Naval Historical Team

The Naval Historical Team (NHT) was established by the U.S. Navy in 1949. It was a group of German naval officers under American order to reappraise the naval war history of World War II from the German perspective. The group was under control of the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Under the leadership of Captain Arthur H. Graubart, Chief of Naval Intelligence in Germany, the NHT first met on 9 April 1949 in Bremerhaven. The staff included Generaladmiral a. D. Otto Schniewind, Vizeadmiral a. D. Friedrich Ruge, Vizeadmiral a. D. Hellmuth Heye, Konteradmiral a. D. Gerhard Wagner and Oberst a. D. Gaul. Temporarily it was further augmented by Konteradmiral a. D. Eberhard Godt, Kapitän zur See a. D. Hans-Rudolf Rösing and Fregattenkapitän a. D. Karl-Adolf Zenker.

The primary interest of the U.S. Navy was in the German war experiences fighting against the Soviet Navy, which the U.S. Navy wanted to leverage in a possible war at sea with the Soviet Union. In 1952, the NHT was dissolved after completion of the work.