This is the order of battle of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.
Commanders and locations of the Imperial German Navy
The overall commander of the Imperial German Navy was Kaiser Wilhelm II. All authority over the navy was vested in the Kaiser, and he was ultimately responsible for all decisions regarding the navy. Under the Kaiser were a number of organisational bodies responsible for various aspects of the navy's administration and operation, each of which was directly responsible to the Kaiser: The Naval Cabinet was a body of the Imperial Household, with responsibility over promotions and appointments, and the drafting and issuing of the Kaiser's orders. Chief of the Naval Cabinet - Admiral Georg von Müller The Imperial Naval Administration was the government department with responsibility for the Navy, which was answerable to the Imperial Chancellor, and was headed by the State Secretary. State Secretary - Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz Deputy State Secretary - Vice-Admiral Eduard von Capelle The departmental heads within the Imperial Naval Administration were: Nautical DepartmentVice-Admiral Max von GrapowArmaments DepartmentVice-Admiral Gerhart GerdesShipyard DepartmentVice-Admiral Karl DickNaval Construction DepartmentVice-Admiral Friedrich SchraderGerman DepartmentRear-Admiral Friedrich BodickerStates DepartmentVice-Admiral Harald Dähnhardt The Admiralty Staff was formed in 1899 to replace the Naval High Command, and operated as an organisation intended to gather intelligence and prepare operational plans for presentation to and approval of the Kaiser.Herwig p.22 Chief of the Imperial Admiralty Staff - Vice-Admiral Hugo von Pohl Deputy Chief of Staff - Rear-Admiral Paul Behncke Head of the Central Bureau - Rear-Admiral Albert Hopman The Inspector-General of the Navy was a post held intermittently, intended to undertake inspection of the navy itself to ensure it was operating at maximum efficiency. The Inspector-General's office was divided into a number of individual inspectorates related to different areas of the Navy's operations. Inspector-General of the Navy - Grand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia 2nd Inspector-General - Rear Admiral Karl Zimmerman
Training schools
The navy had a number of establishments to train its personnel, both generally and in specific technical areas. In addition, a number of ships were on the strength of training establishments to provide practical experience. Mürwik Naval School - primary training establishment for officers
Boiler and Engine Room Training Schools (Boiler room training ship) (Engine room training ship) Gunnery training school
Torpedo training school
German naval bases
Germany had two major naval bases covering its main areas of interest: Kiel - headquarters of the Baltic Naval Station, which was also responsible for the base at Danzig in East Prussia. Commander, Baltic Naval Station - Vice-Admiral Gustav Bachmann Chief of Staff - Rear-Admiral Georg Hebbinghaus Commander, Kiel Naval Base - Vice Admiral Konrad Henkel-Gebhardi Commander, Kiel Fortress - Vice Admiral Reinhard Koch Commander, Danzig Naval Base - Rear Admiral Franz von Holleben In addition to hosting the fleet units stationed in the Baltic Sea, a number of other units were under the direct command of the Baltic Naval Station commander: 1st Seaman Division (Kiel) 1st Marine Artillery Division (Friedrichsort) 1st Torpedo Division (Kiel) 1st Battalion of Marines As well as the warships of the fleet, a further unit of the Imperial Navy stationed at Kiel was the Imperial Yacht, which was the personal vessel of the Kaiser, used both for his annual cruise to Norway as well as transporting him on overseas visits, but was also available for use as an aviso, or despatch boat.
Wilhelmshaven - headquarters of the North Sea Naval Station, which also served as the host base of the High Seas Fleet. Commander, North Sea Naval Station - Vice-Admiral Günther von Krosigk Commander, Wilhelmshaven Naval Base - Rear-Admiral Hugo Kraft Commander, Wilhelmshaven Fortress - Rear-Admiral Friedrich Schultz Commander, Wesermunde Fortress - Vice-Admiral Johannes Schröder Commander, Helgoland Fortress - Vice-Admiral Leo Jacobson As well as hosting the High Seas Fleet, other units were also under the direct command of the North Sea Station commander: 2nd Seaman Division 2nd Marine Artillery Division 3rd Marine Artillery Division 4th Marine Artillery Division 2nd Torpedo Division 2nd Battalion of Marines
In addition to its two major bases in Germany, the Imperial German Navy had a number of units stationed overseas.
Barrack ships As well as barracks ashore, the navy maintained a number of old and withdrawn ships for use as accommodation for its personnel while in harbour. ex-Nixe ex-Moltke ex-Sophie ex-Bismarck ex-Stein ex-Leipzig ex-Meteor ex-Schwalbe ex-Gefion ex-Kaiser
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte) was the primary formation of the Imperial German Navy, with its main element being the three operational battle squadrons to which the navy's battleships were assigned. The majority of units of the High Seas Fleet were stationed at Wilhelmshaven for operations in the North Sea. A small force was stationed at Kiel for use in the Baltic, which could be quickly reinforced by North Sea-based units via the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. The High Seas Fleet was under the command of Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl.
