The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe, of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the Kriegsmarine, a branch of the Wehrmacht; a change implemented by Adolf Hitler. Many of the administrative and organizational tenets of the Reichsmarine were then carried over into the organization of the Kriegsmarine.
Vorpostenboot, also referred to as VP-Boats, flakships or outpost boats, were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars. They were used around coastal areas and in coastal operations, and were tasked with – among other things – coastal patrol, ship escort, and naval combat.
Friedrich Oskar Ruge was an officer in the German Navy and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He served as the first commander of the post-war German Navy.
German submarine U-416 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The Type 24 torpedo boat (also known as the was a group of six torpedo boats built for the Reichsmarine during the 1920s. As part of the renamed Kriegsmarine, the boats made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. One was sunk in an accidental collision shortly before the start of World War II in September 1939 and the others escorted ships and searched for contraband for several months of the war. They played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign of April 1940 and resumed their escort duties. After being transferred to France late in the year, the Type 24s started laying their own minefields in the English Channel.
German minesweeper M-1 was a M 1935-class minesweeper of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in World War II.
Surface flotillas of the Kriegsmarine were organizational groupings of German naval vessels during World War II based on class of vessel and geographical location. Surface flotillas were not operationally deployed units, but functioned through the administrative command chain of the Kriegsmarine.
Minesweeper flotillas of the Kriegsmarine were administrative units which grouped German minesweepers together. There were three types of minesweeper flotillas: standard minesweepers, auxiliary minesweepers, and "mine barrage" vessels. Flotilla commanders operated from a shore office, and were usually commanded by an officer ranked as a Korvettenkapitän. All minesweeper flotillas were under the command of the Führer der Minensuchboote which, by 1940, had been divided into three separate offices for activities in the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and off the coast of France.
SMS G196 was a S-138-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. She was built by the Germaniawerft shipyard at Kiel between 1910 and 1911, and was launched on 25 May 1911, entering service later that year. She served throughout the First World War, taking part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. She was renamed T196 in February 1918.
Kondor was the fifth of six Type 23 torpedo boats built for the German Navy. The boat made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. During World War II, she played a minor role in the attack on Oslo, the capital of Norway, during the Norwegian Campaign of 1940. Kondor spent the next several months escorting minelayers as they laid minefields and damaged heavy ships back to Germany before she was transferred to France around September. She started laying minefields herself that month and continued to do so for the rest of the war. The boat returned to France in 1942 and helped to escort blockade runners, commerce raiders and submarines through the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. Damaged by a mine shortly before the Allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944, Kondor was under repair on the day of the landings. Recognizing that she could not be repaired quickly, the boat was decommissioned later that month and was then further damaged by British bombers so that she was declared a constructive total loss.
Wolf was the second of six Type 24 torpedo boats built for the German Navy during the 1920s. The boat made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. During World War II, she played a minor role in the occupation of Bergen during the Norwegian Campaign of April 1940. Wolf escorted minelayers once as they laid minefields in late April before beginning a refit that lasted until August. She was transferred to France around September and conducted offensive patrols in the English Channel as well as laying minefields herself. The ship struck a mine and was sunk returning from one such mission in January 1941.
SMS M68 was a M1916 type minesweeper built for the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. She entered service on 6 October 1917, but was mined and sunk off Latvia on 29 October 1917. The ship was salvaged by Latvia and entered service with the Latvian Navy on 10 November 1921 under the name Virsaitis as its first vessel. She was taken over by the Soviet Navy in August 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied Latvia in August 1940, serving as T-297 and was sunk by a mine on 2 December 1941.
SMS M85 was a M1916 type minesweeper built for the Imperial German Navy during the First World War by the Emden shipyard Nordseewerke, being launched on 10 April 1918 and entering service on 2 October that year. M85 survived the remainder of the war, and was passed on to the Reichsmarine, the navy of the Weimar Republic and then to the Nazi German Kriegsmarine. The outbreak of the Second World War saw M85 supporting the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, and she was sunk by a Polish mine on 1 October 1939 in one of the last acts of the Polish campaign.
The German patrol boat PA 2 was a captured French vessel in the service of the Kriegsmarine in the 15 Vorpostenflotille as a Channel convoy escort throughout the latter half of World War II.
SMS G11 was a V1-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. She was built by the Germaniawerft shipyard at Kiel between 1911 and 1912, completing on 8 August 1912.
SMS G132 was a S90-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. G132 was built by the Germaniawerft shipyard at Kiel in 1905–1906, being launched on 12 May 1906 and entering service in August that year.
SMS S139 was a S138-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. She was built by the Schichau-Werke at Elbing in 1906, launching on July that year.
SMS S138 was a S138-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. She was built by the Schichau-Werke at Elbing in 1906, launching on September that year and completing in May 1907.
SMS S143 was a S138-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The S138-class were large torpedo boats that were required to reach a speed of 30 kn and armed with three 45 cm torpedo tubes. S143 was built by the Schichau-Werke at Elbing and was launched on 6 April 1907, entering service later the same year.
Nazi Germany 
