Reichsmarine

The Reichsmarine ('Reich Navy') was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it was renamed as the Kriegsmarine (War Navy), a branch of the Wehrmacht; a change implemented by Adolf Hitler. Many of the administrative and organizational tenets of the Reichsmarine were then carried over into the organization of the Kriegsmarine.

The Vorläufige Reichsmarine (lit. 'Provisional Reich Navy') was formed after the end of World War I from the Imperial German Navy.

The provisions of the Treaty of Versailles restricted the German Navy to 15,000 men and no submarines, while the fleet was limited to six pre-dreadnought battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo boats. Replacements for the outdated battleships were restricted to a maximum size of 10,000 tons.

The Reichsmarine was considered the armed naval force of the Reichswehrministerium (Ministry of the Reichswehr) which was headed by a civilian minister appointed by the Weimar government. The senior most naval officer was known until 1920 as the Chef der Admiralität (Chief of the Admiralty), after which the title changed to Chef der Marineleitung (Chief of the Naval Command).

The naval commander oversaw a headquarters office known as the Marinekommandiertenabteilung which was headquartered in Berlin. The Naval Command also maintained a headquarters intelligence office Marinenachrichtenoffizier) and a naval archives. Internal to the naval headquarters five offices known as the:

The following officers served as head of the Reichsmarine from 1918 to 1935

The fleet command of the Reichsmarine (Flottenkommando) was headquartered at Kiel and consisted of a flag staff and fleet commander embarked on board the flagship of the German fleet. During the 1920s, the German flagship was the battleship Schleswig-Holstein with two naval officers serving as fleet commander, Vizeadmiral Hans Zenker and Konrad Mommsen, between 1923 and 1927. The fleet commander position was then left vacant, but the flag staff remained.

The purpose of the fleet command was to oversee the four major type commanders of German naval vessels. These commands were in turn responsible for the administration of various German ship classes to include equipment development, vessel deployments, and personnel assignment. Once at sea, operational control of the vessels switched to the commanders of the two main Naval Sea Stations. The four type commands were: