Imperial German Navy
Imperial Navy Kaiserliche Marine | |
---|---|
Active | 1871–1918 |
Country | German Empire |
Branch | Navy |
Colors | Black, white and red |
March | "Gruß an Kiel" |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Commander-in-chief | German Emperor |
Governing body | Imperial Admiralty (1872–1889) High Command (1889–1899) Imperial Naval Office (1889–1918) Imperial Naval Cabinet (1889–1918) Imperial Admiralty Staff (1899–1918) |
Insignia | |
War ensign (1903–1918) | |
War ensign (1892–1903) | |
War ensign (1871–1892) | |
Naval jack (1903–1918) |
The Imperial German Navy or the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the
The German surface navy proved ineffective during the
Achievements
The Imperial Navy achieved some important operational feats. At the Battle of Coronel, it inflicted the first major defeat on the Royal Navy in over one hundred years, although the German squadron of ships was subsequently defeated at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, only one ship escaping destruction. The Navy also emerged from the fleet action of the Battle of Jutland having destroyed more ships than it lost, although the strategic value of both of these encounters was minimal.[citation needed]
The Imperial Navy was the first to operate
1871 to 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm I
The
In March 1872 a German Imperial Naval Academy was created at Kiel for training officers, followed in May by the creation of a 'Machine Engineer Corps', and in February 1873 a 'Medical Corps'. In July 1879 a separate 'Torpedo Engineer Corps' was created dealing with torpedoes and mines.[2]
In May 1872 a ten-year building programme was instituted to modernise the fleet. This called for eight armoured
In 1883 Stosch was replaced by another general, Count Leo von Caprivi. At this point the navy had seven armoured frigates and four armoured corvettes, 400 officers and 5,000 ratings. The objectives of coastal defence remained largely unchanged, but there was a new emphasis on development of the torpedo, which offered the possibility of relatively small ships successfully attacking much larger ones. In October 1887 the first torpedo division was created at Wilhelmshaven and the second torpedo division based at Kiel. In 1887 Caprivi requested the construction of ten armoured frigates.
Greater importance was placed at this time on development of the army, which was expected to be more important in any war. However, the Kiel Canal was commenced in June 1887, which connected the North Sea with the Baltic through the Jutland peninsula, allowing German ships to travel between the two seas avoiding waters controlled by other countries. This shortened the journey for commercial ships, but specifically united the two areas principally of concern to the German navy, at a cost of 150 million marks.[3]
Later, the protection of German maritime trade routes became important. This soon involved the setting up of some overseas supply stations, so called Auswärtige Stationen (foreign stations) and in the 1880s the Imperial Navy played a part in helping to secure the establishment of German colonies and protectorates in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
1888 to 1897, under Kaiser Wilhelm II
In June 1888
The concept of expanding naval power, inevitably at the cost of not expanding other forces, was opposed by the three successive heads of the German armed forces, Waldersee, Schlieffen and Moltke between 1888 and 1914. It would also have been more widely opposed, had the Kaiser's intentions been widely known. Instead, he proceeded with a plan to expand the navy slowly, justifying enlargement step by step.[6]
In July 1888 Wilhelm II appointed Vice-Admiral Alexander von Monts as head of the admiralty. Monts oversaw the design of the Brandenburg-class battleship, four of which were constructed by 1894 at a cost of 16 million marks each and displacement of 10,000 tons.[7]
In 1889 Wilhelm II reorganised top level control of the navy by creating a
In 1895 funding was agreed for five battleships of the Kaiser Friedrich III class, completed by 1902. The ships were innovative for their time, introducing a complex system of watertight compartments and storing coal along the sides of the ship to help absorb explosions. However, the ships went against the trend for increasingly larger main guns, having smaller diameter guns than the Brandenburg design, but with a quick-loading design and more powerful secondary armaments. Costs rose to 21 million marks each, as had size to 11,500 tons.[9]
In 1892 Germany had launched the protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta, the first navy ship to have triple propellers. She was succeeded by five Victoria Louise-class protected cruisers, the last 'protected', as distinct from 'armoured' cruiser class constructed by Germany. The ships, completed between 1898 and 1900, had deck armour but not side armour and were intended for overseas duties. Shortages of funding meant it was not possible to create several designs of cruisers specialised for long range work, or more heavily armoured for fleet work. Work commenced on an armoured cruiser design, SMS Fürst Bismarck started in 1896 and commissioned in 1900.
