Kriegsmarine bands were divided into two categories: permanently shore-based bands attached to the Naval Commands Ostsee and Nordsee, ship's cadre battalions, NCO instruction battalions and the Marine coastal artillery battalions or Küstenartillerie.
Parading in the German navy's standard field-grey service dress, these land-based marines were full-time career musicians who performed at all important formal Kriegsmarine functions. With a complement of 26 full-time junior NCO's and ratings, these Musikkorps performed a cross-section of musical duties from the large ceremonial parades to quay-side departures and arrivals of ships and U-boats.
The second category comprised naval bands attached to ships of the German High Seas Fleet; known as Bordmusikkorps, these ship-borne musicians were then sub-divided into bands serving on the bigger battleships and battle-cruisers such as the Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, known as Geschwadermusikkorps, and smaller bands serving with destroyer, corvette and minesweeper fleets, known as Kleine Schiffsmusikkorps.
Wearing the standard blue 'square rig' uniform, all major Fleet Commands, or Flottenkommando, had a Geschwader musikkorps which normally consisted of between 26 and 40 junior NCOs and ratings drawn from the naval music career path. The smaller were composed of 9 volunteer ratings and NCOs who played in the band as a spare-time activity in addition to their normal duties as seamen, gunners, divers, engineers etc, under the musical direction of a junior NCO career musician in the rank of Musikobermaat.
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