''Einsatzflottille 1'' (EinsFltl 1 or EF 1) is one of the three

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

-level units of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (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 ...

, in addition to '' Einsatzflottille 2'' and the Naval Air Command. It is based in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

, and is under the head of the Navy Command, based in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

History

''Einsatzflottille 1'' was set up on 29 June 2006 as part of a major reorganization of the fleet. The , the , and the were merged. This brought all fast attack craft, mine warfare ships, and submarines of the German Navy under one organisational umbrella. The five

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s of the ''Braunschweig'' class were integrated into the flotilla from 2008 onward. In 2012 the EF 1 was stationed in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. On 27 September 2016 the ''5th Minensuchgeschwader'', formerly part of ''Einsatzflottille 1'', was decommissioned in

, and was replaced by the (Support Squadron). On 16 November 2016 the ''7. Schnellbootgeschwader'' in

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

was also decommissioned.

Subordinate units

1st Corvette Squadron

The ''1. Korvettengeschwader'' was created on 29 June 2006 with the commissioning of the first ''Braunschweig''-class corvettes and is stationed at Hohe Düne Naval Base near

. Five additional corvettes built to the same (slightly modernised) design were ordered in 2017 and are planned to be commissioned from 2022 on, beginning with F265 ''Köln''. * ''Braunschweig''-class (130) corvette ** F260 ''Braunschweig'' ** F261 ''Magdeburg'' ** F262 ''Oldenburg'' ** F263 ''Erfurt'' ** F264 ''Ludwigshafen am Rhein''

3rd Mine Countermeasures Squadron

''3. Minensuchgeschwader'' was raised on 15 October 1956 as 3rd Fast (''schnelles'') Mine Countermeasures Squadron in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

and moved to Kiel from 1 August 1958 on. The squadron received its current name in February 1960. On 23 September 1992, the squadron was temporarily disbanded but reinstituted on 2 April 1996 in Olpenitz (today part of

Kappeln Kappeln () is a town in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the north bank of the Schlei, approx. northeast of Schleswig, and southeast of Flensburg. For the eastern Angeln and the northern S ...

). About a decade later, Olpenitz naval base was dissolved and the squadron returned to Kiel on 1 February 2006. With the 1st and 5th mine countermeasures squadrons having been disbanded, the 3rd squadron now unites all

mine warfare Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices: *Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to disable or destroy vehicles * Minelaying, deployment of explosive mines at sea **Naval min ...

vessels of the German Navy. * ''Frankenthal''-class (332) minehunter ** M1058 ''Fulda'' ** M1059 ''Weilheim'' ** M1061 ''Rottweil'' (fitted as diver support vessel) ** M1062 ''Sulzbach-Rosenberg'' ** M1063 ''Bad Bevensen'' ** M1064 ''Grömitz'' ** M1065 ''Dillingen'' ** M1067 ''Bad Rappenau'' (fitted as diver support vessel) ** M1068 ''Datteln'' ** M1069 ''Homburg'' * ''Ensdorf''-class (352) minesweeper (mostly used for recruitment and training) ** M 1090 ''Pegnitz'' ** M 1098 ''Siegburg''

Support Squadron

The ''Unterstützungsgeschwader'' commands five of the six ''Elbe''-class tenders and is stationed in Kiel. * ''Elbe''-class (404) tender ** A511 ''Elbe'' in Warnemünde ** A512 ''Mosel'' in Kiel ** A513 ''Rhein'' in Kiel ** A514 ''Werra'' in Kiel ** A516 ''Donau'' in Kiel

1st Submarine Squadron

'' 1. Ubootgeschwader'' and its units are stationed in

Eckernförde Eckernförde (; , sometimes also ; , sometimes also ) is a city located in the of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel, it has a populat ...

where the squadron was created on 1 October 1961. It was part of the ''Ubootflotille'' (Submarine Flotilla) which was stationed in Eckernförde and also commanded the 1st squadrons sister unit, ''3. Ubootgeschwader''. Both units were dissolved in 2006, with the remaining submarines being transferred to 1st squadron. * ''U-31''-class (212 A) submarine ** S182 ''U-31'' ** S182 ''U-32'' ** S183 ''U-33'' ** S184 ''U-34'' ** S185 ''U-35'' ** S186 ''U-36'' * ''Oste''-class (423) fleet service ship ** A50 ''Alster'' ** A52 ''Oste'' ** A53 ''Oker'' * ''Elbe''-class (404) tender ** A515 ''Main'' (fitted for submarine tending) * Wappen Ausbildungszentrum Uboote

Submarine Training Centre

Sea Battalion

Navy Special Forces Command

Naval Base Commands

* Naval Base Command

*Naval Base Command

The commander of EF 1 also functions as director of the Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters, COE CSW. The COE CSW is an organization founded to support

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's transformation program. As part of the NATO Centres of Excellence programme 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 Einsatzflottille 1.

Commanders

References

{{Authority control Military units and formations of the German Navy Kiel 2006 establishments in Germany