German Navy

Main article: Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr)

History

2024

Large purchases and modernization of equipment

In 2024, the naval forces remain in the focus of the attention of German military leaders. Deliveries and modernization of a wide range of weapons are expected:

• 9 medium-range boats (3.88 million each, 2024-2025),

• 8 P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft (366 million each),

• 600 offshore RAM Block 2B (934 thousand each) and RIM-7 Sea Sparrow (269 million),

• 3 class 424 service vessels (386.6 million each, 2029-2031),

• 4 long-range underwater UAVs (13.1 million each, until 2025),

• modernization of 4 class 123 frigates (300 million each, 2026-2029),

• 48 Mk 54 light torpedoes.

The German navy still uses 8-inch floppy disks, which disappeared from everyday life back in the early 80s

In mid-July 2024, it became known that the German Navy was selecting a new data storage system to replace the outdated 8-inch floppy disks that are necessary for the operation of the Brandenburg F123-class frigates. According to the official tender document, the ideal response to the problems of the German Navy would be a system capable of working with old floppy disks using new technologies.

German F123-class frigates "Brandenburg" were commissioned in the mid-1990s, and during that period floppy disks were considered as a convenient removable storage medium. The respective actuators are built into the frigate's data collection system and are thus fundamental to the control of the ship's basic functions, such as propulsion and power generation. However, in the modern world, F123 frigates used for hunting submarines require modernization.

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Фото: Wikipedia

Replacing computer equipment thirty years ago, while maintaining the full functionality of existing floppy disks, will not be easy. However, the German Navy is not the first to encounter a similar problem, and there are many options available on the market for using new technologies for emulating floppy disks, such as Gotek drives. There are other workable solutions, and it all depends on who exactly the German Navy will choose to implement the project.

As an example of other systems that still run on floppy disks and require urgent modernization, train control systems in San Francisco and a computer control system for German railways can be cited. Even the U.S. Strategic Automated Management and Control System (SACCS) has only been transitioned to solid-state storage solutions in 2019.^[1]

Failure in the defeat of an American drone in the Red Sea by the frigate "Hesse"

In February 2024, the frigate of the German Navy "Hesse," located in the Red Sea as part of the intercity coalition to contain the Yemeni Houthis, fell into a comical situation.

On February 26, a drone was displayed on the ship's radar, which was identified as enemy. German sailors immediately launched two SM-2 missiles at the target.

However, it turned out that the drone was the American MQ-9 "Reaper." The absurdity of the situation is that the missiles did not reach the target and fell into the sea. The ceiling of the MQ-9 Reaper is 12 km, the maximum height of the SM-2 missiles is 20 km.

1919

A German submarine washed ashore in Sussex, Britain, 1919

1914: Cruiser "Emden" sinks or captures 23 merchant vessels and destroys two enemy warships

Main article: World War I

During her World War I cruising, the German "Emden" sank or captured 23 merchant vessels and destroyed two enemy warships. It is noteworthy that not a single person died as a result of his actions on the captured merchant ships. Thanks to this, Emden was warmly treated by the then journalists, who called him the "white swan of the East." The history of the operation for the publication Warspot was described in detail by Eduard Evdokimovsky^[2].

On August 2, 1914, a telegram was received on board the German cruiser Emden, located in Qingdao, China, announcing the outbreak of the German war against Russia.

Contrary to the original plans to move south, Captain Muller decided to lead his ship north to the Tsushima Strait, hoping to take the enemy by surprise. His calculation was justified when on August 3 at 4 am at the entrance to the Tsushima Strait, German signalmen noticed the silhouette of an unknown vessel. Seeing the Emden, she tried to hide in neutral waters off Tsushima Island, but could not get away from the cruiser. However, the ship stopped only after the Germans fired several shots with live shells that lay next to it.

Stopping, the ship raised Russian flags. The trophy turned out to be the cargo-passenger steamer of the Ryazan Volunteer Fleet with a displacement of 3500 tons, en route with 80 passengers from Nagasaki to Vladivostok.

Due to the presence of women on board the Russian ship, Muller decided to bring him to Qingdao. Due to the high speed that the steamer showed when avoiding the chase (at least 17 knots), it was decided to convert it into an auxiliary cruiser. A prize batch was sent to the ship, after which Emden and Ryazan headed back to Qingdao, where they arrived on August 6.

