This study of the Kriegsmarine's Sicherungsstreitkräfte, their
security forces, fills a gap in the study of the German navy in World
War II. This book describes the wide array of vessels including patrol
boats, minesweepers, submarine hunters, barrage breakers, landing craft,
minelayers, and even the riverine flotilla that patrolled the Danube as
it snaked towards the Black Sea. These vessels may not have provided the
glamour associated with capital ships and U-boats, but they were crucial
to the survival of the Kriegsmarine at every stage of hostilities.
As naval construction was unable to keep pace with the likely demand for
security vessels, Grossadmiral Erich Raeder turned to the conversion
of merchant vessels. For example, trawlers were requisitioned as patrol
boats (Vorpostenboote) and minesweepers (Minensucher), while
freighters, designated Sperrbrecher, were filled with buoyant
materials and sent to clear minefields. Submarine hunters (U-Boot
Jäger) were requisitioned fishing vessels. More than 120 flotillas
operated in wildly different conditions, from the Arctic to the
Mediterranean, and eighty-one men were to be awarded the Knight's Cross;
some were still operating after the cessation of hostilities clearing
German minefields. Paterson documents organizational changes, describes
the vessels, and recounts individual actions of ships at sea. Extensive
appendices are included.
