WWII Kriegsmarine Jagdverband Kampfschwimmer Kleinkampfverbande Lehrkommando Sprengboot - Reenactment.
These special units of the Kriegsmarine such as divers, crews of explosive boats, and human torpedoes were trained and equipped by the Regia Marina Italiana. For that reason the equipment used was of Italian origin, for example the rebreather Pirelli, I.A.C, waterproof suits, and outfit. Like the Italian naval commandos, these men wore Rolex and Panerai watches.
Replica WWII Kriegsmarine K-Verbande ribbon medal pin bar for Navy small fighting units (Frogmen).
WWII German Frogmen 1942-1945 - According to Wikipedia:
1942 onwards: The amateur diver Alfred von Wurzian tested breathing apparatus (Dräger oxygen rebreathers from Hans Hass) for the Kriegsmarine.
1942: German frogmen clashed with Soviet frogmen at a Tsemes Bay seaport at Novorossiysk. The skirmish resulted in some knife battles underwater.
1943: Admiral Karl Dönitz orders Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye to create a special unit. It is originally named Kleinkampfmittelverband ("small ordnance association") but it is better known under the name of K-Verband or Meereskämpfer (ocean warriors). Its first men, including von Wurzian, were trained by experienced Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS men. (The German Waffen-SS also had a frogman section called SS-Jagdkommando Donau.)
1944 June: Three German frogman units called "Marine Einsatzkommando" (MEK) became active. Each unit had one officer and 22 men. But they were not ready for D-Day.
1944 June 23: German naval frogmen blow up two bridges on the Orne river, using two torpedoes of 800 kg.
1944 July: There were several attacks by German Neger craft in the English Channel, setting off from Villers sur Mer. On July 8, these attacks badly damaged the cruiser ORP Dragon (which was scuttled on July 20), and sunk the destroyer HMS Isis. 12 attack boats were used in attacks in the mouth of the Orne river.
July 1944: German frogmen destroyed the lock gates on the Orne river.
26 August 1944: MEK 60 German frogmen destroyed the Vascouy coastal artillery battery position.
1944 September 16: By this time the Allies had taken Antwerp. Two teams of five German frogmen left Rotterdam on two attack boats, to attack Antwerp docks. When they were stopped by defence nets, the teams continued by swimming, each towing a torpedo with a ton of explosive. One team placed its torpedo on the main canal lock in Antwerp. The lock was out of use for three months.
1944, night of September 28–29: By now the Allies had taken intact a road bridge at Nijmegen and a railway bridge at Moerdijk, and had immediately installed a strong anti-aircraft defence there. In order to assist with a German counter offensive against the Nijmegen salient, three groups of four German frogmen set off from 10 km upstream from the bridges. They were to place explosives under the bridges and then to continue with the river current 24 km further to return to their lines. The railway bridge was blown up. The road bridge was only slightly damaged because the mine had been badly placed. Of the 12 men, three were killed, seven were captured, and two returned to their lines.
Soviet EPRON Diver K.D. Zolotovskiy claims his Soviet frogman team had underwater skirmishes with German frogmen in the Svir river.
1944 December: German frogman operations in the Vistula river.
After Italy changed sides, the German frogman unit MEK71 based in Jugoslavia made numerous attacks against liberated Italy, using two-man canoes.
February 1945: German frogmen operations in the Oder river.
March 1945: Multiple failed attempts to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge near Remagen by German frogmen. The final failed attempt was performed by seven German Waffen SS frogmen.
March–April 1945:German frogmen destroyed two important supply bridges in Stettin harbor. Three bridges were destroyed between the island of Wollin and the Pomeranian mainland. Another bridge was destroyed by German frogmen near Dievenow.
May 1945 German frogmen failed in their initial attempt to blow up the pontoon bridges at Nipperwiese and Fiddichow.
May 1945 German frogmen succeed in their second attempt to blow up the pontoon bridges at Nipperwiese and Fiddichow. Frogmen Siegfried Koneke and Walter Lewandowski were awarded the German Cross in Gold for their actions.
1942: German frogmen clashed with Soviet frogmen at a Tsemes Bay seaport at Novorossiysk. The skirmish resulted in some knife battles underwater.
1943: Admiral Karl Dönitz orders Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye to create a special unit. It is originally named Kleinkampfmittelverband ("small ordnance association") but it is better known under the name of K-Verband or Meereskämpfer (ocean warriors). Its first men, including von Wurzian, were trained by experienced Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS men. (The German Waffen-SS also had a frogman section called SS-Jagdkommando Donau.)
1944 June: Three German frogman units called "Marine Einsatzkommando" (MEK) became active. Each unit had one officer and 22 men. But they were not ready for D-Day.
1944 June 23: German naval frogmen blow up two bridges on the Orne river, using two torpedoes of 800 kg.
1944 July: There were several attacks by German Neger craft in the English Channel, setting off from Villers sur Mer. On July 8, these attacks badly damaged the cruiser ORP Dragon (which was scuttled on July 20), and sunk the destroyer HMS Isis. 12 attack boats were used in attacks in the mouth of the Orne river.
July 1944: German frogmen destroyed the lock gates on the Orne river.
26 August 1944: MEK 60 German frogmen destroyed the Vascouy coastal artillery battery position.
1944 September 16: By this time the Allies had taken Antwerp. Two teams of five German frogmen left Rotterdam on two attack boats, to attack Antwerp docks. When they were stopped by defence nets, the teams continued by swimming, each towing a torpedo with a ton of explosive. One team placed its torpedo on the main canal lock in Antwerp. The lock was out of use for three months.
1944, night of September 28–29: By now the Allies had taken intact a road bridge at Nijmegen and a railway bridge at Moerdijk, and had immediately installed a strong anti-aircraft defence there. In order to assist with a German counter offensive against the Nijmegen salient, three groups of four German frogmen set off from 10 km upstream from the bridges. They were to place explosives under the bridges and then to continue with the river current 24 km further to return to their lines. The railway bridge was blown up. The road bridge was only slightly damaged because the mine had been badly placed. Of the 12 men, three were killed, seven were captured, and two returned to their lines.
Soviet EPRON Diver K.D. Zolotovskiy claims his Soviet frogman team had underwater skirmishes with German frogmen in the Svir river.
1944 December: German frogman operations in the Vistula river.
After Italy changed sides, the German frogman unit MEK71 based in Jugoslavia made numerous attacks against liberated Italy, using two-man canoes.
February 1945: German frogmen operations in the Oder river.
March 1945: Multiple failed attempts to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge near Remagen by German frogmen. The final failed attempt was performed by seven German Waffen SS frogmen.
March–April 1945:German frogmen destroyed two important supply bridges in Stettin harbor. Three bridges were destroyed between the island of Wollin and the Pomeranian mainland. Another bridge was destroyed by German frogmen near Dievenow.
May 1945 German frogmen failed in their initial attempt to blow up the pontoon bridges at Nipperwiese and Fiddichow.
May 1945 German frogmen succeed in their second attempt to blow up the pontoon bridges at Nipperwiese and Fiddichow. Frogmen Siegfried Koneke and Walter Lewandowski were awarded the German Cross in Gold for their actions.
Post War West Germany "kampfschwimmerkompanie" sailor cap tally.
October 2021 Tours: Cape May, Stone Harbor, Delaware Bay NJ - SS Atlantus Shipwreck (WWI) - Abandoned WWII Coastal Bunker.
WW2 Kriegsmarine U-Boat, FLAK Gunner Deck crew