On 18 June 1897 Rear-Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was appointed State Secretary of the Navy, where he remained for nineteen years. Tirpitz advocated the cause of an expanded navy necessary for Germany to defend her territories abroad. He had great success in persuading parliament to pass successive Navy bills authorising expansions of the fleet.[10] German foreign policy as espoused by Otto von Bismarck had been to deflect the interest of great powers abroad while Germany consolidated her integration and military strength. Now Germany was to compete with the rest. Tirpitz started with a publicity campaign aimed at popularising the navy. He created popular magazines about the navy, arranged for Alfred Thayer Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History, which argued the importance of naval forces, to be translated into German and serialised in newspapers, arranged rallies in support and invited politicians and industrialists to naval reviews. Various pressure groups were formed to lobby politicians and spread publicity. One such organisation, the navy league or Flottenverein, was organized by principals in the steel industry (Alfred Krupp), ship yards and banks, gaining more than one million members. Political parties were offered concessions, such as taxes on imported grain, in exchange for their support for naval bills.[11]
On 10 April 1898 the first Navy Bill was passed by the Reichstag. It authorised the maintenance of a fleet of 19 battleships, 8 armoured cruisers, 12 large cruisers and 30 light cruisers to be constructed by 1 April 1904. Existing ships were counted in the total, but the bill provided for ships to be replaced every 25 years on an indefinite basis. Five million marks annually was allocated to run the navy, with a total budget of 408 million marks for shipbuilding. This would bring the German fleet to a strength where it could contemplate challenging France or Russia, but would remain clearly inferior to the world's largest fleet, the Royal Navy.
Following the
Tirpitz's ultimate goal was a fleet capable of
Major reforms of the Royal Navy were undertaken, particularly by Fisher as
Five battleships of the Wittelsbach class were constructed from 1899 to 1904 at a cost of 22 million marks per ship. Five ships of the Braunschweig class were built between 1901 and 1906 for the slightly greater 24 million marks each. Technological improvements meant that rapid fire guns could be made larger, so the Braunschweig class had a main armament of 28 cm (11 in) guns. Due to torpedo improvements in range and accuracy, emphasis was placed on a secondary armament of smaller guns to defend against them. The five Deutschland-class battleships constructed between 1903 and 1908 had similar armament as the Braunschweig class, but heavier armour, for the slightly greater sum of 24.5 million marks each.[16]
Development of armoured cruisers also continued. Fürst Bismarck's design was improved upon in the subsequent Prinz Heinrich, completed in 1902. Two ships of the Prinz Adalbert class were commissioned in 1904, followed by two similar Roon-class armoured cruisers commissioned in 1905 and 1906, at costs around 17 million marks each.[17] SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau followed, between 1904 and 1908, and cost an estimated for 20.3 million marks. Main armament was eight 21 cm (8.3 in) guns, but with six 15 cm (5.9 in) and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns for smaller targets. Eight Bremen-class light cruisers were constructed between 1902 and 1907, developed from the earlier Gazelle class. The ships had ten 10.5 centimetres (4.1 in) guns and were named after German towns. SMS Lübeck was the first German cruiser to be fitted with turbine engines, which were also trialled in torpedo boat S-125. Turbines were faster, quieter, lighter, more reliable and more fuel efficient at high speeds. The first British experimental design (the destroyer HMS Velox) had been constructed in 1901 and as a result Tirpitz had set up a special commission to develop turbines. No reliable German design was available by 1903, so British Parsons turbines were purchased.[18]
Command reorganisation
In 1899, the Imperial Naval High Command was replaced by the German Imperial Admiralty Staff (Admiralstab) responsible for planning, the training of officers, and naval intelligence. In time of war it was to assume overall command, but in peace acted only advisory. Direct control of various elements of the fleet was subordinated to officers commanding those elements, accountable to the Kaiser.[19]
