But the "unrestricted submarine warfare" once decreed, nothing can stop the sinking of the Lusitania and the USA entering the war as a consequence (it was an element in a serie of events).īetween the growing weight of the US Navy in the Atlantic, coupled with the drastic measures taken by the British admiralty to counter the U-boat threat ad maintaining a blocus facilitated with room 40 deciphering of all German messages doomed the surface German navy to anhiliation each time she ventured westwards. Meanwhile, the German submarines were rapidly expanded both in numbers and range, and became essential to isolate the British Isles. However on the strategic plan it was a disaster, and the German Navy found itself again in inaction, and moreover Germany was blockaded. Branded afterwards as a success by both parties (although indecisive), it is seen now by historians more as German victory when studying the losses inflicted on the opponent. In May 1916, eventually the long awaited great naval battle of the war came as a result of a bold plan: It was Jutland, in May 1916. The Royal Navy indeed essentially "locked the way" to the Atlantic. The Hochseeflotte did well in the Great War, even isolated units or squadrons like Von Spee fought very effectively, excelling as Corsairs, but at home the Hochseeflotte stayed confined in the Baltic, skirmishing and delaying the general confrontation, despite the excellent morale of the crew, constant training and general quality of the ships. In 1885, the Imperial German Navy was still third rate one, laying well behind the French and British fleets.īut in 1895 it had increased considerably and the real breakthrough came in 1905 with a massive plan initiated and supported fervently by the new emperor William II (in fact this was his pet project), tailored to fight all major naval powers and to be an instrument for the constitution a German colonial empire. The latter was a long way from the "Old Navy" created from the Bismarck era in 1871, a patchwork of made up vessels mustered from ancient kingdoms (Prussia, Schlewig-Holstein, the confederation of states of northern Germany and Bavaria and other southern states). The world war two Kriegsmarine ("war navy") had little to do with the Hochseeflotte ("High Seas Fleet") of 1914. After the war, between these and war prizes, the coveted Type XXI boats, snorkel systems, new homing torpedoes, missiles, and attempts to devise faster undersea diesel boats revolutionized submarine warfare until the arrival of the nuclear age. The months after this saw the allies hunting down the fabled "secret weapons" and German engineering blueprints anywhere (Operation paperclip & surgeon). It was Dönitz which was designated by Hitler before his suicide to led peace negociations with the allies and end of the war on the Western front in May 1945. Despite a last ditch attempt in the summer of 1944 to reverse their fortunes by midget submarines and human torpedoes, then by the first true "submarines", in vain. In mid-1944, with dwindling oil reserve, the Norwegian fleet was close to inaction while each sortie by U-Boats was not certain even to spot any target before being sunk by aviation or ships. The old ships of the Reichsmarine started to be scrapped in 1935 while a new construction program renewed the fleet and the Anglo-German naval treaty of 1935 ended Versailles's limitations for the new Kriegsmarine, which could now start a far more ambitious program, but short when just started in 1939.ĭuring WW2, the Kriegsmarine actions could be summup in two phases: A surface warfare phase until 1942, after the losses in Norway, and especially of the Birmarck in May 1941, the small Kriegsmarine could only oppose to the might of the Royal Navy in a asymetric way, so through a corsair's war, which later was purely led by submersibles, also traduced by the replacement of Dönitz at the head of the Kriegsmarine instead of Raeder, an enthusiast proponent of all-out submarine warfare.įrom then on, surface assets were mostly relocated on the Norwegian façade to prey on northern convoys, while fromp French ports, Dönitz unleashed his wolfpack tactics, which until mid-1942 experienced its "happy times", sinking montlhy a considerable tonnage and seriously worrying Churchill (it was in fact it's more critical concern until 1943).įrom late 1942 to late 1943, the combined might of allies industries ensured to replace both the losses with new ships and spread the Atlantic with far numerous escorts while considerably enhance their ASW warfare arsenal and refined their tactics. It did not benefited the credits given to the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe, notably in part due to Hitler's being stranger to all things naval and the sea, or a powerful influencer such as Goering. In September 1939, the Kriegsmarine ("war navy") was undisputably the "poor child" of Hitler's army branches.