Combat swimmers
As frogmen (obsolete frogman in World War II Marine fighter ) is particularly called for the fight in and trained underwater Marines who now among the special forces are expected. Combat swimmers whose area of activity is the sea are differentiated from amphibious special forces such as those of the KSK or from pioneer divers who have no combat mission.
Combat swimmers in different countries
Current
Germany
The Navy did not set up its own combat swimmer units until late in the Second World War . They were part of the command of the small combat units of the Kriegsmarine (K-Verband) under Rear Admiral Hellmuth Heye , which was created from 1944 and was supposed to form a special association for amphibious command operations, similar to the British commandos . Heye was able to fall back on units of the military secret service, which he integrated into the K-Association. Alfred von Wurzian played a key role in the formation of a German combat swimmer unit .
Building on the experience of the Navy, the German Navy also set up a combat swimmer company. The first soldiers were trained by the Nageurs de combat in France . It has been stationed in Eckernförde since it was founded in 1958 and can be considered the oldest special unit of the Bundeswehr . In the course of time she has changed her position several times and is currently part of the Navy's Special Forces Command . The German Navy does not provide any official information about operations . The combat swimmers of the navy, together with the KSK of the army, are considered to be the best-trained unit in the Bundeswehr.
Denmark
The Danish Navy has with the Danish Frogman Corps comprehensive frogmen company since 1970, a 200 man.
Finland
The Finnish Navy trains 10–20 conscripts to become combat swimmers every other year.
France
There were various maritime special forces in France during World War II. However, in the course of time the Commando Hubert for combat swimmers has developed. The command was officially used as a combat swimmer for the first time in 1953 during the Algerian War.
Great Britain
The British Royal Navy combat swimmer associations are called the Special Boat Service (SBS). The unit was set up in 1940 and has since operated worldwide in the areas of sabotage , reconnaissance, observation , underwater attacks , landing operations and as a maritime anti-terrorist unit. The SBS is considered one of the best and most modern special forces in the world and is based in Poole ( Dorset ). It is equipped with helicopters , hovercrafts and mini-submarines , among other things .
Italy
Italy was one of the pioneers in underwater warfare with combat swimmers and small arms. Already in the First World War buried two frogmen with a modified torpedo the Austrian battleship Viribus Unitis in the naval base Pola .
During the Second World War , Italian combat swimmers from the Decima Flottiglia MAS unit achieved spectacular success. A team sank the British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in the port of Alexandria .
Today the Italian combat swimmers are grouped together in the Comando Subacquei e Incursori (COMSUBIN).
Norway
The Navy Jegerkommandoen has existed in Norway since 1951 .
Austria
Austria has combat swimmers as part of the hunting command . After successfully completing the Jagdkommando course, the training lasts several years.
Russia / Soviet Union
In 1953, a center for special naval units was established in Sevastopol in the Soviet Union . Today they are used in Chechnya, among others.
South Africa
The Operational Diving Division has existed in South Africa since 1957 .
United States
The United States Navy has since 1962 with the US Navy Seals (Sea, Air, Land teams) over an equally renowned as powerful frogman unit. It consists of around 8,000 soldiers who are spread across eight teams and reserve units. The anti-terrorist unit SEAL Team Six is recruited from the Seal Teams, but is under the command of the United States Joint Special Operations Command .
Historical
GDR
The Volksmarine (VM) of the GDR had a combat swimmer command (KSK-18), which was stationed in Kühlungsborn . The unit was directly subordinate to the chief of the People's Navy. The former combat swimmers of the Volksmarine are now part of the “Marinekameradschaft der Kampfschwimmer Ost e. V. “organized.
Imperial Japan
Fukuryū were Japanese combat swimmers who were supposed to blow themselves up in the final phase of the Pacific War with explosive charges on enemy landing ships (similar to the kamikaze pilots ), but were no longer used. The Fukuryū were disbanded after the war ended.
Switzerland
The Swiss army maintained 1,969 to 1,980 so-called diving float (double. Nageurs de combat, translated frogmen) that the Genius troops were assigned. The combat swimmers in the Swiss Army have been trained in a variety of ways for close combat and sabotage on land and water. Since around 2008 diving swimmers have been trained again, but not as combat swimmers.
Germany in World War II
The SS-Jagdverband zu Friedenthal, under the command of Otto Skorzeny , was a special unit in the Third Reich, with a company of combat swimmers (Jagdkommando-Ost) based in Vienna, Theresienstadt.
See also
literature
- Christin-Désirée Rudolph: The combat swimmers of the Bundeswehr. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-613-03647-5 .
- Horst Kerzig, Jürgen Knittel, Kurt Schulz: The combat swimmers of the Volksmarine. Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-360-01919-6 .
Web link
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kampfschwimmer.de. Retrieved December 3, 2013 .
- ↑ Sukeltajat - Varusmies. Retrieved September 7, 2018 (fi-FI).
- ↑ Mike Ryan, Chris Mann, Alexander Stilwell: The Encyclopedia of Special Forces . Moewig Verlag, ISBN 3-8118-1895-3 , pp. 158 ff .
- ↑ Fate of the absurd kind. The end of "Viribus Unitis" - a grotesque tragedy. In: The Standard. October 29, 2007, accessed August 26, 2014 .
- ↑ Combat swimmer training with the Austrian Armed Forces [1]
- ^ Henry Plater-Zytek: Russias Special Forces. (pdf) Conflict Studies Research Center, September 2005, p. 13 , accessed on November 24, 2014 (English, from the 3rd footnote).
- ^ Charles Recknagel: Who Are The Navy SEALs And What Is Team Six? , May 6, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2018 [2]
- ↑ See the book "The Combat Swimmers of the People's Navy". The military history reference work deals with the history of Combat Swimmer Command 18, from its creation to the dissolution of the People's Navy.
- ↑ Very special «class reunion». In: Generalanzeiger Brugg. February 16, 2012, accessed December 13, 2016 .
- ^ Otto Skorzeny: My Commando Operations , Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (January 1, 1995), ISBN 978-08874-07185
- ^ Charles Foley: Commando Extraordinary: Otto Skorzeny . (1999), Cassel 1999 p. 30, ISBN 0-304-35080-X .