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TL/DR: This whole post may be a bit rambling. Basically, my point is that focusing the German navy on commerce raiding and battles in the North Atlantic is sub-optimal, and a navy focused more on naval ops in the Baltic and North Sea may have made more sense

What was the point of the Kriegsmarine as built OTL?

Say you're in the early 30s in Germany, and you want to build a fleet capable of helping you once the fighting starts, what is your train of thought?

Likely enemies include France, Britain, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Italy and the USSR.

Italy is in a prime position to work together with you and have naval concerns more closer to home, so they don't really matter. If war breaks out with them over Austria while you lack an army, the navy can't really help you. Once you do get an army, there's nothing much Italy can do to you.

Poland and the Czechs are almost exclusively land-based threats. There is some minor value in bombarding Polish coastal positions, but that can be done with your WW1 vintage pre-dreadnoughts. So again, any kind of extra ships are pointless.

Next we have the big 3.

The biggest immediate threat is France, who occupied the Ruhr area not that long ago. Next come the Soviets, who don't have all that much offensive capability, but are growing stronger every year. Last is Britain, which has limited ability to hurt you immediately, but will slowly strangle you to death and support your continental opponents. How do you approach this?

First assumption is that, whatever happens, the UK and France will be fighting together.
Second assumption is that, while not preferable, war with the USSR whilst also engaged in the west is a distinct possibility.

#1 objective should be to defeat France early and fast, as they are your most immediate threat. Engaging in a war of attrition is not an option, as the combined Anglo-French warmaking potential far outstrips that of Germany. For this, how does a fleet of U-Boats and fast oceangoing capital ships sent on commerce raiding missions help? If you fail to knock France out early, the Allies will slowly push you to Berlin, an outcome that can only be postponed by effective commerce raiding. Starting an arms race again doesn't help, as remember - their industry is superior to yours.

But let's say you do defeat France. What next?

Option 1. Peace
Congrats. Navy is not required

Option 2. Stalemate with Britain and peace with the USSR
Friendly relations with the Soviets means no ships required there.
Britain has no way of invading you on the continent. Meanwhile, turning the Atlantic into a battleground exponentially increases the risk of US participation. The experience of ww1 has shown that any sort of effort to strangle Britain's sea lanes will be incredibly difficult and require enormous expenditure and years of investment - and all the while, the USSR continues to grow stronger day by day. The risks are enormous. A defensive posture and a focus on autarky may be wiser.

Option 3. Stalemate with Britain and war with the USSR
Here, if you focus on strangling Britain whilst defending in the east, the Russians will eventually steamroll all over you. However, if you knock out your eastern opponent, then whatever Britain does suddenly becomes inconsequential. Therefor, the Navy should be focusing on helping you knock out the USSR.

So what kind of navy do you need, that can help you knock out France and the USSR? Well, certainly not one primarily based on commerce raiding against Britain.

So, let's assume the Germans come to this same conclusion, that the chief goal of the navy should be support in knocking out land-based opponents first and foremost. Off the top of my head, some possible operations include:

1. Surprise naval landings in the Netherlands in support of attack west
2. Naval landing in Scandinavia to secure the northern flank, and possibly cut off link between Britain and the USSR
3. Naval landings on the Baltic coast in support of any attack east

Take #3 for instance. A landing at Riga or Narva would have helped trap hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers. A coup de main at Leningrad would have been crippling to the Soviets.

So, what would a Kriegsmarine focused on naval ops in the Baltic and North Sea look like? And what, if anything, could they achieve?
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