WesWorld

But the Coldmere Protocol is not a non-aggression pact. So I remain confused. And since I asked Hood, I will await his answer.

Granted he'll know better, but to me any friendship pact is automatically a non-aggression pact. I doubt that in RL, you perform acts of aggression towards your friends like keying their car or puncturing their tires or grabbing their throat to choke them or other such things.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Well that is all probably OOC stuff, but if those thoughts were known IC to other nations...

Quoted

peace had been maintained

Japan: "No thanks to Langsdorff..."

Quoted

good relations established across the region

Japan: "Hahaha! Best joke we have heard in decades!"

Well aside from the usual rebelrousers in the region looking for a good crisis to manufacture, the statement holds up.

Granted that that Japanese remark is an exaggeration but I feel that the good relations that have been established are being offset by the very poor relations that have been established at the same time so on average relations throughout the region have remained the same. Also from an IC POV, both Japan and Pacifica would think "rebelrousers in the region looking for a good crisis to manufacture = Germans".

Given the fact that German/Australian-Canadian relations were always poor I'd say things didn't change that much so I'd have to disagree with that opinion.

Playing devil's advocate here.
The fact that Germany does not see the Coldmere Protocol, which replaced the former non-aggression treaties, as not a non-aggression Treaty is illuminating.
The control of the North Sea relies on the control of its waters, historically in 1940 Britain wanted to deny Norwegian waters to Germany and were prepared to violate that nation's neutrality to secure it. Germany then sensed the danger and moved first and got hold of a bases in which could operate further north and hug a protective coastline en route. In any hypothetical UK Bloc Vs. GA war Nordmark would be prime territory to occupy for both sides strategically. The Coldmere Protocol gives Nordmark some protection from that. I'd say Germany would be the bigger threat to Nordmark as it can only penetrate into the Atlantic by hugging the Nordish coast and by implication violating their territorial waters. Together we have secured the North Sea, at one point the Dutch may have joined a four-power North Sea bloc to offer complete security.

German prestige is of course ruffled, and it should be. For all the Admiral's chat about Exercise Venerate the fundamental conclusion is that breaking out of the Atlantic is difficult, almost impossible undetected. Britain can easily seal the SW approaches and Iceland-Faroes gap just like 1914-17 and just like that war the Kreigsmarine would be useless, unable to break out and unable to get its ship's abroad back home. Even with French GA allies they still have to negotiate the dangerous Channel. For all its bluster and world-cruises the danger is that Germany can never control its access to the Atlantic and that is battlefleet like in 1917 will be gently swinging at anchor slowly rusting away. OTL during WW2 the German's never really had a deployable battlefleet, the odd raider snuck out but all those battleships were battered and all were sunk eventually even trying to sneak around in small groups. Of course the submarine threat is still dangerous.
Fundamentally history showed German naval ambitions 1900-1945 to be fruitless and wasteful of resources.
In WW Britain can still outbuild Germany in terms of tonnage.

As to Far Eastern peace, Langsdorf might be over doing it a bit. The French might see it differently too, do they need the Germans to help them protect Indochina? Did not the RN and Dutch do just as much to keep the peace?
Do the events of Tsingato in 1914 worry the German naval command too? Germany at the moment is living off the wellbeing and facilities of allies which offers a tenuous base for operations and less if reinforcements take too long to get into place.

Frankfurter Zeitung, Sunday, 22 June 1947

The Tuberkulose-Forschungsinstitut Borstel was formally dedicated yesterday. This institution, dedicated to researching treatment for tuberculosis and leprosy, is the latest in a series of research institutes established by the Government to improve the quality of health care for the nation.


Berlin, The Admiralität, Office of the Director of Naval Construction, Monday, 23 June 1947

Von Friedeburg looked over his notes from the latest meeting of the Studiengruppe für Hilfsschiffe – the body charged with reducing the conflicting demands of the Kriegsmarine’s chiefs for service vessels to some sense of order and establish priorities; and those demands were heavy.

Tankers and supply ships topped the list – oilers had been projected under the 1946 estimates and then deferred, and deferred again in 1947. They would have to be included in the next year’s programme; support tankers were next in priority – or so argued Commander, Supply and Service Force – followed quickly by ammunition ships, store ships and a host of other supply vessels. Commander, Expeditionary Force pushed for the landing and cargo ships promised in 1946 and deferred for cruiser construction.

The group had at least agreed that there were vessels that had to be acquired as soon as possible, and that there were vessels that would only be required in time of war. Still, the former broad category would place severe burdens upon the resources available. Von Friedeburg’s staff would be working overtime.


Elbinger Volksstimme, Tuesday, 24 June 1947

The corvette Kondor arrived today in the Latvian port of Riga in anticipation of the Latvian Navy Day review scheduled for Friday. She will be open to the public on Wednesday and Thursday, and is scheduled to depart on Sunday.

