Anti-mine vehicles of the German Navy

Hameln class
	; Grömitz (M 1064) after conversion with MLG 27
Overview
Type	Anti-mine vehicle
units	28
Shipyard	Lürssen ; Abeking & Rasmussen ; Kröger-Werft; Marinewerft Istanbul
Namesake	German cities and communities
period of service	since 1989 Germany since 2005 Turkey since 2006 United Arab Emirates ; ;
Technical specifications
displacement	635-650 tons
length	54.40 m
width	9.20 m
Draft	2.50 m
crew	37-42 men
drive	2 × MTU 16V 396 TB84 diesel engines of 2040 kW each, MJ engine ( MJ 332 ); 2 × diesel engine MTU 16V 538 TB91 of 2250 kW each ( MJ 333 , HL 352 );
speed	18 kn
Range	no information
Armament	2 × Bofors 40 mm flak; (before conversion, MJ 332 only 1 ×); 2 × Mauser 27 mm MLG (after conversion); 2 × 12.7 mm MG ; 2 × Fliegerfaust 2 ( Stinger );
Sensors	Raytheon SPS-64 or Sperry Bridgemaster Navigation Radar (I-Band); Signaal WM20 / 2 search and fire control radar (I / J band, not MJ 332 ); Atlas Elektronik DSQS-11M high frequency mine hunting sonar ; (not HL 352 ); STN ADS DSQS 15A active high-frequency mine avoidance sonar ; (only HL 352 );

The various classes of anti-mine vehicles used by the German Navy since the end of the 1980s are based on a uniform ship design. The Turkey also procured boats from this type of ship. This article describes the different variants.

development

One of the first tasks of the German Navy was to remove the remains of mines from the Second World War in German waters. For this purpose, 24 clearing boats of the Capella and Aldebaran class were returned to Germany from their spoils of war . In fact, these boats with German crews under Allied control ( German Mine Clearance Service ) had been engaged in mine clearing tasks not only in German waters since the end of the war, and they formed the material and personnel basis of the mine defense associations. As a further development of this type of boat from the war, the fast minesweepers of the Schütze class were created , which were very similar to the clearing boats in design and properties.

During the East-West conflict , the German Navy was responsible for both mine deployment and mine defense. The first conceptual ideas when building the navy assumed that the German naval and sea air forces would have to prepare a large Allied landing in the rear of the opposing troops in the event of war. This required a large number of anti-mine vehicles to clear the fairway for amphibious formations of sea mines . Therefore, between 1956 and 1970 around 60 such vehicles of different types were purchased.

Soon the idea of such a landing turned out to be unrealistic, and new concepts envisaged locking in the Warsaw Pact fleets in the Baltic Sea. Large mine barriers were planned for this. The laying of these barriers became the main task for large parts of the mine defense forces.

In the 1980s it was necessary to replace most of the German anti-mine vehicles due to their age. For financial reasons, it was impossible to replace all 60 vehicles with new buildings. For technical and logistical reasons, the variety of types should also be reduced. It was decided to develop a unitary hull, which should be expanded in different variants.

Since mine-laying was the most important task at the time, the priority was to maintain the existing mine-laying capacity. In a first step, the 21 high-speed minesweepers of the Schütze class were to be replaced by ten new boats with a double mine load. After that, new minehunters should follow.

technology

Anti-mine vehicles must be designed in such a way that they are as well protected as possible against mines. It is therefore important to ensure a shallow draft, low noise levels and a reduced intrinsic magnetic field. To reduce magnetic signatures, most minesweepers in the past were made of wood. This construction method was very complex, and as an alternative, many navies developed boats made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic . Instead, the German Navy opted for non-magnetizable steel, which is more resistant to the ice that can be expected in the Baltic Sea in winter. The German shipyard industry also had experience with this material from submarine construction.

