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Articles on Kriegsmarine
Introduction
With the re-establishment of the compulsory military service on 16th March 1935 by renaming the Reichsmarine the Kriegsmarine was created. This branch of the Wehrmacht existed for more than 10 years, until the Allied control council dissolved the armed forces by law decree 1946.
When the number of the soldiers of the Reichsmarine was limited by the Versailler contract to 15.000, so the Kriegsmarine had approx. 50,000 member in the year 1939 and about 700,000 in the year 1945. For the entire period from 1939 to 1945 a number of approx. 1.5 million Marine members is assumed. (Note: The numbers mentioned are reference values, which are to clarify the numerical ratios. There is so far no single source with clear and accurate data).
In order to fulfill the changing requirements, the organization of the Kriegsmarine changed again and again. Here only an overview of the different organization forms shall be given. The following tables do not raise any claim on completeness.
Naval units of the Kriegsmarine
| Command Units | Warships | Submarines | Auxiliary Ships | Security Units | Amphibious Units | Small Vehicle Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - Flottenkommandos - Führer - Kommandierende Admiräle - Marinegruppenkommandos - Oberkommando der Marine - Seekriegsleitung - Seekommandaturen | - Befehlshaber - Schnellboot-Flottillen - Torpedoboot-Flottillen - Zerstörer-Flottillen | - Uboot-Flottillen - U-Boot-Gruppen | - Begleitschiffe - LAZ-Verbände - Werkstattschiffe | - Geleit-Flottillen - Minenschiffsgruppen - Minensuch-Flottillen - Netzsperrverbände - Räumboot-Flottillen - Sicherungs-Flottillen - Sperrbrecher-Flottillen - U-Jagd-Flottillen - Vorposten-Flottillen | - Artillerieträger-Flottillen - Landungs-Flottillen | - K-Division - K-Flottillen - Lehrkommandos |
Ground units of the Kriegsmarine
| Command Units | Infantry Units | Mobile Units | Artillery Units | Engineer Units | Signal Units | Transport Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - Hafenkapitäne - Hafenkommandaturen - Marinegruppenkommandos - Marineoberkommandos - Marinestationen | - M-Festungs-Bataillone - M-Infantrie-Brigaden - M-Infantrie-Divisionen - M-Insel-Bataillone - M-Sicherungs-Bataillone | - Panzer-Jagd-Bataillone | - M-Artillerie-Regimenter - M-Bordflakabteilungen - M-Bordflak-Brigade - M-Flak-Brigaden - M-Flak-Regimenter - M-Nebel-Abteilungen | - M-Bau-Bataillone - M-Bau-Bereitschafts-Bataillone - M-Festungspionier-Bataillone - M-Festungspionier-Stäbe - M-Pionier-Bataillone | - M-Flugmeldeabteilungen - M-Funkmeßabteilungen - M-Funkmeß-Lehrabteilungen - M-Nachrichten-Abteilungen - Motorisierte M-Nachrichtenabteilungen - M-Nachrichtenschulen | - Kraftfahrabteilungen - Kraftfahr-Ausbildungsabteilungen - Kraftfahr-Lehrabteilungen - Kraftwagen-Einsatzabteilungen - Motorisiertes M-Kraftfahr-Regiment |