February 2004
 

The Navy ordered guns from Heinrich Ehrhardt too

Naval artillery posed special challenges to engineers

Rheinmetall Defence and Naval Systems – until quite recently Rheinmetall DeTec AG's division STN Atlas Elektronik GmbH offered just this package. And it is a fact that its Naval Systems division, which was taken over with retroactive effect by BAE Systems Deutschland GmbH on January 1st 2003, constituted much of Rheinmetall's naval expertise.

The origins of the former STN Atlas Elektronik GmbH – the Bremer Atlas works were founded in 1902 by Norddeutscher Lloyd as a shipbuilding subcontractor – are likewise anchored in the maritime realm. Perhaps less well known is the fact that the land systems specialist Rheinmetall can also point to a proud tradition as a maker of naval armament, albeit in the era prior to 1945.
 

With the launch of the British battleship Dreadnought in 1906, an arms race at sea commenced which, in a few short years, would witness the construction of an ever-greater number of British and German battleships, which were ever-faster, ever-more heavily armoured, and equipped with ever-larger guns with ever-heavier calibres.

Indeed, Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik AG, founded by Heinrich Ehrhardt back in 1889, enjoyed an early and excellent reputation as a supplier of naval weaponry and equipment. Virtually as soon as the company started making cannons, naval weapons too were made in Düsseldorf, as numerous records in the Rheinmetall archives attest.

In the years leading up to the Great War, Imperial Germany stunned the world with its extensive naval shipbuilding programme. In a reference to the symbol of British sea power, the emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II, declared that "We must grasp the trident". Accordingly, in the years following the turn of the twentieth century, the young German Reich staked everything on permanently improving its position as a naval power.

With the launch of the British battleship Dreadnought in 1906 – Great Britain's first significant innovation in naval technology in over 25 years – an arms race at sea commenced which, in a few short years, would witness the construction of an ever-greater number of British and German battleships, ever-faster, ever-more heavily armoured, and equipped with ever-larger guns with ever-heavier calibres.

The Kaiser's darling naturally needed suitable weaponry, meaning the Germany's drive to become a major naval power would "soon reverberate at a young armaments factory on the banks of the River Rhine". This was made plain in an article written by Rheinmetall Supervisory Board member Lieutenant General Ernst von Reichenau, which appeared in Berlin's Illlustrierte Zeitung on Octber 26th 1911, in the midst of the Second Morocco Crisis. Entitled "All hands on deck", it announced that the company, which by then employed a workforce of 5,000, would henceforth dedicate itself to "the design and manufacture of naval guns", together with the accompanying ammunition.

From the outset, shipboard artillery has always presented a tremendous challenge to engineers, because rather than operating from a fixed point, the guns are fired from a constantly rocking, perpetually moving platform – and are still expected to hit the target. Early on, Rheinmetall developed a special device enabling sustained, accurately aimed fire even in heavy seas. These included guns for defending against torpedo boats; guns that could be dismounted for shipboard and land deployment alike (and hence an early forbear of the current "Monarc" project); guns for landing operations and mortars for mobile coastal defence; as well as 8.8 and 10.5 cm submarine-mounted guns.
 

Used for arming U-boats and other units of the Kriegsmarine: a Rheinmetall-Borsig 3.7-cm antiaircraft gun with a triple-axis pedestal mount.

The significance of the Navy as an independent customer within the German military establishment is underscored by the presence of a Rheinmetall naval sales representative in Berlin. As can be learned from contemporary records of the Rheinmetall Supervisory Board, this representative had – at least until the end of the First World War – the task of presenting the company's naval products not only to the German authorities but also to foreign governments (via their diplomatic representatives).

Due to the lack of a suitable person for this position, the Rheinmetall's Army representative took over this task in 1915; but Rheinmetall Board of Management members Gustav Müller and Hermann Beitter felt "that once war was over the task would be too great for one gentlemen." However, events dictated otherwise: the Treaty of Versailles banned the future production of battleships in Germany.

Undaunted, and anxious to play a constructive role in any future rearmament of the Reichsmarine (and also to escape the prying eyes of the Allied Control Commission – and especially those of the French and Belgian troops who occupied the Ruhr, the Rhineland and Düsseldorf in 1923) Rheinmetall transferred its relevant operations in 1924 and 1925 to remote Unterlüß in northern Germany.

Once permission had been granted to produce 17-cm guns for the Army and Navy and, under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the construction of cruisers for the Reichsmarine could recommence in the mid 1920s, Rheinmetall (now largely state-owned) was awarded a contract to supply the armour and weaponry for these ships, which were to be equipped with 15-cm triple turrets and 8.8-cm antiaircraft guns.

The Emden, the first of these light cruisers, was armed with 15-cm guns, which, however, were still pivot-mounted, as the development of new turrets had yet to be completed. Rheinmetall scored a further success when the company's unit in Sömmerda was licensed as the sole German manufacturer of fuses and detonators for military and naval applications.
 

One of the most famous ships of the Weimar era to be equipped with Rheinmetall guns was the light cruiser Königsberg, which was launched in 1927 at the Reichsmarine shipyard in Wilhelmshaven. Prior to going into service on April 17th 1929 as a training cruiser, it was fitted with nine 15-cm guns, eight 3.7-cm and six 8.8-cm antiaircraft guns.

