Maritime Police Headquarters

Members of the maritime police

An armed organ created in June 1950 with the support of Soviet officers at the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR , which was supposed to serve the security interests of the GDR at the sea border and in the coastal waters , was designated as Hauptverwaltung Seepolizei (HVS) . This was preceded by the establishment of a “main department z. b. V. (Sea) ”within the Education Department of the Ministry of the Interior. The HVS existed until it was incorporated into the See People's Police on August 1, 1953.

tasks

In addition to securing the border, one of the first tasks of the HVS was to clear the coastal waters of the GDR from sea mines . Mine clearing began in September 1952. However, no mines were found. At the same time, the Seepolizei headquarters served as the core of a future GDR Navy from the start. That is why the crews were trained for military tasks, such as outpost and escort service .

The task of border security was transferred from the HVS to the German border police in May 1952 .

Personnel and training

The maritime police were only able to rely on experienced military personnel to a limited extent during their construction because many members of the former navy were captured by the British and the US at the end of the war or had gone to the western occupation zones . In addition, one wanted to consciously avoid ties to the Wehrmacht . Therefore, the training was in the foreground of the installation efforts from the beginning.

Already in March 1950 the construction of a sea police school had started in Parow , from which later, named after its first director, the fleet school "Walter Steffens" arose. The school started operations on August 1, 1950. In 1952 a naval officer training institute and an engineering and technical training institute were also founded. In addition, many officers were sent to the Soviet Union for training.

By the end of 1951, the workforce had grown to around 3,000 men.

Material and equipment

HVS coastal safety boat in front of Rügen

In May 1950, Soviet forces surrendered six minesweepers of the type R-218 held by the former Navy and later a support vessel . In addition, there were the wrecks of four Danish warships that were to be turned into auxiliary ships. The maritime police also received 150 horses and a few motor vehicles for service on the coast.

From 1951 further boats were delivered by the Soviet Union and shipyards of the GDR. The construction program saw the procurement of 20 sea cutters, later referred to as coastal safety boats (KS boats). In addition, larger minesweepers and clearing boats were commissioned, the construction of which began in early 1952.

After the task of securing the border, eight KS boats were handed over to the German border police in June 1952.

organization

The command of the maritime police was in East Berlin . At its head was Waldemar Verner as Inspector General (according to Vice Admiral ) , and Heinz Neukirchen was chief of staff . They were each subordinate to a clearing boat division and a coastal defense boat division, a salvage squad, schools and a ship trunk division. Since July 27, 1950, the newly established sea hydrographic service of the GDR was also subordinate to the HVS. The exact organization changed several times.

Transfer to the barracked People's Police See

Following the instructions issued by the Soviet government in April 1952 to establish a regular army in the GDR, the HVS units were restructured as the People's Police at Sea (VP-See) in order to lay the foundations for establishing an effective naval force. On August 1, 1953, it was incorporated into the Kasernierte Volkspolizei (KVP), with its conversion to the NVA on March 1, 1956, the NVA naval forces administration (from 1960 Volksmarine ) and the Coastal Border Brigade, which was operationally subordinate to it, came into being .

References

literature

Siegfried Breyer, Peter Joachim Lapp: The People's Navy of the GDR , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, ISBN 3-7637-5423-7
Dieter Flohr: "Volksmarine" consideration of a German fleet 1950–1990 , BS-Verlag-Rostock, ISBN 978-3-89954-138-0
Friedrich Elchlepp : The founding of the GDR sea police (1950-1952) . In: Hartmut Klüver (Ed.): Stations of German naval history (II): German sea associations 1945–1956, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-935091-08-7 . P. 94ff.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Friedrich Elchlepp: The founding of the GDR sea police (1950−1952) . In: Hartmut Klüver (Ed.): Stations of German naval history (II): German sea associations 1945–1956, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-935091-08-7 . P. 94ff.
↑ ^a ^b Fritz Minow, Die Volkspolizei-See (VP-See) 1952–1956. In: Hartmut Klüver (Ed.): Stations of German naval history (II): German sea associations 1945–1956, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-935091-08-7 . P. 109ff.

[Elchlepp-1] A ^b Friedrich Elchlepp: The founding of the GDR sea police (1950−1952) . In: Hartmut Klüver (Ed.): Stations of German naval history (II): German sea associations 1945–1956, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-935091-08-7 . P. 94ff.

[Minow-2] Fritz Minow, Die Volkspolizei-See (VP-See) 1952–1956. In: Hartmut Klüver (Ed.): Stations of German naval history (II): German sea associations 1945–1956, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-935091-08-7 . P. 109ff.