Naval History Forums

While the Hochseeflotte as well as the Bundesmarine left washing on long tours to foreign contractors, both Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine carried civilian personnel for that purpose; usually Chinese nationals. Contrary to German civilian crew (barber, cobbler …) they were never listed in the crew ro...

@lwd Well spoken! Some thoughts to that ... :think: ...like it or not – killing people is less acceptable nowadays.... Looking at the history of the late 20th and early 21 century I'm not sure that is supportable. While some have an aversion to it others certainly do not. True! But then - this is us...

Some of the ideas in this thread about flushing out the pirates make me giggle, some make me very, very sad indeed. Sorry guys but civilization has moved on since the day Bismarck was launched … like it or not – killing people is less acceptable nowadays. If history teaches us anything than most pro...

Greetings down the Clyde!

Whow! That is a fine bit of teaching done. Respect!

Ufo

Moving on from the thread initiated by miro, I think that there were no direct combat actions between German and US subs during WW2. There were of course numerous actions between British and German subs, not all of them in home waters, but am I right in my thinking? Sorry - I did not find the origi...

Please accept my apologies for having ignored your request for so long. There are only so many hours in a day and somehow there seems to be an even more limited amount of hours one can devote to naval history. I just happened to have overlooked your question. Welcome to the forum! I shall hope you s...

... Graf Spee should of done the same, get out of Montevideo and resume the fight with the British cruisers to the last shell. I am afraid I have to disagree with the Graf Spee comparison. She did not really have the option to fight it out. Langsdorff seemed to make that clear in his communications...

The fact that with this Plan Z he tried to create a "balance of power" with the RN. This though was not accomblished because the war started too early for Raeder. Did Reader think that the RN would allow the Germans to achieve parity in the first place? ... Dougie Hm – I think it is a bit...

@tommy 303 Good point and true to some extend, I think. Carl Axel Gemzell in his groundbreaking work "Raeder, Hitler und Skandinavien" has made it perfectly clear that the Germans were not just 'racing the Brits to Norway'. The attack was planned amongst others by Reader over decades and i...

... UFO, I tried Cajus Bekker Hitler's Naval War and Edward Van Der Porten The German Navy in WWII. This what I posted another time but it still holds up. I can find no reference to a bigger raiding mission anywhere. Marschall was ordered to go to North Norway and save Dietl. Taking risks if necess...

@RF Well – for the torpedo holes in the bellies of his ships Marschall must carry some blame: Most of all for the hole in Gneisenau. He drove her into a tight spot. Getting her stuffed at her exit was like fishing in a barrel for the Royal Navy. Gneisenau should have been out and about on a mission ...

Ufo, Thanks for the point, but I haven't finished yet. Have you read The Elusive Sisters by Richard Garrett? He quotes from Raeder's 23rd May order. "In the great struggle for Germany's destiny, the navy can only fulfil its task by showing an uncompromising spirit and a resolve to inflict dama...

... UFO and yourself must admit the very instant he spotted, he had no alternative but to attack immediately, since he was well inside carrier attack range but on the limit of his gun range. Turning away meant he would move out of gun range. ... All the Best wadinga Ok – a corner well defended ther...

Since I do think the judgement between the abilities of Admiral Marschall and Admiral Luetjens does involve to a great extend the spirit of the campaign they were expected to deliver, I thought it might be useful if we have a quick look at Grandadmiral Raeders "Strategy of Diversion". Desc...

@VeenenbergR Well… Well, well … Is it worth the effort? One wonders? :? OK – let us start at the beginning: Since you waved good-by with so much pathos http://www.kbismarck.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1662&start=30#p16958 your behaviour has not improved. Pity! UFO wrote: Apart from the kin...