Bremerhaven naval base (1935–1945)

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The Bremerhaven naval base (1935–1945) was a naval base of the Kriegsmarine .

garrison

Red sand barracks
Location map
Naval readiness red sand

The time after the First World War began quietly at the mouth of the Weser . Except for Langlütjen II , the four Weser forts, consisting of Langlütjen I and II and Brinkamahof I and II, had been disarmed. The security police moved into the former artillery barracks . The naval artillery and mine depot built in 1887 has not been abandoned . Renamed as Artillery Branch Wesermünde , it had 40 men to manage the three Weser forts, the howitzer battery in Wremen and the peace powder magazine in Speckenbüttel. In the 1930s it was renamed the Naval Artillery Service Office and still comprised four buildings on Industriestrasse. The former torpedo shed had been sold to the Wagner shipyard. The corner building survived both world wars and was converted into a residential building. The demilitarization also made the maintenance of the former naval hospital superfluous. For the few remaining soldiers from the administration and depot area, the Reichsmarine agreed a contractual arrangement with the municipal hospitals on medical treatment and possible burial. The ships of the line Schlesien came to fleet visits in April 1934 and Schleswig-Holstein in May 1935. The new Admiral Graf Spee came to the Nordschleuse , the Cologne to the Ölkaje.

When the police cleared the imperial artillery barracks - today's town hall 6 - and marines moved in in 1935, Bremerhaven became a garrison town again. The "reception of the naval garrison by the cities of Wesermünde and Bremerhaven" was celebrated in 1935. On October 26th, the delegation marched from the Leher artillery barracks to Neumarkt in Geestemünde . There she was welcomed by Mayor Walter Delius , District Manager Hugo Kühn and Captain of the Sea from Marwitz . Julius Lorenzen spoke at the concert on the market square (today Theodor-Heuss-Platz) the following morning .

The swimming pool on the Geeste changed hands and served again as a garrison swimming pool . After several months of renovation and modernization work, the marine bath was officially opened on July 4, 1936. Construction of the destroyer quay began in Kaiserhafen I in 1935 . Some of the harbor sheds were able to be included in the new building project through minor modifications. For the NCOs , several blocks of flats were built on Kaiserstrasse (the northern end of today's Mayor-Smidt-Strasse ). This base was supposed to accommodate the 4th destroyer flotilla. A barrack camp was built in the fishing port for the outpost flotillas . The police barracks on the Rote Sand, built in 1926, were occupied by naval units. It received a modern car workshop with common rooms and accommodation, as well as a new guard on Zollstrasse (today's Rickmersstrasse ). Here the recruits of the III. Ship master department trained. The neighboring parade ground offered ideal conditions. The police's small-bore shooting range was taken over. In 1936 a sports hall was added.

The barracks in Bremerhaven and Lehe were soon no longer sufficient for training recruits. That is why in 1936 work began on building a new barracks facility on the former parade ground of the imperial artillery barracks in Lehe - the later city ​​administration of Bremerhaven (Leher barracks) . A monument to the III. The sailor artillery department commemorated the soldiers of the Imperial Navy stationed here. For infantry training were military training areas in Altenwalde and Garlstedt and the surrounding area at Debstedt , Spaden and Schiffdorf used.

The III. Ship trunk department North Sea was renamed the 10th ship trunk department in 1937 and a fifth company was added in 1939 . In September 1939 the staff and the 3rd Company moved from the Bremerhaven barracks to the Wesermünde / Lehe barracks. The “Riga” barracks camp built in 1940 served as a makeshift dormitory after the war and was demolished in the 1960s. In the last months of the war, the focus of training was on national defense and infantry service. The naval combat units in Bremerhaven included the naval rifle battalions, the naval alarm battalions, the naval infantry and the naval fortress battalions.

After the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , the two barracks were taken over by the Americans. The Leher barracks is the official seat of the city council of Bremerhaven . In the Roter Sand barracks, the Bremerhaven location was ready to drive and the naval base command with accommodation for shipyard boaters.

Barracks

In 1934 Wesermünde's Lord Mayor Walter Delius offered the Reichsmarine to take over the site from Joh. C. Tecklenborg to build a barracks. Considered suitable by the naval construction management, it was made ready for construction. Recruited unemployed dismantled the shipyard facilities. Weeks of blasting were necessary to remove the foundations of the helges and buildings. The work often had to be interrupted due to floods . Up to 1,200 local craftsmen erected the new buildings. The impassable building site made a field railway necessary. Despite all the difficulties, the construction time was just under a year. At the beginning of October 1935, the 2nd Naval NCO training department (2nd MLA) and the Wesermünde Naval School (MSW) were able to start their service. Simple sculptures based on Lower Saxony motifs by Johann Bremermann adorned the building fronts. The preserved administration building of the Tecklenborg shipyard - the "gray donkey" - served the MSW as a staff and school building. In the atrium there was a model of Friedrich Wilhelm on horseback . Honor awards and trophies were displayed on the sides of the hall. In and on the buildings were paintings by Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach and Kurt Schwerdtfeger . The farm buildings were up to date. There were potato peeling machines and food elevators. The German Navy later used the building as a naval location school .

