The was considered the armed naval force of the (
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 (Chief of the Admiralty), after which the title changed to (Chief of the Naval Command).
Naval headquarters in 1929 The naval commander oversaw a headquarters office known as the which was headquartered in
Berlin. The Naval Command also maintained a headquarters intelligence office ) and a naval archives. Internal to the naval headquarters five offices known as the: • (A) – Operations • (B) – General Administration • (C) – Personnel and Administration • (
MWa) – Naval Weapons Department • (K) – Naval Construction Office The following officers served as head of the from 1918 to 1935
Chief of the Admiralty (Chef der Admiralität) Heads of the Naval Command (Chefs der Marineleitung) Fleet command The fleet command of the () 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 with two naval officers serving as fleet commander,
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: • –
Commander of Ships of the Line, headquartered at Kiel, flagship in 1933 was the cruiser • – Commander of Reconnaissance Craft, flagship was the cruiser headquartered at Kiel • – Leader of Torpedo-boats, headquartered at
Swinemünde overseeing four
flotillas of torpedo boats • – Leader of Minesweepers, headquartered at Kiel commanding two
minesweeper flotillas and one ("
R boat") mine auxiliary unit.
Naval sea stations The did not maintain traditional at-sea fleets, but instead assigned two geographical areas (known as ) 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 • (North Sea naval station) – headquartered at
Wilhelmshaven, overseeing the ports of
Cuxhaven and
Borkum • (Baltic Sea naval station) – headquartered at
Kiel, overseeing the ports of
Swinemünde and
Pillau Ships and equipment The Treaty of Versailles limited the size and armament of the 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 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 tried to meet the arms restrictions with secret armament and technical innovations such as the introduction of the
pocket battleship.
List of Reichsmarine ships • s • (1907–1944) • (1908–1945) • (1908–1944) • s • (1904–1932) • (1904–1936) • (1905–1960) • (1905–1931) • (1906–1931) • s • (1904–1927) • (1906–1929) • s (3,033 tons, 10 × 105 mm guns) • (1900–1925) • (1900–1931) • (1901–1929) • (1901–1931) • (1901–1945) • (1903–1945) •
Emden-class cruiser (6,000 tons, 8 × 150 mm guns) • (1925–1945) • cruisers (7,200 tons, 9 × 150 mm guns) • (1929–1940) • (1929–1940) • (1930–1945) • s (8,000 tons, 9 × 150 mm guns) • (1931–1946) • (1935–1945) • s (10,800 tons, 6 × 280 mm guns) • (1933–1948) • (1934–1945) • (1936–1939) •
Type 23 torpedo boats (923 tons, 3 × 105 mm guns) • (1926–1944) • (1928–1944) • (1927–1944) • (1928–1944) • (1928–1940) • (1927–1942) •
Type 24 torpedo boats (933 tons, 3 × 105 mm guns) • (1928–1941) • (1928–1942) • (1929–1944) • (1929–1940) • (1929–1940) • (1929–1939) • Type 1934 Destroyers (2,223 tons, 5 × 127 mm guns) • Z1 Leberrecht Maass (1937–1940) • Z2 Georg Thiele (1937–1940) • Z3 Max Schultz (1937–1940) • Z4 Richard Beitzen (1937–1949) • Survey ship • (1924–1945) • Radio-controlled target ship • (1902–1945) ==See also==