A navy at war
Explore the Kriegsmarine archive
Established in 1935, the Kriegsmarine entered the Second World War without the balanced fleet its planners had envisaged. Its surface forces ranged from battleships and cruisers to destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines and the numerous smaller vessels required for coastal warfare and fleet support.
The archive separates ships that entered German service from the unrealized Z-Plan and from vessels seized in occupied countries. Operational maps and a searchable record of major Allied warship losses provide further routes into the surviving material.
01
The fleet and coastal forces
Ships
Twenty categories cover capital ships, submarines, escorts, coastal craft and fleet auxiliaries.Explore the ships → 02The projected ocean fleet
Z-Plan
Battleships, carriers, cruisers and commerce-raiding designs from Germany's abandoned construction program.Explore the projects → 03Ships from occupied Europe
Captured Ships
Foreign warships taken over, completed or adapted for German service.Explore captured ships → 04Movements and encounters
Operations
Animated maps trace deployments, battles and the loss of German surface forces.Explore operations → 05Recorded enemy losses
Victories
A searchable historical record of major Allied warships attributed to German naval action.Search the records → 06Research and historical context