  • start of building

  • Progress

  • Shell structures

Naval School Wesermünde (MSW)

Bremerhaven Naval School

In contrast to the 2nd MLA, the MSW operated technical training for machine personnel of the teams , NCOs and sergeants . The teachers were engineering officers, qualified engineers, and technical advisors . A civilian career was also open to the graduates, because the certificates were also valid in the merchant navy . The final certificate of the machine mate course corresponded to the certificate of proficiency C3 as sea ​​machinist II, that of the senior machinist course corresponded to the certificate of proficiency C4 as sea machinist I. Modern test facilities, a minesweeper, a clearing boat and various motor boats were used for practical instruction. The first commander was Korvettenkapitän (Ing.) Zieb . He was followed on October 3, 1936 by Captain Schirmer .

Under the supervision of a traditional officer, the MSW had to keep alive the memory of the machine personnel who had distinguished themselves in particular during the First World War. The apartment blocks were named after ships. A 2 m long teak relief from SMS Breslau hung between the imperial war flag and the naval war flag of the Ottoman Empire .

In October 1939 - after the attack on Poland - Rear Admiral (Ing.) Karl Kaufmann took command of the MSW. When the 2nd MLA relocated to Wilhelmshaven at the beginning of 1940 and its barracks became vacant, the MSW was able to be restructured and the training focused entirely on the requirements of the fleet and the submarine weapon. In 1942 two large bunkers were built and ponds for extinguishing water were built. The service operations shifted more and more to the war tasks. Technical and special courses have been shortened. Air raid protection and combat training took the place of sport and infantry service. The heavy air raid on Bremerhaven on September 18, 1944 only caused major fire damage to four buildings of the naval school. By clearing several barracks blocks, 12,000 bombed-out Bremerhaven residents could be accommodated. The kitchens were in operation for ten days. At the beginning of 1945 the occupation of the barracks reached its highest level with 5,000 soldiers. All soldiers who were no longer eligible for use on board were grouped into operational battalions. In April 1945 the last units moved to the war fronts . The losses of these marines, poorly trained in infantry, were very high.

On May 7, 1945, the commander captain at sea (Ing.) Fischer handed the MSW to an admiral of the United States Navy . Two boilers of the machine systems were preserved and operated for self-supply. All teaching facilities that were not required for this operation were removed, sold or scrapped.

The field handball team of the naval school became champions of the regional Gauliga in 1943 and thus reached the final round of the German championship . In the first round, the team was eliminated due to a defeat against TuRa Gröpelingen . The soccer team of the naval school rose to the Gauliga Osthannover in 1944, but only played two games in autumn 1944. The Geestemünder SC was beaten 6: 4 and against the LSV Stade the naval students lost 2: 6.

2nd Naval Sergeant Training Department

Headquarters of the 2nd MLA

The 2nd MLA was responsible for the general military training of non-commissioned officers and sergeants. She also gave courses for reserve officers and reserve non-commissioned officers. The six-month courses for sergeant candidates included attending the technical school twice a week . He built on the knowledge of the elementary school and was supposed to prepare the soldiers for the civilian profession at an early stage. The nautical training took place all year round in the fishing port and on the Weser . The parade ground and a one-storey parade hall were used for formal service training.

Gymnastics, athletics and swimming were practiced intensively. Sporting highlights were the naval championships and the German Gymnastics Festival in May 1938 in Breslau. The second MLA participated in marches to Reichspartei days , at the inauguration of the Institute of sea power in the Reich Association of German sea power by Erich Raeder in August 1937 during the state visit of Miklós Horthy and at the opening of the Rothensee boat lift on 30 October 1938 in the presence of Admiral Bikes. When the Ems of the North German Lloyd was converted into an auxiliary cruiser , her ship's crew went through military training at the 2nd MLA. At the beginning of 1940 she moved to Wilhelmshaven . Their buildings were taken over by the MSW.