Fast minesweepers Hameln class (class 343)

The typical ship Hameln during the Kiel Week 2007

SM-Boot M1092 Hameln, shipyard test drive 1989, original paint class 343, without black

The ten boats of the Hameln class were built as the first boats of the unit type . Their main job was to lay mines under threat. Therefore, the original name was mine attack boats , later they were classified as fast minesweepers . The Hameln was the first boat to enter service in 1989.

The boats could load 60 mines of different types compared to 30 mines on the predecessor boats of classes 340/341 . In addition, the boats received mechanical clearing gear and acoustic clearing buoys and they were able to tow magnetic hollow rods. The equipment also included a mine avoidance sonar .

For their own protection, they were given two 40 mm anti-aircraft guns that could be guided by a fire control radar . The PALIS situation display system, based on the Link 11 procedure , came on board for the tactical exchange of data with speed boats , which were intended to protect mine-laying operations . This gave the boats a considerable amount of guide means and surface weapons for the type of ship. With this equipment, they already proved themselves shortly after their commissioning during the initial phase of Operation South Flank 1990-91 in the Mediterranean.

After the end of the East-West conflict, the task of laying mines lost its importance. Therefore, all ten boats were rebuilt and rededicated. Five boats each were converted into mine-hunting boats of the Kulmbach class and into hollow-bar stilted boats of the Ensdorf class . With this, class 343 ceased to exist.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the Navy began replacing 40mm guns with new 27mm Navy Light Guns ( MLG ).

Mine hunting boats Frankenthal class (class 332)

Mine hunting drone penguin

As a replacement for the twelve minehunters of the Lindau class (class 331), ten minehunters of the new Frankenthal class were initially planned, and two more were ordered later. The Frankenthal was the first boat to enter service in 1992. These boats received modern mine-hunting equipment with a mine-hunting sonar and underwater drones of the penguin type . Since 2005, five boats have been converted to the more modern underwater drone Seefuchs . The boats also carry mine divers and the equipment they need.

Mine hunting boat Grömitz , class 332

The surface armament is simpler than that of the Hameln class and originally consisted of a 40 mm L / 70 gun on the forecastle. However, these weapons were replaced on all boats by a marine light gun (MLG) 27 in order to improve self-protection. Furthermore, two air defense systems FIM-92 Stinger (Fliegerfaust 2) are available for air defense. Link 11 and fire control radar are not available. At least two MG3 machine guns , three G36 rifles , three MP2 submachine guns and two P8 pistols , hand grenades and one single-barreled and one double-barreled signal pistol are carried on board for guard and security tasks.

Two of the twelve boats were decommissioned at the end of 2005 and sold to the United Arab Emirates .

Mine hunting boats Kulmbach class (class 333)

Kulmbach class boats

The five minehunters of the Kulmbach class were created by converting fast minesweepers of the Hameln class . During this conversion, the surface armament was retained; instead of the mine-clearing equipment, mine-hunting equipment was modernized compared to the Frankenthal class. The boats have, among other things, underwater drones of the Seefuchs type , which are equipped with a video camera and a sonar device. There are drones without explosive charges for the pure identification of the target and drones with explosive charges. The latter are directed to the target in order to destroy it by detonation.

All Kulmbach-class boats were to be decommissioned by the end of 2015. The commissioning of the mine-hunting boats Herten and Überherrn was extended. They served as a floating platform for recruiting for the Navy until June 30, 2016. From July 1, 2016, this task was taken over by the two remaining hollow rod steering boats (class 352) Pegnitz and Siegburg .

Ensdorf class minesweepers (class 352)

Hollow rod clearing device type seal

The five minesweepers of the Ensdorf class (class 352), also known as hollow rod diving boats , were also created by converting fast minesweeping boats of the Hameln class and replace six hollow rod diving boats of the Lindau class (class 351). Your task is to remotely control unmanned clearing boats. These seal- type vehicles with a water displacement of 98 tons essentially consist of a magnetic coil integrated into the hull for clearing magnetic mines, hence the name hollow rod. They also carry a sound buoy for clearing acoustic mines. Three to four seals are steered by a hollow rod boat. The boats of the Ensdorf class initially retained the surface armament (two 40 mm guns and two Stinger flying fists) and clearance equipment of the Hameln class, later they were equipped with MLG. You also have the Seefuchs mine-hunting drone .

