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| People's Navy Volksmarine | |
|---|---|
 Insignia of theVolksmarine | |
| Active | 1 March 1956 – 2 October 1990 |
| Country |  East Germany |
| Branch | Ministry of National Defence |
| Type | Navy |
| Role | Coastal defence |
| Size | 27,000 |
| Part of | .svg) Nationale Volksarmee |
| Headquarters | Rostock |
| March | Präsentiermarsch der Volksmarine |
| Engagements | Cold War |
| Decorations | See article |
| Commanders | |
| Commanders | See list
|
| Insignia | |
| Naval ensign (warships) (1960–1990) | .svg) |
| Naval ensign (auxiliary ships) (1960-1990) | .svg) |
| Naval jack (1960–1990)[1] |  |
_-_1962_-_Image_002.jpg)
TheVolksmarine (VM,German pronunciation:[ˈfɔlksmaˌʁiːne]; English:People's Navy) was thenaval force of theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. TheVolksmarine was one of theservice branches of theNational People's Army and primarily performed acoastal defence role along the GDR'sBaltic Sea coastline and territorial waters.
Disbanded one day before the official reunification of Germany, theVolksmarine served as the naval arm of the East German state for 34 years. Rostock, former home port and headquarters of theVolksmarine, housesNavy Command for the post-reunificationDeutsche Marine.
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Soon after the end ofWorld War II and the beginning of theCold War, theSoviet Union initiated the rearming of theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR), which had been founded in October 1949 as asatellite state from theSoviet Zone of Occupation. Beginning in 1950,Soviet Navy officers helped to establish theHauptverwaltung Seepolizei (Main Administration Sea Police), which was renamedVolkspolizei–See (VP–See) (People's Police – Sea) on 1 July 1952. At the same time parts of the erstwhile maritime police were reorganized into the newGrenzpolizei–See (Border Police –– Sea), to guard the sea frontiers, and incorporated into theDeutsche Grenzpolizei (German Border Police) that had been set up in 1946. By 1952 theVP–See is estimated to have numbered some 8,000 personnel.
On 1 March 1956, the GDR formally created its armed forces, theNational People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee, NVA), and theVP–See became theVerwaltung Seestreitkräfte der NVA (Maritime Forces Administration of the NVA) with about 10,000 men. In November 1960, these maritime forces of the National People's Army were officially designatedVolksmarine (People's Navy). Over the next years the navy gradually received a number of new ships, mostly built in the GDR. Only the coastal protection ships and some of the fast torpedo boats were provided by the Soviet Union, as were all helicopters, and some auxiliary craft were purchased from Poland.
Following the erection of theBerlin Wall on 13 August 1961, theGrenzbrigade Küste der Grenzpolizei (GBK) (Coastal Border Brigade of the Border Police) was incorporated into theVolksmarine. With the reorganization of 1965 all attack forces, i.e., the fast torpedo boats, were combined into a singleflotilla (the 6th Flotilla) and stationed on the Bug peninsula of the island ofRügen. In the 1970s, theVolksmarine had grown to about 18,000 men. In the 1980s some of the ships were replaced and theVolksmarine acquired Soviet-builtfighter-bombers. During 1985 – 1989, theVolksmarine caused about 180 reported incidents due to a maritime border dispute with Poland in thePomeranian bay; in subsequent negotiations about two thirds of the disputed maritime area were allocated to the GDR.[2][3]
TheVolksmarine was dissolved, like all other branches of the former National People's Army, on 2 October 1990 – the day before the officialreunification of Germany. Some of its staff was absorbed into theBundesmarine (which was henceforth called theDeutsche Marine), some by theGerman Border Police. Most of the ships and other equipment were scrapped or sold; about one third of the ships went to theIndonesian Navy.[4] Few if any formerVolksmarine vessels remain in service with the modern-dayGerman Navy. The last commander of theVolksmarine,VizeadmiralHendrik Born, wrote a multi-paragraph commentary for Dieter Flohr and Peter Seemann's 2009 book,Die Volksmarine, a comprehensive and picture-oriented history of theVolksmarine.
TheVolksmarine was first and foremost a coastal defence force, but offensive action and amphibious assaults against NATO were also included in its training and plans. It was operationally incorporated into theUnited Baltic Sea Fleets of theWarsaw Pact states, intended to serve alongside them in the event of war. Its designated area of operations was theBaltic Sea and the entrances to the Baltic Sea. If open warfare had erupted between the Warsaw Pact and NATO, the primary mission of theVolksmarine was to keep the sea lanes open for Soviet reinforcements and to participate in offensive actions against the coasts of hostile nations in the Baltic Sea. For these purposes, it was equipped with light forces such as anti-submarine ships, fast torpedo boats, minesweepers as well as landing craft. Routine duty was heavily focused on extensive reconnaissance activities, carried out mainly by the minesweepers and specialized electronic surveillance boats.
The 6th Border Brigade (Coast) had a special responsibility for the prevention of "Republikflucht" (people leaving the GDR without official permission). With effect from 1 November 1961, it was subordinated to theVolksmarine. It had a substantial number of small patrol boats and surveillance posts along the coast.
TheVolksmarine was headed by theKommando der Volksmarine (People's Navy HQ Command) inRostock-Gehlsdorf. It was structured as follows (in 1985):
Shore-based forces consisted of:
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TheVolksmarine was equipped with:
ThePeople's Navy's band played a number of specially-composed musical pieces. Most notable is the "Präsentiermarsch der Volksmarine", which was composed byLudwig Schmidt for use at ceremonial events. "Unsere Volksmarine" was also written for use at parades, while"Matrosen von Kronstadt" was an East German adaptation of the 1926 Soviet Navy song"Forward, Red Marines". The instrumental pieces written for theVolksmarine fell out of use after the reunification of Germany, and are not used by the modernGerman Navy.
There were 37 admirals in the history of theVolksmarine and its predecessor organizations. They were:
No one was awarded this rank.
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