Marine hospital

Marine hospital in Lehe

The expansion of the barracks and the stationing of floating formations required the construction of a military hospital . The departments could be used from April 1939; Catering and administration were initially at the 10th ship master department in Lehe. Officially commissioned on October 2, 1939, the hospital had 250 beds with five departments for internal medicine , surgery , skin and venereal diseases , ophthalmology and ear, nose and throat medicine . Head physicians were Emil Greul (April 1939), Walther Goette (May 1941) and Hans Brauns (February 1944). After the war, the Americans used the house as a military hospital .

Naval base

With three barracks, Bremerhaven / Wesermünde had once again become an important garrison town. There was also a naval base.

4. Destroyer Flotilla

Destroyer at Columbuskaje before sailing for Norway (April 6, 1940)

After the new fleet building program came into effect, the construction of a new torpedo and destroyer weapon began. The keel of the first Type 34 newbuildings was in October 1934. They were followed in spring 1935 by the somewhat lighter Type 34A.

  • Z 8 Bruno Heinemann , built by AG Weser ( Deschimag ) in Bremen, christened on September 15, 1937, commissioned as the first ship of the 6th destroyer division on January 8, 1938
  • Z 9 Wolfgang Zenker , built at the Germania shipyard in Kiel, commissioned on July 2, 1938, sunk after a battle in front of Narvik itself.
  • Z 10 Hans Lody , commissioned for the 6th Destroyer Division on October 17, 1938, from November 1, 1938 the lead ship of the 8th Destroyer Division.
  • Z 11 Bernd von Arnim , commissioned on December 6, 1938 as the third and last ship of the 6th Destroyer Division, sunk after the battle at Narvik itself.
  • Z 12 Erich Giese ,put into serviceas a replacement for Hans Lody in the 6th Destroyer Division on March 4, 1939, sunk after a battle at Narvik itself.
  • Z 13 Erich Koellner , put into service on August 28, 1939 as the last ship of the class, sank in the battle off Narvik.

With the new builds, the number of destroyer divisions increased. The necessary reorganization of the destroyer units came into force on November 1, 1938 and combined two divisions into one flotilla . The 4th Destroyer Flotilla with its home port of Bremerhaven / Wesermünde was formed from the 6th and 8th destroyer divisions. On April 6, 1939, frigate captain Ulrich Brocksien (1898–1942) handed over command to Erich Bey . Most of Bremerhaven's destroyers came to an end with the Weser Exercise company . After a year of existence, the 4th Destroyer Flotilla was disbanded on April 18, 1940. Z 8 Bruno Heinemann and Z 10 Hans Lody were assigned to the 6th destroyer flotilla.

Outpost flotillas

4. Outpost flotilla in the fishing port

In 1937 the first fish steamers were used for exercises in the North Sea and tested for their suitability as outpost boats. In March of the same year, five fishing vessels belonging to a Bremerhaven shipping company were converted into outpost boats at the Seebeck and Unterweser yards and put into service by the Navy. They should exercise maritime control in the zone assigned to the German Reich in front of Spain. In September 1939, five outpost flotillas were set up in Bremerhaven and Wesermünde. In addition to the eight fish steamers, new ones were constantly being added.

The 2nd outpost flotilla moved to the north coast of France with the advance of the western campaign .

The 4th outpost flotilla was set up in Warnemünde (also in September 1939). With eight, later fifteen boats, she was lying in front of packing hall X in the fishing port . The last boat never caught fish and was immediately used as an outpost boat for weather observation. The former BREMERHAVEN fish steamer was sunk as V 412 on November 25, 1941 by an English speedboat in the English Channel . The crew was rescued by V 405 and the barrier breaker 21.

The 8th outpost flotilla , initially with eight fish steamers, was in Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven and was used for increased outpost service in the North Sea. After the start of the western campaign, she was escorting on the Elbe – Rotterdam route.

The 10th outpost flotilla , set up in Bremerhaven in September 1939, moved to the Baltic Sea in early 1940 and was replaced by the 11th outpost flotilla from the Baltic Sea area. She too was escorting the Elbe – Rotterdam route. In the summer of 1940 she was briefly stationed in Stavanger .

The 12th outpost flotilla was formed from eight motor fish loggers and was doing outpost service in the North Sea. In the course of the war considerably strengthened and divided into groups, it was located in Esbjerg , Cuxhaven, Wesermünde, Borkum , Norderney , Hörnum (Sylt) and Terschelling . She led the escort service in the inner German Bight and was also used to search for ground mines . After the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , most of the flotilla was disbanded. The boats were returned to their owners and prepared for fishing.

