Guide to the Records of the German Navy (as filmed by the AJCP), September 1854-October 1944
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Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- M291-M336A
- Creator:
- German Navy. Kaiserliche Marine. Marine-Kabinett; Kaiserliche Oberkommando der Marine; Reichsmarine Amt
- Extent:
- 166 items
- Language:
- German
- Preferred citation:
-
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
For example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Available for reference.
Background
- Content Summary:
- Reports and correspondence 1854-1885 concerning expeditions in Japanese, Chinese and Southeast Asian waters. The expeditions had commercial and strategic purposes.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
The Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) was created in 1871, succeeding the small navies of the Kingdom of Prussia and the North German Federation (1867-1870). Its existence was recognised in the new constitution, but until 1888 it was commanded by generals and its role was mainly limited to coastal defence. In contrast to Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Emperor Wilhelm II aspired to create a great German maritime empire. He became Grand Admiral of the German Navy and in 1889 made major changes to the organisation of the Admiralty. It was split into the Navy Cabinet, (Marine-Kabinett) responsible for appointments, promotions and issuing orders to naval forces, the Imperial High Command (Kaiserliche Oberkommando der Marine), responsible for ship deployments and strategy, and the Navy Office (Reichsmarine Amt) responsible for the construction and maintenance of ships and obtaining supplies. The Navy Office was headed by a State Secretary, who was responsible to the Chancellor and who advised the Reichstag on naval matters.
In 1899 the Imperial High Command was replaced by the Imperial Admiralty Staff (Admiralstab). Headed by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the Navy Office, was the more influential body. It was located in the Leipzigerplatz in Berlin and in 1906 employed 60 senior naval officers and 57 senior civil servants. At that time, the Imperial Admiralty Staff employed 36 naval officers, many of them junior, and no senior civil servants. Tirpitz remained State Secretary until 1916.
The German Navy in the 1870s and 1880s was quite small, but in the 1890s the Government took measures to expand it in order to defend its colonies and challenge the hegemony of the British Navy. The Navy Bill of 1898 authorised the maintenance of a fleet of 19 battleships, 8 armoured cruisers, 12 large cruisers and 30 light cruisers. The 1900 Navy Bill doubled the number of ships. In the following years, expenditure on the Navy increased rapidly and the naval arms race with Britain was a major cause of the international tensions that preceded World War I.
From the 1880s onwards Germany had a small cruiser squadron operating in the Pacific, divided between an Australian Station and an East Asia Station. In 1897 it acquired territory at Kiautschou Bay in northern China where it established a naval base. The lease was cancelled in 1914.
Following Germany's defeat in World War I, most of the Navy's modern ships were scuttled at Scapa Flow in June 1919. The Reichsmarine replaced the Kaiserliche Marine. Under the Treaty of Versailles, it was only allowed six battleships, six cruisers and twelve destroyers. In 1935 it was superseded by the Kriegsmarine, a branch of the Wehrmacht. The Oberkommando der Marine, headed in 1935-1943 by Admiral Erich Raeder, was the highest command and administrative authority of the Kriegsmarine. Raeder was also the commander of the Seekriegsleitung (Maritime Warfare Command).
The Kriegsmarine was involved in World War II from its outset. In 1939-1941 several German auxiliary cruisers were active in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, destroying merchant vessels and laying mines. Between August and December 1940 the Orion and the Komet operated in the Pacific Ocean, raiding Nauru and approaching the Australian and New Zealand coasts on several occasions. The Atlantis and the Pinguin operated in the Indian Ocean, until the Pinguin was sunk by HMS Cornwall in May 1941. The best-known of the German raiders was the Kormoran, which engaged with the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney off the coast of Western Australia in November 1941. In the fighting the Kormoran was sunk, but the majority of the crew were rescued. The badly-damaged Sydney sailed southwards and disappeared; none of its crew survived. (Both ships were located on the seabed in 2008.)
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Available for Access.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
- Preferred citation:
-
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
For example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: