page_title: Allied Forces Baltic Approaches
section_title: Flag Officer Germany
hierarchical_section_title: Allied Forces Baltic Approaches / Organization 1989 / Commander, Allied Naval Forces Baltic Approaches / Flag Officer Germany
caption_attribution_description: Type 143 fast attack craft missile boats of the West German Navy pass in review during a port visit by the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) on 20 October 1985 at Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). The S69 Habicht (P6119) is in the foreground.
context_page_description: Allied Forces Baltic Approaches was a Principal Subordinate Command of the NATO Military Command Structure, with responsibility for the Baltic Sea area. It was in existence from 1962 to 2002 and consisted of the Danish Armed Forces, units of the West German Bundeswehr and allied wartime reinforcements.
  The NATO command Baltic Approaches was created on 8 January 1962, with headquarters in Karup, Denmark. It was created at Germany's urging, in order to end the previous separation of the German naval forces between the NATO commands Northern Europe and Central Europe. After the changes in the international security situation in 1990, the command was restructured in 1993 and deactivated in 2002.
  The area of responsibility of BALTAP comprised the territory of Denmark, the German states Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and the eastern North Sea, the Baltic approaches with Skagerrak, Kattegat, the Danish straits, and the Baltic Sea. One peculiarity was the responsibility for air defence over the German part of the BALTAP area. Until 1990, the western Allies were responsible for air defence over the whole Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of the occupation statute.
context_section_description: The Flag Officer Germany (FOG) was the commanding vice admiral of the West-German Navy's Fleet Command. In peacetime he commanded all German naval units in the North and Baltic Sea. In case of war the command of German units in the North Sea would pass to the Commander German North Sea Subarea. Fleet Command was based during peacetime in Glücksburg, but would have moved to an underground command center in Glücksburg-Meierwik in case of war.
  The German naval forces in the Baltic Sea had the task to prevent Warsaw Pact naval forces from passing through the Danish straits and to prevent amphibious landings on the German coast. To fulfill its mission the German navy fielded like the Danish navy a large number of minelayers and fast attack crafts. All German submarines were based in the Baltic Sea and tasked with mining enemy harbors and sinking enemy supply ships far from German waters. The main bases in the Baltic Sea were Naval Base Kiel, Naval Base Kiel-Holtenau, Naval Base Flensburg, Naval Base Flensburg-Mürwik, Naval Base Olpenitz, Neustadt Naval Base and Naval Base Eckernförde.
  At the beginning of 1989 the Flag Officer Germany would have commanded the following ships. The peacetime administrative flotilla commands in Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven would have been removed from the chain of command in times of war.
  Fleet Command in Glücksburg
  Destroyer Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven
  1st Destroyer Squadron in Kiel with Lütjens-class destroyers
  D185 Lütjens
  D186 Mölders
  D187 Rommel
  Fleet Service Squadron in Flensburg-Mürwik with Thetis-class submarine chasers and Oste-class SIGINT/ELINT ships
  A1449 Hans Bürkner, command and control ship for the Thetis-class submarine chasers
  P6052 Thetis
  P6053 Hermes
  P6054 Najade
  P6055 Triton
  P6056 Theseus
  A50 Alster, commissioned October 1989
  A52 Oste
  A53 Oker
  Fast attack craft Flotilla in Flensburg-Mürwik
  2nd Fast Attack Craft Squadron in Olpenitz with Albatros-class fast attack craft
  P6111 Albatros
  P6112 Falke
  P6113 Geier
  P6114 Bussard
  P6115 Sperber
  P6116 Greif
  P6117 Kondor
  P6118 Seeadler
  P6119 Habicht
  P6120 Kormoran
  A69 Donau, 401C-class supply and support tender
  3rd Fast Attack Craft Squadron in Flensburg-Mürwik with Tiger-class fast attack craft
  P6141 Tiger
  P6142 Iltis
  P6143 Luchs
  P6144 Marder
  P6145 Leopard
  P6146 Fuchs
  P6147 Jaguar
  P6148 Löwe
  P6149 Wolf
  P6150 Panther
  A58 Rhein, 401C-class supply and support tender
  5th Fast Attack Craft Squadron in Olpenitz with Tiger-class fast attack craft
  P6151 Häher
  P6152 Storch
  P6153 Pelikan
  P6154 Elster
  P6155 Alk
  P6156 Dommel
  P6157 Weihe
  P6158 Pinguin
  P6159 Reiher
  P6160 Kranich
  A63 Main, 401C-class supply and support tender
  7th Fast Attack Craft Squadron in Kiel with Gepard-class fast attack craft
  P6121 Gepard
  P6122 Puma
  P6123 Hermelin
  P6124 Nerz
  P6125 Zobel
  P6126 Frettchen
  P6127 Dachs
  P6128 Ozelot
  P6129 Wiesel
  P6130 Hyäne
  A61 Elbe, 401D-class supply and support tender
  A66 Neckar, 401B-class supply and support tender, decommissioned November 1989
  Mine Countermeasures Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven
  Mine Diver Company in Eckernförde
  1st Minesweeping Squadron in Flensburg with Schütze-class fast minesweepers
  M1051 Castor
  M1054 Pollux
  M1055 Sirius
  M1056 Rigel
  M1057 Regulus
  M1058 Mars
  M1059 Spica
  M1060 Skorpion
  M1062 Schütze
  M1063 Waage
  A1437 Sachsenwald, 762-class naval mine transport ship
  A1438 Steigerwald, 762-class naval mine transport ship
  3rd Minesweeping Squadron in Kiel with Ariadne-class coastal minesweepers
  M2650 Ariadne
  M2651 Freya
  M2652 Vineta
  M2653 Hertha
  M2654 Nymphe
  M2655 Nixe
  M2656 Amazone
  M2657 Gazelle
  5th Minesweeping Squadron in Olpenitz, between 1988 and 1991 the squadron's Schütze-class fast minesweepers were replaced with Hameln-class fast minesweepers
  M1064 Deneb, decommissioned September 1989
  M1065 Jupiter, decommissioned September 1989
  M1093 Neptun
  M1094 Widder, decommissioned July 1989
  M1096 Fische, decommissioned April 1989
  M1092 Hameln, commissioned June 1989
  M1095 Überherrn, commissioned September 1989
  M1097 Laboe, commissioned December 1989
  A67 Mosel, 402A-class supply and support tender
  7th Minesweeping Squadron in Neustadt with Frau
caption: Albatros-class fast attack crafts in Kiel in 1985
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