Original German WWII Kriegsmarine 13th Ships Cadre Minesweeper Photo Album with Captions – 88 Pictures Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind-set. Here we have a wonderful Kriegsmarine Navy personal photo album, with what looks to be for the most part personal photographs that they took themselves, with a few professional portraits and postcards mixed in. It is covered with lovely dark brown alligator texture leatherette, and has an embossed gold Kriegsmarine Wehrmachtadler (armed forces eagle) in the upper left corner. The lower right corner is marked in Schwabacher type face with 13. S. St. A., which stands for 13. Schiffs-Stamm-Abteilung, or “13th Ships Cadre / Regiment”. We were actually able to find some history on this unit, though it was in German: 13. St. St. A..

A rough translation we received is:

The 13th Ship’s Regiment was a peacekeeping unit based in Sassnitz. It was subordinate to the 2nd Admiral of the Baltic Sea and the 1st Ship’s Regiment. The division was divided into three companies, and from April 1, 1938, into five companies. In January 1943, the division was relocated to Libau and placed under the command of the 3rd Ship’s Regiment. The division was housed in the Schwallenberg camp in Pillau. In November 1943, it was relocated to Remiremont / Geradmer near Epinal. In November 1944, the division was disbanded and the men were integrated into the army.

A large group such as this would have had any number of ship types in it, and definitely would have been involved in coastal operations such as mine sweeping. The album measures approximately 9” x 12”, and is bound with brown twisted cord. The title page reads Wehrdienſt / Ehrendienſt (Military Service / Honorary Service) over subtitle Erinnerungen an meine Wehrdienſtzeit (Memories of my military service), a common phrase seen in these military photo albums. The title page indicates it was published by Wilhelm Limpert of Berlin, and that it is copyrighted.

As seen with Heer and Luftwaffe Photo albums, many of these books have a large forward that presents the history of NSDAP Germany, as well as the history of the Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine. Der Führer Adolf H is shown, followed by Generaladmiral Raeder, head of the Kriegsmarine until 1943. There is even section titled Die Geschichte der 13. Schiffsstammabteilung (The history of the 13th Ship’s Cadre)! Following this are some pages for personal writing, and there is actually a page filled out in several different hands! We assume these are messages from fellow members of the cadre. Also slipped into album on this page is a small document from the 31. Minensuchflottille (31st Minesweeping Flotilla), which we assume the 13th Ship’s Cadre was a part of. There is some fantastic translation and research potential in this album, which we rarely see!

A total of 88 photographs fill the following pages of this album, making it a treasure-trove of images taken from the viewpoint of a young, patriotic German soldier, who is pictured on the first photo page of the album. He is wearing his Naval uniform, and has what we assume is a 13. Schiffsſtammabteilung cap tally. There were however also two large photographs in the front of the album, not attached, which look to show mine detonations at sea.

The rest of the pages show many pictures of the same sailor and others, in both sea and land Kriegsmarine uniforms, with a number of different locations and ships shown. Many of these pages are captioned, and most pages are separated by “onion skin” separators. Most are held to the pages with corner tabs, though later in the album many are glued directly to the pages. Really a great view into the life of a German Kriegsmarine sailor during WWII!

Historical records like this album have become priceless time capsules that provide an incomparable level of insight into the individual experience of the Second World War, now that almost eighty years have passed.

The older albums such as these usually withstand the ravages of time. The leather or fabric covers may wear, but the pages stay well intact. The black paper albums of the early 20th century are more fragile, while the glue from magnetic albums can damage photographs. And, as with all old photographs, keep albums in a safe, climate controlled environment.