Reichsmarine

The Reichsmarine (English: 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 Kriegsmarine (War Navy), a branch of the Wehrmacht; a change implemented by Adolf Hitler. Many of the administrative and organizational tenets of the Reichsmarine were then carried over into the organization of the Kriegsmarine.

Reichsmarine
Naval Ensign
Active1 January 1921–31 May 1935
CountryWeimar Republic
TypeNavy
Part ofReichswehr
Commanders
Last commanderErich Raeder

Vorläufige Reichsmarine

The Vorläufige Reichsmarine (English: Provisional Realm Navy) was formed after the end of World War I from the Imperial German Navy.

The provisions of the Treaty of Versailles restricted the German Navy to 15,000 men and no submarines, while the fleet was limited to six pre-dreadnought battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo boats. Replacements for the outdated battleships were restricted to a maximum size of 10,000 tons.

Reichsmarine

The Reichsmarine was considered the armed naval force of the Reichswehrministerium (Ministry of the Reichswehr) which was headed by a civilian minister appointed by the Weimar government. The senior most naval officer was known until 1920 as the Chef der Admiralität (Chief of the Admiralty), after which the title changed to Chef der Marineleitung (Chief of the Naval Command).[1]

The Mürwik Naval School in 1929

The naval commander oversaw a headquarters office known as the Marinekommandiertenabteilung which was headquartered in Berlin. The Naval Command also maintained a headquarters intelligence office Marinenachrichtenoffizier) and a naval archives. Internal to the naval headquarters five offices known as the:

  • Marinekommandoamt (A) – Operations
  • Allgemeine Marineamt (B) – General Administration
  • Marineverwaltungsamt (C) – Personnel and Administration
  • Marinewaffenamt (MWa) – Naval War Office
  • Marinekonstruktionsamt (K) – Naval Construction Office

The following officers served as head of the Reichsmarine from 1918 to 1935

Chief of the Admiralty (Chef der Admiralität)
No. Portrait Chefs der AdmiralitätTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
Adolf von Trotha
Trotha, AdolfVizeadmiral
Adolf von Trotha
(1868–1940)		26 March 191922 March 1920362 days
-
William Michaelis
Michaelis, WilliamKonteradmiral
William Michaelis
(1871–1948)
Acting		22 March 19201 September 1920163 days
2
Paul Behncke
Behncke, PaulVizeadmiral
Paul Behncke
(1869–1937)		1 September 192014 September 192013 days

Heads of the Naval Command (Chefs der Marineleitung)
No. Portrait Chefs der MarineleitungTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
Paul Behncke
Behncke, PaulVizeadmiral
Paul Behncke
(1869–1937)		14 September 19201 October 19244 years, 17 days
2
Hans Zenker
Zenker, HansVizeadmiral
Hans Zenker
(1870–1932)		1 October 192430 September 19283 years, 365 days
3
Erich Raeder
Raeder, ErichAdmiral
Erich Raeder
(1876–1960)		1 October 19281 June 19356 years, 243 days

Fleet command

The fleet command of the Reichsmarine (Flottenkommando) was headquartered at Kiel and consisted of a flag staff and fleet commander embarked on board the flagship of the German fleet. During the 1920s, the German flagship was the battleship Schleswig-Holstein with two naval officers serving as fleet commander, Vizeadmiral Hans Zenker and Konrad Mommsen, between 1923 and 1927. The fleet commander position was then left vacant, but the flag staff remained.

The purpose of the fleet command was to oversee the four major type commanders of German naval vessels. These commands were in turn responsible for the administration of various German ship classes to include equipment development, vessel deployments, and personnel assignment. Once at sea, operational control of the vessels switched to the commanders of the two main Naval Sea Stations. The four type commands were:

  • Befehlshaber der Linienschiffe – Commander of Ships of the Line, headquartered at Kiel, flagship in 1933 was the cruiser Deutschland
  • Befehlshaber der Aufklärungsstreitkräfte – Commander of Reconnaissance Craft, flagship was the cruiser Königsberg headquartered at Kiel
  • Führer der Torpedoboote – Leader of Torpedo-boats, headquartered at Swinemünde overseeing four flotillas of torpedo boats
  • Führer der Minsensuchboote – Leader of Minesweepers, headquartered at Kiel commanding two minesweeper flotillas and one Räumbooten ("R boat") mine auxiliary unit.

The Reichsmarine did not maintain traditional at-sea fleets, but instead assigned two geographical areas (known as Marinestation) which oversaw all vessels operationally deployed in the North and Baltic Seas. Each naval station maintained a headquarters staff, general naval inspectorate, training department, artillery arsenal inspector, as well as a medical command unit. The naval stations also served as a senior officer for the commanders of the various German navy ports.[2]

Ships and equipment

The Treaty of Versailles limited the size and armament of the Reichsmarine and prevented it from introducing new technologies. The restrictions were intended to prevent the German Navy from becoming a threat to the Allied powers. On the other hand, the Allies had made certain that the Reichsmarine would be in the foreseeable future the strongest power in the Baltic Sea, in order to serve as a counterweight against the new Soviet Union, which was viewed with distrust by the Allies.

Germany was only allowed six pre-dreadnought battleships (plus two in reserve), six cruisers (plus two in reserve), twelve destroyers (plus four in reserve), and twelve torpedo boats (plus four in reserve). The Reichsmarine tried to meet the arms restrictions with secret armament and technical innovations such as the introduction of the pocket battleship.

List of Reichsmarine ships
Ships of the Reichsmarine on maneuvers in 1929 with a Königsberg-class cruiser on the right

See also

References
  1. Naval department of Germany, "Rangliste der deutschen Reichsmarine", University of Michigan Library (2010), p. 34
  2. Waldeyer-Hartz, H. Ein Mann: Das Leben des Admirals Ludwig v. Schröder. Vieweg+Teubner Verlag (1934), pg. 47
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