Battle squadrons Fleet Flagship (Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl)
1st Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Wilhelm von Lans) 1st Division (Flagship)
2nd Division (Rear-Admiral Friedrich Gädecke) (Flagship)
2nd Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer) 3rd Division (Flagship)
4th Division (Kommodore Franz Mauve) (Flagship)
3rd Battle Squadron (Rear-Admiral Felix Funke) 5th Division The 5th Division, under Rear-Admiral Carl Schaumann, was formed of battleships of the class. The first to be commissioned was on 30 July, which was undergoing sea trials on the outbreak of war. The remaining three ships were commissioned through the remainder of 1914.Tarrant, p. 286 6th Division (Flagship)
Tenders
Scouting groups
1st Scouting Group (Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper) (Flagship)
2nd Scouting Group (Rear-Admiral Leberecht Maass) (Flagship)
3rd Scouting Group (No flag officer) (Flagship)
4th Scouting Group (Rear-Admiral Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz) (Flagship)
5th Scouting Group (Rear-Admiral Gisbert Jasper) (Flagship)
Torpedo boats
1st Torpedo Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 1st Half-Flotilla
(Leader)
2nd Half-Flotilla
(Leader) 2nd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 3rd Half-Flotilla
(Leader) 4th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
3rd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 5th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
6th Half-Flotilla
(Leader) 4th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 7th Half-Flotilla
(Leader) 8th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
5th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 9th Half-Flotilla
(Leader) 10th Half-Flotilla
(Leader) 6th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 11th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
12th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
7th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 13th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
14th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
8th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 15th Half-Flotilla
(Leader)
16th Half-Flotilla
(Leader)
U-boats and Mine warfare
1st U-boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 1st Half-Flotilla (Leader)
2nd Half-Flotilla (Leader)
2nd U-boat Flotilla (Flotilla Leader) 3rd Half-Flotilla (Leader)
4th Half-Flotilla (Leader)
Tenders ex-Irene
1st Minesweeping Division (Leader)
2nd Minesweeping Division (Leader)
SMS T51
3rd Minesweeping Division (Leader)
Minelayers
SMS Königin Luise
Coastal defence
A number of small units were formed whose primary purpose was coastal and harbour defence of the various naval bases in and around Wilhelmshaven. These usually consisted of one or more light cruisers, commanding a number of torpedo-boat destroyers and other vessels. To provide heavy support for coastal defence, one of the reserve squadrons of the High Seas Fleet, consisting of eight obsolete coastal defence ships that were of no use as part of the main battle fleet, was assigned to the North Sea coast.
6th Battle Squadron (Rear-Admiral Richard Eckermann) 11th Division (Flagship)
12th Division (Rear-Admiral Ehler Behring) (Flagship)
Coast Defence Division Ems (Emden) (Leader)
Outpost Half-Flotilla Helgoland (Heligoland) (Leader)
Coast Defence Division Jade/Weser (Wilhelmshaven) (Leader)
Coast Defence Division Elbe (Cuxhaven) (Leader)
Baltic Fleet
Although part of the High Seas Fleet, the force stationed permanently at Kiel for operations in the Baltic operated with a degree of independence. Grand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the commander-in-chief of the Baltic Fleet, with Rear-Admiral Robert Mischke in operational command of units at sea.
Coast Defence Group Baltic
Fleet Flagship (Grand Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia)
6th Scouting Group (Rear-Admiral Robert Mischke) (Flagship)
Other vessels
Torpedo-Boat Flotilla
U-boat Flotilla
SM U-1 SM U-2 SM U-3 SM U-4 Minelayers
Battle squadrons
4th Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt) 7th Division (Flagship)
8th Division (Rear-Admiral Hermann Alberts) (Flagship)
5th Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Max von Grapow) 9th Division (Flagship)
10th Division (Kommodore Alfred Begas)
(Flagship)
Outpost Half-Flotilla Kiel / Elder
Torpedo-Boats
Other ships
Naval Aviation
The Imperial German Navy had a small aviation capability, which was originally formed in 1913 when the Kaiser decreed the foundation of the Naval Aviation Forces (Marinefliegerkräfte). Within the newly formed aviation section were two separate commands - the Naval Airship Detachment, based at Nordholz, near Cuxhaven, and the Naval Flying Detachment, which was split between Kiel, Heligoland and Putzig.
Naval Airship Detachment Zeppelin L 3 Naval Flying Detachment 1st Naval Flying Detachment Kiel Detachment Heligoland Detachment Putzig Detachment
Overseas units
In addition to the main body of the Imperial German Navy stationed in home waters, Germany also maintained a number of overseas deployments of ships. The majority of these were usually of one or two cruisers operating independently, with the primary formation of German warships outside German waters being the East Asia Squadron, under the command of Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee, which was stationed at Tsingtao(at the time the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory).Bassett, p. 55 The navy also provided a significant proportion of the garrison at Tsingtao, with approximately 1,200 of the 3,000 strong garrison coming from one of the marine battalions. The other major formation was the Mediterranean Division, commanded by Rear-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon.Bassett, p. 40
East Asia Squadron (Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee) (Flagship)
Mediterranean Division (Rear-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon) (Flagship)
East and West America station
East African station
West African station
South Sea station
Tsingtao Garrison 3rd Battalion of Marines
Notes
References