a theoretical understanding of design requirements. As a result, the German surface fleet was plagued by design flaws throughout the war.
Communication was undertaken using an eight-rotor system of Enigma machine, Enigma encoding.
Air units
The ''Luftwaffe'' had a near-complete monopoly on all German military aviation, including naval aviation, a major source of ongoing interservice rivalry with the ''Kriegsmarine''. Catapult-launched spotter planes like Arado Ar 196 twin-float seaplanes were manned by the so-called ''Bordfliegergruppen'' (shipboard flying group). In addition, ''Trägergeschwader 186'' (Carrier Air Wing (air force unit), Wing 186) operated two ''Gruppen'' (''Trägergruppe I/186'' and ''Trägergruppe II/186'') equipped with navalized Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
T and Junkers Ju 87, Junkers Ju 87C Stuka; these units were intended to serve aboard the aircraft carrier which was never completed, yet provided the ''Kriegsmarine'' with some air-power from bases on land. Furthermore, five coastal groups (''Küstenfliegergruppen'') with reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bombers, Minesweeper (ship)#Minesweeping aircraft, ''Minensuch'' aerial minesweepers and air-sea rescue seaplanes supported the ''Kriegsmarine'', although with lesser resources as the war progressed.
Coastal artillery, flak and radar units
The coastal artillery, coastal batteries of the ''Kriegsmarine'' were stationed on the German coasts. With the conquering and occupation of other countries coastal artillery was stationed along the coasts of these countries, especially in France and Norway as part of the Atlantic Wall.[J. P. Mallmann-Showell: ''Das Buch der deutschen Kriegsmarine 1935–1945''. Publisher Motorbuch. Stuttgart 1995 p. 75-91] Naval bases were protected by anti-aircraft warfare, flak-batteries of the ''Kriegsmarine'' against enemy air raids. The ''Kriegsmarine'' also manned the Seetakt radar, ''Seetakt'' sea radars on the coasts.
Marines
At the beginning of World War II, on 1 September 1939, the ''Marinestosstruppkompanie, Marine Stoßtrupp Kompanie'' (Marine Attack Troop Company) landed in Danzig from the old battleship for conquering a Polish bastion Battle of Westerplatte, at Westerplatte. A reinforced platoon of the ''Marine Stoßtrupp Kompanie'' landed with soldiers of the German Army from destroyers on 9 April 1940 in Narvik. In June 1940 the ''Marine Stoßtrupp Abteilung'' (Marine Attack Troop Battalion) was flown in from France to the Channel Islands to occupy this British territory.
In September 1944 amphibious units unsuccessfully tried to capture the strategic island Gogland, Suursaari in the Gulf of Finland from Germany's former ally Finland (Operation Tanne Ost).
With the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 and the Soviet advance from the summer of 1944 the ''Kriegsmarine'' started to form regiments and Division (military), divisions for the battles on land with superfluous personnel. With the loss of naval bases because of the Allied advance more and more navy personnel were available for the ground troops of the ''Kriegsmarine''. About 40 regiments were raised and from January 1945 on six divisions. Half of the regiments were absorbed by the divisions.[Jörg Benz: ''Deutsche Marineinfanterie 1938–1945''. Publisher Husum Druck. Husum 1996. ]
Personnel strength
Ranks and uniforms
Many different types of uniforms were worn by the ''Kriegsmarine''; here is a list of the main ones:
* ''Dienstanzug'' (Service suit)
* ''Kleiner Dienstanzug'' (Lesser service uniform)
* ''Ausgehanzug'' (Suit for walking out)
* ''Sportanzug'' (Sportswear)
* ''Tropen-und Sommeranzug'' (Tropical and summer suit) – uniforms for hot climates
* ''Große Uniform'' (Parade uniform)
* ''Kleiner Gesellschaftsanzug'' (Small party suit)
* ''Großer Gesellschaftsanzug'' (Full dress uniform)
See also
* Glossary of German military terms
* List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the Kriegsmarine
* List of naval ships of Germany
* List of World War II torpedoes of Germany
* Rolf Carls
* Wilhelm Canaris
Notes
External links
The Nazi German Navy 1935-1945 (Kriegsmarine)
*
*
*
*
*
Photos of minelayers on combat missions and various ''Kriegsmarine'' vessels.
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