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The Kriegsmarine or "War Navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi reign. The war vessels available to the Kriegsmarine were U-boats, pocket battleships and limited smaller ships such as cruisers, destroyers and E-boats.
The main battles the navy fought were the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the River Plate. Somewhat smaller engagements included the sinkings of the HMS Royal Oak, HMS Glorious, Bismarck, HMS Hood, Scharnhorst and Cap Arcona.
The German Navy of today is called Deutsche Marine.
- COMPARATIVE RANKS (during WWII)
German Navy U.S./British Navy
Grossadmiral (Grandadmiral) Admiral of the Fleet
Generaladmiral (none)
Admiral Admiral
Vizeadmiral Vice Admiral
Konteradmiral Rear Admiral
Kommodore Commodore
Kapitaen zur See Captain
Fregattenkapitaen Captain (Junior)
Korvettenkapitaen Commander
Kapitaenleutnant Lt. Commander
Oberleutnant zur See Lieutenant (Senior)
Leutnant zur See Lieutenant (Jg.)(Junior)
Oberfahnrich zur See Ensign/Sub-Lieutenant
Fahnrich zur See Cadet/Midshipman
Top 10 U-Boat Aces WWII
266,629 tons (44 ships sunk) Otto Kretschmer
225,712 tons (43 ships) Wolfgang Luth
193,684 tons (34 ships) Erich Topp
186,064 tons (29 ships) Karl-Friedrich Mertn
171,164 tons (34 ships) Victor Schutze
171,122 tons (26 ships) Herbert Schultze
167,601 tons (28 ships) Georg Lassen
166,596 tons (22 ships) Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
162,333 tons (30 ships) Heinrich Liebe
160,939 tons (28 ships) Gunther Prien
 Hitler and Regent Horthy of Hungary observing Kriegsmarine U-Boat maneuvers in 1938 See also
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