German Navy sets course for expeditionary roles

janes.com ^ | 26 February 2008 | Alex Pape

[Tailgunner Joe]

Some 10 years ago, following a review of the post-Second World War constitution that had restricted it to a territorial defence role, Germany's Federal Defence Force (Bundeswehr) was in mid-step towards a new post-Cold War modus operandi. ...The late 1990s saw the German Army and air force participate in combat operations for the first time since 1955.

Although the German Navy (Deutsche Marine) was the first service to venture out of area, deploying mine countermeasures vessels to the eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf in 1990-01, it remained less visible throughout the latter part of the decade.

This changed early in the new millennium following 9/11 and the ensuing NATO operations 'Active Endeavour' (OAE) in the Mediterranean and 'Enduring Freedom' (OEF) off the Horn of Africa, and by 2008 the navy's warships were spending ever longer periods of time away from their home ports.

Now, the navy again finds itself in a period of significant transformation as it prepares for another leap forward. The first platforms acquired specifically for international operations in the littoral are on the verge of entering service and the next class of surface combatants designed for stabilisation operations are on order.

Since the new Defence Policy Guidelines were published in May 2003, additional tasks that go beyond the protection of Germany's territory and citizens and the support of its NATO alliance partners have become enshrined in official doctrine.

The new priorities were elaborated further in the first defence White Paper to be issued in Germany for 12 years, the 'White Paper 2006 on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr'.

According to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Wolfgang Nolting, the White Paper "re-iterates the navy's expeditionary character and its special responsibility for the seaward security of our country".

[bill1952]

>Now, the navy again finds itself in a period of significant transformation as it prepares for another leap forward...

Let me know when it gets back to an 1893 status.

[Emperor Palpatine]

More power to them. In WWII the Kriegsmarine was the service least infested with Nazi ideology. Räder and Dönitz both protected Jewish officers and sailors from any harm.

Besides, they built one of the greatest warships of all time, one that took the whole British fleet to find and try to sink. A ship that sent the pride of the Royal Navy to the bottom with one shot.

[agere_contra]

Actually they built two of those. Oddly enough the second one (the Tirpitz) was sunk in a single shot.

[JG52blackman]

actually Tirpitz was sunk by bombers dropping huge bombs called “tallboys”. I got this excerpt from Wikipedia: Tirpitz was finally sunk immediately to the west of Tromsø, in the bay of Håkøybotn, on 12 November 1944 by 9 Squadron Lancasters with Tallboys on their third attempt. The ship was struck by three Tallboys. One glanced off turret armour, but the other two pierced the ship’s armour and blew a 200 foot hole into her port side. Soon after, internal fires set off a magazine and blew off “C” turret. Tirpitz capsized within minutes of the attack, and close to 1,000 German sailors, out of 1,700 aboard, died.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Yeah, but it took the RAF how many tries and only when they had their superbomb the “Tallboy”.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Even so. It doesn't compare to the one shot from "Bismarck" blowing the "Hood" in half and sinking her in less than two minutes.

After that they disabled another RN battleship "Prince of Wales" one shot hitting the bridge killing all there but the captain.

[PzLdr]

Oddly enough, it wasn’t. After an X class submarine planted a rather large charge under TIRPITZ, she was damaged, but not sunk. Several air raids by the RAF scored “bupkus”. It took 633 Squadron and specially designed 6,000 lb. “Tall Boy” bombs and [I believe] three hits to sink her in Altenfijord. The Germans built them tough.

[PzLdr]

SCHARNHORST and GNIESENAU weren’t too shabby, either. SCHARNHORST is still the only surface warship I can think of that sank an enemy fleet carrier [H.M.S GLORIOUS] in action [June 8, 1940, off Norway].

The two of them sunk something like 115,000 tons of shipping during early 1941 [under Admiral Gunther Lutjens, who died on BISMARCK].

There’s a famous picture of Lutjens and Hitler when the latter inspected BISMARCK. Of everyone in the shot, Lutjens was the only one rendering Hitler a military salute.

[PzLdr]

A lot of that had to do with PRINZ EUGEN. When HOOD and PRINCE OF WALES closed on the morning of the 24th, EUGEN and BISMARCK had changed position, with EUGEN ahead. The British engaged EUGEN, thinking she was BISMARCK [same silhouette], giving BISMARCK at least several minutes to lay her guns, while EUGEN, which hit HOOD at some 12 miles plus with 8” sent Bismarck her fire control data. HOOD was sunk within five salvoes from BISMARCK. EUGEN’S gunnery officer has never gotten the credit he should have.

[PzLdr]

Turns out BISMARCK DID sink from scuttling.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Yet in the, (not bad for 1960-the models are very good), movie with Kenneth More, "Sink The Bismarck!" they have Admiral Lütjens giving a pep talk to the crew as they leave Norway to begin their sortie. Lütjens, (played wonderfully by character actor Karel Stepanek), says "You will tell tales of German sea power and stories of Nazi victories. To all of you I say this - never forget that you are Germans, never forget that you are Nazis!"

The historical irony being that the aristocratic Günter Lütjens was an ardent anti-Nazi who thought the Nazis were low-class bully boys and mindless goons. In November 1938 Lütjens was one of only three flag officers who protested in writing against the Kristallnacht.

"Wikipedia" says this about him: "...in the film Lütjens is portrayed as egotistic, overconfident, and a Nazi enthusiast angered over Germany's humiliation and his own lack of recognition at the end of the First World War. In reality, Lütjens was pessimistic of the chance of success of the Bismarck's mission, and did not agree with Nazi policies--he was one of the few officers who refused to give the Nazi salute when Hitler visited the Bismarck before its first and final mission, substituting for it the traditional naval salute. Lütjens also wore by choice the dirk of the Kaiserliche Marine, rather than the more modern Kriegsmarine dirk which bore a swastika."

The postwar German Navy named a guided missile destroyer "FGS Lütjens" (D185), which served until 2003.



I have respect and admiration for the man.

[PzLdr]

Me too. I think he was burned out by the time he took out BISMARCK and PRINZ EUGEN. Lutjens had been in combat in 1939 [SCHARNHORST and GNIESENAU sink RAWALPINDI], 1940 [SCHARNHORST and GNIESENAU in opening moves in Norway], and the 1941 raid with the same two ships before the BISMARCK operation. I believe he’d logged more combat time than any other German Admiral up to that point.

[PzLdr]

Major mistake in the movie’s Denmark Strait battle is having BISMACK as the lead ship for the Germans. And they left out Lindemannn’s immortal comment about refusing to have his ship shot out from under his a*s when he ordered BISMARCK to fire since Lutjens didn’t. And couldn’t they have gotten somebody who looked a LITTLE bit like Lindemann to play the part, instead of the Italian guy who needed a shave in every scene?

[Emperor Palpatine]

Actually, Lindemann was played by Carl Möhner, who was born in Vienna. He died in 2005. Besides acting, the man was an artist of some note, too.