The reorganisations suited the Kaiser who wanted to maintain direct control of his ships. A disadvantage was that it split apart the integrated military command structure which before had balanced the importance of the navy within overall defence considerations. It suited Alfred von Tirpitz, because it removed the influence of the admiralty staff from naval planning, but left him the possibility, in wartime, to reorganise command around himself. Wilhelm II, however, never agreed to relinquish direct control of his fleet.[20]
1906 to 1908, the Dreadnought and innovation: First Novelle
On 3 December 1906 the Royal Navy received a new battleship, HMS Dreadnought. She became famous as the first of a new concept in battleship design, using all big gun, single size of calibre armament. She used turbine propulsion for greater speed and less space required by the machinery, and guns arranged so that three times as many could be brought to bear when firing ahead, and twice as many when firing broadside. The design was not a uniquely British concept as similar ships were being built around the world, nor was it uniquely intended as a counter to German naval expansion, but the effect was to immediately require Germany to reconsider its naval building program. The battleship design was complemented by the introduction of a variant with lighter armour and greater speed, which became the battlecruiser.[21]
The revolution in design, together with improvements in personnel and training severely brought into question the German assumption that a fleet of two-thirds the size of the Royal Navy would at least stand a chance in an engagement. By 1906 Germany was already spending 60% of revenue upon the army. Either an enormous sum now had to be found to develop the navy further, or naval expansion had to be abandoned. The decision to continue was taken by Tirpitz in September 1905 and agreed by Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow and the Kaiser, while Dreadnought was still at the planning stage. The larger ships would naturally be more expensive, but also would require enlargement of harbours, locks and the Kiel canal, all of which would be enormously expensive. Estimated cost for new dreadnoughts was placed at 36.5 million marks for 19,000 tons displacement ships (larger than Dreadnought at 17,900 tons), and 27.5 million marks for battle-cruisers. 60 million mark was allocated for dredging the canal. The Reichstag was persuaded to agree to the program and passed a Novelle (a supplementary law) amending the navy bills and allocating 940 million marks for a dreadnought program and the necessary infrastructure. Two dreadnoughts and one battlecruiser were to be built each year.[22]
Construction of four Nassau-class battleships began in 1907 under the greatest possible secrecy. The chief German naval designer was Hans Bürkner. A principle was introduced that the thickness of side armour on a ship would equal the calibre of the large guns, while ships were increasingly divided internally into watertight compartments to make them more resistant to flooding when damaged. The design was hampered by the necessity to use reciprocating engines instead of the smaller turbines, since no sufficiently powerful design was available and acceptable to the German navy. Turrets could not be placed above the centre of the ship and instead had to be placed at the side, meaning two of the six turrets would always be on the wrong side of the ship when firing broadsides. Main armament was twelve 28 cm guns. The ships were all completed by 1910, over budget, averaging 37.4 million marks each.[23] In 1910 they were transferred from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven, where two new large docks had been completed and more were under construction.
The first German battlecruiser—SMS Von der Tann—was commenced March 1908. Four Parsons turbines were used, improving speed to 27 knots and reducing weight. Four twin turrets mounted 28 cm guns; although the two centre turrets were still placed one either side of the ship, they were offset so could now fire either side. The design was considered a success, but the cost at 35.5 million marks was significantly above the 1906 allocation. Light cruiser development continued with the Dresden-class light cruisers, which were to become famous for their actions in the start of World War I in the Pacific. The ships were 3,300 tons, and armed with ten 10.5 cm rapid fire guns and a speed around 24 knots. SMS Dresden cost 7.5 million marks, and SMS Emden 6 million marks. Four Kolberg-class cruiser were produced between 1907 and 1911 at 4,400 tons and around 8 million marks each. These had turbines, twelve 10.5 cm guns as main armament, but were also equipped to carry and lay 100 mines.[24] From 1907 onward, all torpedo boats were constructed using turbine engines.