Passengers of the Ryazan were sent by rail to Vladivostok, and the ship was renamed the auxiliary cruiser Kormoran and installed weapons on it, removed from the old gunboat, which previously bore the same name. On the Emden, coal and food supplies were replenished, and in the evening of the same day she went to sea along with the steamboats Prince Eitel Friedrich (a former mail ship converted into an auxiliary cruiser) and Marcomania (coal miner). The course of the cruiser lay on Pagan (Mariana Islands), where a meeting with the von Spee squadron was to take place.

The passage across the Pacific Ocean took place safely, and on August 12, the sailors of "Emden" saw the German ships. Armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, small (armored) cruisers Emden and Nuremberg, auxiliary cruiser Prince Eitel Friedrich, coal miner Marcomania and a number of auxiliary vessels gathered in the Mariana Islands.

The next day, a meeting of ship commanders took place on board the Scharnhorst. On it, von Spee expressed his view of the current situation - in his opinion, entering the war Japan on the side of the Allies was almost inevitable. In this case, the squadron would be in a very vulnerable position, being surrounded by enemy bases and deprived of coal supply. According to von Spee, the squadron had to go to the shores, Chile whose government was sympathetic to. In Germany Chilean ports, it was possible to replenish coal and food supplies, as well as get in touch with German agents.

Having stated his views, the admiral asked the ship commanders to speak out. Muller proposed sending light cruisers (or at least one Emden) to the Indian Ocean, where busy shipping routes took place, and trying to paralyze sea traffic in the region. From his point of view, the combat value of the light cruiser was relatively small, so as part of the squadron it would bring little benefit, moreover, it was much easier to organize its supply with coal than the entire squadron. Mueller was supported by the chief of staff, and in the end von Spee agreed.

The next day, 14 August 1914, the squadron left Pagan, with "Emden" permitted to conduct independent operations in the Indian Ocean. Together with him, the coal miner "Markomania" went there.

On August 19, Emden and Marcomania reached the island of Palau, which belonged to Germany, where bunkering and exchange of news with the German steamer Princess Alice took place. Then "Emden" continued its voyage on a southwestern course. Finally, he approached the Sunda archipelago, which had to be bypassed in order to find himself in the vastness of the Indian Ocean. Since fishing ships were constantly scurrying in the straits around the islands, and it would not have been possible to quietly slip past them even at night, Lieutenant Mücke thought to build a fake fourth chimney so that the Emden would at least look like the English cruiser Yarmouth from afar. At first, the improvised pipe was built quickly, from tarps and wooden racks, and only then, when the threat of direct detection passed, a temporary pipe was built, which really looked like a real one. On the night of August 28, Emden safely passed through the Lombok Strait, leading directly to the Indian Ocean.

The cruiser's route now ran along the east coast of the islands of Java and Sumatra. On September 4 and 5, Emden once again received coal from Marcomania near the Dutch island of Simollier.

On the night of September 9-10, the lights of a single vessel were seen from the cruiser. After rapprochement with the ship, the Germans stopped it. The prize team reported that the ship belongs to Greece, is called Pontoporos and goes with a cargo of coal to Calcutta. Since the coal was intended for the British, it could be confiscated as military mining. The captain of the Greek ship was immediately offered to switch to the German side - naturally, with generous compensation. Apparently, the Greek did not care for whom to carry coal, so he immediately agreed, and the Pontoporos became the Emden coal miner. Thus, Emden acquired a coal miner with 6,500 tons of coal, kept its location secret and kept fuel from Marcomania for a black day - especially since its reserves were already half exhausted. It spoiled the picture only that the coal on the Pontoporos was of disgusting quality, and he himself could not reach a speed of more than 9 knots.

On the morning of September 10, a column of smoke appeared on the horizon. Rushing there, "Emden" discovered a large steamer, which itself headed for him, apparently mistaking him for an English cruiser. After a warning shot and a stop, it turned out that this was the English steamer "Hindu," converted into a military transport - however, without soldiers on board. After unloading "Hindu" and "freeing" her from supplies that "Emden's" crew badly needed, the steamer was sunk. The Hindu team was stationed on board the Marcomania, which for a time became a home for prisoners of war.

"Emden" in the Indian Ocean, 11 September 1914

On September 11, another steamer was stopped - it turned out to be the English passenger liner "Lowvet," which was sailing empty. Then everything went according to an almost familiar scheme - transporting a team to a coal miner, opening kingstons and several shots at the waterline to accelerate flooding.

