What is Kriegsmarine?
[[File:Kriegsmarine insignia casco.svg|thumb|right|150px|{{Center|Kriegsmarine symbol}}]] The '''''Kriegsmarine''''' ({{IPA-de|ˈkʁiːksmaˌʁiːnə}}, ''War Navy'') was the [[Navy]] of [[Weimar Republic]] from 1919 to 1935 and [[Nazi Germany]] from 1935 to 1945. It replaced the Imperial German Navy of [[World War I]] and the inter-war ''Reichsmarine''. The ''Kriegsmarine'' was one of three official branches of the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'', the armed forces of [[Nazi Germany]]. == History == The ''Kriegsmarine'' was developed during the German naval re[[wikt:armament|armament]] of the 1930s. The [[Treaty of Versailles]] had limited the size of the German navy after World War I. It also prevented Germany from building [[submarine]]s.<ref name=Williamson5>Gordon Williamson, ''Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939-45'' (London: Osprey Publishing, 2014), p. 5</ref> But by 1934 Germany had [[secret]]ly [[:en:wikt:stockpile|stockpiled]] most of the parts they needed to construct submarines (called [[U-boat]]s).<ref name=Williamson5/> In early 1935 [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] ordered the U-boats to be built.<ref name=Williamson5/> In January 1939 [[Plan Z]] was ordered, calling for the construction of many surface [[warship|naval vessels]]. The ships of the ''Kriegsmarine'' fought during the [[Spanish Civil War]] and [[World War II]]. The [[commander]] of the ''Kriegsmarine'' was [[Karl Dönitz]].<ref>Geirr H. Haarr, ''The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939-April 1940'' (Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2013), p. 28</ref> == Ships == The Kriegsmarine's most famous ships were the U-boats. Most of them were built after [[Plan Z]] was [[wikt:abandon|abandon]]ed at the beginning of World War II.<ref>Bruce Watson, ''Atlantic Convoys and Nazi Raiders: The Deadly Voyage of HMS Jervis Bay'' (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2006), p. 127</ref> [[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|Wolfpacks]] were groups of submarines that attacked British convoys. Most of the attacks were during the first half of the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. Along wit