Navy of the North German Confederation
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The naval forces of the North German Confederation established in 1867 are called the Navy of the North German Confederation ( Norddeutsche Bundesmarine , Norddeutsche Bundesflotte ) . Initially it was the ships of the Prussian Navy .
During the time of the North German Confederation, the navy was of no great importance. This also applied to the Franco-German War . Only later, when the state was renamed the German Empire, did the German fleet develop into a serious power.
founding
After the German-Danish War (1864) and the German War (1866), the North German Federal Navy was founded by law of November 9, 1867. It emerged from the Prussian Navy and consisted of the fleet and the sea defense . The other member states in the North German Confederation did not have their own naval forces, but were obliged to pay contributions and provide personnel, which in particular made the personnel situation considerably easier. Nevertheless, the North German Federal Navy was still subordinate to the Prussian Navy Ministry.
The black-white-red flag from the Federal Constitution combined the colors of the Kingdom of Prussia with those of the Hanseatic cities (see also Hanseatic flags ). The commander in chief was Prince Adalbert of Prussia . The fleet founding plan of 1867 that he introduced was ratified by the North German Reichstag and provided for the following larger ships:
The fleet plan had a term of 10 years. The influx of new units was slow, on the one hand due to financial bottlenecks and on the other hand due to the limited shipyard capacity. As a result, the ironclad ships and important parts such as the steam engines were procured abroad. The shortage of large ships was met in part with the accelerated construction of smaller units that took on some of the tasks of larger ships - for example, gunboats instead of corvettes provided station service abroad.
Tasks and development
In 1865, the liberally dominated Prussian Landtag had rejected a loan law for the Prussian Navy. The North German Reichstag, however, approved the loan for the federal fleet in December 1867. The goals set were firstly to protect German sea trade. Second, the north German coasts and ports should be defended. Third, the Federation wanted to increase its ability to disrupt an enemy's trade and attack its fleets, coasts and ports. This met the ideas of Prince Adalbert, whose idea of a strategic battle fleet had been rejected for reasons of cost.
Head of the Navy Ministry was Count Roon . On June 17, 1869, Wilhelmshaven was inaugurated as the new German war port. He was followed by Kiel , so that the navy had two regional commands and two war ports in addition to the foreign stations. In addition, there was the Royal Shipyard in Danzig , which was the only fully operational shipyard at the time of the North German Federal Navy. The shipyards and facilities in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel were still under construction and could only be partially used. There were other bases and depots on Dänholm , in Swinoujscie and in Geestemünde .
Operations
In peacetime, the young fleet experienced some important milestones. After 15 years of construction, the Jade Harbor in Wilhelmshaven was inaugurated on June 17, 1869. Prince Adalbert would later call this one of his greatest achievements. When the Suez Canal was inaugurated in November 1869 , Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was present with his yacht and an accompanying rake. Then the North German corvette Hertha drove through the Suez Canal towards East Asia.
After only minor participation in the naval warfare during the Franco-German War , the Navy of the North German Confederation became the Imperial Navy in 1872 .
See also
literature
- Otto Livonius : Our fleet in the Franco-German war , Berlin 1871.
- René de Pont-Jest: The 1870 campaign in the North and Baltic Seas , Bremen 1871.
- Hans Jürgen Hansen: The ships of the German fleets 1848-1945 . Verlag Gerhard Stalling AG, Oldenburg 1973, ISBN 3-7979-1834-8 .
- Wolfgang Petter: The overseas base policy of the Prussian-German navy 1859-1883 . Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg 1975 (Phil. Dissertation.).
- Wolfgang Petter: German fleet armor from Wallenstein to Tirpitz . In: Military History Research Office (ed.): German military history in six volumes. 1648–1939 , Volume 5, Section VIII: German Naval History of Modern Times . Pawlak, Herrsching am Ammersee 1983, ISBN 3-88199-112-3 , pp. 13-262.
- Mirco Graetz: Prince Adalbert's Forgotten Fleet - The North German Federal Navy 1867–1871 . lulu.com 2010. ISBN 978-1409225096 .
Web links
- The North German Federal Navy
- Archive Klaus Kramer
- Battle of Bouvet and Meteor off Havana (French WP)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Law on Obligation to Do Military Service of November 9, 1867 at Wikisource
- ↑ Hans Georg Steltzer: The German fleet. A historical overview from 1640 to 1918. Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag 1989, p. 109.
- ↑ Hans Georg Steltzer: The German fleet. A historical overview from 1640 to 1918. Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag 1989, pp. 110/111.