8th barrier breaker flotilla

From 1944 onwards, the air threat in the German Bight from allied aircraft formations increased steadily. Ships were attacked with rockets and on-board weapons, so that the escort routes could only be navigated at night and smaller ships had to be combined into convoy trains with security vehicles . The advance of the Allies on the Western Front also made it necessary to relocate the 8th Sperrbrecher Flotilla , which was stationed in Vlaardingen , to Wesermünde, leaving their smaller vehicles behind, and to subordinate them to the 5th Security Division . So now in the German Bight barrier breakers of the 1st and 8th flotilla often sailed together. B. Barrier breaker 26 MOSTAND (8th) and barrier breaker 176 VALERIA (1st) on August 29, 1944. At lightship Elbe 1 , the formation accompanied by other warships was attacked by around 30 aircraft at dusk. The barrier breakers 176 and 26 sank after being hit by torpedoes. The ever increasing air raids made it necessary to relocate further barrier breakers of the 1st and 8th flotilla to the Baltic Sea at the end of 1944 and to subordinate them to the 3rd barrier breaker flotilla.

Submarine building and training

In 1939 a brisk warship building began at the German shipyards . The focus was increasingly on the submarines . Seebeck received the order to build the submarine class IX . 16 boats were completed by 1944, the last U 806 of the type IX C / 40 on April 29, 1944. Because they were more diving than submarines and because of the air and positioning superiority of the Allies, the low underwater speed and the short diving time, heavy losses had to accept, a new type of submarine was sought. The Walter drive , with which a high underwater speed could be achieved, was revolutionary . With the propulsion system independent of the outside air and the streamlined shape , they would have been the first real submarines; However, since the drive was not yet ready for series production and the submarine war brought ever higher losses, a compromise was reached. The large hulls of the new submarine class XXI were filled with a large number of batteries and the so-called electric boat was found .

After 1945

See also

literature

  • Helmut Krummel: Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine. In: Karlheinz M. Reichert (Ed.): Marine an der Unterweser. NWD Verlag, Bremerhaven 1990; 2nd edition: Jörg Owen, Karlheinz M. Reichert, Fachverlag NW in Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 2004, ISBN 3-86509-195-4 , pp. 83-95.
  • Helmut Krummel: From the history of the Wesermünde naval flak company. The fate of the IRMGARD REINERS ex IRMTRAUT CORDS . In: Men from Morgenstern , Heimatbund an Elbe and Weser estuary e. V. (Ed.): Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt . No. 805 . Nordsee-Zeitung GmbH, Bremerhaven January 2017, p. 1–2 ( digitized version [PDF; 1.6 MB ; accessed on July 17, 2019]).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The camp was named after the frigate captain A. Ehrensberger , who, as chief of the 8th outpost flotilla, went down on 9 June 1940 with the outpost boat V 801 off Ameland .
  2. ↑ The building is now at Bürgermeister-Smidt-Strasse 207.
  3. ↑ The management was incumbent on the government building officer Bellwinkel , until then head of the new building department of the Saarbrücken city building authority.
  4. ↑ The "Gray Donkey" was demolished in 1974.
  5. ↑ Wilhelm Souchon and Paul Kettner , the former commandant of the Breslau, handed over the relief on April 25, 1937. It was created by Max Dorscht from Lehe . As a former member of the Imperial Navy, he was employed by the Bremerhaven tram.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Raap : The fortress island Brinkamahof II. Memory of a fortress island that disappeared in 2000 . In: Men from Morgenstern, Heimatbund an Elbe and Weser estuary e. V. (Ed.): Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt . No.  727 . Nordsee-Zeitung GmbH, Bremerhaven July 2010, p. 2–3 ( digitized version [PDF; 1.5 MB ; accessed on July 17, 2019]).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Helmut Krummel: Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine . Pp. 83-95.
  3. ^ Announcement of the program in the Nordwestdeutsche Zeitung , October 23, 1935.
  4. ^ Egbert Thomer, Jürgen Rhades. Yearbook of the German Navy 1970 . Episode five. Bremen undated, p. 121.
  5. ↑ Hardy Greens: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 1: From the Crown Prince to the Bundesliga. 1890 to 1963. German championship, Gauliga, Oberliga. Numbers, pictures, stories. Page 261, Agon-Sportverlag, Kassel 1996, ISBN 3-928562-85-1 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e 4th Destroyer Flotilla (German Naval Archive)
  7. ↑ Outpost flotillas (wlb-stuttgart.de)
  8. ↑ 2nd outpost flotilla (German Naval Archive)
  9. ↑ 4th Outpost Flotilla (German Naval Archive)
  10. ↑ 8th Outpost Flotilla (German Naval Archive)
  11. ↑ 10th Outpost Flotilla (German Naval Archive)
  12. ↑ 12th Outpost Flotilla (German Naval Archive)