Germany: Kriegsmarine. F-class escort ship: F1-F10 built 1934-38. The Flottenbegleiter were a multi-purpose class of ten specialized escort vessels built for the Kriegsmarine in the late interwar. However they certainly were probably the worst ships of the Kriegsmarine, hand down. During the Second World War between poor reliability and seakeeping despite modifications had them relegated … Read more
Germany (Kriegsmarine): 1940–1944: T-13 to T-21 Development The Type 37 torpedo boat was a class of nine torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the War, completed in 1941–1942 as improved version of the Type 1935. Almost half were lost in combat. Their first major action was in early 1942 for the “Channel Dash”. They … Read more
Germany (1944), Coastal Subs, 16 planned, 7 completed The Type-XVII U-Boat was the only attempt of the Kriegsmarine to run operational submarines with a very early type of “AIP” or “air independent propulsion”, a graal of underwater propulsion we now now and use, but which was sitll in its infancy in 1939. This was a … Read more
Germany (Reichsmarine): 1925-28: Wolf, Iltis, Jaguar, Leopard, Luchs, Tiger The Type 24 torpedo boat (or Raubtier class (‘Carnivorous’) were six destroyers (as built), later torpedo boats for the Reichsmarine. They were an improved version of the Type 1923, with a few differences and larger, but overall identical. They were rearmed later with 533 mm torpedo … Read more
Germany (Reichsmarine): 1925-28: Möwe, Falke, Greif, Kondor, Albatros, Seeadler The Type 23 or “Raubvogel” (bird of prey) class were the first six destroyer-size ships build in Germany after World War I, voted by the parliament for the Reischmarine to replaced six of the 12 Versailles authorized destroyers reaching their age limit. They were part of … Read more
Nazi Germany (1914-45) – 679 M-Boote*, 6 classes. Introduction: The “M-Flotte” of Minensucher (minesweepers) and minelayers (most having this dual role) of the Kriegsmarine took a considerable place numerically and was granted a sizeable attention and finances. These were the most affluent units of all types in the Kriegsmarine (apart U-Boote), with a total of … Read more
Nazi Germany (1929-43) – 4 Battleships: Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck, Tirpitz. Projects of Plan Z. If PLAN Z was completed in 1946-1950 as scheduled, the Kriegsmarine would have 10 battleships, 3 battlecruisers and 15 Panzerschiffe. However the German Navy was the least of priorities for Hitler and his general staff, mostly focusing on the Wehrmacht and … Read more
Nazi Germany: 1936A and 1936A mob: Z23-Z39 (Built 1938-1943) The Type 1936B destroyers (Z35 class) were the last Kriegsmarine wartime destroyers. They were laid down between June 1941 and September 1943 and due to the wartime difficulties encountered by the conderned yards (Deschimag in Bremen and Germaniawerft in Kiel) only three ships out of the … Read more
Nazi Germany: 1936A and 1936A mob: Z23-Z39 (Built 1938-1943) The Type 1936A destroyers (Z23 class) were probably the best known of the Kriegsmarine wartime destroyer, the most numerous and powerful at the same time. In British literrature they are often known as the “Narvik” class. The initial type 1936A consisted in eight ships instead of … Read more
Nazi Germany: Z17-Z22 (1938-1945) The Type 1936 destroyers (Z17 class) were six destroyers of the Kriegsmarine, ordered in 1936, built from 1937 all at Deschmimag in Bremen, and completely before the war started (apart two). As previous ones they were all named after distinguished German seamen killed in World War I. They strongly derived from … Read more
