Graul, Jens/Hartwig, Dieter (Hrsg.) Von den Historikern für die Flotte. Die 50. Historisch-Taktische Tagung der Flotte

With the annual "Historical-Tactical Conference" (HiTaTa) for the officers of the fleet, the German Navy has been cultivating a special form of further training for its officer corps since 1957. Lectures by officers of the fleet, occasionally also by guests from friendly navies or from administration and research, bring together more than 300 naval officers once a year for an exchange of ideas and discourse on individual aspects and questions of principle.

For the young lecturers themselves, the lectures are a good exercise in developing and defending a position using scientific methods. The first fleet commander of the post-war period, Flotilla Admiral Rolf Johannesson, founded the tradition of the HiTaTa in 1957 as a way of coming to terms with war-historical events and as a training ground for civil courage, which he regarded as a necessary quality of a naval officer - also as a precursor to the necessary courage in times of war. The main topics of the conference have changed in the years since then, just as the demands on the German Navy have changed in many respects. What has remained is the importance of the HiTaTa as an instrument of Innere Führung, the formation of the officer corps and the consolidation of its sense of belonging. In a variation of the otherwise valid principle "From the Fleet for the Fleet", the 50th, anniversary HiTaTa in January 2010 was held under the leitmotif "From the Historians for the Fleet". Well-known representatives of the naval historical sciences lectured on naval historical topics of central importance, on the handling of history in the navy itself and above all on the history of the HiTaTa and its topics themselves. Therefore, the documentation of this HiTaTa is published as a conference volume in the "Small Series on Military and Naval History". In addition to the lectures themselves, an overview of the topics and speakers of all HiTaTa in the appendix gives a deep insight into the variety of topics that have been presented not only to HiTaTa participants but also to members of the fleet since 1957. The specially prepared exhibition "50 Years of the Historical-Tactical Meeting of the Fleet" is also documented. For the naval officer, this comprehensive documentation is more than just the usual naval reproduction of the lectures. For those interested in the navy, it allows a multi-faceted look into the inner workings of the navy and the history of an institution that is unique in this form. Volume 21 of the series "Kleine Schriftenreihe zur Militär- und Marinegeschichte".