The Naval Historical Team (NHT) was established by the
U.S. Navy in 1949. It was a group of German naval officers under American orders to reappraise the naval war history of
World War II from the German perspective. The group was under control of the
Office of Naval Intelligence. At the end of 1952, the NHT was disbanded, but was re-established in
Karlsruhe in 1954.
Under the leadership of Captain
Arthur H. Graubart, Chief of Naval Intelligence in Germany, the NHT first met on 9 April 1949 in Bremerhaven. The staff included ''
Generaladmiral'' a. D.
Otto Schniewind,
[''außer Dienst'' (a.D.) stands for out of office or retired.] ''
Vizeadmiral'' a. D.
Friedrich Ruge
Friedrich Oskar Ruge (24 December 1894 – 3 July 1985) was an officer in the German Navy and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He served as the first commander (Inspector of the Navy) of the post-war German Navy ...
, ''Vizeadmiral'' a. D.
Hellmuth Heye, ''
Konteradmiral'' a. D.
Gerhard Wagner and ''
Oberst'' a. D. Gaul. Temporarily it was further augmented by ''Konteradmiral'' a. D.
Eberhard Godt
Eberhard Godt (15 August 1900 – 13 September 1995) was a German naval officer who served in both World War I and World War II, eventually rising to command the '' Kriegsmarine''s U-boat operations.
Biography
: ''This article incorporates inform ...
, ''
Kapitän zur See'' a. D.
Hans-Rudolf Rösing and ''
Fregattenkapitän'' a. D.
Karl-Adolf Zenker
Karl-Adolf Zenker (19 July 1907 – 27 March 1998) was an officer in the ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. He served as a member of the Naval Historical Team and later became commander (Inspector of the Navy) of the post-war German Navy
...
.
The group considered itself an incubator of a future West German navy, an aspiration culminating in Ruge's appointment as the first inspector of the ''
Bundesmarine'', with Wagner as his deputy, in 1957. The primary interest of the U.S. Navy was in the German war experiences fighting against the
Soviet Navy, which the U.S. Navy wanted to leverage in a possible war at sea with the Soviet Union. The findings of the NHT significantly influenced the conception of the new ''Bundesmarine'' formed in 1956.
Notes
References
* Corum, James S. (2011). ''Rearming Germany Volume 64''. Brill. .
* Greiner, Christian (1982): "Operational History (German) Section" und "Naval Historical Team". Deutsches militärstrategisches Denken im Dienst der amerikanischen Streitkräfte von 1946 bis 1950." In: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Hrsg.): ''Militärgeschichte. Probleme - Thesen - Wege.'' Stuttgart.
*Peifer, Douglas (2002): "Forerunners to the West German Bundesmarine: The Klose Fast Patrol Group, the Naval Historical Team Bremerhaven, and the U.S. Navy's Labor Service Unit (B)". In: ''International Journal of Naval History'', Vol.1, No.
External links
Bundesarchiv Bestand ZA 4 Naval Historical Team
{{authority control
United States Navy organization, Intel
Nav
Military units and formations established in 1949
Naval history of Germany