Admiral Erich Raeder was made Chef der Marineleitung in October 1928 and would remain C-in-C of the German Navy for fourteen years. (Author’s collection)
The three K-class cruisers laid down in 1926 were radically new designs compared to Emden. Building was quick; Karlsruhe and Königsberg were launched in 1927 and Köln in 1928. Completion was delayed, though, largely for financial reasons, and the cruisers were commissioned between February 1929 and January 1930. Displacing 6,650 tons standard, they were an undeniable breach of the Versailles Treaty. These ships were a major step for the Reichsmarine, with 15-cm guns mounted in three triple turrets; 68,000-horsepower diesel engines gave them a comfortable 32.5 knots in calm seas, but an inherent structural weakness of the hull and lack of rigidity compromised stability in heavy seas, hampering operational efficiency in spite of extensive alterations. A further two modified K-design cruisers, Leipzig and Nürnberg, followed, similarly armed but with the same weaknesses, restricting their use.
In parallel with cruiser design, the building of a modern destroyer force was initiated through the six ships of the Type 23 or Raubvogel-class.5 The first, Möwe, was launched in March 1926. Destroyers were, according to the Versailles Treaty, capped at a maximum of 800 tons, but it soon became clear that an effective warship could not be designed within this constraint. The Raubvogels displaced 924 tons standard and a full 1,290 tons loaded. Armed with three 10.5-cm guns, six torpedo tubes and capable of a fair 34 knots, they were primarily designed for torpedo attacks but also equipped for mine-laying and coastal escort duties. Six subsequent ships of the slightly larger and faster Type 24 or Raubtier-class were commissioned between October 1928 and August 1929.6 All these vessels were later reclassified as torpedo boats – Torpedoboote Type 23/24. Initially painted black like the torpedo boats of the Kaiserliche Marine, they became a common sight in the Baltic and the German Bight, testing tactics and new operational concepts, often together with the K-class cruisers, giving valuable experience to men and officers. True destroyers would not be available for several years.
The 6,650-ton light cruiser Karlsruhe carried 15-cm guns mounted in three triple turrets. Her 68,000 horsepower diesel engines gave her a comfortable 32.5 knots in calm seas, but, like her sister ships, she was unstable in heavy seas. (Author’s collection)
On the battleship side, the first replacement was possible in 1922, and planning started in 1921. Designing an efficient fighting vessel with 28-cm guns within the 10,000-ton displacement limit created endless problems, and one concept after another was rejected. Admiral Zenker kept the pressure on the design teams, though, and in the spring of 1927, they eventually presented a workable plan for a 10,000-ton ship with six 28-cm guns, high endurance and capable of 26 knots The Reichstag voted the first building credit in early 1928, against considerable political opposition, and the keel of Deutschland was laid down in February 1929. Meanwhile, a high-level conspiracy was uncovered, involving the unauthorised use of military funds. Admiral Zenker was forced to resign and Raeder was called to Berlin to become Chef der Marineleitung on 1 October 1928. He would remain C-in-C of the German Navy for an unprecedented fourteen years.
At the time of Raeder’s appointment, several clandestine projects existed, including a Submarine Development Bureau set up in 1922 in Holland, disguised as a Dutch shipbuilding firm funded by the German shipbuilding industry.7 In addition, a core of would-be officers and engineers was kept active and up to date on key naval tactics and technologies, camouflaged as civil servants and academics. Raeder changed none of this. Instead, towards the end of 1929, he addressed senior officers, telling them that he remained convinced of the vital importance of the North Sea to Germany and that there would be a role for the German Navy on the high seas. Greatly encouraged, his officers began to prepare for a future very different from that of coastal defence envisaged ten years earlier.
Panzerschiff Deutschland carrying out stability tests in Wilhelmshaven 1935. (Author’s collection)
In the midst of the crippling economic crisis, Deutschland was launched on 19 May 1931. The launch was watched by 60,000 spectators, including Reichspresident Paul von Hindenburg in his full imperial field marshal uniform, flanked by Raeder and other naval and civilian dignitaries. Deutschland was the first German ship to carry triple turrets and aircraft catapults but, above all, she was the first capital ship in any navy with solely diesel propulsion: four engines per shaft. A new phase for the German Navy was emerging.
The Third Reich
On 30 January 1933, Hitler took his seat as chancellor for a right-wing coalition government in Berlin. His followers celebrated with torches and large parades all over the country. The Weimar Republic was dead and things would never be the same.
Admiral Raeder met with his new head of state for the first time on 2 February, when Hitler addressed senior officers of the navy and army during a dinner.8 In a two-hour speech, Hitler announced that he was about to embark on a massive rearmament programme that would reunite the nation and end the unemployment crisis. In a subsequent private meeting some weeks later, Raeder was assured that there would be no war with Britain, Italy or Japan. The build-up of the Kriegsmarine would have to be scaled within the framework of a ‘German continental policy’ so as not to provoke Britain, and a professional relationship should be sought with the Royal Navy.
Raeder appears to have struck a friendly note with Hitler at first. Both men were too private and reserved for any kind of friendship, but it seems that in the early years the Führer was willing to listen to Raeder and to a large degree accept his advice in naval matters. Arguably not a cynical National Socialist like many of the others in the senior officer corps, Raeder nevertheless used the powers of the Nazi regime to the utmost for his navy, realising that he could not have one without the other. Nevertheless, he was largely able to keep the navy out of the politics of the Reich, focusing on naval matters. Most probably he believed – or at least hoped – that the sharp edges of the new regime would wear off with time.9
In August 1934, the ageing President Hindenburg died. The war hero was given a pomp-filled state funeral in the best of German traditions. Just before the ceremony, Hitler declared himself president in addition to chancellor, combining the two offices of state with full dictatorial powers. A few days later, all officers of the Wehrmacht were paraded and directed to pledge an oath of allegiance to Hitler in person.
On 2 November 1934, Raeder was told by Hitler that it was of vital importance that the German Navy should be increased as planned, as no war could be carried out if the navy was not able to safeguard the ore imports from Scandinavia. As a start, Raeder suggested that six submarines that had already been partly prefabricated abroad should be brought back to Germany for assembly. Hitler hesitated but eventually approved, and from February 1935, fifteen years after Germany was supposed to have been militarily restrained forever, preparations for submarine construction were taking place behind heavily guarded gates at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel.
In a public speech on Heroes’ Memorial Day, 16 March 1935, Hitler announced the Versailles Treaty annulled and declared the resumption of Germany’s rights as a sovereign power. Compulsory conscription and military service for all young men was reintroduced and the rebuilding of the German armed forces commenced officially. Two months later, the Reichsmarine was ominously renamed the Kriegsmarine, leaving little doubt that the rearmament had but one purpose.10 A few weeks later still, the German Air Force, Luftwaffe, came into official existence under the personal command of Hermann Göring.11
In May 1935, British Foreign Secretary John Simon and his deputy, Under-Secretary of State Anthony Eden, travelled to Berlin to meet Hitler, on his invitation. To their surprise, they were told that Germany was now equal to Britain in air strength, and Germany claimed the right to build a naval force equal to 35 per cent of the Royal Navy’s tonnage in all classes.12