Supply flotilla
The supply flotilla was a large association of the German Navy , in which the supply or supply ships were combined. It was set up on October 1, 1960 under the name of Command of the Supply Ships and disbanded on September 22, 1994.
History and stakes
The pre-command for the command of the supply ships was set up on January 1, 1960 in Bremerhaven . After moving to Brake , the command of the supply ships and its staff were put into service there on October 1, 1960 and placed under the command of the fleet base . Various supply and support ships, which had previously belonged to other associations, were directly subordinate to the command of the supply ships.
In 1965 the command of the naval base was dissolved, and the command of the supply ships was subordinated to the North Sea naval section command and thus part of the fleet . On January 1, 1967, the association was renamed the supply flotilla, and was now subordinate to the Marine Division North Sea, which had emerged from the Naval Section Command . At the same time, the establishment of two subordinate supply squadrons to the flotilla was ordered, which were put into service on October 1, 1967. At that time, the flotilla's staff moved from Brake to Emden and from there to Cuxhaven in June 1968 .
In a further reorganization of the Navy, the supply flotilla was placed directly under the fleet command as a type command on October 1, 1972 . This regulation remained in place until the flotilla was dissolved at the end of September 1994.
Units in the supply flotilla have supported all naval operations since 1990. Until 1994 these included:
- Operation southern flank with ammunition transporter Westerwald and supplier Freiburg
- Operation Sharp Guard with the fuel transporters Rhön and Spessart
- Operation Southern Cross with the fuel transporter Spessart .
Organization and subordinate associations
At the head of the flotilla was a commander with the rank of a sea captain . The flotilla staff stood by his side.
While originally all units were directly under the command of the supply ships, in 1967 two supply squadrons were set up as an intermediate level. The units in the Baltic Sea were subordinate to the 1st supply squadron in Kiel , while the 2nd supply squadron in Wilhelmshaven was responsible for the units in the North Sea . These squadrons initially remained after the flotilla was dissolved and were placed under the destroyer flotilla . In 1997 they were combined to form the main squadron in Wilhelmshaven. Unlike in other squadrons of the Navy, the units of the squadrons were not closed in one base, but were distributed over several ports to support the units assigned to them.
Duties and equipment
The units of the supply flotilla were responsible for supply services at the base supply level. The navy was concerned with organizing its logistics in such a way that operational readiness should also be ensured in the event of the destruction of the land bases. In addition to supply ships, this also included workshop ships , tugs and other auxiliary ships .
In the beginning, the flotilla mainly had former merchant ships converted for naval purposes . After the German Navy had initially concentrated on combat units in its construction, it began in the mid-1960s with the procurement of new support vehicles that were designed according to their needs. A large number of newbuildings have been procured, some of which are still in service. The core of the flotilla were the eight small providers of the Lüneburg class .
Basic equipment
By the mid-1960s, the command of the supply ships received a number of ships of various origins that had been converted for their support tasks. These included:
- Eight fuel transporters of different sizes below
- four larger ones with a transport load of 9,000 to 15,000 t ( Franconia , Münsterland , Jeverland , Emsland )
- two middle ones with a transport load of 3500 to 4700 t ( Harz , Eifel )
- two smaller ones with a transport load of around 1200 t ( Bodensee , Wittensee )
- five material transporters of different sizes ( fishing , Dithmarschen , Siegerland , Sauerland , Pfälzerland )
- an ammunition transporter ( Black Forest )
- two workshop ships ( Odin , Wotan )
Most of these vehicles were built between 1943 and 1958, Jeverland was launched in 1937, making it the oldest of the ships.
New buildings and other procurements
The program, which began in the mid-1960s, provided for the construction or procurement of the following units, most of which, but not exclusively, were to be subordinated to the supply flotilla:
- Four large and eight small suppliers
- seven large and six small fuel transporters (tankers)
- two material transporters
- three ammunition transporters
- two mine transporters
- a torpedo transporter
- one large and four small workshop ships
- two salvage tugs
- six sea tugs
This program realized:
- Four small fuel transporters of the Walchensee class (class 703) 1966–1967
- two ammunition transporters of the Westerwald class (class 760) 1966–1967
- eight small providers in the Lüneburg class (class 701) 1966–1968
- two salvage tugs of the Helgoland class (class 720) 1966–1967
- six sea tugs of the Wangerooge class (class 722) 1968–1971
In addition, there were two Rhön -class fuel transporters (class 704), which had been built for a civilian shipowner from 1974 to 1975, acquired by the navy in 1976 and equipped with a sea supply facility. After these units arrived, part of the initial equipment was handed over.
Of the four planned workshop ships, two were procured ( Odin and Wotan ). After their commissioning in 1969, the two mine transporters of the Sachsenwald class briefly belonged to the 1st supply squadron and were subordinated to the flotilla of the mine forces .
Unrealized projects
Part of the construction program could not be implemented so that the desired floating base was only partially realized. The floating workshop component was limited to the two workshop ships acquired from the USA, although additional platforms had been acquired in the USA for the conversion (→ Amphibious Group # Other uses of landing craft in the Navy ). Instead, the tenders of the boat squadrons were equipped with a system support group (SUG) specialized in the respective weapon system for urgent repair work.
References
Web links
literature
- Wolfgang Harnack, The Destroyer Flotilla of the German Navy from 1958 to the present day, Hamburg, Köhler 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0816-1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Harnack, The Destroyer Flotilla of the German Navy from 1958 to today, Hamburg, Köhler 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0816-1
- ↑ Egbert Thomer, Jürgen Rhades; Yearbook of the German Navy 1967 - Second episode. Bremen 1966. p. 66 ff
- ↑ Egbert Thomer, Jürgen Rhades; Yearbook of the German Navy 1969 - fourth episode. Bremen o. JS 71 ff
- ^ Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop, The ships and vehicles of the German Federal Navy 1956 ~ 1976, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-7637-5155-6
- ^ Axel Joachim Stephenson; Logistic-technical support - from the maintenance group to the SUG. In: Hans Frank (Hrsg.), The German speed boats in action - 1956 until today. OO 2007, ISBN 978-3-8132-0880-1 . P. 76ff