German Naval Strategy Vortrag Bologna

German Naval Strategyin the First Half of the

20th CenturyProf. Dr. Michael Epkenhans

Wilhelm II and the Grasp for Naval Power

Germany 1871-1918

Share of Industrial Productionand Population in 1913

Africa in 1914

Togo becomes German Colony in 1884

Alfred T. Mahan

Grand Admiral Alfred von TirpitzFather of the German Battle Fleet

Our Future lies on the Seas

The High Seas Fleet at Wilhelmshaven

The Anglo-German NavalRace, 1909

The Punch, 1912: How can we shake hands?

The Theatre of War in the North Sea

Strengths of German and British Fleets in 1914

Dreadnoughts

Pre-Dreadnoughts

Battlecruisers

Armoured cruisers

Small cruisers

Torpedo-boats/destroyers

High Seas Fleet

13

8

3

1

7

90

Grand Fleet

21

8

4

8

13

42

+ Channel Fleet

The Grand Fleet at War

The High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, 1915

Sinking of Small cruiser SMS MAINZ

Battle of Heligoland 28 August 1914

The sinking of the „Blücher“24 January 1915

The Battle of Jutland 1916

The German Navy in the Baltic

German operations in

Baltic

Securing iron-ore transports from Sweden

Keeping the Russian Navy away from the entrances

Keeping the Royal Navy out of the Baltic and thus prevent landings in the back of theGerman Army

Supporting the German army in ist operations against the Russians

Support of the OttomanEmpire

Defence of theDardanelles and theBosphorus

Threat to Allied transports(submarines)

Naval Warfare in the Mediterranean

German East Asiatic Squadron

The Battles of Coronel and the Falklands, 1914

Battle of Coronel 1 November 1914

HMS Inflexible“ rescuing German sailors after the Battle of theFalkland Islands

The sinking of the „Emden“ 9 November 1914

German Submarine, 1916

Sinking of the Cunard Liner „Lusitania“ off the Irish Coast, 1915

Submarine warfare

U-Bootkrieg nach Prisenordnung

Submarine warfare – success and failure

Scapa FlowScuttled German Warships, June 1919

German losses 1914-18

The Kriegsmarine and Nationalsocialism

Z- Plan 1938

To be built until 1948 1948

10 battleships (6 H-type, BISMARCK, TIRPITZ, SCHARNHORST, GNEISENAU) 15 pocket battleships

4 aircraft carriers 5 heavy cruisers 16 Light Cruisers 8000 t / 6 Light Cruisers 6000 t

22 Scouting Cruisers 68 Destroyers / 90 Torpedo boats

249 submarines

10 Minesweepers 227 vessels of different types

„Our navy is so inferior to theBritish navy as far as itsnumbers as well as ist

strength is concerned that all it can do is to show that it knows how to die gallantly and that it is thus willing to pave the way for

a new builtup.”

Naval strengths in 1939

Britain France Germany Italy

Battleships 15 (5)* 7 (3) 2 (2) 4

Aircraft carriers 7 (3) 1 (1) (2) -

Pocketbattleships - - 3 -

Heavy cruisers 17 7 3(2) 7

Light cruisers 48 (16) 12 6 15

Destroyers and torpedo-boats 183 70 33 (17) 126

Submarines 57 (12) 77 (9) 57 (56) 105 (13)

*( )= building

World War II at sea

Cruiser warfare

Operation „Weserübung“

Commerce war with capitals ships

Submarine warfare

GRAF SPEE

Commerce war in theSouth Atlantic

Operation „Weserübung“

–

II, S. 364-367

German losses in 1940

Operation Berlin

Operation „Berlin“

Operationsgebiet 2

● BrestOperationsgebiet 1

Operation „Rheinübung“18.05. – 27.05.1941

-Commerce warfare in the Atlantic with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen

BISMARCK

Submarine warfare

Tonnage war

Why did Gemany lose the tonnage war?• Allied air superiority• Improved anti-submarine capabilities• Cracking of German enigma

Result of submarine warfare

• losses• 1167 (859 in action)• 30.000 dead submariners out of 40.000

• Successes• Sinking of 2600 merchant and 178 warships (only 10 per cent of Allied

tonnage)

Biber-type midget submarine

Besatzung:: 1 Mann

Länge: 9,035 m

Breite: 1,570 m

Bewaffnung: Je Seite 1 x 53.3 cm Gefechts E-Torpedo

Reichweite: 100 sm bei 6.5 kn aufgetauchtgetaucht 8.5 sm bei 5.3 kn

Geschwindigkeit: Aufgetaucht 6,50 kn / getaucht: 5,3 kn

Heavy cruiser „Hipper“ at Kiel 1945

Final defeat of German Navy, May 1945 I