''Berlin'' (A1411) is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the s 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 ...

. The vessel was constructed by

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany and launched on 30 April 1999. ''Berlin'' was commissioned on 11 April 2001 and remains in service. The ship is primarily used to replenish stores and supplies of German overseas fleets.

Development

The ''Berlin''-class replenishment ships are the largest vessels of the

. In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, this type of ship is called ''Einsatzgruppenversorger'' which can be translated as "task force supplier" though the official translation in English is "combat support ship". They are intended to support German naval units away from their home ports. The ships carry

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

provisions Provision(s) may refer to: * Provision (accounting), a term for liability in accounting * Provision (contracting), a term for a procurement condition * ''Provision'' (album), an album by Scritti Politti * A term for the distribution, storing and/ ...

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

and other

matériel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. Military In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers eith ...

and also provide medical services. The ships are named after German cities where German parliaments were placed.

Construction and career

''Berlin'' was launched on 30 April 1999 in

, Germany. She was commissioned on 11 April 2001. In 2016, an overloaded boat sank in the night of between 18 and 19 April, costing the lives of up to 800 migrants. The

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

decision and a parliamentary green light, the German Navy dispatched the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

and ''Berlin'' to provide a presence north of Libyan territorial waters. Both ships were operating off the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

to provide the German Navy with an operational reserve. ''Hessen'' and ''Berlin'' joined many other European Union vessels, which ranged from warships to auxiliary and coast guard ships to form EU NAVFOR MEDL. The conducted a boarding exercise aboard ''Berlin'' during Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019. On 2 April 2020, ''Berlin'' set off to the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

from

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 ...

with to join

Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standing maritime immediate reaction force. SNMG2 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational r ...

(SNMG 2).

Gallery

File:Navy supply vessel "Berlin".jpg, ''Berlin'' at a

in 2007. File:MLG auf EGV.JPG, MLG-27 aboard ''Berlin'' on 3 March 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin (A1411) Berlin-class replenishment ships 1999 ships Ships built in Hamburg