Despite their ultimate importance, the German navy declined to take up the cause of another experiment, the submarine, until 1904. The first submarine,
1908 to 1912, Second Novelle
German expenditure on ships was steadily rising. In 1907, 290 million marks was spent on the fleet, rising to 347 million marks or 24 percent of the national budget in 1908, with a predicted budget deficit of 500 million marks. By the outbreak of World War I, one billion marks had been added to Germany's national debt because of naval expenditures. While each German ship was more expensive than the last, the British managed to reduce the cost of the succeeding generations of
The elections of 1907 had returned a Reichstag more favourable to military exploits, following the refusal of the previous parliament to grant funds to suppress uprisings in colonies in
Four battleships of the Helgoland class were laid down in 1909–10, with displacements of 22,800 tons, twelve 30.5 cm (12.0 in) guns in 6 turrets, reciprocating engines generating a maximum speed of 21 knots, and a price tag of 46 million marks. Again, the turret configuration was dictated by the need to use the centre of the ship for machinery, despite the disadvantage of the turret layout. The ships were now equipped with 50 cm (20 in) torpedoes.[28]
The Kaiser-class battleships built between 1909 and 1913 introduced a change in design as turbine engines were finally approved. The ships had ten 30.5 cm guns, losing two of the centre side turrets but gaining an additional turret astern on the centre line. As with the Von der Tann design, which was drawn up at a similar time, all guns could be fired either side in broadsides, meaning more guns could come to bear than with the Helgoland design, despite having fewer in total. Five ships were constructed rather than the usual four, one to act as a fleet flagship. One ship, the SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, was equipped with only two turbines rather than three, with the intention of having an additional diesel engine for cruising, but the Howaldt engine could not be developed in time. Luitpold had a top speed of 20 knots as a result, compared to 22 knots for the other ships. The ships were larger than the preceding class at 24,700 tons, but cheaper at 45 million marks. They formed part of the third squadron of the High Seas Fleet as it was constituted for World War I.[29]
Between 1908 and 1912 two
In 1907 a naval artillery school was established at Sonderburg (north of Kiel). This aimed to address the difficulties with the new generation of guns, which with potentially greater range required aiming devices capable of directing them at targets at those extreme ranges. By 1914, experiments were being conducted with guns in increasing sizes up to 51 cm (20 in). Capital ships were fitted with spotting tops high up on masts with range finding equipment, while ship design was altered to place turrets on the centre line of the ship for improved accuracy.[28]
The four
Construction began in 1910 of the first submarine powered by twin diesel engines. U-19 was twice the size of the first German submarine, had five times the range at 7,600 nautical miles (14,100 km; 8,700 mi) cruising at 8 knots, or 15 knots maximum. There were now two bow and two stern torpedo tubes, with six torpedoes carried. The ships were designed to operate at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft), though could go to 80 metres (260 ft).[32]
1912 to 1914, Third Novelle
Spending on the navy increased inexorably year by year. In 1909 Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow and Treasury Secretary Reinhold von Sydow attempted to pass a new budget boosting taxes in an attempt to reduce the deficit. The Social Democratic parties refused to accept the increased taxes on goods, while the conservatives opposed increases in inheritance taxes. Bülow and Sydow resigned in defeat and Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg became Chancellor. His attempted solution was to initiate negotiations with Britain for an agreed slow down in naval building. Negotiations came to nothing when in 1911 the Agadir Crisis brought France and Germany into conflict. Germany attempted to 'persuade' France to cede territory in the Middle Congo in return for giving France a free hand in Morocco. The effect was to raise concerns in Britain over Germany's expansionist aims, and encouraged Britain to form a closer relationship with France, including naval cooperation. Tirpitz saw this once again as an opportunity to press for naval expansion and the continuation of the four capital ships per year building rate into 1912. The January 1912 elections brought a Reichstag where the Social Democrats, opposed to military expansion, became the largest party.[33]
The German army, mindful of the steadily increasing proportion of spending going to the navy, demanded an increase of 136,000 men to bring its size closer to that of France. In February 1912 the British war minister, Viscount Haldane, came to Berlin to discuss possible limits to naval expansion. Meanwhile, in Britain, the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill made a speech describing the German navy as a 'luxury', which was considered an insult when reported in Germany. The talks came to nothing, ending in recriminations over who had offered what. Bethmann Hollweg argued for a guaranteed proportion of expenditure for the army, but failed when army officers refused to support him publicly. Tirpitz argued for six new capital ships, and got three, together with 15,000 additional sailors in a new combined military budget passed in April 1912. The new ships, together with the existing reserve flagship and four reserve battleships were to become one new squadron for the High Seas Fleet. In all the fleet would have five squadrons of eight battleships, twelve large cruisers and thirty small, plus additional cruisers for overseas duties. Tirpitz intended that with the rolling program of replacements, the existing coastal defence squadron of old ships would become a sixth fleet squadron, while the eight existing battle-cruisers would be joined by eight more as replacements for the large cruisers presently in the overseas squadrons. The plan envisaged a main fleet of 100,000 men, 49 battleships and 28 battlecruisers by 1920. The Kaiser commented of the British, "... we have them up against the wall."[34]
