List of Kriegsmarine ships

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This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021)

The list of Kriegsmarine ships includes all ships commissioned into the Kriegsmarine, the navy of Nazi Germany, during its existence from 1935 to the conclusion of World War II in 1945.

See the list of naval ships of Germany for ships in German service throughout the country's history.


Capital ships

Pre-dreadnought battleships

Class Displacement
(standard) 		Main battery Speed Ship Image Commis-
sioned 		Fate
Deutschland class 15,000 tons 4 × 11-in. 18 kn Hannover
Oct 1907 Scrapped between 1944 and 1946
19.1 kn Schleswig-Holstein
Jul 1908 Scuttled, Mar 1945
18.5 kn Schlesien
May 1908 Mined off Swinemünde in May 1945

Modern battleships

Class Displacement
(standard) 		Main battery Speed Ship Image Commis-
sioned 		War loss
Bismarck class Bismarck: 41,700 tons
Tirpitz: 42,900 tons 		8 × 15-in. 30 kn Bismarck
Aug 1940 Scuttled following incapacitating battle damage,
May 1941
Tirpitz
Feb 1941 Sunk by air attack,
Nov 1944
Scharnhorst class 32,100 tons 9 × 11-in. 31 kn Scharnhorst
Jan 1939 Sunk by gunfire,
Dec 1943
Gneisenau
May 1938 Sunk as a blockship,
Mar 1945

Cruisers

Heavy cruisers

Class Displacement
(standard) 		Main battery Speed Ship Image Commis-
sioned 		War loss Postwar
Deutschland class 14,290 tons 6 × 11-in. 28 kn Deutschland;
renamed Lützow
Jan 1940
Apr 1933 Air attack Baltic Sea,
Apr 1945
Admiral Scheer
Nov 1934 Air attack Kiel,
Apr 1945
Admiral Graf Spee
Jan 1936 Scuttled Montevideo,
Dec 1939
Admiral Hipper class 18,200 tons 8 × 8-in. 32 kn Admiral Hipper
Apr 1939 Scuttled Kiel,
May 1945
Blücher
Sep 1939 Sunk Drøbak Sound,
Apr 1940
Prinz Eugen
Aug 1940 Prize of US

Light cruisers

Class Displacement
(standard) 		Main battery Speed Ship Image Commis-
sioned 		War loss Postwar
Emden 6,990 tons 8 × 5.9-in. 29.5 kn Emden
Oct 1925 Scuttled Heikendorf,
May 1945
Königsberg class 7,700 tons 9 × 5.9-in. 32 kn Königsberg
Apr 1929 Air attack Bergen,
Apr 1940
Karlsruhe
Nov 1929 Scuttled off Kristiansand,
Apr 1940
Köln
Jan 1930 Air attack Wilhelmshaven,
Mar 1945
Leipzig class 8,900 tons** 9 × 5.9-in. 32 kn Leipzig
Oct 1931 Scuttled,
Jun 1946
Nürnberg
Nov 1935 Prize of USSR


[1]

Destroyers and torpedo boats

Named destroyers

Class Displace-
ment 		Torpedo
load 		Speed Image Ship War loss Postwar
Type 1934
destroyers 		3,155 tons 8 × 21-in. 36 kn
Z1 Leberecht Maass Sunk, Feb 1940
Z2 Georg Thiele Beached, Apr 1940
Z3 Max Schultz Sunk w all hands, Feb 1940
Z4 Richard Beitzen Scrapped, 1949
Type 1934A
destroyers 		2,270 tons 8 × 21-in. 36 kn
Z5 Paul Jakobi Scrapped, 1954
Z6 Theodor Riedel Scrapped, 1958
Z7 Hermann Schoemann Scuttled, May 1942
Z8 Bruno Heinemann Mined, Jan 1942
Z9 Wolfgang Zenker Scuttled, Apr 1940
Z10 Hans Lody Scrapped, 1949
Z11 Bernd von Arnim Scuttled, Apr 1940
Z12 Erich Giese Sunk, Apr 1940
Z13 Erich Koellner Scuttled, Apr 1940
Z14 Friedrich Ihn Scrapped, 1952
Z15 Erich Steinbrinck Scrapped, 1958
Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt Sunk, Dec 1942
Type 1936
destroyers 		3,470 tons 8 × 21-in. 36 kn
Z17 Diether von Roeder Scuttled, Apr 1940
Z18 Hans Lüdemann Scuttled, Apr 1940
Z19 Hermann Künne Scuttled, Apr 1940
Z20 Karl Galster Scrapped, 1958
Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp Sunk, Apr 1940
Z22 Anton Schmitt Sunk, Apr 1940

