The history of the German navy is amazing; there is no other. Twice, Germany lost its entire navy after the catastrophic defeats in world wars. After each loss, the country restored its naval forces in a fantastic time frame.
The condition and quality of the navy in any country speaks of the level of science, industry and financial well-being. After all, the Navy has always been the most expensive and high-tech defense resource. Germany has everything in order with all of the above.
The German Navy is now part of NATO. At first glance, their composition may seem modest and weak. But to think so would be a serious mistake. The Germans in no way claim a dominant role in the Atlantic, they only help the American allies in this. But not everything is so simple.
German Navy today
The composition of the German Navy can be considered ideal in terms of balance, compactness and purpose. It includes a total of 38 combat units:
- submarines - 5;
- frigates - 10;
- corvettes - 5;
- minesweepers - 15;
- marine reconnaissance ships - 3.
The additional structure includes 30 military boats, 60 vessels with various auxiliary functions, 8 combat aircraft, 2 auxiliary aircraft, 40 helicopters.
The fleet is especially proud of the famous frigates of the German Navy. Now there are exactly ten of them in the fleet. All of them belong to different modifications. They clearly show the dynamics of the development of military equipment and the evolution of modern weapons.
New German submarines
The peculiarity of German submarines is that they are not nuclear. Submarines of the new generation of the 212 series float on hydrogen fuel. By combat criteria, they are in no way inferior to their atomic counterparts, but by the criterion of "secrecy" they have no equal in the whole world.
A serious advantage of boats 212 is their fiberglass hull. Thanks to this submarine, it is impossible to detect from the air using a magnetic detector, as is the case with any other submarines.
Where did the German shipyards go?
For the construction of a German almost toy flotilla, huge shipyards with centuries of history and famous workmanship are not needed. But the shipyards have not gone anywhere, they continue to work in full, they feel great, they expand and earn great money. The fact is that today's Germany is a leading exporter of naval military equipment.
German quality has not gone anywhere, export variants of military vessels are one of the most expensive in the world. The legendary glory of German submarines, combined with a modern design, spills over into the international line for their purchase. Serious buyers are waiting for their turn - for example, Canada and Austria. The number of buyers does not decrease, despite the high cost of German weapons.
World War I: Kaiserlichmarine
At the beginning of the 20th century, burgher Germany turned into a young aggressive "predator", which had only one task - the capture of colonies and the imperial expansion of influence and power. Of course, the development of the German Navy was included in the priority list of urgent state affairs. He was then called Kaiserlichmarine - the imperial naval forces.
In 1898, a special Fleet Law was issued with a plan for the implementation of a huge number of new ships. Typically, such plans are implemented late, in part or with an increase in the budget (it must be emphasized). But not in Germany. With each subsequent year, the plan was adjusted with an increase in the number of warships. Judge for yourself: from 1908 to 1912 at German shipyards, four heavy battleships were annually laid - the largest and most complex types of warships in history.
Britain - the main naval enemy
The main enemy at sea was the Royal Navy of Great Britain. The French and Russians were not even considered in this confrontation. The main episode of the frenzied arms race at sea was the dreadnought competition - squadron battleships.
In the period 1914-1918, the German Navy were worthy opponents of the British. New German ships had higher speed in the water. The Germans were much more attentive to any kind of technical innovation, were able to quickly rebuild and adjust their plans.
The creator of the German fleet, Admiral Tirpitz, had his own "theory of risk": if the German fleet becomes equal in strength to the British, then the British will shy away from conflicts with Germany in general because of the high risk of losing world naval dominance. That's where the plans for building the fleet in incredible numbers, with fantastic speed, using the technical innovations of the time came from - it was a "risk theory".
The end of this campaign was very sad. Under the Treaty of Versailles, the bulk of the German fleet was transferred to the main enemy - the British as an indemnity. Part of the fleet was drowned.