Although Tirpitz had succeeded in getting more ships, the proportion of military expenditure on the navy declined in 1912 and thereafter, from 35% in 1911 to 33% in 1912 and 25% in 1913. This reflected a change in attitude amongst military planners that a land war in Europe was increasingly likely, and a turning away from Tirpitz's scheme for worldwide expansion using the navy. In 1912 General
Britain also escalated the arms race by expanding the capabilities of its new battleships. The five 1912 Queen Elizabeth class of 32,000 tons would have 15 in (380 mm) guns and would be completely oil-fuelled, allowing a speed of 25 knots. For 1912–13 Germany concentrated on battlecruisers, with three Derfflinger-class ships of 27,000 tons and 26–27 knots maximum speed, costing 56–59 million marks each. These had four turrets mounting two 30.5 cm guns arranged in two turrets either end, with the inner turret superfiring over the outer. SMS Derfflinger was the first German ship to have anti-aircraft guns fitted.[36]
In 1913, Germany responded to the British challenge by laying down two Bayern class battleships. These did not enter service until after the Battle of Jutland, so failed to take part in any major naval action of the war. They had displacement of 28,600 tons, a crew of 1,100 and a speed of 22 knots, costing 50 million marks. Guns were arranged in the same pattern as the preceding battle-cruisers, but were now increased to 38 cm (15 in) diameter. The ships had four 8.8 cm anti-aircraft and also sixteen 15 cm lighter guns, but were coal fuelled. It was considered that coal bunkers at the sides of the ship added to protection against penetrating shells, but Germany also did not have a reliable supply of fuel oil. Two more ships of the class were later laid down, but never completed.[37]
Three light cruisers commenced construction in German yards in 1912–1913 ordered by the Russian Navy, costing around 9 million marks. The ships were seized at the outbreak of World War I becoming SMS Regensburg, SMS Pillau and SMS Elbing. Two larger cruisers, SMS Wiesbaden and SMS Frankfurt were also commenced and entered service in 1915. More torpedo boats were constructed, with gradually increasing sizes having reached 800 tons for the V-25 to V-30 craft constructed by AG Vulcan in Kiel before 1914.[38] In 1912 Germany created a Mediterranean squadron consisting of the battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau.
Air power
Naval trials of balloons began in 1891, but the results were unsatisfactory and none were purchased by the navy. In 1895 Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin attempted to interest both the army and navy in his new rigid airships, but without success. The Zeppelin rigids were considered too slow and there were concerns with their reliability operating over water. In 1909 the navy rejected proposals for aircraft to be launched from ships, and again in 1910 declined Zeppelin's airships. Finally in 1911, trials with aircraft began and in 1912 Tirpitz agreed to purchase the first airship for naval reconnaissance at a cost of 850,000 marks.
The machine had insufficient range (1,440 km (890 mi)) to operate over Britain, but had machine guns for use against aircraft and experimental 80 kg (180 lb) bombs. The following year ten more were ordered and a new naval air division was created at
In 1910 Prince Heinrich had learned to fly and supported the cause of naval aviation. In 1911 experiments took place with Albatros seaplanes and in 1912 Tirpitz authorized 200,000 marks for
World War I
By the start of the First World War, the German Imperial Navy possessed 22 pre-Dreadnoughts,[39] 14 dreadnought battleships and 4 battle-cruisers. A further three ships of the König class were completed between August and November 1914, and two Bayern-class battleships entered service in 1916. The battlecruisers Derfflinger, Lützow, and Hindenburg were completed in September 1914, March 1916, and May 1917, respectively. All but the latest pre-Dreadnoughts were soon decommissioned, so that their crews could be transferred to more useful vessels.
The main fighting
The German Navy's U-boats were also instrumental in the sinking of the passenger liner and
Engagements
Notable battles fought by the Navy were:
- Battle of Heligoland Bight (Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass) – 1914
- Battle of Coronel (Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee) – 1914. The East Asia Squadron defeated the British West Indies Squadron
- Battle of the Falkland Islands (Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee) – 1914. The East Asia Squadron was defeated by British battlecruisers
- Battle of Dogger Bank (Vice Admiral Franz Hipper) – 1915. Armoured cruiser Blücher sank and British battlecruiser Lion put out of action.