Responsible for this major project, the largest artillery contract for Rheinmetall's Düsseldorf plant since end of the First World War, was senior engineer Hermann Westphälinger, who received the following letter of thanks from development chief Prof. Carl Waninger: "The successful firing of the turret guns on the Königsberg represents a major achievement for our company, underscoring our expertise in the new domain of naval gunnery.

The fate of the Königsberg? After several operations during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 – when the young naval gunner Otto Kranzbühler, who many years later would serve on the Supervisory Board of Rheinmetall, was a member of the crew – the Königsberg took part in the invasion of Poland in 1939, before falling prey in April 1940 to Norwegian shore batteries and British dive bombers off Bergen during Operation "Weserübung", the invasion of Denmark and Norway.

Other K-class cruisers – including, apart from the Königsberg, the cruisers Köln and Karlsruhe as well as the later cruisers Leipzig and Nürnberg, were outfitted with a full panoply of weaponry ranging from medium-calibre triple-turret 15-cm guns downwards, including the accompanying equipment. Zeiss, the well-known Jena optics maker, supplied the fire control units, deployed here for the first time in a practical naval warfare application.

Conversely, the large-calibre domain remained the preserve of Krupp, Rheinmetall's Essen-based rival. The two largest German warships, the Bismarck and the Tirpitz, both of which were launched in 1939, were likewise equipped with large-calibre cannon from Krupp and medium-calibre guns made by Rheinmetall-Borsig, which the Bismarck used to defend itself in the epic sea battle of 1941, albeit ultimately in vain.

Moreover, Rheinmetall naval technology benefited other navies as well, and not merely the Reichsmarine, which Rheinmetall-Borsig served as sole supplier of light- and medium-weight artillery both before and during the Second World War. Numerous foreign navies also profited from the company's by-now extensive expertise in such areas as armour, medium-calibre artillery and ammunition.

As early as 1932, Rheinmetall, Krupp and the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors had entered a gentlemen's agreement facilitating foreign sales of land and naval weapons alike. Even during the Second World War, the company maintained extensive trading links with friendly and neutral countries, with export sales in many cases being processed via its Swiss subsidiary in Solothurn. Prior to Germany's occupation of the country in 1940, the company vied for orders from the Netherlands as well, which needed armoured cruisers for its overseas colonies, as well as a new type of submarine armament.

Though Krupp won the contract for the armoured cruisers, Rheinmetall-Borsig eventually received an order for the submarine armament. Furthermore, the company supplied twin antiaircraft guns for Soviet cruisers in 1941, antiaircraft systems for the Spanish and Argentine navies, as well as ammunition for the Japanese Imperial Fleet. However, plans for full-scale cooperation between Rheinmetall-Borsig and the Spanish Navy collapsed in 1943.
 

Rheinmetall, present on land and sea

Following the creation of the Bundeswehr in 1955 and West Germany's rearmament within the framework of Nato, the newly founded company Rheinmetall GmbH focused first and foremost on ground forces technology. Naval orders at the Düssedorf-based defence contractor were a rarity. In part, however, the then-Bundesmarine was able to take advantage of contracts awarded by the German Army, including, for example, the deployment of so-called rocking platforms. These are simulation systems which enable personnel to practise firing from a tank on the move or from a ship at sea.

Not that the Federal German Navy was able to get by entirely without Rheinmetall products: starting in the 1960s, one of the most heavily produced guns (apart from the 105mm and 120mm main armament of the Leopard MBT family) was the Rh 202, a 20mm automatic cannon. This weapon was deployed not only in ground forces contexts but also produced in a naval version.
 

After the foundation of the Bundeswehr in 1955 and Germany's rearmament within NATO, land systems specialist Rheinmetall also supplied the German Navy: starting in the 1960s, one of the most heavily produced guns (apart from the 105mm and 120mm main armament of the Leopard MBT family) was the 20mm Rh 202 automatic cannon; the naval version of this weapon is now gradually being replaced by Mauser-Werke Oberndorf's MLG 27 light naval gun.

Today, the company's role in the world of naval armament centres on Mauser-Werke in Oberndorf, a Rheinmetall subsidiary with a long tradition of producing top-quality naval weaponry. Apart from pistols and rifles, in both world wars Mauser also made medium-calibre naval guns – partly on behalf of Rheinmetall-Borsig. In the early seventies, Mauser-Werke successfully entered the 27mm-calibre market, developing an automatic revolver gun for the Tornado fighter-bomber.

Soon to follow were 25mm- and 30mm-calibre automatic cannon; today, the MK 30-1 is still found on the patrol boats of Italy's "Guardia di Finanza" customs police, as well as being in service with the French Navy. The latest Mauser development in this domain is the MLG 27 light naval gun. Based on the company's internationally successful 27mm aircraft cannon and firing 27mm FAPDS ammunition, it is gradually replacing the German Navy's current arsenal of Rh-202 20mm automatic cannon and the Bofors 40mm 40L70 gun.