The aim of this article is to provide information regarding the uniforming and insignia of the German Navy as it stood at the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914. A follow-on article detailing wartime development will be added. Although Colonel John R Angolia and Adolf Schlicht wrote an excellent 3 volume history of German naval uniforms of the later Third Reich period; as far as I am aware, there is nothing comparable in the English language covering the earlier imperial period. I have therefore consulted four German language publications in the preparation of this article and these are detailed under sources below. The illustrations are taken from the 1900 publication "Atlas des Deutschen Reichsheeres und der Kaiserlichen Marine" by Carl Henckel. I would be most grateful for any comments and or corrections. I would also be especially appreciative if collectors could send any scanned photographs of naval warrant officers and NCOs that they might have in their possession to me. The situation regarding the senior NCOs' insignia during this period is complicated and more photographic evidence would enable me to get to the bottom of the subject to my satisfaction! Glennjewison@ukgateway.net This is by necessity a broad brush treatment of a very large and complicated subject. Those interested in further study are advised to consult the sources list at the bottom of this page.

The German Navy in 1914

Although this article is predominantly about uniforms and insignia, perhaps a brief introduction to the organisation of the Kaiserliche Marine in 1914 might be useful. By the outbreak of war in 1914 Großadmiral von Tirpitz, the state secretary of the navy had created a sizeable force which was for an organizational basis under the command of the General Inspector of the Navy - Großadmiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia and was divided between the Marinestation der Ostsee at Kiel on the Baltic coast and the Marinestation der Nordsee at Wilhelmshafen on Germany's North Sea coast. Under these two major headquarters were the various inspectorates, "divisions", in reality personnel pools for the crews of the fleet, naval artillery detachments, depots etc. On a peace time basis the Baltic Sea station provided the 1st and 3rd squadrons of the High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte) and the North Sea station the 2nd squadron and reconnaissance forces. Additionally Germany maintained forces in her Chinese possession in Tsingtau (Kiachow) plus three naval infantry battalions, the 3rd being stationed in Tsingtau. The training and replacement detachment for this 3rd naval  infantry battalion was stationed in Cuxhaven.

Although a formidable force in its own right which included amongst its strength in 1914 thirteen Dreadnought class battleships and six battle cruisers the Kaiserliche Marine did not have sufficient strength to achieve naval superiority  vis à vis the Royal Navy. Increasingly the burden of the German naval war effort was placed upon the fledgling U-boat arm. According to the Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine, the major units of the High Seas Fleet in August 1914 were as follows:

Flagship:    Friedrich der Große
 

1st Squadron	2nd Squadron	3rd Squadron
Ostfriesland	Preußen	Kaiser
Thüringen	Schleswig-Holstein	Kaiserin
Helgoland	Schlesien	König Albert
Oldenburg	Pommern	Prinzregent Luitpold
Posen	Hannover	König
Rheinland	Hessen	Großer Kurfürst
Westfalen	Lothringen
Nassau	Deutschland

Personnel

The men who manned the German fleet were for rank purposes split into several categories, each of which is detailed below.

Ranks and Appointments (Commissioned Officers)

The table below lists the ranks of Naval officers excluding officials (Beamte) as at 1914

Line Officers	Engineer officers.	Medical officers	Torpedo Engineer Officers	Paymasters	Torpedo/Ordnance officers	Army Equivalent
Großadmiral						Generalfeldmarschall
-						Generaloberst
Admiral						General d. Inf.
Vize-Admiral						Generalleutnant
Konteradmiral		Generalstabsarzt der Marine				Generalmajor
Kapitän zur See	Marine-Oberchefingenieur*	Mar.-Generalarzt				Oberst
Fregattenkapitän	Marine-Chefingenieur	Mar.-Generaloberarzt	Tor.-Chefingenieur			Oberstleutnant
Korvettenkapitän	Marine-Oberstabsingenieur	Mar.-Oberstabsarzt	Tor.-Oberstabsingenieur		Feuerwerks-Kapitän**	Major
Kapitänleutnant	Marine-Stabsingenieur	Marine-Stabsarzt	Tor.-Stabsingenieur	Marine-Stabszahlmeister	Torpederkapitänleutnant	Hauptmann
Oberleutnant zur See	Marine-Oberingenieur	Marine-Oberassistenzarzt	Tor.-Oberingenieur	Marine-Oberzahlmeister	Feuerwerksoberleutnant	Oberleutnant
Leutnant zur See	Marine-Ingenieur	Marine-Assistenarzt	Torpedo-Ingenieur	Marine-Zahlmeister	Torpederleutnant	Leutnant

*Brevet rank conferred on serving engineer officers prior to the war. First substantive promotion to this rank in May 1916.

**Brevet rank conferred on  retired officers prior to the war. In use during the war when these officers were recalled to service. Only one additional promotion of a serving active officer in March 1915.

Deck Offizier (Warrant Officers)

Unique to the Imperial Navy was a corps of warrant officers. Although generally belonging to the class of Senior NCOs with Portepee (officers' swordknot), they were ranked senior to the latter. The following career groups were in existence prior to the outbreak of war:
 

Oberdeckoffizier	Deckoffizier	Career
Oberbootsmann	Bootsmann	Seaman branch
Ober-Steuermann	Steuermann	Navigating warrant officer
Ober-Feuerwerker	Feuerwerker	Ordnance warrant officer
Ober-Maschinist	Maschinist	Engineering branch
Ober-Meister	Meister	Masters
Ober-Torpeder	Torpeder	Torpedo specialist
Torpedo-Obermechaniker	Torpedo-Mechaniker	Torpedo engineering branch
Ober-Feuermeister	Feuermeister	Fire fighting branch
Ober-Material.Verwalter.	Material.Verwalter	Supply branch
Ober-Zahlmeister-Aspirant	Zahlmeister-Aspirant	Paymaster candidate
Ober-Ingenieur-Aspirant	Ingenieur-Aspirant	Engineer officer candidate
Ober-Stückmeister	Stückmeister	Artificer branch
Oberflugmeister	Flugmeister	Naval pilot warrant officers
Oberflugmechaniker	Flugmechaniker	Naval flight engineers
Ober-Vermessungssteuermann	Vermessungssteuermann	Survey Navigation branch
Ober-Signalmeister	Signalmeister	Signals warrant officers
Ober-Funkentelegraphiemeister	Funkentelegraphiemeister	Telegraphy warrant officers

Unteroffiziere mit Portepee (Senior NCOs)
 

Feldwebel	Vize-Feldwebel	Career
Feldwebel	Vize-Feldwebel	Seaman Branch
Wachtmeister	Vize-Wachtmeister	Ships sergeant-majors

Reserve Officer Candidates in the rank of Vize-Feldwebel

Senior reserve officer candidates were termed Deckoffiziere des Beurlaubtenstandes (i.e. deck officers of the reserve). They were clothed as deck officers with commissioned officers headgear but ranked as Vize-Feldwebeln.
 

Vizesteuermann der Reserve	Seaman branch
Vizefeuerwerker der Reserve	Marine Artillery branch
Marine-Ingenieur-Aspirant der Reserve	Engineering branch
Vizeflugmeister der Reserve	Marine Artillery branch (air service)
Vizefunkentelegraphiemeister der Reserve	Communications branch

Fähnrich zur See (Regular Naval Officer Candidate)

Ranked with but senior to the Obermaat and was entitled to the officers' portepee.

Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee (Junior NCOs)
 

Obermaat	Maat	Career
Oberbootsmannsmaat	Bootsmannsmaat	Seaman Branch petty officers
OberFeuerwerksmaat	Feuerwerksmaat	Ordnance petty officers
Oberartilleristenmaat	Artilleristenmaat	Gunnery petty officers
Obersignalmaat	Signalmaat	Communications petty officers
Obertorpedermaat	Torpedermaat	Torpedo petty officers
Obervermessungsmaat	Vermessungsmaat	Survey branch
Obersteuermannsmaat	Steuermannsmaat	Navigating petty officers
Oberartilleriemechanikermaat	Artilleriemechanikermaat	Artillery mechanic POs
Obertorpedomechanikermaat	Torpedomechanikermaat	Torpedo mechanic POs
Oberfunkentelegraphiemaat	Funkentelegraphiemaat	Telegraphist POs
Oberwachtmeistersmaat	Wachtmeistersmaat	Ships sergeant career
Obermaterialenverwaltersmaat	Materialenverwaltersmaat	Materiel administration POs
Obermaschinistenmaat	Maschinistenmaat	Engineering POs
Obersanitätsmaat	Sanitätsmaat	Medical POs
Oberzimmermannsmaat	Zimmermannsmaat	Carpenter POs
Obersegelmachersmaat	Segelmachersmaat	Sailmaker POs
Obermalersmaat	Malersmaat	Painter POs
Obermeistersmaat	Meistersmaat	Masters Mates
Oberbottelier	Bottelier	Steward POs
Oberbüschenmachersmaat	Büschenmachersmaat	Armourer POs
Oberschreiber	Schreiber	Ships writer POs
Oberhoboist	Hoboist	Musician POs
Exerziersergeant	Exerzierunteroffizier	Regulating POS
Obermarineingenieurapplikant	Marineingenieurapplikant	Engineer officer applicant POs
Obertorpedoingenieurapplikant	Torpedoingenieurapplikant	Torpedo engineer officer applicant POs
Oberstückmeistersmaat	Stückmeistersmaat	Artificer POs

Seamen
 

Obermatrose	Matrose	Seaman branch
Obersignalgast	Signalgast	Communications branch
Obervermessungsgast	Vermessungsgast	Survey branch
Obersanitätsgast	Sanitätsgast	Medical branch

The career progression for NCOs of the non-seaman branch was direct from senior petty officer (Obermaat) to junior warrant officer (Deckoffizier).

Führer durch Heer und Flotte 1914 by B Friedag republished by Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993. This is an extremely useful title. Although typeset in a fairly small German script it is an absolute mass of information on all aspects of the strength, organization, uniforms, insignia and weaponry of the Imperial German Army and Navy as at 1914. The information for the most part is tabular and therefore fairly easy to understand even for the non German reader. Any enthusiast with a basic knowledge of German military terms will find this title indispensable. It is still available from Biblio Verlag.

Unsere Marineuniform by J. Zienert published by Verlag Helmut Gerhard Schulz, Hamburg 1970. Although long out of print, this rather substantial volume covers the history of German naval uniform from 1816 to 1969. Of particular note is the large section on Imperial uniforms and insignia. Included with the work are black and white facsimiles of the three plates by Henckel from the title below. I have seen copies available from German second-hand bookshops on the web.

Atlas des Deutschen Reichsheeres und der Kaiserlichen Marine by Carl Henckel published by Militär-Kunst-Verlag "Mars", Dresden 1900. Basically a collection of huge coloured prints illustrating the uniforms and insignia of every regiment of the Imperial German Army plus three plates detailing the uniforms of the Kaiserliche Marine in schematic form. Although not considered in this article, the 3rd plate illustrates the naval officials (Beamten). Very rare in both original and reprinted form.

Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine published by the Marine-Offizier-Verband, Berlin 1930. A rare naval list published after the war listing every officer, official and aspirant officer of the navy and his career details throughout the Great War. Particularly useful is the listing of individuals by their varied ranks and appointments allowing one to deduce which rank titles were in use at any given period. Although not impossible to get hold of, it can be an expensive title when found.

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