- Ehrhard Schmidt)
- Battle of Jutland (Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer; Vice Admiral Franz Hipper) -1916. In the largest naval battle of the war several British ships were sunk or damaged but the High Seas Fleet was unable to damage the British Grand Fleet sufficiently to threaten the blockade of Germany.
- Ehrhard Schmidt) – 1917. In the Baltic against Russian forces.
- First Battle of the Atlantic– U-boat warfare
Notable minor battles:
- Battle of Gotland
- First Battle of Dover Strait – 1916. Torpedo boat attack on Dover Barrage
- Second Battle of Dover Strait – 1917. Attack on Dover Barrage
- Battle of Cocos
- Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby – 1914. Bombardment of British east coast ports.
- Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
- Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft – 1916. Bombardment of British east coast ports.
- Battle of Trindade
Minor engagements included the commerce raiding carried out by the Emden, Königsberg, and the sailing ship and commerce raider Seeadler.
The Imperial Navy carried out land operations, e.g. operating the long-range Paris Gun which was based on a naval gun. The Siege of Tsingtao (Qingdao) used naval troops as Qingdao was a naval base, and also as the Imperial Navy was directly under the Imperial Government (the German Army was made up of regiments from the various states).
Following the Battle of Jutland, the capital ships of the Imperial Navy had been confined to inactive service in harbor. In October 1918, the
Marines
The
The Marine-Fliegerabteilung consisted of Zeppelins (airships), observation balloons and fixed-wing aircraft.
The main use of the Zeppelins was in reconnaissance over the North Sea and the Baltic, where the endurance of the craft led German warships to a number of Allied vessels. Zeppelin patrolling had priority over any other airship activity.
Stationed in North Sea coastal airfields, German naval aircraft often fought against their British counterparts of the Royal Naval Air Service.[42] Naval pilots flew aircraft that were also used by the German Army's Luftstreitkräfte in addition to seaplanes. Theo Osterkamp was one of the original naval pilots, the first German pilot to fly a land-based aircraft to England on a reconnaissance mission, and its leading ace with 32 victories.[43] By war's end, the roster of German naval flying aces also included Gotthard Sachsenberg (31 victories),[44] Alexander Zenzes (18 victories),[45] Friedrich Christiansen (13 victories),[46] Karl Meyer (8 victories),[47] Karl Scharon (8 victories),[48] and Hans Goerth (7 victories).[49] Another decorated aviator was Gunther Plüschow who shot down a Japanese plane during the Siege of Tsingtao and was the only German combatant to escape from a prison camp in Britain.[50][51]
List of aircraft that were assigned to naval air service:
- Kaiserliche Werft Danzig 1105 – trainer
- Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 – fighter floatplane
- Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 – fighter floatplane
Naval Air Service Units included:
Marine Jagdgruppe Flandern composed of:
- Marine Feld Jasta I
- Marine Feldflieger Abteilung II
Post-war
After the end of World War I, the bulk of the navy's modern ships (74 in all) were interned at Scapa Flow (November 1918), where the entire fleet (with a few exceptions) was scuttled by its crews on 21 June 1919 on orders from its commander, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter.[52][page needed]
Ernest Cox subsequently salvaged many of the Scapa Flow ships.
The surviving ships of the Imperial Navy became the basis for the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic.
Ranks and ratings
The Imperial German Navy's rank and rating system combined that of Prussia's with the navies of other northern states.
War crimes
The Imperial German Navy was implicated in several
- Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914, in which several British ports were bombarded causing 112 civilian deaths.[53]
- The Allied side.[54]
- The execution of the civilian captain Charles Fryatt, who, while in command of the passenger ship SS Brussels, attempted to ram the submarine U-33.[55]
- The sinking of the hospital ships HMHS Llandovery Castle, HS Koningin Regentes and HMHS Dover Castle.[56]
See also
- Anglo-German naval arms race
- German entry into World War I
- German Imperial Admiralty
- Imperial German plans for the invasion of the United Kingdom
- Kriegsmarine
- List of ships of the Imperial German Navy
- List of naval ships of Germany
- Marine-Regatta-Verein
- Naval warfare of World War I
- Reichsflotte
References
- ^ Geoffrey Bennett (June 1960), "The Battle of Jutland", History Today 10#6 pp. 395–405.