Mine hunting boats of the Aydin class (class MHV 54-014)

On July 30, 1999, the Lürssen and Abeking & Rasmussen shipyards were commissioned by Turkey to build six boats, the value of which was $ 630 million.

The draft of the Turkish variant was based on the class 332, but with a number of technical changes, especially in the drive and mine-hunting equipment. In detail, the design is characterized by the following features:

Crew: 53 men including 6 officers,
Speed: 14 kn,
Propulsion: 2 × MTU 8V 396 TB84 diesel engines, 2 × Voith-Schneider propellers, 2 × Schottel bow thrusters with Combimac electric motors ,
Above water armament: 1 × Otobreda 30 mm gun , 2 × 12.7 mm machine gun ,
Underwater armament: 2 × ECA PAP 104 Mk. 5 mine-hunting drone, 1 × Oropesa mechanical search gear,
Mission control system : Alenia Marconi Nautis-M,
Sensors: 1 × KH 1007 navigation radar (I-band), 1 × Thomson Marconi type 2093, VDS, active high-frequency mine hunting sonar.

units

Germany Germany

The boats in turn received the names of German cities. The current home port of the MJ and HL boats is Kiel , where they belong to the 3rd minesweeping squadron and the 5th minesweeping squadron .

The first construction lot comprised the ten boats of class 343. They were not taken out of service for conversion.

Identifier	Surname	Callsign	Shipyard	Launch	In service	Conversion to class	Off-duty	Whereabouts
M1090	Pegnitz	DRFT	Lürssen	March 13, 1989	March 8, 1990	352		active (troop recruiting platform)
M1091	Kulmbach	DRFU	Abeking & Rasmussen	June 15, 1989	May 23, 1990	333	March 31, 2012	off-duty
M1092	Hamelin	DRFO	Lürssen	March 15, 1988	June 29, 1989	352	December 11, 2014	off-duty
M1093	Auerbach / Upper Palatinate	DRFR	Lürssen	June 18, 1990	May 7, 1991	352	17th December 2015	off-duty
M1094	Ensdorf	DRFN	Lürssen	December 8, 1989	October 16, 1990	352	July 31, 2014	Training hulk in Parow
M1095	Overriding	DRFS	Abeking & Rasmussen	August 30, 1988	September 19, 1989	333	June 30, 2016	off-duty
M1096	Passau	DRFJ	Abeking & Rasmussen	March 1, 1990	18th December 1990	333	September 27, 2013	off-duty
M1097	Laboe	DRFK	Kröger shipyard	September 13, 1988	December 7, 1989	333	March 28, 2012	off-duty
M1098	Siegburg	DRFL	Kröger shipyard	April 14, 1989	July 26, 1990	352		active (troop recruiting platform)
M1099	Herten	DRFP	Kröger shipyard	December 22, 1989	March 26, 1991	333	June 30, 2016	off-duty

The second construction lot initially comprised ten boats and finally twelve boats of class 332. The two boats subsequently commissioned are the first two in the following overview due to their lower identification. They are the only ones of the 22 boats to have names that already existed in the previous Lindau class .