Numbered destroyers

Class Displace-
ment 		Torpedo
load 		Speed Image Ship War loss Postwar
Type 1936A (Narvik)
destroyers 		2,657 tons 8 × 21-in. 36 kn
Z23 Scuttled, Aug 1944
Z24 Air attack, Aug 1944
Z25 Prize of France
Z26 Sunk, Mar 1942
Z27 Sunk, Dec 1943
Z28 Air attack, Mar 1945
Z29 Scuttled, 1946
Z30 Scrapped, 1948
Type 1936A (Mob) 2,657 tons 8 × 21-in. 36 kn
Z31 Prize of France
Z32 Grounded, Jun 1944
Z33 Prize of USSR
Z34 Scuttled, 1946
Z37 Scuttled, Aug 1944
Z38 Prize of UK
Z39 Prize of US
Type 1936B destroyer 3,542 tons 8 × 21-in. 36 kn No image available Z35 Mined, Dec 1944
Z36 Mined, Dec 1944
Z43 Scuttled, May 1945
Z45 Scrapped, 1946
Type 1936C destroyer 3,625 tons 8 × 21-in. 37.5 kn No image available Z46 Blown up, 1945
Z47 Blown up, 1945

Torpedo boats

The Type 39 torpedo boat T35 in American service as DD-935
  • Torpedoboot 1923 ("Raubvogel") (900 tons, 3 × 105 mm guns)
    • Möwe
    • Falke
    • Greif
    • Kondor
    • Albatros
    • Seeadler
  • Torpedoboot 1924 ("Raubtier") (950 tons, 3 × 105 mm guns)
    • Wolf
    • Iltis
    • Jaguar
    • Leopard
    • Luchs
    • Tiger
  • Torpedoboot 1935 (1,090 tons, 1 × 105 mm gun)
    • T1 through T12
  • Torpedoboot 1937 (1,150 tons, 1 × 105 mm gun)
    • T13 through T21
  • Flottentorpedoboot 1939 (Elbing) (1,750 tons, 4 × 105 mm guns)
    • T22 through T36

Auxiliary cruisers

  • Atlantis
  • Coronel
  • Hansa
  • Komet
  • Kormoran
  • Michel
  • Orion
  • Pinguin
  • Stier
  • Thor
  • Widder

Mine warfare craft

Minelayers

  • Tannenberg 1935 (5,500 tons, 3 × 150mm guns, 460 mines)
  • Brandenburg 1936 (3,900 tons, 3 × 105mm guns, 250 mines)
  • Lothringen 1941 (2,000 tons, 2 × 88mm guns, 200 mines)
  • Niedersachsen 1934 (1,800 tons, 2 × 105mm guns, 260 mines)
  • Hansestadt Danzig 1939 (2,431 tons, 2 × 88mm guns, 360 mines)
  • Romania 1942 (3,152 tons, 4 x 20mm guns, 80 mines)[2][3]
  • Drache 1924 (1,800 tons, 2 × 88mm guns, 120 mines)
  • Brummer 1940 (3 × 10.5 cm guns, 2 × 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns, 10 × 2 cm anti-aircraft guns, 4 × 46 cm torpedo tubes, 280 mines)
  • Oldenburg 1934 (1,200 tons, 2 × 88mm guns, 145 mines)
  • Kamerun 1939 (370 tons, 2 × 88mm guns, 100 mines)
  • Togo 1939 (370 tons, 2 × 88mm guns, 100 mines)
  • Kiebitz 1943

Sperrbrecher

  • Sperrbrecher 1 – Sperrbrecher 100 (5,000 tons, 2 × 88mm guns)

Minesweeper

  • M1935 class (875 tons, 2 × 105mm guns)
    • M1 – M69
  • M1940 class (775 tons, 1 × 105mm gun)
    • M70 – M196
  • M1943 class (825 tons, 2 × 105mm guns)
    • M197 – M214

R Boats

  • R1 class 1929 (60 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 6 mines)
    • R1 – R16
  • R17 class 1934 (115 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 12 mines)
    • R17 – R24
  • R25 class 1938 (110 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 12 mines)
    • R25 – R40
  • R41 class 1939 (125 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 12 mines)
    • R41 – R129
  • R130 class 1940 (150 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 12 mines)
    • R130 – R150
  • R151 class 1940 (125 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 12 mines)
    • R151 – R217
  • R218 class 1942 (140 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 16 mines)
    • R218 – R300
  • R301 class 1942 (160 tons, 1 × 88mm gun, 16 mines, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • R301 – R312