- ^ a b Herwig p. 13
- ^ a b Herwig p. 14
- ^ Herwig pp. 17–19
- ^ Herwig p. 15
- ^ Herwig p. 20
- ^ Herwig pp. 24–26
- ^ Herwig pp. 21–23
- ^ Herwig p. 26
- ^ Herwig p. 35
- ^ Herwig pp. 41–42
- ^ Herwig p. 42
- ^ Gottschall, By Order of the Kaiser, p. 260
- ^ Herwig pp. 36–37
- ^ Herwig pp. 48–50
- ^ Herwig pp. 43–44
- ^ Herwig pp. 27–28
- ^ Herwig pp. 44–45
- ^ Herwig p. 22
- ^ Herwig pp. 22–23
- ^ Herwig pp. 54–56
- ^ Herwig pp. 58–59
- ^ Herwig p. 59
- ^ Herwig pp. 60–61
- ^ Herwig p. 87
- ^ Herwig pp. 61–62
- ^ Herwig pp. 62–64
- ^ a b Herwig p. 64
- ^ Herwig p. 65
- ^ Herwig p. 66
- ^ Herwig pp. 70–71
- ^ Herwig p. 88
- ^ Herwig pp. 72–75
- ^ Herwig pp. 75–77
- ^ Herwig pp. 78–79
- ^ Herwig p. 81
- ^ Herwig p. 82
- ^ Herwig p. 83
- ^ (SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm and SMS Weissenburg, of the Brandenburg class, had been sold to the Ottoman Empire in 1910)
- ^ Watson p. 9
- ^ a b c d Lehmann Chapter VI
- ^ Franks, et al, p. 25.
- ^ Franks, et al, pp. 177–178.
- ^ Franks, et al, pp. 195–196.
- ^ Franks, et al, pp. 234–235.
- ^ Franks, et al, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Franks, et al, p. 167.
- ^ Franks, et al, pp. 197–198.
- ^ Franks, et al, p. 115.
- ^ Mahncke
- ^ Derbyshire Life and Countryside
- ^ Halpern
- ^ "The Shelling of Scarborough in the First World War". English Heritage.
- ^ "Athenia: Is this the wreck of the first British ship torpedoed in WW2?". BBC News. 4 October 2017.
- ISBN 9780472118892– via Google Books.
- ^ "An Unatoned War Crime of the First World War: The Sinking of a Hospital Ship by U-86 | International Journal of Naval History". 30 December 2020.
Works cited
- "Castle Donington, Derbyshire". Derbyshire Life and Countryside. 20 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
- Gottschall, Terrell D. (2003). By Order of the Kaiser, Otto von Diedrichs and the Rise of the Imperial German Navy 1865–1902. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-309-5.
- Halpern, Paul G. A naval history of World War I (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995).
- Herwig, Holger H. (1980). 'Luxury Fleet', The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. London: The Ashfield Press. ISBN 0-948660-03-1.
- Lehmann, Ernst A.; Mingos, Howard. The Zeppelins: The Development of the Airship, with the Story of the Zepplin Air Raids in the World War. Chapter VI: "THE NORTH SEA PATROL—THE ZEPPELINS AT JUTLAND"(online chapter).
- Mahncke, J O E O (December 2001). "Aircraft Operations in the German Colonies, 1911-1916". Military History Journal. 12 (2). South African Military History Society. OCLC 1151994630.
- Watson, Bruce (2006). Atlantic convoys and Nazi raiders. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-275-98827-2.
Further reading
- Berghahn, Volker. "Naval Armaments and Social Crisis: Germany Before 1914" in War, Economy and the Military Mind (Routledge, 2020) pp. 61–88.
- Bird, Keith. "The Tirpitz Legacy: The Political Ideology of German Sea Power," Journal of Military History, July 2005, Vol. 69 Issue 3, pp 821–825.
- Bönker, Dirk. "Naval Race between Germany and Great Britain, 1898–1912". 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.
- Bönker, Dirk. Militarism in a Global Age: Naval Ambitions in Germany and the United States before World War I (2012)excerpt and text search; online review
- ISBN 9780061146657.
- Dodson, Aidan. The Kaiser’s Battlefleet: German Capital Ships 1871–1918 (Seaforth Publishing, 2016).
