The ''Seekriegsleitung'' or SKL (Maritime Warfare Command) was a higher command staff section of the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

and 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

of Germany during the World Wars.

World War I

The SKL was established on August 27, 1918, on the initiative of Admiral

Reinhard 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, commandin ...

, who became its first commander, simultaneously to being the Chief of the

German Imperial Admiralty Staff The German Imperial Admiralty Staff (german: Admiralstab) was one of four Command (military formation), command agencies for the administration of the Imperial German Navy from 1899 to 1918. While the German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wil ...

. It led the planning and execution of naval combat and directed the distribution of naval forces. Up to this point, that was done by several staffs and the individual theater commanders; including the

Supreme Army Command The ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' (, Supreme Army Command or OHL) was the highest echelon of command of the army (''Heer'') of the German Empire. In the latter part of World War I, the Third OHL assumed dictatorial powers and became the ''de facto'' ...

under General

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...

, whose decisions led to the

unrestricted submarine warfare Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to sea ...

and the entrance of the United States into the war. When the war ended, the SKL was absorbed into the admiralty.

World War II

The SKL was reestablished in 1937 and deeply linked in the Naval High Command, the Commander-in-Chief also being the commander of the SKL with the Commander of the Naval Command Department (''Marinekommandoamt'') as the Chief of Staff. Though the competences of the SKL initially were equal to their role in World War I, they were narrowed when the Naval Command Department was split from it. The command was limited to except-domestic sea-areas, where the naval group commands did not possess the operational guidance. Also, the submarine war split and were, under the Commander of the submarines (''Befehlshaber der U-Boote''), directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief. In 1944, the SKL was tasked with the command of fleet units operating as transports, blockade runners, auxiliary cruisers and supply shipping.

SKL command

The Commanders of the ''Seekriegsleitung'' were: The Chiefs of Staff of the ''Seekriegsleitung'' were:

References

Erich Gröner Erich Gröner (born 16 March 1901, Berlin; died 21 June 1965) was a German historian of naval warfare and shipbuilding. Early life and education Erich Gröner was born on 16 March 1901 in Berlin, then capital of the German Empire. From 1910 to ...

- Die Schiffe der deutschen Kriegsmarine und ihr Verbleib 1939-1945, J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, München (1976) *Hans H. Hildebrand - Die organisatorische Entwicklung der Marine nebst Stellenbesetzung 1848 bis 1945, Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück(2000) *Hans H. Hildebrand & Ernest Henriot –Deutschlands Admirale 1849-1945, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück (1989) *Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr & Hans-Otto Steinmetz – Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe, Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg (1980) *Walter Lohmann & Hans H. Hildebrand –Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, Bad Nauheim (1956) {{Chiefs of Staff of the Wehrmacht Imperial German Navy Naval history of Germany Kriegsmarine Naval units and formations of Germany