Quoted

The fact that Germany does not see the Coldmere Protocol, which replaced the former non-aggression treaties, as not a non-aggression Treaty is illuminating.

It is said that Napoleon once quipped, “If you want war, make peace”. That is, if you wish to disarm your potential enemy, make overtures of peace towards them, to throw them off guard.

The normal state of affairs between nations ought to be peace and friendship; to expect a specific treaty to make such possible implies that the normal state of affairs is one of war and aggression. The Coldmere Protocol affirms what Germany sees as the normal state of affairs between nations.

Where it differs from the treaties that it superseded – the Nordmarkian-German Mutual Defense and Trade Pact, the British - German Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression, and the Nordmark-Germany Non-Aggression Pact – is that under the terms of the protocol none of the parties is *obligated* to come to the military assistance of any other signatory and matters of trade are not mixed with matters of diplomacy. Also, in contrast to many such non-aggression treaties agreed to in Wesworld, it has no fixed length; it represents a permanent commitment to friendly resolution of disputes.

So, does Germany see the Coldmere Protocol as the same sort of ‘non-aggression’ treaty that interlocks and commits a nation to a conflict? No, it does not. Germany sees it as an expression of intent. That too ought to be illuminating.

Reading the Coldmere Protocol, Bruce is of course right, it is a non-agression pact and insurance against for instance Britain ganging up on Germany with Japan (assuming Japan fired the first shot), not a full blown mutual aid treaty

That said, the British will assume both the best and the worst. The Nords, well nobody knows what they really think.

Whoa, hey there Earl! Long time no see!

Well I don't want to clutter Bruce's thread with further tongue-in-cheek sabre rattling.
All I will say is that I've not yet published my annual Naval Planning Committee post for the year ahead so Germany IC has to speculate when those carriers will be built and their eventual number and draw conclusions from whatever sources of intelligence they have.

Nice to see Earl back too!

Kieler Nachrichten, Wednesday, 25 June 1947

The aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin embarked upon its post-refit trials today. She will spend the next two months working up in the Baltic before re-joining the fleet. Her sister Peter Strasser continues refitting and is expected to be completed in September.


La Dépêche tunisienne, Thursday, 26 June 1947

The ships of the Fifth Escort Group of the Kriegsmarine arrived in the Avant Port of Bizerte yesterday evening, to take on fuel, water, and provisions. The ships are en route to Indochina, where it is believed that they will reinforce the German East Asia Squadron.


Oberhessische Zeitung, Friday, 27 June 1947

Construction has begun on a commercially-sponsored electricity generation station near Paderborn; its initial phase will involve erection of twelve wind turbines each capable of generating 110 kilowatts of power; completion is expected in the spring of next year.

Kronen Zeitung, Saturday, 28 June 1947

The Universität Wien has been given a research grant of one hundred thousand Reichsmarks to further the work of biologists Helmut Ruska, Gustav Kausch, and Edgar Pfankuch into the crystalline structure of tobacco mosaic virus.


Berliner Morgenpost, Sunday, 29 June 1947

Following a long and occasionally stormy session the Reichstag voted along party lines to approve a second novella for the current naval estimates. Despite opposition from deputies of the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands the measure passed with a wide majority. Details of the novella have not yet been announced but creditable sources indicate that significant shifts in planned construction are contained within it.


Berlin, The Admiralität, Office of the Director of Naval Construction, Monday, 30 June 1947

Von Friedeburg looked over the first set of detailed plans submitted by his staff and swore audibly. The scantlings were too frail and the margins of safety too small. He cast the roll of paper aside and looked at the second, finding similar deficiencies. In high dudgeon he summoned the design staff and delivered a ten minute lecture on what he saw as the basics of naval architecture, and then dismissed them back to their work stations to begin again.

Bremer Nachrichten, Tuesday, 1 July 1947

Workmen in the Deschimag yards in Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, and Hamburg marked the day by laying the keels of no less than eleven new warships for the Kriegsmarine. Most notable are the escort aircraft carriers Westfalen and Pommern, which represent a new class of vessel intended to fulfil several roles. While primarily intended to work with the antisubmarine escort forces to protect the nation’s commerce on the high seas they will also be able to support the main striking forces of the fleet by carrying forward replacement aircraft and aircrews. While not expected to complete before early 1949 they represent a determination to assure the freedom of the seas from any threat.


Transradio Press Service, Wednesday, 2 July 1947

The vessels of the German Navy’s Fifth Escort Group, with two tankers, arrived today in Port Said, preparatory to transiting the Suez Canal. It is reported that the ships are en route to join Germany’s East Asia Squadron, presently in Indochina.


Light Cruiser Custozza, Wilhelmshaven, Thursday, 3 July 1947

With her sister ship Novara following, the Custozza steamed seaward through the estuary of the Jade. The ship’s crew was in fine spirits – word had gone around that they were bound for Toulon in the south of France; the prospect of liberty on the sunny shores of the French Riviera was enticing to both the officers and the seamen of the cruisers. Once free of the harbour channel the two cruisers turned westward to make their way towards the Straits of Dover.

London, The American Club, Piccadilly, Friday, 4 July 1947

On this, the anniversary of their Declaration of Independence, every American in London who counted himself of some importance had wangled themselves an invitation to the celebration, if they were not already a member. Walter Schellenburg found himself there as the guest of the American naval attaché, Captain Walter Karig, a genial officer whose primary background was in public relations. The club was filled with a bevy of notables, most of whom were of little professional interest to Schellenburg. This, combined with the beastly heat of a London summer drove him to find a chair in the library where there was at least room to breathe. He was sitting with his back to the door when he heard the door open and two individuals enter.

“The question he,” said one, “what is your Government going to do about it? The Germans were out there for months.”

“Washington is more concerned at the about an Iberian battle fleet ninety miles off the coast of Florida” said the other, which Schellenburg recognised as Karig’s. “And there is the question of the Far East…”

“But if NATO is to mean anything,” the first voice continued, “we have to stand together.”

“And I agree,” replied Karig, “but I don’t make policy, it’s above my pay grade. Have your people speak to the ambassador.”

“I am sure they are,” the unknown individual added, “but you need to convince him.”

Schellenburg listened with rapt attention, curious to know who the other speaker was, fearful that any movement would reveal his presence in the room. He heard the door open and close again; after waiting a moment more, Schellenburg rose to find the library empty. He went back to the main room, ears alert for the sound of the second voice; but his search was in vain.


Berlin, The Admiralität, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Saturday, 5 July 1947

Generaladmiral Hermann von Fischel reviewed the reorganisation plan for the fleet; there were gaps in the current order of battle – where ships were still on the ways or merely projected. It would take months to complete the realignment of means and objectives – but the new structure focused on the readiness of the Kriegsmarine for any challenge that might arise. After a careful read-through, he endorsed the orders and placed the packet of papers in his out-box. The die was cast.


Die Welt am Sonntag, Sunday, 6 July 1947

Port Tewfik, Monday, 7 July 1947

After a number of days expended taking on fuel, water, and provisions, as well as waiting their turns to transit the Suez Canal, the ships of the Kriegsmarine’s Fifth Escort Group had assembled at the head of the Red Sea to continue their eastward journey. They would commence on the morning tide, as navigating in crowded waters at night was unnecessary.


Djibouti, Tuesday, 8 July 1947

The corvette Jaguar and her sisters dropped anchor in the outer harbour near nightfall; even in the fading light the temperatures were sweltering and the breeze had yet to come up. Below decks the crews of the German vessels found what small comfort they could – their ships were designed for the waters of the North Sea, not the Red Sea.

The French authorities and the Etappendienst would make every effort to speed them on their way. Fuel barges were due alongside in the morning together with water boats. The crews, inspired by the prospect of home, made the necessary preparations through the night so that their time in the oven of Djibouti’s harbour would be short.


Kronen Zeitung, Wednesday, 9 July 1947

The Wiener Neustadter Flugzeugwerke has announced that following successful testing of a prototype the Ministry of Defence has placed orders for a pre-production batch of ten Wf14 utility helicopters for evaluation by the Marineflieger, the Luftwaffe, and the Heer.

Der Tagesspiegel, Thursday, 10 July 1947

Officials at the Deutscher Wetterdienst have expressed their satisfaction with data obtained from the recently-deployed weather buoy reporting network in the North and Norwegian Seas. Though still incomplete the information has significantly increased the accuracy of weather forecasting over continental Europe.


Handelsblatt, Friday, 11 July 1947

Kontinentale Öl AG has contracted with the Irish shipping firm Universe Tankships for the latter to provide four large oil tankers under time charter to haul oil from the eastern Mediterranean to its depots in Emden and Hamburg. Tanker liftings from Alexandretta in particular have been growing at a pace faster than the size of the Handelsmarine’s tanker fleet, occasioning the resort to foreign-flag vessels.


Transradio Press Service, Saturday, 12 July 1947

The German cruisers Custozza and Novara arrived today in the French port of Toulon. They and other vessels from the major powers have gathered for a fleet review to celebrate the French National Day on Monday.

Port Said, Sunday, 13 July 1947

The corvette Jaguar rode quietly in the harbour of Port Said, waiting for the last of the quartet of German naval vessels to finish its transit of the Suez Canal. Their passage up the Red Sea had been marked by a meeting with their relief, the small ships of the Fifth Escort Group, which were making their way eastward to Indochina; salutes and good-natured greetings had marked the occasion. But a few more weeks remained before the Jaguar and her consorts returned home and her crew were happy of the prospect of quick passage through the Mediterranean.


Berlin, Abwehr Headquarters, Monday, 14 July 1947

It was unusual for the Chief of the Abwehr to meet with the Director of Naval Intelligence but these were no ordinary times. Kapitän zur See Heinrich Gerlach had come to Gehlen’s office specifically to compare notes on the interpretation of the latest information on the intentions of Britain’s Admiralty; much rode on their judgment.

“It would appear as if the rumoured four new aircraft carriers will in fact be built,” Gehlen noted. “The question is when they will begin.”

Gerlach cleared his throat. “Quite so. Relatively few large ships are being constructed in British shipyards at the moment, and their yard capacity is far larger than our own. January at the earliest I would expect. What do your agents make of this ‘Seaward Defence’ programme that is being bandied about?”

Gehlen’s brow furrowed and he chose his words carefully. “That is unclear – nothing immediate is happening; there are no suggestions of a rapid return of British forces to home waters. However, the decision to construct vessels specifically for this initiative suggests that this could happen in a longer time frame.”

“My people tend to expect that a redeployment will occur before the end of the year,” Gerlach admitted. “Though they too are not entirely convinced. The Fifteenth Light Cruiser Squadron was only just deployed to Hong Kong, ostensibly due to the tension between the China and her neighbours.”

“Then the British will rejoice at our own redeployments,” said Gehlen humourlessly.


Eisenbahn Kurier, Tuesday, 15 July 1947

Transradio Press Service, Wednesday, 16 July 1947

The German Navy cruisers Custozza and Novara departed from the harbour of Toulon today following their participation in the fleet review celebrating the French National Day. It is reported that they are now sailing to Indochina.


Berliner Morgenpost, Thursday, 17 July 1947

The Defence Ministry announced the promotion of Vizeadmiral Werner Lindenau to the rank of Admiral concurrently with his assignment to command of the newly-established Atlantikflotte, a formation encompassing the primary combatant elements of the Kriegsmarine.


The North Sea, 54 dgs 12 min North, 7 dgs 49 min East, Friday, 18 July 1947

The sixteen Henschel Hs130 bombers of Marine-Kampfstaffel 181 had taken off earlier that morning for a live-fire exercise – a low-level strike on several redundant motor torpedo boats off Heligoland. They spotted their targets and spiralled down to the deck to make their attack runs. “Attack by divisions,” the squadron commander ordered.

The leading quartet of bombers spread out while their targets grew larger in their sights. At five hundred metres distance the bombers opened fire with their forward-firing 15mm machineguns, and seconds later loosed their rockets, most striking home. Once clear, they were followed in turn by the second, third, and fourth divisions of the squadron. When they were finished three of the motor torpedo boats were smoking hulks slowly settling into the water; the fourth had blown up, splattering its debris over the surface of the North Sea.

The whole exercise took but a few minutes. With their ordnance expended the bombers set course for home, where their gun camera footage would be critiqued following their debriefing.

The Mediterranean Sea, 35 dgs 54 min North, 15 dgs 31 min East, Saturday, 19 July 1947

For the circling aircraft of the Italian and British air forces the scene below was, in all probability, a source of consternation; the aircraft bearing the roundels of the Armee de l’air for their part paid more attention to their fellow aviators than to the two sets of German vessels beneath them.

On their voyage eastward the cruisers Custozza and Novara had met the corvettes Jaguar, Löwe, Tiger, and Wolf, sailing homewards from their long deployment in East Asia. White-uniformed sailors manned the side of each vessel as they rendered passing honours in turn. Sirens whooped aboard the corvettes in salute while cheers echoed back from the cruisers.

As quickly as they had gathered though the two sets of vessels parted; at a steady fifteen knots the Custozza and Novara made for Port Said, where they would refuel before transiting the Suez Canal. The corvettes would call at Bizerte before passing the Strait of Gibraltar.


Kieler Nachrichten, Sunday, 20 July 1947

The air defence destroyers Berlin and Hamburg were completed today and began their builders’ trials. They will then begin operational training in the Baltic before formally joining the fleet later in the year.


Hamburger Abendblatt, Monday, 21 July 1947

The Ministry of Defence has announced the realignment of assets between the Luftwaffe and the Heeresflieger, with the latter gaining control of front-line tactical reconnaissance and liaison missions, leaving the Luftwaffe to concentrate on air superiority, close air support, and strategic missions. Details of the realignment have yet to be announced.