Kriegsmarine depots

[RyanE]

I decided that I really needed to write up something on the Kriegsmarine depot system and how it was organized. This is perhaps less useful to us since the KM didn't do all that much with small arms, but I think its worth a quick read. Its also incomplete since there is less info out there on these than the others.

In 1919-1921, the Reichsmarine reestablished its depot system which included Marineartilleriedepots for arms and artillery. In 1935, names were changed and depots became Zeugämter:

Marineartilleriezeugamt (M.A.Za): The main equipment depots of the Kriegsmarine that were basically analogous to those of the Army.
Marineartillerienebenzeugamt (M.A.N.Za): Branch depots like the Army Nebenzeugämter.
Dienststelle des Marinesartilleriezeugamtes: These were apparently also branch offices of the main MAZa offices. I'm guessing these were similar to the MANZa, but probably much smaller.

In July 1943, these offices were renamed again to Marineartilleriearsenals. The Nebenzeugämter and Dienststelle appear to have been renamed Marineartilleriewaffenkommando (M.Art.Wa.Ko.), which served the same function (branch depots) but were now independent of the local Marineartilleriearsenal. Within Germany, all of the depots were subordinated to the Inspektion der Marinezeugämter (later renamed Artillerieinspektion). Depots outside the borders of Germany were subordinated to the local naval command (Kommandanten der Seeverteidigung), though the Inspektion still held technical control.

The following list is probably not definitive, I'm probably missing some especially in occupied countries where information is scarce. I am also not going to try to differentiate MANZa or the other branch depots from one another in the list. It would just get confusing as changes from one to another happened over time. They all seemed to serve more or less the same function, and all seem to have become Waffenkommandos by the end of 1943 anyway, so I am lumping them all together for clarity. Given how relatively small the Kriegsmarine was, the number of depots is somewhat shocking, though a lot of these were probably quite small.

Germany:
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Wilhelmshaven-Mariensiel
Aurich-Tannenhausen (upgraded from MANZa attached to Wilhelmshaven in 1942)
Emden (upgraded from MANZa attached to Wilhelmshaven in 1942)
Borkum (downgraded in 1942 to an Artilleriewaffenkommando and attached to MAZa Wilhelmshaven)
Helgoland (upgraded in 1938 from a MANZa subordinate to MAZa Wilhelmshaven to a full MAZa )
Hülsen (Aller) (downgraded in 1942 to a Dienststelle attached to Wilhelmshaven)
Cuxhaven
Brunsbüttelkoog (upgraded from Dienststelle to a MANZa attached to Cuxhaven in 1936, upgraded again to full MAZa in 1942)
Sylt (upgraded in 1936 from a MANZa subordinate to MAZa Cuxhaven)
Swinemünde
Pillau
Memel (upgraded in 1941 from Dienststelle subordinated to MAZa Pillau to full MAZa)
Gotenhafen
Jessenitz (Mecklenburg)
Kiel-Dietrichsdorf
Segeberg-Fahrenkrug (upgraded from MANZa attached to Kiel in 1939)
Linz-Ebelsberg (created in 1939 but dissolved one year later)

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko.:
Wangerooge
Norderney
Saßnitz
Travemünde
Flensburg
Husum
Wesermünde
Borkum
Lamspringe
Walldorf (Baden)
Hülsen (Aller)

Depots in the occupied countries

Netherlands
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Den Hagg, later Amersfoort (moved in 1943)
Veenendaal
Harlingen

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Bergen op Zoom
Den Helder

France
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Brest
Boulogne
Brest
Lorient
St. Nazaire
Rochefort
Cherbourg (also Nordfrankreich)
Sète
Le Harve?
Guernsey?

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Brügge (Belgium)
Guethary

Ostland
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Reval (Tallinn, Estonia)

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Libau (Liepāja, Latvia)

Denmark
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Kopenhagen
Thisted

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Esbjerg
Frederikshavn

Norway
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Horten
Oslo (downgraded to Art.Wa.Ko in 1943, subordinate to Horton)
Narvik
Tromsö
Kirkenes
Kristiansand-Süd
Bergen
Drontheim

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Stavanger
Molde
Sandnessjöen

Norway fun facts: 1) MAZa/Art.Wa.Ko Oslo is where the Kongsberg M1914s and probably Krags were delivered 1941-1945. 2) Feldzeugstab Nord based in the Akershus Fortress in Oslo was the Army's primary equipment depot in Norway and received those Kongsberg weapons going to the Army.

Greece
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Salamis
Athen

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Suda (Crete)

Rumania/Black Sea
M.A.Za/M.Art.Ars:
Kostanza (Constanța, Rumania)
Sewastopol? (Sevastopol, Soviet Union)
Kertch? (Kerch, Soviet Union)

M.A.N.Za/Dienststelle/M.Art.Wa.Ko:
Nikolajew (Nikolaev, Soviet Ukraine)

There were also Sperrzeugamts (for mines and related blocking equipment) that followed the same general structure of the MAZa, as well as other specialized depots. I'm not even getting into all of those. In July 1942, five Torpedoarsenals (West, Mitte, Ost, Atlantik, and Norwegen) were also created from the various Torpedoressort units.

 

[RyanE]

Neat German maps of the Kriegsmarine command areas from December 1943. A bit of an eye chart, but interesting and makes it easier to understand the KM's confusing command structure. First map is of the Marineoberkommandos and their Küstenbefehlshaber and Admirale. The second is of the Kommandant der Seeverteidigung which were subordinate to the Admirale/Küstenbefehlshaber.

