8/24/2023 0 Comments World of warships german cruisers![]() Wolfpacks were rapidly assembled groups of submarines which attacked British convoys during the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic but this tactic was largely abandoned by May 1943 when U-boat losses mounted. The Kriegsmarine's most significant ships were the U-boats, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II. The Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine was Adolf Hitler, who exercised his authority through the Oberkommando der Marine. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boats) instead of capital surface warships and land and air forces were given priority of strategic resources. In January 1939, Plan Z was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. Kriegsmarine ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1933 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. (By comparison the Italian Regia Marina operated 58 submarines in the area as part of the Sottomarini Legionari.) At least eight U-boats engaged a small number of targets in the area throughout the conflict. U-boats also participated in covert action against Republican shipping as part of Operation Ursula. Following further attacks by Republican submarines against the Leipzig off the port of Oran between 15–18 June 1937 Germany withdrew from the Non-Intervention Patrol. In retaliation the Admiral Scheer shelled Almeria on 31 May killing 19–20 civilians, wounding 50 and destroying 35 buildings. Total casualties from the Republican attack were 31 dead and 110 wounded, 71 seriously, mostly burn victims. On the Deutschland was attacked off Ibiza by two bombers from the Republican Air Force. Numerous vessels served as part of these duties including Admiral Graf Spee. Following the brokering of the International Non-Intervention Patrol to enforce an international arms embargo the Kriegsmarine was allotted the patrol area between Cabo de Gata (Almeria) and Cabo de Oropesa. The German presence was used to covertly support Franco's Nationalists although the immediate involvement of the Deutschland was humanitarian relief operations and evacuating 9,300 refugees, including 4,550 German citizens. These large ships were accompanied by the 2nd Torpedo-boat Flotilla. The heavy cruisers Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, and the light cruiser Köln were the first to be sent in July 1936. Following the outbreak of hostilities in July 1936 several large warships of the German fleet were sent to the region. The first military action of the Kriegsmarine came during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).
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