German Navy

This article is about the modern navy of Germany and post–World War II navy of West Germany. For the World War I navy of Germany, see Imperial German Navy. For the interwar navy of Germany, see Reichsmarine. For the World War II navy of Germany, see Kriegsmarine. For other uses, see German Navy (disambiguation).
German Navy
Deutsche Marine
Founded 2 January 1956
Country  Germany
Type Navy
Size 16,200 personnel (29 February 2016)[1]
81 ships
52 aircraft
Part of Bundeswehr
Headquarters of the German Navy Rostock (Navy Command)
Motto(s) Wir. Dienen. Deutschland
(We. Serve. Germany)
March "Gruß an Kiel"
Anniversaries 14 June
Engagements
Website www.marine.de
Commanders
Inspector of the Navy Vice Admiral Andreas Krause
Deputy Inspector of the Navy Vice Admiral Rainer Brinkmann
Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Klaus von Dambrowski
Notable
commanders
Insignia
Naval Ensign

German Navy
Deutsche Marine

Components
Organization
Ships
Naval Air Arm
Kampfschwimmer
Command
Navy Command
Equipment
Ship Classes
History and Traditions
Prussian Navy
Norddeutsche Bundesmarine
Imperial German Navy
Reichsmarine
Kriegsmarine
Volksmarine
Awards, Decorations and Badges
Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr
Military Proficiency Badge
Badge of Marksmanship
Deployment Medal
Flood Service Medal

The German Navy (German: Deutsche Marine or simply German: Marine— listen ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified Bundeswehr ("Federal Defense"), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the Bundesmarine ("Federal Navy") from 1956 until 1995 when Deutsche Marine ("German Navy") became the official name with respect to the 1990 incorporation of the East German Volksmarine ("People's Navy"). It is deeply integrated into the NATO alliance. Its primary mission is protection of Germany's territorial waters and maritime infrastructure as well as sea lines of communication. Apart from this, the German Navy participates in peacekeeping operations, and renders humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

History

The German Navy traces its roots back to the Reichsflotte (Imperial Fleet) of the revolutionary era of 1848–52. The Reichsflotte was the first German navy to sail under the black-red-gold flag. Founded on 14 June 1848 by the orders of the democratically elected Frankfurt Parliament, the Reichsflotte's brief existence ended with the failure of the revolution and it was disbanded on 2 April 1852; thus, the modern day navy celebrates its birthday on 14 June.

Between May 1945 and 1956, the German Mine Sweeping Administration and its successor organizations, made up of former members of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine ("War Navy"), became something of a transition stage for the navy, allowing the future Marine to draw on experienced personnel upon its formation. In 1956, with West Germany's accession to NATO, the Bundesmarine ("Federal Navy"), as the navy was known colloquially, was formally established. In the same year the East German Volkspolizei See (literally "People's Police Sea") became the Volksmarine ("People's Navy"). With the accession of East Germany to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 the Volksmarine along with the whole National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee, NVA) became part of the Bundeswehr. Since 1995 the name German Navy is used in international context, while the official name since 1956 remains Marine without any additions. As of 31 December 2015, the strength of the navy is 16,045 men and women.[1]

A number of naval forces have operated in different periods. See

Current operations

German warships permanently participate in all four NATO Maritime Groups. The German Navy is also engaged in operations against international terrorism such as Operation Enduring Freedom and NATO Operation Active Endeavour.

Presently the largest operation the German Navy is participating in is UNIFIL off the coast of Lebanon. The German contribution to this operation is two frigates, four fast attack craft, and two auxiliary vessels. The naval component of UNIFIL has been under German command.[2]

The navy is operating a number of development and testing installations as part of an inter-service and international network. Among these is the Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters (COE CSW), an affiliated centre of Allied Command Transformation. The COE CSW was established in April 2007 and officially accredited by NATO on 26 May 2009.[3] It is co-located with the staff of the German Flotilla 1 in Kiel whose Commander is double-hatted as Director, COE CSW.

Equipment

Ships and submarines

In total, there are about 81 commissioned ships in the German Navy, including 5-6 submarines and 21 auxiliary ships. The displacement of the navy is 220,000 tonnes. In addition, the German Navy and the Royal Danish Navy are in cooperation in the "Ark Project". This agreement made the Ark Project responsible for the strategic sealift of German armed forces where the full-time charter of three roll-on-roll-off cargo and troop ships are ready for deployments. In addition, these ships are also kept available for the use of the other European NATO countries.

The three vessels have a combined displacement of 60,000 tonnes.[4][5] Including these ships, the total ships' displacement available to the Deutsche Marine is 280,000 tonnes.

A total of five Joint Support Ships, two JSS800 and three JSS400, were planned during the 1995-2010 period but the programme appears now to have been abandoned, not having been mentioned in two recent defence reviews. The larger ships would have been tasked for strategic troop transport and amphibious operations, and were to displace 27,000 to 30,000 tons for 800 soldiers.[6] The German Navy will use the Joint Support Ship HNLMS Karel Doorman (A833) of the Royal Netherlands Navy as part of the integration of the German Navy Marines (Seebatallion) in the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps as of 2016.

Aircraft

See also: Marineflieger

The naval air arm of the German Navy is called the Marineflieger. The Marineflieger operate approx. 50 aircraft.

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Quantity[7] Notes
Fixed-wing aircraft
P-3C Orion - CUP  United States Maritime patrol P-3C MPA 8 Former Royal Netherlands Navy
Dornier Do 228  Germany Pollution control Do 228 LM/NG 2
Helicopters
Westland Lynx  United Kingdom Maritime helicopter Mk 88 21 Will be replaced by NH90 NFH
Westland Sea King  United Kingdom Search and rescue Mk 41 21 Replacement planned
NHI NH90  European Union Maritime helicopter NFH 0 18 ordered[8]
UAVs
Camcopter S-100  Austria UAV S-100 0 6 on order.
A German Navy boarding team member assigned to the frigate FGS Augsburg (F213) provides security with a P8 pistol for the remainder of his team as they board a local cargo hold by fast rope to conduct a search of the vessel.

Structure

The German Navy is commanded by the Inspector of the Navy (Inspekteur der Marine) supported by the Navy Command (Marinekommando) in Rostock.

Formations

  • 1st Corvette Squadron (1. Korvettengeschwader), Warnemünde
  • 1st Submarine Squadron (1. Ubootgeschwader), Eckernförde
    • Submarine Training Centre (Ausbildungszentrum Unterseeboote), Eckernförde
  • 3rd Minesweeping Squadron (3. Minensuchgeschwader), Kiel
  • 5th Minesweeping Squadron (5. Minensuchgeschwader), Kiel
  • 7th Fast Patrol Boat Squadron (7. Schnellbootgeschwader), Warnemünde
  • Naval Force Protection Battalion, (Seebataillon), Eckernförde
  • Naval Special Forces Command, (Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine), Eckernförde
  • Naval Base Command Kiel (Marinestützpunktkommando Kiel)
  • Naval Base Command Eckernförde
  • Naval Base Command Warnemünde
  • HQ 2nd Flotilla
  • 2nd Frigate Squadron (2. Fregattengeschwader), Wilhelmshaven
  • 4th Frigate Squadron (4. Fregattengeschwader), Wilhelmshaven
  • Auxiliary Squadron (Trossgeschwader), Wilhelmshaven
  • Naval Base Command Wilhelmshaven
  • Naval Aviation Command (Marinefliegerkommando), Nordholz
  • Naval Air Wing 3 (Marinefliegergeschwader 3), Nordholz
  • Naval Air Wing 5 (Marinefliegergeschwader 5), Nordholz
Naval Academy Mürwik

Ranks

Officers

NATO CodeOF-10OF-9OF-8OF-7OF-6OF-5OF-4OF-3OF-2OF-1OF(D)Student Officer

Germany
(Edit)		 no equivalent

Admiral

Vize-
admiral

Konter-
admiral

Flottillen-
admiral

Kapitän
zur See

Fregatten-
kapitän

Korvetten-
kapitän


Stabskapitän-
leutnant

Kapitän-
leutnant

Oberleutnant
zur See

Leutnant
zur See		 No equivalent Enlisted rank plus a star indicating cadet's career

Petty officers and enlisted seamen

NATO CodeOR-9OR-8OR-7OR-6OR-5OR-4OR-3OR-2OR-1
Germany Germany
(Edit)
Oberstabsbootsmann Stabsbootsmann Hauptbootsmann Oberbootsmann Bootsmann Obermaat Maat Oberstabsgefreiter Stabsgefreiter Hauptgefreiter Obergefreiter Gefreiter Matrose
Germany Germany
(Officer designate)
(Edit)		 No equivalent No equivalent No equivalent No equivalent No equivalent No equivalent
Oberfähnrich zur See Fähnrich zur See Seekadett

Radio and communication stations

Future developments

See also

Further reading (COE CSW)

References

  1. 1 2 "Die Stärke der Streitkräfte [Personnel strength of German Armed Forces]". 23 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20090101153744/http://www.marine.de:80/portal/a/marine/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLNzKODzIMBMmB2d5mIfqRcNGglFR9X4_83FR9b_0A_YLciHJHR0VFAIngHDk!/delta/base64xml/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SVVFLzZfMjNfUjFR?yw_contentURL=%2F01DB070000000001%2FW27G6EFV180INFODE%2Fcontent.jsp. Archived from the original on 1 January 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Deutsche Marine - press release: Neues Nato-Expertenzentrum an der Kieler Förde nimmt Fahrt auf; Faermann, 2009
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20110608040417/http://forsvaret.dk/SOK/eng/International/ARK/Ships/Pages/default.aspx. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20101128160746/http://forsvaret.dk:80/SOK/ENG/INTERNATIONAL/ARK/Pages/default.aspx. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Inspekteur der Marine : Zielvorstellung Marine 2025+" (PDF). Geopowers.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "Tiger & N90 orders" (in German). German MOD. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20090520070158/http://www.marineforum.info:80/HEFT_5-2009/Camcopter/camcopter.html. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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