The first part is a contribution by by Doug Thompson (doug_thompson@adg.ardemgaz.com), with his own comments interspersed throughout. It is supplemented in the second half of this page by Dave Alton.
Sources:
1st Battle Squadron
BB: Ostfriedsland, Thurningen, Helgoland, Oldenburg
Posen, Rheinland, Nassau, Westfallen
3rd Battle Squadron (incomplete: waiting for Konigs to join.)
BB: Kaiser, Kaiserin, Prinzregnent, Konig Albert
2nd Battle Squadron
BA: Preussen, Schlesien, Hessen, Lothringen
Hannover, Schleswig-Holstein, Pommern, Deutschland
(The Elsass and Braunschweig are in the Baltic.)
1st Scouting Group
BC: Seydlitz
Moltke
Von der Tann
2nd Scouting Group
CL: Rostock, Graudenz, Mainz, Coln, Straussburg, Stralsund, Kolberg, Stettin,
Stuttgart
Berlin, Munchen
3rd Scouting Group
AC: Roon, Yorck
Prinz Adalbert, Friederich Carl
AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PATROL and OTHER DUTIES
CL: Munchen, Lubeck, Hamburg (Flag of SS forces),Berlin, Frauenlob, Medusa,
Ariadne, Nymphe, Niobe. (Danzig served as a gunnery training ship and the
Bremen was being rearmed)
DESTROYER FLOTILLAS
(I've given up trying to sort out flotilla numbers. Apparently, there was a
quite-logical system where the newest destroyers were assigned to the 1st
Flotilla. It's a simple system, but still too much of a moving target for me.
Anyway, a flotilla a year was ordered, so I've listed them by fiscal year.)
"1912" DF
DD: S13-24
"1911"
DD: V1-6
G7-12
"1910"
DD: V186-191
G192-197
"1909"
DD:G174-75
S176-179 (S178 lost in collison in 1913)
V180-85
"1908"
DD: G 169-73
G 165-68
V 162-64
"1907"
DD: V150-160
V 161
"1906"
DD: S138-149
(S137 is absent as a training ship)
FLEET MINESWEEPERS
S102-107
Minelayers
Arcona (?),Pelikan
Nautilus, Albatross
(All were in the Baltic, laying defensive minefields)
LOCAL PATROL FLOTILLAS
Jade
DD: G132-136 (Speculative)
Ems
DD: S114-19 (Pretty sure about these, since the Ems Flotilla provided these
boats, which were the ones sunk by the CL Undaunted and accompanying DD in
October. They were too slow to run away.) (William Croft notes that
the four boats lost in the
October 1914 action were S115, S117, S118, S119. S116 was torpedoed in a separate incident.
)
Elbe
DD: S108-13 (Speculative)
Weser
DD: S 93-101 (Speculative )
SUBMARINES
I'm making guesses about which boats were in which flotillas.
3rd SSF
SC: U19-28 (4-20" tt, diesel power)
U18, 17, 16 (these and all others, heavy oil eng. and 4-18" tt)
2nd SSF
SC: U9-15 (U13 and U15 sunk on same day - Aug. 9, 1914)
1st SSF
SS: U3-U8
MEDITERRANEAN DIVISION (Pola)
BC: Goeben
CL: Breslau
BALTIC FLEET
(These ships were picked mainly by a process of elimination)
CL: Amazone, Augsburg, Lubeck, Madgeburg, Undine, Thetis, Gazelle
DD: S126-31
S120-24, 125
V 25-6
ATTACHED to Baltic Fleet
Accompanied Baltic Fleet in Sept. 7-9 operation.
BA: Elsass, Braunschweig
AC: Blucher
(Wittelsbach, Wettin, Zahringen, Schwaben, Mecklenburg-- see "Reserve Ships.")
FAR EAST SQUADRON
AC: Scharnhorst, Gneisenau
CL: Nurnburg, Leipzig, Emden
GB: Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger, Luchs
FOREIGN STATIONS
CL: Dresden (West Indies)
Karlsruhe (on the way to relieve "Dresden")
Konigsburg (East Africa)
GB: Eber (West Africa)
NEW SHIPS IN TRAINING (Baltic)
BC: Derflinger
BB: Grosser Kurfurst
RESERVE SHIPS
4th Battle Squadron (in Baltic)
BA: Wittelsbach, Wettin, Zahringen, Schwaben, Mecklenburg
5th Battle Squadron (Baltic?)
BA: Kaiser Friedrich III, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser
Karl der Grosse, Kaiser Barbarossoa
6th Battle Squadron (Baltic?)
CD: Siegfried, Beowulf, Frithjof, Heimdall, Hildebrand, Hagen
Odin, Agir
COASTAL FORCES
These ships are old, have had their armaments reduced in many cases, are
almost certainly manned by raw reservists and probably cannot approach their
designed speed. And their deployments are uncertain.
Fishery Protection
TB: D6
GB: Zieten
Coast Defense
TB: D7-9
GB: Panther
Harbor Defense with reduced armament
TB: T11, 13, 14, 15, 20 and 22
Ditto, in the North Sea (T25-T72 collided in the NS on 11.06.14, so it seems a safe guess they were stationed there.) TB: T24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30
Baltic
(T50 foundered in the Baltic on 09.28.14)
TB: T43-47, 49-57
Where?
TB: T58-65
North Sea (Minesweeping)
TB: T66-73
(Minesweeping and Tending)
TB: T75-81
(Training; probably in Baltic)
TB:82-89
First of all, I forgot to mention the S 90 - the only German warship to my knowledge that ever engaged and sank a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The old Japanese cruiser/converted minelayer "Takachiho" was torpedoed by the S 90 in Chinese waters soon after the war began. The sinking caused at least 264 deaths.
German navy gunboats helped shore batteries shell the grounded IJN destroyer "Shirotae" later, and the Japanese "Torpedo Boat 33" sank after hitting a German mine.
But unless there's a case I do not know about, the tiny S 90-Takachiho incident was the only time the navies of Germany and Japan ever fought each other.
Obviously, the S 90 should be included in my "Fleets 1914" listing for the East Asia Squadron for Germany, along with the DD "Taku."
Finally, Donald W. Mitchell's "A History of Russian and Soviet Sea Power" (1974) should be listed as a source. I could not remember where I got the names of the German Baltic Fleet light cruisers. I found them again while looking at Mitchell's book on the Russians.
The High Seas Fleet 2nd August 1914
Contributed by Dave Alton (dave@altond.freeserve.co.uk). He lists his sources at the bottom.
North Sea
Fleet Flagship (Admiral von Ingenohl):
Battleship Friedrich der Grosse
1st. Squadron (Vice Admiral von Lans):
(1st Division) Battleship Ostfriesland (Flagship)
Battleship Helgoland
Battleship Thuringen
Battleship Oldenburg
(2nd Division) Battleship Posen (2nd Flag, Rear Admiral Gadeke)
Battleship Westfalen
Battleship Rheinland
Battleship Nassau
2nd. Squadron (Vice Admiral Scheer):
(1st Division) Battleship Preussen (Flagship)
Battleship Hessen
Battleship Lothringen
Battleship Deutschland
(2nd Division) Battleship Hannover (2nd Flag, Commodore Mauve)
Battleship Pommern
Battleship Schleswig-Holstein
Battleship Schlesien
3rd. Squadron (Rear Admiral Funke -2nd Flag, Rear Admiral. Schaumann in Konig on completion):
Battleship Prinzregent Luitpold (Flagship)
Battleship Kaiser
Battleship Kaiserin
Battleship Konig Albert
Battleship Grosser Kurfürst (1)
4th. Squadron (Vice Admiral Eberhardt Schmidt):
(1st Division) Battleship Wittelsbach (Flagship)
Battleship Wettin
Battleship Schwaben
Battleship Mecklenburg
(2nd Division) Battleship Braunschweig (2nd Flag, Rear Admiral Alberts)
Battleship Elsass
Battleship Zahringen
5th. Squadron (Vice Admiral Grabow):
(1st Division) Battleship Kaiser Wilhelm II (Flagship)
Battleship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
Battleship Kaiser Barbarossa
(2nd Division) Battleship Kaiser Friedrich III (2nd Flag, Commodore Begas)
Battleship Kaiser Karl der Grosse
Battleship Worth
Battleship Brandenburg
6th. Squadron (Rear Admiral Eckermann):
(1st Division) Coast Defence Ship Hildebrand (Flagship)
Coast Defence Ship Heimdall
Coast Defence Ship Hagen
Coast Defence Ship Frithjof
(2nd Division) Coast Defence Ship Agir (2nd Flag, Rear Admiral Behring)
Coast Defence Ship Odin
Coast Defence Ship Beowulf
Coast Defence Ship Siegfried
1st. Scouting Group (Rear Admiral Hipper):
Battlecruiser Seydlitz (Flagship)
Battlecruiser Moltke
Battlecruiser von der Tann
Armoured Cruiser Blucher
Battlecruiser Derfflinger (2)
2nd. Scouting Group (Rear Admiral Maas):
Light Cruiser Koln (Flagship)
Light Cruiser Mainz
Light Cruiser Stralsund
Light Cruiser Kolberg
Light Cruiser Rostock (3)
Light Cruiser Strassburg
Light Cruiser Graudenz (from 10/8/14)
3rd. Scouting Group (from 25th August 1914 4th. Scouting Group):
Light Cruiser Munchen (Flagship)
Light Cruiser Danzig
Light Cruiser Stuttgart
Light Cruiser Hela
Light Cruiser Frauenlob
4th. Scouting Group (from 25th August 1914 3rd. Scouting Group) (Rear Admiral Rebeur-Paschwitz):
Armoured Cruiser Roon (Flagship)
Armoured Cruiser Yorck
Armoured Cruiser Prinz Aldalbert (4)
Armoured Cruiser Prinz Heinrich
5th. Scouting Group (from mid August 1914 in the Baltic command) (Rear Admiral Jasper): (5)
Protected Cruiser Hansa (Flagship)
Protected Cruiser Vineta
Protected Cruiser Victoria Louise
Protected Cruiser Hertha
Torpedo Boat Flotillas. (6)
1st Flotilla, Flotilla Leader V187.
1st Half Flotilla V191 (leader), V188, V189, V190, G197.
2nd Half Flotilla G196 (leader) G192, G193, G194, G195.
2nd Flotilla, Flotilla Leader S149.
3rd Half Flotilla S143 (leader, sank 3/8/14 replaced by S138), S139,
S140, S141, S142.
4th Half Flotilla S144 (leader), S145, S146, S147, S148.
3rd Flotilla, Flotilla Leader S167.
5th Half Flotilla V162 (leader), V163, V164, S165, S166.
6th Half Flotilla G173 (leader), S168, S169, G170, G172.
4th Flotilla, Flotilla Leader G113.
7th Half Flotilla S119 (leader) S115, S116, S117, S118.
8th Half Flotilla G108 (leader), G109, G110, G111, G112.
5th Flotilla, Flotilla Leader G12.
9th Half Flotilla V6 (leader), V2, V3, V4, V5.
10th Half Flotilla G11 (leader), G7, G8, G9, G10.
6th Flotilla, Flotilla Leader V161,
11th Half Flotilla V151 (leader), V152, V153, V154, V155.
12th Half Flotilla V156 (leader), V157, V158, V159, V160.
7th Flotilla, Flotilla Leader S24.
13th Half Flotilla S14 (leader), S15, S16, S17, S18.
14th Half Flotilla S19 (leader), S20, S21, S22, S23.
8th Flotilla, Flotilla Leader G175.
15th Half flotilla S128 (leader), S121, S126, S130, S131.
16th Half Flotilla S176 (leader), S177, S179, S120, G134.
U-Boat Flotillas. (7)
1st U-Boat Flotilla, light cruiser Hamburg (flotilla leader).
1st Half flotilla V150 (leader), replaced by S122 12/8/14, U5, U6*, U7,
U8, U9, U10, U11*.
2nd Half Flotilla S99 (leader), U12*, U13, U14, U15, U16, U17, U18.
