marine.htm

German Navy Kriegsmarine

Here you will find information on the ships of the german navy (Kriegsmarine).But first here's how the german navy started in the war for control of the seas.

As far as the German fleet was concerned, it is difficult to envisage any scenario other than that of deterrence. In 1939 the ambitious plan Z was in train but not yet showing major results; indeed, it was not sheduledfor completion until 1946. By this date, even if hostilities had not broken out, it is inconceivable that the Royal Navy, already infinitely the more powerful force, would not have been expanded under an emergancy programme in order to meet a defined threat.

It is possible that the German High Command believed that, by 1946 the british would accept that, in a maritime war, they could defeat the Reichsmarine, but only at an unacceptable cost.Unfortunately for them the wayward and totally unpredictable 'foreign policy' practised by the Fuhrer plunged them into such a maritime war ahead of schedule.Less than a quarter of a century earlier, they had discovered the effectiveness of an all-out submarine war waged against the United Kingdom. The same principle still applied and it is again very hard to believe that the submarine building programme would not have been vastly accelerated from 1936 if a 1939 war had been envisaged. A really powerful U-boat arm in being might well have driven the British to yield considerable concessions rather than risk a repeat disaster to their mercantile marine.

The U-boat advanced far in the space of less than six years. Th introduction of the 'schorchel', new types of torpedo and, particularly,the fast electric boats, should have been decisive but by the time they were introduced the 'aces' of earlier months were dead or captive and the defences strong enough to cope.

Devoting so much of their shipbuilding capacity to submarine construction, Germany was obliged to discontinue the majority of major warship projects. As with the Italians, the lack of aircraft carriers was keenly felt. There is a latin phrase that the german navy should of seen 'In times of peace,prepare for war'.

Here's a list of the German Ships,

Battleships:

Bismarck class battleship, 2 were built

Hitler launched a daring programme to construct 10 Bismarcks to dare the Royal navy, but 2 were ever completed.Their shape was quite conventional,each exeeding 30knots.Two armour decks ran three-quarters the lenght of the ship. But both ships were lost by long aircraft attacks, their greatest achievement was the sinking of the Hood.

Scharnhorst class battleship, 2 were built

Operating for the most part together, the pair grained rather more notoriety than the short-lived Bismarck. Moderatly succesful operations against Atlantic cinvoys were punctuated by their sinking of the carrier Glorius and her escort. The ships still a threat to the British navy for the rest of the war.

Deutschland class 'pocket' battleship, 3 were built

They were revolutionary in design and in concept. Eight diesel engines were coupled on two shafts, giving great flexibility and econemy. Designed for 26 knots they could manage 30, which meant they could decline action with any British battleship.

Cruisers:

Hipper class cruisers, 5 were built

The first pair, Hipper and Blucher, were quickly followed by a third, Prinz Eugen, with an upgraded power plant, then two more bearing the famous battlecruisres names of Seydlitz and Lutzow.In profile, once fitted with a clinker screen on the funnel top, their appearence was quite similiar to the Bismarck.

Nurnberg class light cruiser, 4 were built

Endurance was always an important point with German designers, probebly with an eye for commerce raiding. All the 4 ships were part of the german ambitious invasion of Norway. Were the Karlsruhe and the Koningsberg were lost by british attacks.

Dreadnoughts

Schleswig-Holstein class pre-dreadnought, 5 were built

This remarkable pair of survivors were from a class of five laid down in 1903-1. All five Deutschland class served at Jutland, they carried a twin 11-in turret forward and aft. Fourteen casemated guns of the unusual calibre of 17 cm comprised the secondaryarmermentuntill the late thirties when they were removed.

Destroyers

Maass class destroyer, 16 were built

Laid down in 1934/35, this group of sixteen destroyers was the first to be constructed since world war 1, for the time, 2200 tons displacement appeared enormous, enabling a powerful armerment of five single 12.7cm guns.Germany's limited shipbuilding capacity was showing strain, with some of the destroyers taking nearly 4 years to construct.

Torpedo Boats

T1 type torpedo boat

Surprisingly, considering German expertise with diesels, the diminutive ships were steam turbine propelled.Two triple banks of tropedo tubes were the main weapon but thirty mines could be carried and a single 4.1-in gun.

Aircraft Carriers

Graf Zeppelin class ,never completed

The Graf Zeppelin was Germany's only aircraft carrier till today, but never so action because of financial problems and it had to move around from shipyard to shipyard for the Allies detecting it.

Submarines

Type VII U-Boat, 650 were built

Just 64.5m in lenght, they displaced 745tons submerged. Carrying 11 torpedo's, their surfaced range was 4300miles at 12knots, restricting them to the eastern Atlantic. The design was quickly developed further, via the introduction of other classes the VIIC was the workhorse of the submarine force, with over 650 built for the german navy.

Type IX U-Boat, 194 were built

The type IX was designed to get to and from distant operational areas in the shortest economical time. Extra time on patrol was to be made more effective by increasing torpedo capacity to a maximum.They were, in effect,the ww2's U-Cruisers,capable of working against distant trade routes.About 194 were completed in time to see action.