- Epkenhans, Michael. Tirpitz: Architect of the German High Seas Fleet (2008).
- Hobson, Rolf. "The German School of Naval Thought and the Origins of the Tirpitz Plan 1875-1900." Forsvarsstudier no. 2/1996 93pp online
- Hoerber, Thomas. "Prevail or perish: Anglo-German naval competition at the beginning of the twentieth century," European Security (2011) 20#1, pp. 65–79.
- Kelly, Patrick J. "Strategy, Tactics, and Turf Wars: Tirpitz and the Oberkommando der Marine, 1892–1895," Journal of Military History, Oct 2002, Vol. 66 Issue 4, pp. 1033–1060
- Kelly, Patrick J. (2011). Tirpitz and the Imperial German Navy. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35593-5.
- Kennedy, Paul M. The rise of the Anglo-German antagonism, 1860-1914 (1980) online
- Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1989) online
- Kennedy, Paul. The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery (1976)
- Kennedy, Paul. "Strategic Aspects of the Anglo-German Naval Race", in Kennedy, Strategy and Diplomacy 1870-1915 (1983) online
- Langhorne, Richard. “The Naval Question in Anglo-German Relations, 1912-1914.” Historical Journal 14#2 1971, pp. 359–70, online.
- Lynn-Jones, Sean M. "Detente and deterrence: Anglo-German relations, 1911-1914." International Security 11.2 (1986): 121–150.
- MacMillan, Margaret. The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 (2013) online
- ISBN 0-224-03260-7.
- Maurer, John H. "The Anglo-German naval rivalry and informal arms control, 1912-1914." Journal of Conflict Resolution;; 36.2 (1992): 284-308.
- Olivier, David H. German Naval Strategy, 1856–1888: Forerunners to Tirpitz (2004).
- Padfield, Peter. The Great Naval Race: Anglo-German Naval Rivalry 1900-1914 (2005)
- Parkinson, Roger. Dreadnought: The Ship that Changed the World (IB Tauris, 2014).
- Rahn, Werner. "German Navies from 1848 to 2016: Their Development and Courses from Confrontation to Cooperation." Naval War College Review 70.4 (2017). online
- Rüger, Jan (2007). The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521875769.
- Rüger, Jan. "Revisiting the Anglo-German Antagonism," Journal of Modern History (2011) 83#3, pp. 579–617 in JSTOR
- Seligmann, Matthew (2010). "Intelligence Information and the 1909 Naval Scare: The Secret Foundations of a Public Panic". War in History. 17 (1): 37–59. S2CID 146378590.
- Seligmann, Matthew S., and Frank Nägler. The Naval Route to the Abyss: The Anglo-German Naval Race 1895-1914 (Routledge, 2016).
- Seligmann, Matthew S. "The Anglo-German Naval Race, 1898–1914." in Arms Races in International Politics: from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century (2016) pp: 21-40.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence. "'The Spirit of the Army’ at Sea: The Prussian-German Naval Officer Corps, 1847–1897." International History Review 17.3 (1995): 459–484.
- Steinberg, Jonathan. Yesterday's Deterrent. Tilpitz and the Birth of the German Battle Fleet (1965).
- Vagts, Alfred. "Land and Sea Power in the Second German Reich." Journal of Military History 3.4 (1939): 210+ online
- Woodward, E.L. Great Britain and the German Navy (1935) 535pp; scholarly history online
Primary sources
- Scheer, Admiral Reinhard. Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War (reprint Frontline Books, 2014).
In German
- Cord Eberspächer: Die deutsche Yangtse-Patrouille. Deutsche Kanonenbootpolitik in China im Zeitalter des Imperialismus 1900–1914 (The German Yangtse Patrol. German gunboat diplomacy in China in the age of imperialism), Bochum 2004.
- Gerhard Wiechmann: Die preußisch-deutsche Marine in Lateinamerika 1866–1914. Eine Studie deutscher Kanonenbootpolitik (The Prussian-German Navy in Latin America 1866–1914. A study of German gunboat diplomacy 1866–1914), Bremen 2002, ISBN 3-89757-142-0.
- Schneider, Dennis: Die Flottenpolitik im Deutschen Kaiserreich, 1890er Jahre bis zum Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkrieges, GRIN Verlag 2009.