Transportflotte Speer

Transportflotte Speer was a government owned waterways transportation company in Nazi Germany. At its creation it was tasked with the transportation of building material on the German inland waterways. During the war, it became subordinated to the Ministry of Armaments, and was given extensive coastal and inland transportation missions in occupied Europe, mainly in the service of Organisation Todt. The company was named after Albert Speer.

Transportflotte Speer
TypeGmbH[1]
IndustryShipping
FateLiquidated by order of the Allied Powers
Founded1937
Defunct1945
HeadquartersBerlin
Key people
Professor Dr. Hettlage, director
Grosskapitän Erik Seyd, operations manager[1]
Number of employees
10,000

Creation

Transportflotte Speer was founded in 1937 with the task of transporting Swedish and Danish granite from the German coastal ports, to the major Nazi rebuilding projects in Berlin under Albert Speer, as inspector general of building and construction in the capital.[2]

During the war

After the outbreak of the war, the Transportflotte Speer was initially used for transporting coal and other supplies to Berlin. During Operation Sea Lion, its operational headquarters were moved to Groningen in the Netherlands, in order to make better use of Dutch sailors and shipping. In 1942, the Transportflotte Speer was given the mission to supply the Organisation Todt activities in Norway, Denmark and Finland. Personnel strength now rose to about 10,000 sailors, mainly Norwegians who were trained in Sandefjord. Allied bombings of the German rail and road networks, made the inland waterways increasingly more important. In 1944, the Transportflotte Speer had a fleet of more than 2,000 vessels, with a combined deplacement of 500,000 ton dwt. The company serviced 31 sea and canal ports in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Russia, Roumania and Italy.[2][3][4][5]

Norway

Transportflotte Speer was used for the transportation of building material and machinery for German military projects along the Norwegian coast. At the end of the war, the company had a fleet of more than 700 larger and smaller vessels in Norway, with an extensive administrative organization in many Norwegian ports.[6][7]

Ranks
Insignia[8] Ranks in the Transportflotte Speer Comparative ranks in the Kriegsmarine
Grosskapitän Vizeadmiral
Generalkapitän Konteradmiral
Kommodore Kapitän zur See
Stabskapitän Fregattenkapitän
Kapitän Korvettenkapitän
Hauptschiffsführer
Einsatzleiter		 Kapitänleutnant
Oberschiffsführer
Dienststellenleiter von grossere Dienststelle		 Oberleutnant zur See
Schiffsführer
Dienststellenleiter		 Leutnant zur See
Hauptbootsmann
Hauptverwaltungsführer
Oberinspektor		 Oberbootsmann
Oberbootsmann
Verwaltungsführer
Inspektor		 Bootsmann
Bootsmann
geh. Fourier		 Obermaat
Unterbootsmann
Fourier
Buchhalter		 Maat
Hauptmatrose Obergefreiter
Obermatrose Gefreiter
Vollmatrose Matrose
Matrose
Source: [9][10]

References

Notes
  1. "Generalbauinspektor für die Reichshauptstadt." European Holocaust Research Infrastructure. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  2. Military Intelligence Research Section 1945, vol. 1, p. 83.
  3. Seidler 1984, p. 635.
  4. Thomas 1992, pp. 5-7.
  5. Lepage 2015, p. 122.
  6. "Innledning til katalog for arkivet etter Organisation Todt Einsatzgruppe Wiking," p. 32. Riksarkivet. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  7. Bohn 2000, p. 367.
  8. "Die Neuen Uniformen der Transportflotte Speer" (in German). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. Thomas 1992, p. 35.
  10. Курылев 2000, p. 487.

Cited literature
  • Bohn, Robert (2000). Reichskommissariat Norwegen: »Nationalsozialistische Neuordnung« und Kriegswirtschaft. München.
  • Курылев, Олег (2000). Третий рейх. 1933–1945. Полный атлас. Москва.
  • Lepage, Jean Denis G. G. (2015). Hitler’s Armed Forces Auxiliaries. McFarland & Co.
  • Military Intelligence Research Section (1945). Handbook of the Organisation Todt. London.
  • Seidler, Franz W. (1984). "Das Nationalsozialistiche Kraftfahrkorps und die Organisation Todt im Zweitem Weltkrieg." Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 32(4): 625-636.
  • Thomas, Nigel (1992). Wehrmacht Auxiliary Forces. London.
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