On September 12, Emden took a very advantageous position on the way along which the ships went to and from Calcutta. Its location was still not disclosed, and therefore the prey "itself went into hands." In the evening, the Germans stopped the English cargo ship "Kabinga," the cargo of which according to the documents belonged to the United States. Fearing by his actions to spoil relations with the still neutral country, Muller decided to release the Cabinga, transferring the crews of the sunken ships to it, but not earlier than Emden would leave the area of ​ ​ its hunt.

A few hours later, the next steamer was stopped. It turned out to be the Killeen coal miner with a load of coal. Despite the valuable cargo, it was decided to sink the steamer the next day, as it turned out to be even slower than the Pontoporos.

On the morning of September 13, the Germans caught another victim - the new steamer Diplomat, sailing with ten thousand tons of tea from Calcutta to England. It was a very expensive cargo worth about $1.5 million, at that time - the most valuable production of Emden. Before they had time to place subversive charges on the Diplomat, the cruiser found another prey - the Italian steamer Loredano (neutral). Taking the word from the captain not to talk about the meeting with the Emden, the ship was released, and the Diplomat was allowed to the bottom.

On September 14, Muller decided to release the "Cabinga" with the crews of sunk ships. While people were being transported to the "Cabinga," another smoke was seen on the horizon from the "Emden" - as it turned out, belonged to the English steamer "Trabboch." His team went to the "Cabinga" and he was sunk. Releasing the "Cabinga" to Calcutta, Muller understood that the whole world would soon know about him, and it would be impossible to stay in this area.

On 15 September, having destroyed another English steamer ("Clan Matheson" with a valuable cargo of cars, locomotives and steam engines), "Emden" sailed towards Rangoon. However, by that time, the news that the German cruiser was operating in the Bay of Bengal had already flown around the world - perhaps that is why the sea was empty. In addition, the British cruisers intensified, which began an active search for Emden. Upon meeting a single neutral steamer, the captain transferred the Matheson Clan crew to it.

Having successfully hunted transport vessels in the Calcutta area, the commander of "Emden" decided to raid the port of Madras, located on the east coast of India. The Germans knew about the presence in the port of a large number of oil tanks, which were an excellent target. Muller's main goal was to sow panic in India, increase anti-English sentiments there and, rather than joke, provoke, if not an uprising against the English crown, then at least civil unrest.

Emden approached Madras on the night of September 22-23. In order to disguise, a fake chimney was again installed on the cruiser. Approaching Madras, the Emden team was surprised to notice that the coastal lights were burning brightly and the beacons were working as if war had not begun. The Germans were clearly not expected here. Turning rightward to shore, "Emden" turned on the battle spotlights, "groping" the tall oil tanks ashore. The cruiser's guns opened fire from a distance of 3000 m. After several volleys, oil in the tanks caught fire, brightly illuminating everything around. Having extinguished the floodlights, the Germans continued to shoot. The Madras Shore Battery returned fire, but after firing only 9 shots, fell silent as it no longer saw its target. On the Emden, they observed the fall of three shells that fell quite close to it. Determined not to test fate again, Mueller ordered the shooting to be stopped and turned away at sea. The guns of "Emden" managed to make 130 shots.

Burning oil storage in Madras, 1914

The effect of the shelling was very significant. 5,000 tons of oil burned down in oil storage facilities, but this was not even the main result. As Muller hoped, panic began in Madras, the white population of the city rushed to flee inland, not believing that the authorities were able to protect them from the elusive corsair. The cost of insurance for transported goods soared to the heavens, and captains refused to go to sea until they were guaranteed complete safety. In short, the effect of the shelling of Madras exceeded all expectations, making Muller the most famous person in all of Asia.

Departing Madras, "Emden" turned on the running lights for a period of time and moved northbound to confuse the enemy. In fact, Muller's plans included a visit to the area south of Ceylon, where there was busy shipping. Soon, luck smiled again for the Germans - on September 25, they sank the King Lad and Timerick steamships.

The next day, the Greifewell steamer was stopped, sailing in ballast (later prisoners were transferred to it and released).

On September 27, another victim was caught - it turned out to be the Buresk coal miner with 6,500 tons of excellent coal for the English fleet. Now you could not worry about fuel reserves for a long time. The next victims were the steamboats Ribera and Foyle.

After such a successful cruising, it was decided to release the empty Marcomania to meet with the Pontoporos, from which it was necessary to overload coal, pay the crew and release the Greek ship in peace. According to Muller's plan, after that, Marcomania was supposed to go to one of the Dutch ports, take food and water supplies for Emden and meet with him in early November at the agreed place. The role of the main supply vessel all this time was to be played by Buresk.