2nd U-Boat Flotilla, light cruiser Stettin (flotilla leader).
3rd Half Flotilla S100 (leader), U19, U20, U21, U22, U24.
4th Half Flotilla S101 (leader) U23, U25, U26* U27, U28, U29 to join on
completion.
(* u-boats refitting)
Mine Warfare
1st Minesweeping Division D3 (leader), T24, T38, T42, T43, T44, T45,
T74, T75, T76, T77, T78, T79, T80, T81.
2nd Minesweeping Division D6 (leader), T28, T30, T39, T46, T47, T49,
T50, T51, T52, T53, T54, T55, T56, T57.
3rd Minesweeping Division D8 (leader), T25, T29, T31, T33, T34, T35,
T36, T37, T40, T41, T71, T72, T73.
1 Auxiliary minesweeper division with 8 fishing boats
Minelayers Albatross, Nautilus and Pelikhan.
Auxiliary Minelayers (9)
Auxiliary Cruisers Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and Victoria Luise converting.
Tenders (attached to fleet flagship, battle squadrons etc.), D4, D5, = S96, S98, T11, T14, T15, T20, T70, T88, T89. Diverse Auxiliary fleet support vessels.
Outpost Flotilla North Sea:
50 armed fishing boats
Coast Defence Division Ems:
Light Cruiser Arcona (leader)
Torpedo boats D9, T85, T87
14 armed fishing boats
Coast Defence Division Jade/Weser:
Light Cruiser Ariadne (leader)
Light Cruiser Berlin
Light Cruiser Niobe
Fishery Protection Ship Zieten
Tender Drache
Tender Hay
Special Duty Ship Blitz
Torpedo boats D2 (Alice Roosevelt), S103, S107, T61, T62, T66, T68.
Jade and Wilhelmshaven auxillary minesweeping divisions (30 armed fishing boats)
Coast Defence Division Elbe:
Light Cruiser Nymphe (leader)
Light Cruiser Medusa
Tender Fuchs
Tender Pfeil
Torpedoboats S92, S114, T59, T64, T67, T69
Survey Ship Hyane
Cuxhaven auxillary minesweeping division
Outpost Half Flotilla Helgoland:
Auxiliary (sea traffic control) Helga
Torpedoboats D7, T82, T83, T84, T86
Baltic
Coast Defence Group Baltic (Grand Admiral Prinz Heinrich von Preussen, Rear Admiral Mischke commanded at sea, replaced late August by Rear Admiral Behring)
Armoured Cruiser Friedrich Carl (9)
Light Cruiser Augsburg
Light Cruiser Magdeburg
Light Cruiser Amazone
Light Cruiser Lubeck
Light Cruiser Thetis
Light Cruiser Gazelle
Light Cruiser Undine
Protected Cruiser Freya (10)
Gunboat Panther
Torpedo boats V25, V26, V186, S127, S102, S97 (Sleipner), S94, S93, S91, D1 (Carmen)
U-Boat Flotilla, D10(leader), U1, U3, U4, UA. (11)
Auxiliary Minelayers (12)
Diverse fleet support auxillaries
Outpost Half Flotilla Kiel/Eider:
Tender Delphin
Torpedoboats T27, T58, T60, T63, T65
Survey Ship Hyane
Auxiliary Minelayer Primus
Kiel auxiliary minesweeping division
Overseas
East Asia Squadron (Vice Admiral Graf Spee):
Armoured Cruiser Scharnhorst (Flagship)
Armoured Cruiser Gneisenau
Light Cruiser Emden
Light Cruiser Leipzig
Light Cruiser Nurnberg
Gunboat Iltis
Gunboat Jaguar
Gunboat Tiger
Gunboat Luchs
River Gunboat Vaterland (Nanking)
River Gunboat Otter (Nanking)
River Gunboat Tsingtau (Canton)
Torpedoboat S 90
Old Cruiser Cormoran (laid up)
Auxiliary Cruisers Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Cormoran (ex Rjasan) converting.
.