 

[RyanE]

Some pics found on the net of some KM officers visting M.A.Za Amersfoort, likely inspecting the depot following the move from Den Haag in June 1943. The sign on the building reads "Marineartilleriezeugamt Amersfoort", so the photos were taken sometime before the name was changed to Artilleriearsenal in November. Included a picture of the Erdal factory (where the MAZa was located) from 1959 after it was rebuilt and expanded a bit.

Also a neat poster from Amersfoort reminding you to return your empty containers!

 

[mrfarb]

Seems very complicated, kudos for doing the work to get this straight.

 

[chrisftk]

Great post Ryan! Thanks for taking the time.

 

[joryfreeburg]

Very good information in this post….nice work Ryan!

 

[Stephan98k]

The following list is probably not definitive, I'm probably missing some especially in occupied countries where information is scarce. I am also not going to try to differentiate MANZa or the other branch depots from one another in the list. It would just get confusing as changes from one to another happened over time. They all seemed to serve more or less the same function, and all seem to have become Waffenkommandos by the end of 1943 anyway, so I am lumping them all together for clarity. Given how relatively small the Kriegsmarine was, the number of depots is somewhat shocking, though a lot of these were probably quite small.

Thank you for the great work and I agree with you about the number of Kriegsmarine depots.

Some of these are small and rather uninteresting in the field of small arms. At the moment I'm busy with other things, perhaps you could take a closer look at memel and in particular the year 1943.

- Marineartilleriezeugamt Memel
- Marinewaffenbetrieb Memel (Naval Weapons Workshop) was created in April 1942 when the Memel Naval Weapons Workshop was merged with the Marineausrüstungsstelle (Naval Equipment Station).
- Marineartilleriearsenal Memel (Naval Artillery Arsenal) from Julyy 20, 1943.

Regards,
Stephan

 

[RyanE]

At the moment I'm busy with other things, perhaps you could take a closer look at memel and in particular the year 1943.

Memel was originally setup in 1939 as a Marinenebenzeugamt attached to MAZa Pillau. In June 1941, it was eleveated to an independant MAZa.

Commanders at Memel from June 1941:
12.06.1941 - 28.06.1942 KKapt.(W) Erich Fuchs
29.06.1942 - 16.09.1943 FKapt.(W) Maximilia Mack
17.09.1943 - 18.11.1943 KKapt.(W) Erich Fuchs, m.(d.)W.d.G.
19.11.1943 - 08.10.1944 FKapt.(W) Maximilian Mack
09.10.1944 - 09.02.1945 KKapt.(W) Friedrich Böttcher

The 1943 change to Artilleriearsenal (Art.Ars.) was nothing more than a name change. Assuming I am reading the abbreviations correctly, the order of 20 July 1943 originated from OKM Seekriegsleitung, Quartiermeisteramt Abteilung II (OKM SKL Qu II). The partial text of the order is below in German courtesy of a German forum.

Die Ausweitung der Organisation des Artillerie- und Sperrwaffenwesens, die Entstehung der Torpedoarsenale und die entsprechende Organisationsänderung des Nachrichtenwesens zwingen zu einer Klärung und Vereinheitlichung der Organisation aller Dienststellen des Waffenwesens. Mit sofortiger Wirkung wird daher angeordnet:

1. Die Marineartilleriezeugämter werden in Artilleriearsenale umbenannt (Art.Ars.).
2. Die bisherigen Dienststellen der Marineartilleriezeugämter erhalten die Bezeichnung Artilleriewaffenkommando (Art.Wa.Ko.). Sie werden hiermit (im Gegensatz zu ihrer bisherigen Einstufung) selbständige Dienststellen.
3. Die Errichtung von Zweigstellen der Artilleriewaffenkommandos (nicht selbständiger Dienststellen) ist beim Artilleriewaffenwesen nicht vorgesehen.
4. Die bisherige Inspektion der Marineartilleriezeugämter erhält entsprechend den Artilleriearsenalen die Bezeichnung Artilleriearsenalinspektion (Ars.J.).
5. An der Spitze eines Waffenarsenals steht ein Kommandant, an der Spitze eines Waffenkommandos ein Chef, an der Spitze eines Waffenbetriebes steht ein Leiter.

Es werden unterstellt:
1. Die Artilleriearsenale in der Heimat der Artilleriearsenalinspektion, im Ausland truppendienstlich dem Kommandanten der Seeverteidigung, fachlich der Ars.J.
2. Die Artilleriewaffenkommandos in der Heimat der Artilleriearsenalinspektion, im Ausland truppendienstlich den Kommandanten der Seeverteidigung, fachlich der Ars.J.

There were some administrative changes made, but the change from MAZa Memel to Art.Ars. Memel appears to be completely superficial.

As for the Marinewaffenbetrieb, I found mentions of several:
Danzig
Konigsberg
Stettin
Memel
Tollerort (Hamburg)

These appear to have been workshops attached to the depots that worked on various naval weapon systems, I don't know if that included small arms or not.

 

[RyanE]

Ausweis of a metal worker (Schlosser/Verarbeiter) named Franz Dumrese from Marinewaffenbetrieb Stettin. Includes his worker badge from the MWB.

The metal holder is marked 'Kreigsmarinewerft Kiel' at the top. There is something along the bottom also. "8039 AUSLANDSPAT" maybe? Foreign worker? Dumrese seems to be a Germanic name.

 

[johnstanley]

These posts are so interesting and informational on the infrastructure of the armament systems. Thanks and please keep up the research.