Table Of ContentFirst published in Great Britain in 2008 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Helmut Blocksdorf, 2008
ISBN 978-1-84415-783-9
eISBN 9781844682515
The right of Helmut Blocksdorf to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Contents
List of Illustrations
Foreword
The Development of Maritime Ultra-Light Forces in
Chapter One
Italy and Great Britain
Chapter Two Development and Structure of the K-Verband
Chapter Three The One-Man Torpedoes Neger and Marder
Chapter Four Midget Submarine Type XXVIIA Hecht
Chapter Five The Midget Submersible Biber
Chapter Six The Midget Submersible Molch
Chapter Seven The Pocket U-boat Seehund
Chapter Eight Unfinished Developments
Chapter Nine The Explosive Boats of the Kriegsmarine
Chapter Ten K-Verband Assault Boats
Chapter Eleven The German Frogmen
Chapter TwelveThe MEKs — Naval Sabotage Units
Epilogue
Appendix: K-Verband Probationer and Operational
Badges and Clasps
List of Illustrations
Italian manned torpedo SLC Maiale (Photo Franz Kurowski).
SLC passing through a net barrier.
MTM boat in the Gulf of Tarent, 1942.
Luftwaffe air reconnaissance photo of Alexandria, principal Royal Navy
base in the Mediterranean.
Italian frogman.
Vizeadmiral Hellmuth Heye, Kriegsmarine K-Verband head, awards the
Knight’s Cross to one-man torpedo pilot Herbert Berrer. Formerly an
Oberfernschreibmeister (Senior Warrant Officer – Telex) Berrer was
regraded Oberbootsmann (Warrant Officer Boatswain) when serving in
the K-Verband.
Fritz Frauenheim in the rank of Korvettenkapitän. From Jäger der Sieben
Meere.
A Neger being lowered into the water. A good impression of the carrier-and
attack-torpedo assembly.
Fitting the plexiglass dome.
The plexiglass dome of the Neger with scale gradations.
A Marder one-man torpedo preserved for the Instructional Collection,
Bundeswehr Naval Weapons School, Eckernförde. Before it stands
Knight’s Cross holder Walter Gerhold, one of the most famous one-man
torpedo pilots of the war.
The spartan cockpit of the Marder. Control stick, above it the release lever
for the torpedo, to the right the pressure gauges. The depth gauge is
positioned left above the pilot’s seat, below the seat is the Jägermaske
breathing apparatus.
One of the volunteers for one-man torpedo training was Oberfähnrich
(Senior Midshipman) Helmut Bierbrauer. He made available many photos
for this book.
A pilot climbs into the carrier-torpedo, the Neger.
The one-man torpedo Neger under way. The aiming prong is clearly seen
ahead of the pilot’s cupola. The photograph gives an idea of how limited
was his vision, having to orient himself from a frog’s perspective. No
periscope, compass or radio was fitted.
Torpedo mechanics of K-Flotilla 361.
Men of K-Flotilla 361 about to entrain for Anzio.
A half-track towing vehicle with two Negers under tarpaulin in a pine wood
near Anzio.
ObltzS Johann-Otto Krieg, awarded Knight’s Cross on 12 August 1944 as
Kapitänleutnant and Chief of K-Flotilla 361. Training leader and Staff
duty, K-Verband.
Oberfernschreibmeister (Senior Warrant Officer – Telex) Herbert Berrer,
recipient of the Knight’s Cross, 5 August 1944.
US soldiers inspecting a stranded Neger at Anzio.
Neger pilot Walter Gerhold after the award of the Knight’s Cross for
sinking a frigate on 6 July 1944. Comrades bear him aloft on their
shoulders. Despite heavy losses, the will to fight and esprit de corps
remained firm amongst K-Verband volunteers to the end.
17-year-old Matrose Horst Berger was a volunteer attached to K-Flotilla
361. He piloted a Neger one-man torpedo at Anzio and on the Normandy
invasion coast. He is seen here in the uniform of Bootsmannsmaat
wearing the Iron Cross First and Second Class and on the right pocket the
German Cross in Gold, the highest decoration for bravery in the Third
Reich.
The wreckage of a Marder destroyed by explosives.
Linse-pilot Oberbootsmann Herbert Berrer (left) with Neger-pilot Walter
Gerhold (right) on the occasion of their award of the Knight’s Cross.
Between them is ObltzS Leopold Koch, chief of K-Flotilla 361.
Grossadmiral Dönitz awards decorations to members of K-Flotilla 361. Far
left is Korvettenkapitän Frauenheim.
More than 50 years later: former Kriegsmarine one-man torpedo pilots
before a Marder in the Bundesmarine Weapons School at Eckernförde.
Amongst them are Horst Berger (4th from left), Helmut Bierbrauer (5th
from left) and Walter Gerhold (6th from left).
Korvettenkapitän Hans Bartels.
Midget German submarine Type XXVIIA Hecht.
The Molch cabin. Above it projects the steel cylinder in which were located
the periscope and magnetic compass. The rectangular glass panel below
the tower is a modern addition to afford museum visitors a view into the
cabin interior.
A finished Seehund on trestles either at the shipyard or in the Konrad
bunker, Kiel, May 1945.
Seehund on sea trials.
Kptlt Hermann Rasch.
Fregattenkapitän Albrecht Brandi.
Midget submarine Delphin in towing trials or seawater tests, 1944/1945.
Profiles of Schwertwal I.
Key: P = pilot room; Pk = plexiglass cupola; Z = engineer’s control room;
R = regulating tank; T = Ingolin tanks; B = Fuel tanks; M = Walter
machinery room; H = stern section; K = master compass; vT = forward
trim tank; hT = aft trim tank; SR = rudder; SF = stabilizers; VT = forward
hydroplanes; To = Walter torpedoes (K-Butt) Schwertwal II with
improved streamlining.
Key: P = pilot’s cabin; Z = engineer’s control room; R = regulating tank;
T= 1 to 10 Ingolin fuel tanks (10 tonnes); B = fuel tanks, 1 tonne
Deakalin; M = engine room (Walter turbine drive); H = stern section; K =
master compass; vT = forward trim tank; hT = stern trim tank A model of
the Manta.
The amphibious craft Seeteufel with caterpillar track/propeller drive.
Key: BM = gasoline motor; Z = control room (2 men); R = regulating tank;
Bk = battery room; H = stern section; EM = electric motor; RA =
caterpillar tracks; WB = breakwater; Pk = plexiglass cupola; SM = snorkel
mast; S = periscope; A = Ultra short wave antenna; SR = rudder; SF =
stabilizers; VT = forward hydroplanes; To = 2 torpedoes Profile of the
Deep-Sea submersible Grundhai designed for salvage work down to 1,000
metres.
Key: 1 = pressure hull for divers; 2 = casing and dive tanks; 3 = access
hatch with cupola for all-round vision; 4 = electro-magnetic grab; 5 =
three searchlights; 6 = stabilizers; 7 = active hydroplanes; 8 = caterpillar
tracks; 9 = lifting hooks.
Rittmeister Konrad von Leipzig, chief of the Brandenburg Küstenjäger.
Kptlt Helmut Bastian, awarded the Knight’s Cross on 3 November 1944 as
head of a Linse-flotilla.
LtzS Alfred Vetter, Group Leader, K-Flotilla 211, was decorated with the
Knight’s Cross on 12 August 1944 for his Linse attack of 8 August. He
was also mentioned in the Wehrmacht report of 15 September 1944.
A Linse unit before an operation.
