The German Navy (German: Deutsche Marine listen (help·info)) is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr.
The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848-1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy (Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, 1866-1871) and became the Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine, 1872-1918). From 1919 to 1921 it was known as the Temporary Imperial Navy (Vorläufige Reichsmarine) and then became the Reichsmarine. It was known as the War Navy (Kriegsmarine) from 1935 to 1945.
In 1956, with West Germany's accession to NATO, a new navy was established and was referred to as the Federal Navy (Bundesmarine). With the reunification of Germany in 1990, it was decided to simply use the name Deutsche Marine ("German Navy").
German frigate "Karlsruhe" rescuing shipwrecked people off the coast of
Somalia while participating in the international anti-terror operation ENDURING FREEDOM, April 2005
Missions
The German Navy is part of the German armed forces (Bundeswehr), and is deeply integrated into the NATO alliance. Its mission includes the participation in peace-keeping and peace enforcement operations as well as the protection of German and Allied territories. German war ships permanently participate in all NATO Maritime Groups. The German Navy is also engaged in operations against international terrorism such as Operation Enduring Freedom and NATO-Operation Active Endeavour.
Organization
The German Navy is commanded by the Chief of the Naval Staff in the Federal Ministry of Defense in Bonn. The major commands are the Fleet Command at Glücksburg near Flensburg and the Naval Office at Rostock. The Fleet is being commanded by the Commander-in-Chief German Fleet (CINCGERFLEET) and comprises all combat vessels, aircraft, helicopters and other combat forces, while schools, naval bases and test installations are under the purview of the Naval Office. The strength of the Navy is about 19,000 men and women with another 6,000 navy personnel serving in different elements of the central military organization of the Bundeswehr.
The navy as a part of the Bundeswehr is responsible for developing and providing the maritime capabilities of the German armed forces. Therefore it owns a number of development and testing installations that are part of an interservice and international network.
Fleet Command
- Fleet Command German: Flottenkommando (Glücksburg)
- Naval Air Wing 3 (Nordholz)
- Naval Air Wing 5 (Kiel), will be closed
- Naval Medical Institute (Kiel), responsible especially for diving medicine
- 1st Flotilla (Kiel)
- HQ 1st Flotilla
- 1st Corvette Squadron (Warnemünde)
- 1st Submarine Squadron (Eckernförde)
- Submarine Training Centre (Eckernförde)
- 3rd Mine Counter-Measure Squadron (Kiel)
- 7th Fast Patrol Boat Squadron (Warnemünde)
- 5th Mine Counter-Measure Squadron (Kiel)
- Force Protection Group (Eckernförde)
- one HQ and support company
- four Force Protection companies
- Special Warface Group (Eckernförde)
- one combat diver company
- one clearance diver company (mine counter measures and explosive ordnance disposal)
- two companies for special operations (e.g. boarding)
- one support company
- special training center
- 2nd Flotilla (Wilhelmshaven)
- HQ 2nd Flotilla
- 2nd Frigate Squadron (Wilhelmshaven)
- 4th Frigate Squadron (Wilhelmshaven)
- Auxiliary Squadron (Wilhelmshaven/Kiel)
Naval Office
- Naval Office German: Marineamt (Rostock)
- Navy Schools
- Naval Academy (Flensburg-Mürwik)
- Petty Officer School (Plön, near Kiel)
- Engeneering School (Parow, near Stralsund)
- Damage Control Training Centre (Neustadt in Holstein)
- Operations School (Bremerhaven)
- Naval Bases
- Department of Naval Development (Bremerhaven)
- Naval Test Command (Eckernförde)
- Naval Command & Control Systems Command (Wilhelmshaven)
Ships and Weapon Systems
Sea King Mk41 from MFG.5 in special 30th anniversary colour scheme at Weston-super-Mare, UK, July 2005
The main weapons systems of the German Navy are:
Surface Vessels
- Frigates
- Corvettes
- 5 Braunschweig class (multi-purpose corvette), under construction, replace Albatros class
- Fast Patrol Boats
- Mine Counter-Measure Vessels
- 5 Hameln class (minesweeper, drone guidance)
- 5 Laboe class (mine hunter)
- 12 Frankenthal class (minesweeper)
- 18 Seehund class (MCM drone)
- M1052 Mühlhausen (diver support)
Submarines
Auxilary Vessels
- Landing craft
- Auxiliary vessels
- 2 Berlin class (fleet auxiliary), one more planned
- 1 Westerwald class (amunition tranport)
- 6 Elbe class (tender)
- 2 Rhön class (tanker)
- 2 Tegernsee class (coastal tanker)
- 3 Oste class (reconnaissance ship)
- 1 Fehmarn class (ocean tug, salvage vessel)
- 5 Wangerooge class (tug/trainig ship)
Aircraft
- Maritime Patrol Aircraft
- 6 Bréguet Atlantic
- 8 P3 Orion, replace Bréguet Atlantic
- 4 Dornier Do228
- Helicopters
- 21 Sea Lynx Mk88
- 20 Sea King Mk41
- 30 NH90, planned, replace Sea King and Sea Lynx
Future
Naval Bases
After reunification, the modern German navy concentrated all ships of a given type at one base. The type bases are:
The Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel is the German memorial for sailors who lost their lives at sea during the World Wars and while on duty at sea.
Equipment
- 4 frigates of the F125-Class specialised for stabilisation missions are planned to replace the Bremen-Class (8 guided-missile frigates). F 125 will have two crews per ship.
- 6 surface combat ships are planed under the name "MÜKE"
- Five Corvetts of the Braunschweig-Class (Class 130) will replace the 30 years old Albatros Class
- A third fleet auxilary ship of the Berlin-Class is planned
- The German Navy bought in 2005 eight Lockheed P-3 Orion from the Dutch Navy to replace the old Bréguet Atlantic
- 30 MH90 helicopter will replace 22 Sea King helicopter of the Naval Air Wing 5 and some Sea Lynx helicopter
See also
Wikilinks
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Navy under GFDL
