German Navy

Not to be confused with the Imperial German Navy, Kriegsmarine, Prussian Navy, or Volksmarine

## Information

### Personnel

16,500

The **German Navy** (German: ***Deutsche Marine***, pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə maˈʁiːnə] ⓘ) 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 to 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. It also participates in anti-piracy operations.

### 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 recently experienced personnel upon its formation. Also, from 1949 to 1952 the US Navy had maintained the Naval Historical Team in Bremerhaven. This group of former *Kriegsmarine* officers acting as historical and tactical consultants to the Americans, was significant in establishing a German element in the NATO senior naval staff. 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). During the Cold War all of the German Navy's combat vessels were assigned to NATO's Allied Forces Baltic Approaches's naval command NAVBALTAP.

With the accession of East Germany to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 the *Volksmarine* along with the whole National People's Army 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 April 2020, the strength of the navy is 16,704 men and women.

### 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.
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. It is co-located with the staff of the German Flotilla 1 in Kiel whose Commander is double-hatted as Director, COE CSW.