Mine hunters

  • KM1 – KM36

Small craft

S-boats

  • S1 class (50 tons, 1 × 20mm gun, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S1 – S25
  • S26 class (75 tons, 1 × 20mm gun, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S26 – S29
  • S30 class (80 tons, 1 × 20mm gun, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S30 – S37
  • S38 class (80 tons, 1 × 20mm gun, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S38 – S60
  • S38b class (90 tons, 2 × 20mm guns, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S61 – S99
  • S100 class (100 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S100 – S150
  • S151 class (100 tons, 1 × 37mm gun, 2 torpedo tubes)
    • S151 – S205

U-boats

Training submarines

Coastal submarines

Ocean-going submarines

  • Type VIIA
    • U-27 through U-36
  • Type VIIB
    • U-45 through U-55
    • U-73 through U-76
    • U-83 through U-87
    • U-99 through U-102
  • Type VIIC
    • U-69 through U-72
    • U-77 through U-82
    • U-88 through U-98
    • U-132 through U-136
    • U-201 through U-212
    • U-221 through U-232
    • U-235 through U-291
    • U-301 through U-316
    • U-331 through U-394
    • U-396 through U-458
    • U-465 through U-486
    • U-551 through U-683
    • U-701 through U-722
    • U-731 through U-768
    • U-771 through U-779
    • U-821 through U-822
    • U-825 and U-826
    • U-901 through U-907
    • U-921 through U-928
    • U-951 through U-994
    • U-1051 through U-1058
    • U-1101 and U-1102
    • U-1131 and U-1132
    • U-1161 and U-1162
    • U-1191 through U-1210
  • Type VIIC 41
    • U-292 through U-300
    • U-317 through U-328
    • U-827 and U-828
    • U-929 and U-930
    • U-995 through U-1010
    • U-1013 through U-1025
    • U-1063 through U-1065
    • U-1103 through U-1110
    • U-1163 through U-1172
    • U-1271 through U-1279
    • U-1301 through U-1308
  • Type IXA
    • U-37 through U-44
  • Type IXB
    • U-64 and U-65
    • U-103 through U-111
    • U-122 through U-124
  • Type IXC
    • U-66 through U-68
    • U-125 through U-131
    • U-153 through U-166
    • U-171 through U-176
    • U-501 through U-524
  • Type IXC 40
    • U-167 through U-170
    • U-183 through U-194
    • U-525 through U-550
    • U-801 through U-806
    • U-841 through U-846
    • U-853 through U-858
    • U-877 through U-882
    • U-885 through U-899
    • U-1221 through U-1235
  • Type IXD
    • U-177 through U-182
    • U-195 through U-200
    • U-847 through U-852
    • U-859 through U-864
    • U-871 through U-876

Minelaying submarines

Supply submarines

Electric boats

  • Type XXI
    • U-2501 through U-2531
    • U-2533 through U-2548
    • U-2551 and U-2552
    • U-3001 through U-3044
    • U-3501 through U-3530
  • Type XXIII
    • U-2321 through U-2371
    • U-4701 through U-4707
    • U-4709 through U-4712

Midget submarines

  • Seehund (17 tons, 2 × torpedoes)
    • 138 commissioned
  • Hecht (Training)
    • 53 commissioned
  • Biber (6.5 tons, 2 × torpedoes)
    • 324 commissioned
  • Molch (11 tons, 2 × torpedoes)
    • 393 commissioned
  • Delphin (Prototype)
    • 3 commissioned
  • Seeteufel (Prototype)
    • 1 commissioned
  • Schwertwal (Prototype)
    • 1 commissioned

Human torpedoes

  • Neger (1 × torpedo)
    • 200 commissioned
  • Marder (3 tons, 1 × torpedo)
    • 500 commissioned
  • Hai (Prototype)
    • 1 commissioned

Auxiliary ships

Troop ships

  • Cap Arcona, 1927
  • Deutschland, 1923
  • Goya, 1940
  • General von Steuben, 1923
  • Wilhelm Gustloff, 1937
  • Hamburg, 1926
  • Pretoria, 1936
  • Albert Ballin/Hansa, 1923

Artillery training ships

  • Bremse 1933 (1,800 tons, 4 × 127mm guns)
  • Brummer 1934 (3,000 tons, 8 × 105mm guns, 480 mines)

Torpedo training ships

  • Hugo Zeye, 1942

Radio-controlled targets

  • Braunschweig class
    • Hessen, 1900
  • Wittelsbach class
    • Zähringen, 1898

Sail training ships

  • Niobe, 1913
  • Gorch Fock, 1933 (Russian training ship Tovarishch)
  • Horst Wessel, 1936 (US Coast Guard Ship Eagle)
  • Albert Leo Schlageter, 1937 (Portuguese training ship Sagres)

