What+was+Hitler's+Kreigsmarine+composed+of?

The //Kreigsmarine// was the name of the German Navy from 1935 to 1945. When war broke out in 1939 however, the //Kreigsmarine// was not ready to face the Allied forces. Unlike the other military branches, its construction plan had just been put in motion months earlier. The German Navy during World War II was not particularly a strong point of the //Wehrmacht.// Their one claim to fame was their revolutionary use of U-Boats which were untouchable by Allied technology for much of the war. This and their piloting skills are what give the Navy what little success it had.

The //Kreigsmarine// was extremely small at the beginning of the war due to the Treaty of Versailles series of regulations set down. Over the course of the entire war, only four battleships were ever constructed. All of them were either sunk or purposefully destroyed. The most famous of these was the //Bismark,// a massive ship with two 11 inch guns and two 15 inch cannons. Only two German Aircraft carriers were ever constructed as well. Neither of them were ever launched. A German aircraft, the Fieseler Fi 167, was a specific torpedo bomber designed to operate solely on these two ships. The "pocket battleships," also known as Panzerchiffes, are controversial for being defined as this specific class. Over the course of World War II only three were ever made. An additional class, the Linienshiffe, was a very old, originally used in World War I, the first of the two being launched in 1906. Five heavy cruisers were produced for the //Kreigsmarine// over the course of the war, not including the pocket battleships. All five of them were very modern and advanced for their time.The //Kreigsmarine// had six light cruisers under its command over the course of World War II, all being older ships. The latest was commissioned in 1934, the earliest in 1925.



At the start of World War II, the Germans had 21 operational destroyers in comparison to the 260 France and Great Britain wielded (Emmerich). Over the course of the war only 19 more were made. During Germany's campaign against Norway about 50% of them were destroyed. Some common flaws in their design were unreliable steam engines and the guns they wielded were much too heavy for their size. They had a 15cm armament, and their were 13 different classes total. The famous German torpedo boats were designed specifically off of a battle that occurred in World War I. At the Battle of Jutland in 1916, there was massive success in the strategy of smaller faster boats taking out larger ships. There was a total of eight different classes, and they became obsolete with loss of torpedo warfare. They began to be used as surface patrols, escorts, mine laying, and U-Boat training towards the end of the war. The Germans also unlike other navies, had specifically designed escort ships. These were essentially useless. There were only two classes and only ten ships were ever commissioned. The E-Boat was a fast attack boat that replaced the torpedo ship. These were actually extremely affective as offensive terror weapons. They were used in almost all areas of the world during wartime. They were known for prowling the English Channel and sinking any ship that came in range. By the time the war ended, these boats had taken down 40 warships (12 of which were destroyers) over 100 merchant ships, and damaged 14 other warships. They died in mass numbers however and typically were used for night ambushes. Over 230 were built during the war. They came in 12 different classes. Germany built over 540 minesweepers over the course of World War II, 34 of which were from World War I. Only 13 mine layers were used during the war. They varied in size and class. Auxiliary cruisers were very unique ships implemented by by the Germans. They were captured and converted merchant ships outfitted with many guns and torpedoes. They were used to get close to Allied merchant ships and destroy them, the nine used sank over 140 ships. Germany produced over 700 landing craft in World War II. They were initially made for the invasion of England in operation //Sealion,// which was canceled. There were many other smaller and less significant naval craft that can be seen [|here.]

The Germans most famous ship however was the U-Boat. They revolutionized the piloting and use of these ships in combat. The //Kreigsmarine// had 57 at the start of the war, and 1,100 were constructed in the six years of the war. They were a massive threat to Allied operations for they were positioned all across the globe. In 1943 however they became obsolete with the use of U-Boat hunting technology. Over 80% of those made were destroyed during the war. There were many different classes. In the end the //Kreigsmarine// was not one of the largest focal points for the //Wehrmacht.//

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