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East Germany People's Navy
The People's Navy (Volksmarine) of the NVA had a total
strength in 1987 of approximately 16,300, of whom 50 percent were
conscripts. The navy comprised three flotillas, the Coastal
Border Brigade, and several supporting units; the command was in
Rostock-Gehlsdorf.
The naval forces were viewed as the forward contingent of the
Warsaw Pact's Combined Baltic Fleet. The commander of the Soviet
Baltic Fleet was also the head of this alliance of the three
Warsaw Pact fleets in the Baltic. The Soviet Navy--unlike the
Soviet ground and air forces in the GSFG--had no bases with
personnel of its own in East Germany.
The People's Navy, which in 1987 had surface and naval
aviation forces but no submarine component, performed
intelligence and patrol missions in the western Baltic,
antisubmarine warfare operations, minesweeping and minelaying,
and amphibious landing operations. The Coastal Border Brigade
patrolled the east-west border into the Baltic to secure the sea
border against "those GDR citizens who turn their backs on the
republic." The Border Troops maintained their own boat companies
on the ninety-three kilometers of the Elbe between East Germany
and West Germany and in the waterways around West Berlin. These
units, although linked through their work to the People's Navy,
were subordinated to the Border Troops rather than to the NVA.
The boat crews wore naval uniforms and held naval ranks, but
bands on their caps and sleeves identified them as Border Troops.
In early 1987, East Germany's naval forces were structured as
follows: the 1st Flotilla, headquartered in Peenemünde; the 4th
Flotilla, based in Rostock-Warnemünde; the 6th Flotilla,
headquartered in Dranske on Rügen Island; the Coastal Border
Brigade in Rostock, and one communications regiment, stationed on
Rügen Island. Also subordinated to the People's Navy Command were
a naval fighter regiment in Laage; a naval helicopter squadron in
Parow; a combat swimmer company in Kühlungsborn; a naval engineer
battalion in Stralsund; the Naval Hydrographic Service in
Rostock; the Karl Liebknecht Officer School in Stralsund; the
Walter Steffens Fleet School in Stralsund; the Naval Manning
Division, with offices in Rostock, Stralsund, and Wolgast; a
testing facility at Wolgast; the Central Military Hospital in
Stralsund; at least one coastal rocket regiment, probably in
Tarnewitz; the Central Supply Depot in Waren; and coastal
artillery detachments
The People's Navy had bases at Peenemünde, Warnemünde,
Rostock, Stralsund, Tarnewitz, and Dranske. The People's Navy and
the Coastal Border Brigade also made use of berths at Darsser
Ort, Greifswald, Ueckermunde, Wisborn, Kühlungsborn, and
Sassnitz. According to one source, patrol vessels from the Soviet
Baltic Fleet were frequently present at Sassnitz. The
construction of a large rail ferry port at Mukran on Rügen
Island, linking East Germany with Klaipeda in the Soviet Union,
might indicate an intention to make Sassnitz into a base as well.
The approximately 131 surface combatants and 48 auxiliary
craft operated by the People's Navy in 1987 were designed and
built at shipyards in East Germany or in the Soviet Union. The
largest were three Soviet Koni-class frigates--Rostock,
Berlin, and Halle--which were commissioned in 1978,
1979, and 1986, respectively. There were also sixteen Parchimclass corvettes; fifteen OSA-I (three of which were in reserve
for training and were to be replaced) and two Tarantul-I-class
fast attack craft (missile); and fifteen Shershen-class and
twenty-five Libelle-class fast attack craft (torpedo). The mine
force included twenty-five Kondor-II-class coastal minesweepers.
The amphibious capability was structured around twelve Frosch-I-
class amphibious vehicle landing ships. The Coastal Border
Brigade had ten Bremse guard boats and eighteen Kondor-I-class
submarine chasers. In addition to the combatants, the navy
operated two salvage and rescue ships; six underway replenishment
ships; a training ship, the Wilhelm Pieck; thirty-nine
other auxiliaries (including intelligence-collection ships,
hydrographic survey ships, and cargo ships); and a large number
of service craft.
The naval aviation branch was equipped with twenty Mi-8 and
Mi-14/HAZE helicopters configured for antisubmarine warfare,
coastal observation, and reconnaissance, and ten jet
fighter-bombers.
The Coastal Border Brigade, headquartered at Rostock,
accounted for approximately 2,750 of the 16,300 members of East
Germany's naval forces. The brigade was organized into eight boat
groups to patrol coastal waters and twelve battalions to patrol
beaches and shores. The Coastal Border Brigade operated its own
school.
Amphibious forces were subordinated to the 1st Flotilla,
based at Peenemünde. Although the NVA did not have a naval
infantry as such in 1987, the Ernst Moritz Arndt Motorized Rifle
Regiment 29, stationed at Prora on Rügen Island, and the Wilhelm
Florin Motorized Rifle Regiment 28, at Rostock, were trained as
amphibious landing units. Both were equipped with the BTR-60PB,
an eight-wheeled amphibious armored personnel carrier; both
participated in amphibious training in cooperation with landing
ships of the People's Navy. If the NVA were to create a force of
naval infantry, these motorized rifle regiments undoubtedly would
form its nucleus. In 1987 the principal shipyard supporting the
People's Navy was the Peenewerft shipyard in Wolgast. Peenewerft
was apparently the primary source of amphibious ships.
The People's Navy was generally rated by Western observers as
professionally competent and fully capable of securing the
country's Baltic seacoast. For more ambitious operations,
however, the navy would be employed as part of the Combined
Baltic Fleet.
Data as of July 1987
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