The Naval Historical Team (NHT) was established by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

in 1949. It was a group of German naval officers under American orders to reappraise the naval war history of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

from the German perspective. The group was under control of the

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serve ...

. At the end of 1952, the NHT was disbanded, but was re-established in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

in 1954. Under the leadership of Captain

Arthur H. Graubart Arthur Harrison "Speedy" Graubart (December 8, 1901 – August 12, 2003) was a United States Navy Captain (naval), captain, and the last commander of the heavy cruiser German cruiser Prinz Eugen, ''Prinz Eugen'' after the ship's transfer as a war ...

, Chief of Naval Intelligence in Germany, the NHT first met on 9 April 1949 in Bremerhaven. The staff included '' Generaladmiral'' a. D.

Otto Schniewind Otto Schniewind (14 December 1887 – 26 March 1964) was a German General Admiral during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Career Schniewind entered the Kaiserliche Marine in 1907 as a cad ...

,''außer Dienst'' (a.D.) stands for out of office or retired. ''

Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...

'' a. D. Friedrich Ruge, ''Vizeadmiral'' a. D.

Hellmuth Heye Hellmuth Guido Alexander Heye (9 August 1895 – 10 November 1970) was a German admiral in World War II and politician in post-war Germany. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Naval career Heye graduated ...

, ''

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...

'' a. D. Gerhard Wagner and ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

'' a. D. Gaul. Temporarily it was further augmented by ''Konteradmiral'' a. D. Eberhard Godt, ''

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

'' a. D.

Hans-Rudolf Rösing Hans-Rudolf Rösing (28 September 1905 – 16 December 2004) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and later served in the Bundesmarine of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, of Nazi ...

and ''

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

'' a. D. Karl-Adolf Zenker. The group considered itself an incubator of a future West German navy, an aspiration culminating in Ruge's appointment as the first inspector of the ''

Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

'', with Wagner as his deputy, in 1957. The primary interest of the U.S. Navy was in the German war experiences fighting against the Soviet Navy, which the U.S. Navy wanted to leverage in a possible war at sea with the Soviet Union. The findings of the NHT significantly influenced the conception of the new ''Bundesmarine'' formed in 1956.

Notes

References

* Corum, James S. (2011). ''Rearming Germany Volume 64''. Brill. . * Greiner, Christian (1982): "Operational History (German) Section" und "Naval Historical Team". Deutsches militärstrategisches Denken im Dienst der amerikanischen Streitkräfte von 1946 bis 1950." In: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Hrsg.): ''Militärgeschichte. Probleme - Thesen - Wege.'' Stuttgart. *Peifer, Douglas (2002): "Forerunners to the West German Bundesmarine: The Klose Fast Patrol Group, the Naval Historical Team Bremerhaven, and the U.S. Navy's Labor Service Unit (B)". In: ''International Journal of Naval History'', Vol.1, No.

External links

Bundesarchiv Bestand ZA 4 Naval Historical Team
{{authority control United States Navy organization, Intel Nav Military units and formations established in 1949 Naval history of Germany