Having said goodbye to "Marcomania" (no one then knew that forever), "Emden" went south to the Chagos archipelago. On October 9, having met no one on the way, the cruiser arrived in Diego Garcia, the main port of this archipelago. Muller decided, taking advantage of the remoteness of this place from the shipping lines, to clean the bottom of the Emden from algae, to do minor repairs and give the team time to rest. The complexity of the situation was that these islands belonged to England. However, in the port of Diego Garcia, which did not have a radio station, they still did not know that the war had begun. Muller did not notify the local governor about this and kindly received him on board his cruiser. As a sign of his friendly disposition, the governor sent supplies of fresh food to the Emden, and the German sailors repaired his broken boat.

On 10 October, "Emden" and "Bouresque" departed Diego Garcia. As it turned out, the flair did not let Muller down again - soon after the Germans left, the British armored cruiser Hampshire came to port. What a surprise to his captain when he found out that a German cruiser had recently been visiting here! Obviously, the governor of the island was no less surprised, realizing that he had helped the enemy, not knowing it.

From the radio interception, Muller knew that the British were not waiting for him in the area that he had recently left. Therefore, the Germans decided to return north again, to the area between Ceylon and Aden. And again, the hunting flair did not let Muller down: from October 16 to 19, Emden captured seven prizes. According to the already established tradition, one ship was released with the crews of other ships, another (Exford) began to be used as a coal miner, and the rest of the Germans sank.

Having hunted again, Muller decided to head for the shores of the Malay Peninsula, planning to attack the British port of Penang and catch merchant ships or some Allied warship there by surprise. As a result of a successful night attack, the Germans managed to sink the Russian cruiser Pearl and the French destroyer Muske without any losses and damage on their part. The fame of Muller and his ship soared to heaven.

After a successful attack on Penang, Muller decided to destroy the British telegraph and cable station in the Cocos Islands in order to break the direct connection between India and Australia.

Route of the cruiser "Emden" in 1914

Early in the morning of November 9, Emden approached the northern tip of the Directorate Island, on which the station was located. For some unknown reason, the always cautious Muller broke the radio silence and went on the air, calling the Buresk coal miner. After catching an unknown signal, the British telegraph operators decided to check what was happening on the raid. Looking out the window, they found an unknown warship standing at the entrance to the harbor, and immediately went on the air with an SOS signal. Muller counted on the surprise of the appearance of the Emden, which would allow him to freely land a landing party on the island, destroy the station and have time to leave before any British warship called to help appears there. Alas, the "limit of luck" released by "Emden" and his team has dried up. Muller did not know that just at that time a large convoy with a solid cover of warships was passing near the Cocos Islands. Of its composition, the Australian cruiser Sydney was separated under the command of Captain John Glossop, who headed for the island to find out what caused the SOS signals. It took about two hours of travel at top speed to reach its destination.

Frigatten-Capt. Carl von Müller (L) and Capt. John Glossop (R)

Meanwhile, three boats with an amphibious party of 50 men were lowered from "Emden." It was headed by senior assistant Lieutenant von Mücke. Muller could not single out more people, since part of the team was on captured coal miners (however, serious resistance was not expected on the island). Soon, the mast with the British flag flying on it collapsed, which meant the seizure of the radio station. Now it was necessary to give the landing time to destroy the equipment.

Around 9 a.m., the Germans saw a column of smoke rapidly approaching the island. At first, the Emden thought that this was the Buresk caused by them, but soon the signalmen saw four pipes and two inclined masts. After three months of hunting, the British still managed to overtake the Emden, and by sheer chance, and not thanks to the efforts to capture it.

It was 9:15 on the clock. Despite the fact that the landing was immediately recalled, there was no time left to wait for his return. "Emden" was hastily anchored, breeding pairs in all boilers. The approaching ship was first identified as a Newcastle-class cruiser, although in fact "Sydney" belonged to a much stronger class of Chatham-class cruisers. He was larger and faster than the Emden, much better armed and protected - in a word, in all respects superior to his enemy. In the side salvo, the British could use five 152-mm guns (the weight of the side salvo is 205 kg), against five 105-mm guns at Emden (the weight of the side salvo is 72 kg). Muller could only count on learning his commandants and a successful hit that would disable the Australian cruiser before he could destroy the Emden.