Aviso

  • Grille, 1934

Floating anti-aircraft batteries

  • Arcona (Gazelle-class light cruiser)
  • Medusa (Gazelle class light cruiser)
  • Ariadne (ex-Dutch HNLMS Hertog Hendrik coastal defense ship)
  • Niobe (ex-Dutch HNLMS Gelderland (1898) cruiser)
  • Nymphe (ex-Norwegian HNoMS Tordenskjold coastal defense ship)
  • Thetis (ex-Norwegian HNoMS Harald Haarfagre coastal defense ship)

Escort

  • F class (700 tons, 2 × 105mm guns)
    • F 1 – F 10
  • PA class (925 tons, 1 × 105mm gun)
    • PA 1 – PA 4

Gunboats

  • LS1 – LS12
  • The Following Gunboats were generally armed with one 5.9 inch, two 37mm (1×2) and six 20mm (6×1) guns.
    • August 400 tons Launched 1936
    • Berkelstrom
    • Cascade 338 tons Launched 1937
    • Globe 314 tons Launched 1937
    • Hast I
    • Helene 400 tons Launched 1937
    • Joost
    • Kemphaan 343 tons Launched 1936
    • Nijnberg
    • Oostzee 336 tons Launched 1936
    • Ost 565 tons Launched 1939
    • Paraat
    • Polaris 322 tons Launched 1936
    • Robert Muller 399 tons Launched 1936
    • Soemba
    • Trompenberg
    • West
    • West Vlaanderen 346 tons Launched 1927

Blockade runners/Auxiliary minelayers

  • Doggerbank

Weather ships

  • Adolf Vinnen (WBS 5)
  • August Wriedt (WBS 8)
  • Berlebek (WBS 7 / WBS 14)
  • Coburg (WBS 2 )
  • Externsteine (WBS 11)
  • Hermann / Sachsen (WBS 1)
  • Hessen (WBS 11 / WBS 8)
  • Hinrich Freese (WBS 4)
  • Hoheweg (WBS 5)
  • Fritz Homann (WBS 3 / WBS 4)
  • Kehdingen WBS 6)
  • Carl J. Busch (WBS 3)
  • Lauenburg (WBS 3)
  • Leipzig
  • Merceditta (WBS 9)
  • Mob. FD 34 (WBS 10)
  • München (WBS 6)
  • Ostmark (WBS 5)
  • Sachsenwald (WBS 7)
  • Skudd 1 (WBS 10)
  • Star XV (WBS 10)
  • Teutoberger Wald (WBS 12)
  • Wuppertal (WBS 1)

Hospital ships

Fleet Tenders

Patrol boats

Many vessels were requisitioned for use as vorpostenboote during the war.

Icebreakers

  • Castor
  • Eisbär
  • Eisvogel
  • Pollux

Captured foreign warships

A significant number of foreign warships were captured and recommissioned into the Kriegsmarine.