Identifier	Surname	Callsign	Shipyard	Launch	In service	Conversion to class	Off-duty	Whereabouts
M1058	Fulda	DRFC	Abeking & Rasmussen	September 29, 1997	June 16, 1998			active
M1059	Weilheim	DRFD	Lürssen	February 26, 1998	November 26, 1998			active
M1060	Pastures	DRES	Abeking & Rasmussen	May 14, 1992	March 3, 1993		2005	to United Arab Emirates , Al Hasbah (M01)
M1061	Rottweil	DRET	Kröger shipyard	March 12, 1992	July 7, 1993	MT boat		active as a mine diver rescue boat
M1062	Sulzbach-Rosenberg	DREU	Lürssen	April 27, 1995	January 23, 1996			active
M1063	Bad Bevensen	DREV	Lürssen	January 21, 1993	December 9, 1993			active
M1064	Groemitz	DREW	Kröger shipyard	April 29, 1993	23rd August 1994			active
M1065	Dillingen	DREX	Abeking & Rasmussen	May 26, 1994	April 25, 1995			active
M1066	Frankenthal	DREY	Lürssen	March 6, 1992	December 16, 1992		2005	to United Arab Emirates , Al Murjan (M02)
M1067	Bad Rappenau	THIRD	Abeking & Rasmussen	3rd June 1993	April 19, 1994	MT boat		active as a mine diver mission boat
M1068	Dates	DRFA	Lürssen	January 27, 1994	December 8, 1994			active
M1069	Homburg	DRFB	Kröger shipyard	April 21, 1994	September 26, 1995			active

Turkey Turkey

The first boat of the Turkish mine hunters, known as the Aydin class , was built at A&R, while the others were built on site at the naval shipyard in Istanbul . The ships are stationed at the naval base in Erdek on the south bank of the Marmara Sea and belong to the 1st Mine Hunting and Minesweeping Flotilla (Turkish: 1st Arama Tarama Filottilası Komutanlığı ).

Identifier	Surname	Keel laying	Launch	In service	Whereabouts
M265	Alanya	November 20, 2000	March 21, 2003	July 26, 2005	active
M266	Amasra	July 25, 2001	May 10, 2004	July 26, 2005	active
M267	Ayvalık	June 3, 2002	July 26, 2005	June 22, 2007	active
M268	Akçakoca	July 24, 2003	September 27, 2006	January 24, 2008	active
M269	Anamur	February 23, 2004	September 17, 2007	October 10, 2008	active
M270	Akçay	July 26, 2005	October 27, 2008	December 15, 2009	active

United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates

In 2006 the UAE acquired two formerly German class 332 mine hunters. They were put into service on June 28, 2006, while still in Germany, by the Gulf State's navy . Both boats were then overhauled at the Neue Jadewerft in Wilhelmshaven before they were shipped to Abu Dhabi . The Al Hasbah reached their new home in August 2006, and the Al Murjan followed in the autumn of the same year. Before the handover, the future crews completed a training session in Germany.

The Al Hasbah is called A6QA. She is registered with the ITU as Alqanesah Al Hasba (M01) . The Al Murjan is at the ITU under the name of Al Marjan (M02) registered with the call sign A6QB.

literature

Reinhart Ostertag : German minesweepers. 80 years of defense against sea mines. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft 1988. ISBN 978-3-7822-0394-4 .

Web links

Commons : Kulmbach class - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Ensdorf class - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Peter Grundmann: Conversion of minesweepers. In: Marineforum 4-1996 , p. 12ff
^ Farewell to the "Kulmbach" . March 31, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
↑ Sponsorship of the hollow rod boat . Retrieved June 4, 2015.
↑ Auerbach: End of a great friendship “at sea” . Retrieved December 18, 2015.
^ Training ship "Ensdorf" . December 31, 2014. Accessed May 24, 2015.
^ Naval Fellowship Laboe News . Archived from the original on June 10, 2012. Retrieved on April 2, 2012.
↑ Specification of the itu

[Grundmann-1] Peter Grundmann: Conversion of minesweepers. In: Marineforum 4-1996 , p. 12ff

[2] Farewell to the "Kulmbach" . March 31, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.

[3] Sponsorship of the hollow rod boat . Retrieved June 4, 2015.

[4] Auerbach: End of a great friendship “at sea” . Retrieved December 18, 2015.

[5] Training ship "Ensdorf" . December 31, 2014. Accessed May 24, 2015.

[6] Naval Fellowship Laboe News . Archived from the original on June 10, 2012. Retrieved on April 2, 2012.

[7] Specification of the itu