German Building Program: Second Bill of 1900

[Tiornu]

I know that the bill specified battleship squadrons of eight ships. What I'd like to know is if there are any details of the tactical reasoning involved. Does anyone have this document? Does anyone have Herwig's book Luxury Fleet?

[foeth]

IIRC, the bill was matching the exact number of ships the German yards could build at that time.

[Ulrich Rudofsky]

Apparently, Professor Herwig could be contacted at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada:


Dr. Holger H. Herwig
CENTRE FOR MILITARY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (CMSS)
Faculty of Social Sciences
HISTORY
herwig@ucalgary.ca
220-2492

[Tiornu]

I remember he stopped by the board once, many moons ago. I was hoping he'd stick around, but I guess not.

[RF]

Was a strategic purpose ever properly defined for the HSF, other than to feed the ego of the Kaiser? Was there any proper strategic planning for a naval war against any of Britain, France and the USA?

[Kyler]

The stated reason in "Dreadnought" is that Tirpitz wanted the purchase and construction done in groups of 8 so that the politicans in the Reichstag could not interfere in their construction from year to year. The ulimate idea was the purchase of two 8 ship battleship squadrons, with a flag ship and at least 4 in reserve.

[RF]

This was for the construction of the HSF so that the politicians couldn't interfere and put a break on the project, rather than define a precise military and strategic role for these ''ships of the line.'' The spit and polish, and the prestige, was the aim - to please his majesty the Kaiser.