Germany (1929-45) – About 424 Minesweepers Introduction: The Räumboote, or “R-Boote” were the mass-produced wooden-built German coastal minesweepers. In time, they also performed other missions, notably escort, ASW patrol and rescue. They were built from 1929 with the following R1, R17, R25, R41, R130, R151, R218, R301 and R401 classes, the latter mostly not completed … Read more
Type XB, the minelayer U-Boats Germany (1939-45): U-116, U-117, U-118, U-119, U-219, U-220, U-233, U-234 The Type X (XB) U-boats were a special type of German submarines of WW2 originally designed as long-range minelayers, but later used as long-range cargo transports as the Type IXD U-Boats, Italian Romolo-class submarines and several Japanese Types. In all, … Read more
German Heavy Cruisers (1937): Hipper, Blücher, Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz, Lützow KMS Hipper and her sister ships were the first and only heavy cruiser class ever built by Germany. They were enabled by the 1935 Anglo-German naval agreement and were intended still as commerce raiders and to screen for battleships, but cheating on tonnage. Wartime showed … Read more
Kriegsmarine Torpedoboote Germany (1924-45) – 36 (90 planned)+ 49 TB Ausland (TA), total 84 Why German Torpedo Boats in WW2 ? Before WW2, only four nations signatory of the Washington Treaty considered the torpedo boats as a way to go around some limitations in tonnage for destroyers, although this category was largely seen as obsolete … Read more
Leichte Schnellboote Germany (1942-45) – About 27 LS boats 1936-1945 Genesis of the “light fast (T)boats” The German Leichte Schnellboote were a series of small and light S-Boote or fast torpedo boats, originally designed to operate from a cruiser or auxiliary cruiser. In the end, design difficulties meant that only two were deployed on two … Read more
Type XIV “Milchkühe” U-Boats, Hitler’s Milk Cows Germany (1941-42): 10 U-boats Maintaining Wolf Packs at sea One aspect of the Battle of the Atlantic was to maintain operating U-Boats at sea as long as possible. It mostly concerned the standard Type VII, which had a limited autonomy. In the massive expanses of the Atlantic, locating … Read more
Nazi Germany, 1,170 planned, 118 completed (1944) The Elektroboot saga: Too late to win The Type XXI were large scale production Kriegsmarine’s “wunderwaffe” planned by Nazi Germany at the end of the war. Alongside the smaller Type XXIII “Elektobote” and numerous “midgets” at a stage events verged on desperation, it was supposed to reverse their … Read more
Germany (1931) – KMS Deutschland, Admiral Graf Spee, Admiral Scheer The “pocket battleships” of the Reichsmarine These ships were mostly made famous by the Graf Spee in the southern Atlantic, in the first naval battle of ww2, at the river plate in 1939. She somewhat eclipsed the other two: Scheer and Deutschland (later renamed Lützow). … Read more
Schnellbootes Germany (1934-45) Schnellboote – 9 classes*, circa 300 total +280 ordered The perile of S-Bootes: Called S-Boote (short for “Schnellboote”, literally “fast boats”) and known as the “E-Boats” by the allies (“E” for enemy, and also encompassing R-Boats), these nimble torpedo boats caused much concerns to the allies. Less than U-Boats though, but they … Read more
Fast Battleships 1939-1945 Germany (1940) KMS Bismarck, Tirpitz Introduction: The most formidable battleship in the world, 1941. The Bismarck is perhaps after the YAMATO, the most famous battleship class of WW2. However this status is certainly exaggerated in the light of its cost-effectiveness and battle records, as well as the encounter between axis propaganda and … Read more