  • Clemenceau, French battleship captured in 1940 while still under construction, but never completed. With Brest, France shipyard and drydock flooded and always under Allied bombers, it could never be completed.
  • Faà di Bruno, laid down 1915, captured 1943, commissioned as monitor Biber, surrendered in 1945 and broken up.
  • Sovetskaya Ukraina, laid down 1938, captured 1941 (never completed)
  • HNLMS O 8, captured in 1940, taken into service as UD-1 used as training ship to train crews for the German U-boats. Decommissioned in 1943.
  • HMS Seal, captured 1940, taken into service as UB
  • The Danish training ship/coastal defense ship HDMS Niels Juel (1918) was refloated after an attempted destruction of the ship via running aground during Battle of Isefjord, disarmed and used as a training ship renamed Nordland by the Kriegsmarine. Scuttled a second time 3 May 1945, scrapped 1952.[6]
  • Four Norwegian Sleipner-class destroyers, HNoMS Gyller (1938), HNoMS Odin (1939), HNoMS Tor (1939), & HNoMS Balder (1939) were captured in 1940. All four ships saw service in the Kriegsmarine.
  • Four French Flower-class corvettes, Arquebuse, Hallebarde, Sabre, & Poignard were captured in 1940 following the Fall of France. All except Poignard were completed and entered service as "Patrol vessels" PA 1 to PA 4 (the latter saw no service).
  • HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh was scuttled to prevent her capture in 1940, but was nevertheless raised and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine as ZH1 in 1942.
  • RHS Vasilefs Georgios was scuttled to prevent her captured in 1941, but was raised and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine as Hermes in 1942.
  • French Destroyer L'Opiniâtre was captured while still under construction. Germany intended to completed her, but construction was halted in 1943 and broken up for scrap that year.
  • HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (C802) and HNLMS De Ruyter (C801) light cruisers were captured in 1940 while still under construction. Renamed as KH1 and KH2 ("KH" means "Kreuzer Holland"), modified to fit an Atlantic Bow and redesigned for new German armament. Work was resume to be completed, but with very slow progress due to sabotage from the Dutch Resistance. KH1 was launched in 1944 to be use as blockship. Both ships were completed with a modernized post WW II design and commissioned into Dutch service in 1953.
  • KB Dalmacija was a WW1 Imperial Germany light cruiser (SMS Niobe), sold to Yugoslavia in 1925 (KB Dalmacija), captured by Italy in 1941 (RN Cattaro), then by Germany following the Italian Armistice in 1943 and renamed Niobe. She was sunk by British torpedo boats.
  • KB Dubrovnik was captured first by Italy in 1941 (RN Premuda), then by German following the Italian Armistice in 1943 (TA 32). She was scuttled in Genoa in 1945 following the Battle of the Ligurian Sea.
  • KB Beograd was captured first by Italy in 1941 (RN Sebenico), then by German following the Italian Armistice in 1943 (TA 43). She was sunk in Trieste, though sources vary of how so.
  • KB T3 was captured first by Italy, then by German following the Italian Armistice in 1943. She was sunk by Allied aircraft in February 1945.
  • Four Yugoslav Orjen-class torpedo boat (KB Velebit, KB Dinara, KB Triglav and KB Rudnik) were captured first by Italy in 1941 (MS 42, MS 43, MS 44 and MS 46), then by German following the Italian Armistice in 1943 (S 601, S 602, S 603 and S 604). All four were scuttled in 1944.
  • KB Zmaj was captured in 1941 and used as a troop transport until her sinking in 1944.
  • Yugoslav minelayer D2 was captured first by Italy, then by German following the Italian Armistice in 1943. She was sunk in 1944.

Unfinished ships

Aircraft carriers

  • Graf Zeppelin class
    • Graf Zeppelin, Laid down 1936, commissioned 1938 (85% complete at start of war, never completed)*
    • Flugzeugträger B, Laid Down 1938, never launched, broken up 1940*[7]

Heavy cruisers

  • Seydlitz, (uncompleted, intended for conversion into light aircraft carrier, but never completed)
  • Lützow, (sold uncompleted to Soviet Union in 1940)

Destroyers

  • Zerstörer 1936C
  • Zerstörer 1938A/Ac
  • Zerstörer 1938B
  • Zerstörer 1942: Z51 launched 1944, but bombed and never completed
  • Zerstörer 1944
  • Zerstörer 1945
  • Spähkreuzer

Torpedo boats

  • Flottentorpedoboot 1940 (Never completed)
  • Flottentorpedoboot 1941 (Never completed)
  • Flottentorpedoboot 1944 (Never completed)

A multitude of other ships also remained unfinished by the end of the war: escorts, gunboats, landing craft, fleet tenders, AA batteries, training ships, auxiliary ships, patrol boats, minelayers, mine hunters, fast torpedo attack boats (E-Boats) and more.

See also

List of ships of the Second World War

References

  • Janes Fighting Ships of World War Two. 1994 reprint of 1945/46 edition, Crescent Books, Random House, New York
  1. ^ * Janes Fighting Ships of World War Two. 1994 reprint of 1945/46 edition, Crescent Books, Random House, New York
  2. ^ Neculai Pădurariu, Reinhart Schmelzkopf, Die See-Handelsschiffe Rumäniens
  3. ^ H. T. Lenton, German warships of the Second World War, p. 374
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "KRIEGSMARINE HOSPITAL SHIPS (Lazarettschiffe)". Kbismark. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Biography of the Vessel". Kaliningrad: Museum of World Oceans. Retrieved 28 January 2017.[dead link]
  6. ^ "NIELS IUEL i tysk tjeneste (1943-1945) En: NIELS JUEL in German service (1943-1945), Søren Nørby".
  7. ^ Breyer, Stephen, "German Aircraft Carriers", Schiffer Publishing Co, Atglen, PA
  • v
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Organization
Predecessor groups
Ships
Capital ships
  • Scharnhorst class
  • Bismarck class
  • Deutschland class
Heavy cruisers
  • Deutschland class
  • Admiral Hipper class
Light cruisers
  • Emden
  • Königsberg class
  • Leipzig class
Smaller craft
Submarines
Other craft
FlotillasShore ForcesBattles and engagements
Battles
Campaigns
Operations
Actions
Sieges
Uniforms and awards