Mediterranean Division (Rear Admiral Souchon):
Battlecruiser Goeben
Light Cruiser Breslau
Station ship Loreley (Constantinople)
East and West America Station
Light Cruiser Karlsruhe
Light Cruiser Dresden
Auxiliary Cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm (armed by Karlsruhe 6th August 1914)
East African Station
Light Cruiser Konigsberg
Survey Ship Möwe
West African Station
Gunboat Eber (armed Cap Trafalgar 31st August 1914)
South Seas Station
Old Cruiser Geier
Survey Ship Planet
Notes.
(1). Grosser Kurfurst commissioned for trials on the 31/7/14 but was not operational until 9/14. The commissioning and operational dates for her sisters are, Konig 10/8/14 - 1/15, Markgraf 1/10/14 - 1/15, Kronprinz 8/11/14 - 2/15.
(2). Derfflinger commissioned for trials 1/9/14, operational 11/14.
(3). Rostock, during fleet operations, was attached to the battlefleet as 1st Leader of Torpedo Boats. Kolberg was later designated 2nd Leader of Torpedo Boats with the scouting groups.
(4). Prinz Adalbert was detached to the Baltic group in late Aug. 1914.
(5). The ships of the 5th. Scouting Group were all decommissioned in Nov.1914, as no longer fit for first line service and were returned to training duties.
(6). Additional information on torpedo boats is as follows:-
9th Flotilla, this formed in Oct.1914, with the new large boats of the 1913 programme, V25-30 and S31-36.
19th Half Flotilla, in the western Baltic in Oct.1914 was, G134 (leader), S127, S125, S123, S120, S102, and S97.
I am still researching the disposition of the remaining boats. Information I have states that V1 andS13 were part of the 5th flotilla at Heligoland, presumably to replace boats under refit. Other boats not identified in the list, or these notes, may have been part of the training forces, under refit or left in reserve.
Note that the old, small torpedo boats S58-S89 were not re-numbered in the T series until 4/9/14, (together with S91- S113). However I have shown them as in the T series, so as to differentiate between them and the 'fleet' boats.
(7). During fleet operations Hamburg was attached as Leader of U-Boats to the 4th Scouting Group. After Heligoland, Stettin transfered to the 4th Scouting Group. Berlin also transfered to the 4th Scouting Group during the Autumn.
(8). Auxillary minelayers for the North Sea included Konigin Luise, Kaiser, Preussen and Apollo. Most were converted ferries or holiday excursion ships. Preussen and Apollo soon returned to trade.
(9). Friedrich Carl was under refit until 21/8/14, the remaining armoured cruiser Furst Bismarck was not commissioned until 28/11/14, (with the crew from the Friedrich Carl?), but her poor condition meant she was soon re-assigned to training duties.
(10). Freya was decommissioned 23/8/14, due to her poor condition.
(11). U1 was employed for local defence at Kiel, U2 was under going a major refit, UA (ex Norwegian A5) completed 14/8/14.
(12). These included Deutschland, Odin, Hertha, Silvania, Prinz Sigismund, Prinz Waldemar and Prinz Adalbart. Pre-war careers were similar to the North Sea auxillary minelayers.
Many of the older battleships and cruisers did not complete their commissioning until September.
Comments and References
The above fleet list is based on "Die Deutsche Hochseeflotte am 2. August 1914" which is to be found here,. This, although an excellent article and which filled a number of gaps in my own knowledge, has to my mind a number of errors and omissions. These I have attempted to correct and I have added a number of pertinent notes and comments. The original is in German, which I do not speak or read, apart from a knowledge of naval terminology. Any changes from the original are my responsibility. I also used a copy of the "Rangliste der Kaiserliche Marine" for 1914. Much additional information and confirmation came from fleet lists in the Polish language book 'Pierwsza Wojina Swiatowa Na Morzu' by Jan Gozdawa-Golebiowski and Tadeusz Wywerka Prekurat.
I have also used numerous other sources, (mostly books: Conways, Groener, Campbell, Halpern, Goldrick, Pavlovich etc. and some internet sites) to help amend the original. To save space I have not listed these in full but would be happy to provide a list if requested.
I would welcome any comments, additions or corrections.
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