At 9:40, the Germans fired the first salvo from a distance of about 10,000 m - the shells lay only a hundred meters from the Sydney. The Germans managed to achieve cover with the second salvo and, according to Australian officers, for the next 10 minutes the Sydney was under very dense and well-aimed fire. The next salvo hit, but the shell passed through the bridge and the bow rangefinder post without exploding. If it had exploded, it is possible that the commander of the Sydney and the artillery officer who were on the bridge would have died.

A few minutes later, German shells destroyed the aft rangefinder post. It began to seem that luck would smile at the Germans again. Soon the eighth salvo shell exploded next to one of the guns aboard the Australian cruiser. The explosion set fire to gunpowder charges lying nearby, and disabled the calculation of the gun. The last shell to hit Sydney exploded in the ammunition feed shaft. Gunpowder charges caught fire again, and if the fire had penetrated the cellar, the Australian cruiser would have taken off. But the ship and its crew saved the courage of the young man Tom Williamson, who managed to extinguish the fire (he would later be awarded the Victoria Cross for this).

In total, Sydney was hit by fifteen shells, of which only five exploded. The losses of the Australians amounted to 3 killed (another seriously wounded died after the battle) and twelve wounded. All damage was received by the Australian cruiser at the beginning of the battle, because after the "Emden" in turn began to receive hits, the accuracy and rate of fire of its shooting dropped sharply.

Having recovered from the hits received, the Australians opened fire. Despite the loss of both rangefinder posts, by the third salvo they achieved two hits, destroying the radio gun and one of the Emden's bow guns. Then the hit followed the hit, methodically destroying the German cruiser. Soon, both rangefinders and intercom pipes were destroyed on it, with the help of which commands to the guns were transmitted. The bow chimney was broken at the base and fell overboard. The fire of the Germans weakened significantly, and they no longer managed to achieve a single hit in "Sydney."

Soon, a second chimney fell on the Emden. The shells destroyed the distribution electrical panels, as a result of which the elevators stopped, supplying shells to the guns (now it was necessary to lift them manually). The rate of fire of the remaining guns decreased sharply. The steering car also failed, leaving the Emden with the ability to be controlled only by cars. Another hit caused an explosion of ammunition in the stern and a strong fire, which was practically no one to extinguish due to large losses in the crew.

Realizing that the end was already near, the Germans decided to torpedo the enemy ship, but Sydney did not let them into the distance of a torpedo salvo, taking advantage of the superiority in speed, and the Emden torpedo compartment was soon flooded. At 10:40 "Sydney" himself fired a torpedo, but she passed the enemy. After making sure that further continuation of the battle was pointless, Mueller directed his ship to the rocks of North Keeling Island to rescue the surviving crew members. It was 11:15 on the clock.

Meanwhile, Buresk appeared on the horizon. Seeing that "Emden" was no longer resisting, "Sydney" rushed to the coal miner. At the sight of the Australian cruiser, the Germans sank their ship and got on board the Sydney as prisoners of war. Returning to "Emden" at about 16:00, the commander of "Sydney" was surprised to see a German naval flag continue to fly on the remaining mast. Having sent several inquiries about whether Emden was surrendering and not receiving a clear answer, Sydney, according to its captain, "with great reluctance" at 16:30 again opened fire to defeat. At 16:35, the Germans lowered the Kaiser and raised the white flag, after which the fire stopped.

Having sent part of the Buresk crew with medicines and water to Emden, Sydney again left the battle site and headed for the Directorate Island to capture the enemy landing party. However, having arrived there, the Australians did not find any Germans on the island. Seeing that Emden was losing the battle, they did not wait for the Australians to come to the island, and managed to hide, capturing the three-masted schooner Aisha. On it, German sailors went on a long journey home, full of dangers and adventures that any novel would envy.

According to Muller's report, 134 people were killed in the battle near the Cocos Islands from the Emden team, and another 65 were injured.

Captain Muller and his crew spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Malta. In 1918, Muller, due to poor health, was released to his homeland, where he was charged with losing the cruiser. However, the charge was soon dropped, and Muller was awarded the Order of Pour le Mérite, and also promoted to captain zur see. In 1919, Muller retired for health reasons, and died in 1923.

In honor of the Emden, two German cruisers and two frigates built in Germany after World War II were successively named. The cruiser's hulk remained on the rocks of North Keeling Island until the 1950s until it was disassembled for metal.

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