Active 1919–1935 Founded March 1919 | Type Navy | |
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Similar Imperial German Navy, Reichswehr, German Navy, Prussian Navy, Volksmarine | ||
Reichsmarine 1924 in farbe
The Reichsmarine ( [ˈʁaɪçs.maˌʁiːnə], Navy of the Realm) 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, 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.
Contents
- Reichsmarine 1924 in farbe
- Reichsmarine hymne admiral stosch
- Vorlufige Reichsmarine
- Reichsmarine
- Naval headquarters
- Fleet command
- Naval sea stations
- Ships and equipment
- References
Reichsmarine hymne admiral stosch
Vorläufige Reichsmarine
The Vorläufige Reichsmarine (Provisional Imperial Navy) was formed after the end of World War I from the Kaiserliche Marine.
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 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 Replacements for the outdated battleships were restricted to a maximum size of 10,000 tons.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 (Reich War Ministry which was headed by a civilian minister appointed by the government of the Weimar Republic. The senior most naval officer was known until 1920 as the Chef der Admiralität (Chief of the Admiralty), after which the title changed to the Chief of the Naval Command (Chef der Marineleitung).
Naval headquarters
The naval commander oversaw a headquarters office known as the Marinekommandiertenabteilung which was headquartered in Berlin. The Naval Command also maintained a headquarters signal office (Marinenachrichtenoffizier) and a naval archives. Internal to the naval headquarters five offices known as the:
The following officer served as head of the Reichsmarine from 1918 to 1935
Chief of the Admiralty
Chief of the Naval Command
Fleet command
The fleet command of the Reichsmarine (Flottenkommando) was headquartered at Kiel and consisted of a flag staff and fleet commander embarked onboard the flagship of the German fleet. During the 1920s, the German flagship was the SMS 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 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:
Naval sea stations
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.
Naval stations of the Reichsmarine
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 battleships, six cruisers, twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo boats. 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: