German Colonial Uniforms - Bayonets of the Imperial German Navy

	Bayonets of the Imperial German Navy

	The Imperial Navy used many different types of bayonet. During the early colonial period they carried the Füsilier-Seitengewehr 60 and the Hirschfänger 71 bayonets. Later photographs and surviving examples show they were also issued S71/84, S98, S98/05 and S84/98 bayonets at different times. As sailors were not usually prioritised as front line fighters, they were sometimes issued with mismatched, obsolete or even captured weapons. One series of photographs of the crew of the SMS Emden shows them on Direction Island in 1914 with Pfm 71 bayonets and Mauser G98 rifles, the combination of which would not have fitted together. Several different patterns of markings have been seen on naval bayonets, the simplest of which had KM (for "Kaiserliche Marine") and a weapon number for example "K.M.6593" seen on an Hf71. Some bayonet markings denoted the "Werft" depot from which they were issued. The earliest naval bayonets were marked simply "O" or "N" (for the "Ostsee" base at Kiel or the "Nordsee" base at Wilhelmshaven) followed by a weapon number, for example "O. 1905" seen on an Hf71. Later naval markings showed the same depots with different markings: "WK" for "Werft Kiel" and "WW" for "Werft Wilhelmshaven" (for example "W.K.2500" and "W.W.8902" both seen on S98/05aA bayonets). Other naval bayonet markings for land based personnel denote the unit such as the two Sailors Depot Divisions (for example "I. M.D.2305" for the "I. Matrosen Division"), the two Technical Depot Divisions (for example "II. W.D. 1643" for the "II. Werft Division"), Naval Artillery (for example "II MAA 3911" for the "2. Matrosen Artillerie Abteilung") and Marine Pioneer Companies (for example "2. MPK. 29" for the "2. Marine Pioneer Kompanie"). The Imperial monogram and date of manufacture markings appear on the blunt side of the blade as usual on most naval bayonets. However S98aA and S98/05aA bayonets made by Simson & Co in Suhl specifically for naval issue do not appear to have date markings from the few examples that have been noted. S98nA bayonets made by Simson & Co for naval issue in 1906-07 had an imperial crown above the letter "M" (for Marine) above a two figure date (see examples below).

FüsS60 Bayonet from the from the 1st Naval Technical Depot Division Photo © Roy Williams

The markings " I.W.D.225." show this Füsilier-Seitengewehr 1860 bayonet to have been issued to the 1st Technical Depot Division ("I. Werft Division") based at Kiel, weapon number 225. It has manufacturers markings for V Jung of Suhl. It is date marked "FW61" under a Prussian crown on the blade for King Frederick William IV 1861. The curious point here is that Frederick William IV died on 2nd January 1861, so it seems likely that bayonets were still being marked with his monogram posthumously. The bayonet has brass grips and a leather scabbard with brass mountings as was standard for the Füsilier-Seitengewehr 60. The scabbard is marked "I.W.D.167" on the frogstud.

The owner of this bayonet, Roy Williams, is the author of The Collectors Book of German Bayonets

FüsS60 Bayonet from the 1st Naval Technical Depot Division Photo © Roy Williams

The markings "1.W.D.358" show this bayonet to have been issued to the Imperial Navy, 1st Technical Depot Division ("I. Werft Division") based at Kiel, weapon number 358. It has manufacturers markings for F Hörster of Solingen. The bayonet also has previous cancelled markings on the brass handle "10.C.15" which have not been fully identified but may refer to the 10th company of a Prussian Fusilier regiment. The bayonet has brass grips and a leather scabbard with brass mountings as was standard for the Füsilier-Seitengewehr 60. The scabbard is marked "I.W.D.48" on the frogstud.

Hf71 Bayonet from the Imperial Navy Photos © Roy Williams

The markings "O.1905" on the hilt and scabbard show this Hirschfänger 71 bayonet to have been issued at the Baltic Sea Naval Command Station ("Marinestation der Ostsee") in Kiel, weapon number 1905. It has manufacturers markings for both Erfurt and Simson Bros ("Gebr. Simson") of Suhl and is date marked "W80" for Kaiser Wilhelm I, 1880. It has leather grips and a leather scabbard with steel mountings as was standard for the Hirschfänger 71.

Hf71 Bayonet from 1st Sailors Depot Division Photo © Roy Williams

The markings "I.M.D.4495" show this bayonet to have been issued to the 1st Sailors Division ("I. Matrosen Division") of the Imperial Navy, weapon number 4495. It has previous (yet uncancelled) "O.4030" markings showing this bayonet originally to have been issued at the Baltic Sea Naval Command Station ("Marinestation der Ostsee"), weapon number 4030. The scabbard has the markings "II.M.D.1781" for the 2nd Sailors Division ("II. Matrosen Division") of the Imperial Navy, weapon number 4495. It has manufacturers markings for both Erfurt and Simson Bros ("Gebr. Simson") of Suhl and is date marked "W82" for Kaiser Wilhelm I, 1882. It has leather grips and a leather scabbard with steel mountings as was standard for the Hirschfänger 71.

Hf71 Bayonet from the Imperial Navy Photos © Shawn Gibson of Bayonet Connection

The markings "KM 6593" show this bayonet to have been issued to the Imperial Navy ("Kaiserliche Marine"), weapon number 6593. It has manufacturers markings for Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co in Solingen on one side and Erfurt on the other. Several bayonets have been seen with two makers marks like this. It may be that the blade was made by one factory and the bayonet hilted and assembled by another. It is dated marked "W86" for Kaiser Wilhelm I, 1886. It has leather grips and a leather scabbard as was standard for the Hirschfänger 71.

Hf71 Bayonet from 1st Sailors Depot Division Photos © Shawn Gibson of Bayonet Connection

The markings "I. M.D. 1069" show this bayonet to have been issued to the 1st Sailors Depot Division ("I. Matrosen Division") based at Kiel, weapon number 1727. The scabbard is again marked "I.M.D." but with a different weapon number (2936, curiously with the 2 and 6 cancelled out) showing that it was at one time issued with another bayonet. It is date marked on the flat of the blade, W75 for Kaiser Wilhelm I, 1875. It again has standard leather grips.

Privately Made S71 Bayonet from the Imperial Navy Photo © Roy Williams

This bayonet has no unit, date or manufacturer's markings. Like many officers and NCOs edged weapons it is privately made for dress purposes. It has a flat blade with a decorative engraving showing a crossed trident and oar, an inlaid gold fouled anchor under a crown (see left) and a three masted sailing ship (see right). It has brass grips and a leather scabbard as was standard on the S71. It may have been made for a naval cadet.

S71/84 Bayonet from the 1st Sailors Depot Division Photo © Chris Wood

The markings "1727. I. M.D" show this bayonet to have been issued to the 1st Sailors Depot Division ("I. Matrosen Division"), weapon number 1727. Curiously in this case the weapon number is marked before the unit. It also has previous cancelled markings on the hilt and scabbard reading "91.R.4.206" for the 91st Oldenburg Infantry Regt ("Oldenburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.91"), 4th company, weapon number 206. The naval base at Wilhelmshaven was in a Prussian enclave on the Oldenburg coastline. Interestingly two other bayonets have been noted with "I. MD" markings over cancelled army markings. In all three cases the army markings are from regiments garrisoned on the coast (the other two examples being from the 84th Schleswig Infantry Regt ("Infanterie-Regiment von Manstein (1.Schleswigsches) Nr.84") and the 85th Holstein Infantry Regt ("Infanterie-Regiment Herzog von Holstein (1.Holsteinisches) Nr.85"), the third battalion of whom were based at Kiel). It would therefore appear that local army units sent these bayonets directly to the navy rather than to a central store for re-distribution. It was made by Weyerberg, Kirschbaum & Cie in Solingen in 1887 (date marked "W87").

S98aA Bayonet from the 2nd Naval Technical Depot Division Photo © Chris Wood

The markings "II. W.D. 1643" on the hilt and scabbard show this bayonet to have been issued to the 2nd Technical Depot Division ("II. Werft Division"), based at Wilhelmshaven, weapon number 1643 (although the "1" appears to have been cancelled out, in which case it may be weapon number 643). This bayonet also has the cancelled markings "II T.A." possibly the II. Torpedo Abteilung from a previous issue. Several bayonets may have made the same journey from Torpedo units to the Werft Division and another similar S98aA has also been recorded with "II. W.D." markings over cancelled "T.A." markings. This bayonet was made by Simson & Co of Suhl and does not have a date mark.

S98nA Bayonet from the 2nd Sailors Depot Division Photo © Chris Wood

The markings "II M D 8358" on the hilt and scabbard show this bayonet to have been issued to the 2nd Sailors Depot Division ("II. Matrosen Division"), based at Wilhelmshaven, weapon number 8358. It was made by Simson & Co of Suhl and and is dated marked with an imperial crown over the letter "M" over the number 06 for 1906 (see photograph on the right). Note that "MD" is also stamped into the back of the frog.

The markings "II M D 433" show this bayonet to have been issued to the 2nd Sailors Depot Division ("II. Matrosen Division") of the Imperial Navy, weapon number 433. It was made by Simson & Co of Suhl and and is date marked with an imperial crown over the letter "M" over the number 06 for 1906. This is a shortened bayonet with the scabbard shortened to match. Period photographs further confirm the use of shortened S98 bayonets by the imperial navy.

S84/98aA Bayonet from the 2nd Sailors Depot Division Photo © Chris Wood

The markings "II. MD 8514" on the hilt and scabbard show this bayonet to have been issued to the 2nd Sailors Division ("II. Matrosen Division") of the Imperial Navy, weapon number 8514. The S84/98 bayonet was a modification of the S71/84 short bayonet for use on the G98 rifle and carbine. This blade is marked as being made by Weyerberg Kirschbaum & Cie in Solingen in 1887 (date marked "W87"). It would have been modified into the S84/98 variant at a later date. Note the crowned "M" for "Marine" or navy stamped into the leather bayonet frog.


S98/05aA Bayonet from the Imperial Navy Photos © Chris Wood

This bayonet hilt and steel mounting on the leather scabbard have the markings "W.W.8902", for "Werft Wilhelmshaven" showing it have been issued to sailors equipped at the port of Wilhelmshaven, weapon number 8902. It was made at Erfurt in 1909 (date marked "W09"). S98/05aA Bayonet from the Imperial Navy Photos © Chris Wood

This bayonet has the markings "W.W.6934.", for "Werft Wilhelmshaven" showing it have been issued to sailors equipped at the port of Wilhelmshaven, weapon number 6934. It was made by VC Schilling of Suhl in 1912 (date marked "W12"). This bayonet is a curious transitional version of the S98/05 with the high muzzle ears of the S98/05aA but the added flashguard of the S98/05nA. Flashguards were sometimes added to S98/05aA bayonets (possibly by unit armourers) if they were issued K98az carbines as they then needed protection from the muzzle flash. Three S98/05aA Bayonets from the Imperial Navy Photo © Roy Williams These bayonets have the markings "W.W." for "Werft Wilhelmshaven" showing them to have been issued to sailors equipped at the port of Wilhelmshaven. The weapon numbers run consecutively from left to right, 6441, 6442 and 6443. They were made by VC Schilling of Suhl in 1912 (date marked "W12"). Number 6441 has a flashguard, the others do not. S98/05aAS Bayonet from the SMS Goeben Photos © Chris Wood

This bayonet has the markings "W.K.2500", for "Werft Kiel" showing it have been issued to sailors equipped at the port of Kiel, weapon number 2500. It was made at Erfurt in 1908 (date marked "W08"). It has wooden grips and a steel mounted leather scabbard. This bayonet is of particular interest as it has a hand written note attached stating that it was "found in Turkish trenches Gallipoli 1915". It is then almost certainly one owned by a sailor from either the SMS Goeben or SMS Breslau, both of which supplied sailors to serve in machine gun units on the Gallipoli front. As the SMS Goeben was equipped at Kiel (whereas the SMS Breslau was equipped at Wilhelmshaven) it is most likely that this bayonet is from a sailor from the SMS Goeben.

The markings "II MAA 3911" only just visible in the left photograph show this bayonet to have been issued to the 2nd Sailors Artillery Detachment ("2. Matrosen Artillerie Abteilung"), weapon number 3911. This bayonet also has the cancelled markings "2.M.P.K. 177" for the 2nd Naval Pioneer Company ("2. Marine Pionier Kompagnie") of the Marinekorps Flandern on the other side of the hilt seen in the centre photo. Note that in the photograph on the right, the markings on the blackened steel scabbard read "II MAA 4944". This is the same unit as the bayonet but a different weapon number. Also visible in the photograph in the centre is the manufacturer's marking for Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co of Solingen. The bayonet is date marked "W14" for 1914.

The markings "2. M.P.K. 29" show this bayonet to have been issued to the 2nd Naval Pioneer Company ("2. Marine Pionier Kompagnie") of the Marinekorps Flandern, weapon number 29. The manufacturer's marking for Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co of Solingen can again be clearly seen on the blade. It is date marked "W14" for 1914.

S84/98nAS Bayonet from the Imperial Navy Photo © Dow Cross

This bayonet has the markings "W.K.88." for "Werft Kiel" showing it have been issued to sailors equipped at the port of Kiel, weapon number 88. These markings are unusual firstly because naval bayonets of this period (1915-16) were not usually unit marked and also because of the very low weapon number (see example WK2500 made in 1908 above). It has wooden grips, a steel scabbard and a sawback blade.

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