Tag Archives: Seebataillon

German Marines are back and looking sharp

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Germany long fielded Marineinfanterie units, especially during the World Wars of the 20th Century, along with ship detachments, the latter coming in very handy during the Kaiser’s colonial period (1884-1918).

German marines of III. Seebataillon in Tsingtao, the Kaiser’s China treaty port, which still has a very good German-style distillery. Bundesarchiv, Bild Bild 116-214-09

German Marines in Peking, 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion. AWM A05904

Disbanded in 1945, the West German Navy (Bundesmarine) reformed a Seebataillon in 1958, which was disbanded in 1993 when the Cold War thawed.

Now the Marines are back, reformed once again in 2014 as a specialist unit tasked with VBSS via a Bordeinsatzkompanie (BEK) and ship/installation ground defense.

Der Teamführer Hauptbootsmann Alexander West gibt seinen Kameraden ein Handzeichen im Rahmen vom Training der Bordeinsatzkompanie (BEK) der Marine in Eckernförde, am 28.08.2017.

With Europe getting increasingly wacky, starting in 2016, the Seebataillon integrated into the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps (Korps Mariniers) for NATO operations and has been getting ready for offensive operations, under a defensive pretext, of course.

German Seebataillon troops use Sea Kings to operate from the Dutch landing ship Rotterdam (L800), May 2022 Bundeswehr Jana Neumann Bundeswehr/Nico Theska

Recently, 200 Marineinfanteristen undertook a simulated CH-53-borne raid near Hanover– the battalion’s largest combined operation since reformation.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

Wir haben Marineinfanteriekräfte des Seebataillons in Celle bei einer Übung begleitet. Sie wurden durch das Ausbildungszentrum Luftbeweglichkeit beübt. Im Schwerpunkt ging es um den luftbeweglichen und abgesetzten Einsatz durch Luftfahrzeuge verschiedener Art und das Gewinnen und Nehmen von Räumen durch die Marineinfanteriekräfte.

“We need highly mobile forces capable of conducting land-based combat in coastal areas,” explains LCDR Timm K., outlining the reason for the current transformation within the Seebataillon. “Previously, the unit provided highly specialized soldiers to the fleet, who, in smaller groups, secured ports and ships, conducted small-scale amphibious landing exercises, and searched civilian vessels for contraband. However, the current threat landscape demands a powerful naval infantry capable of operating on a significantly larger scale.”

Paging Mr. Turtledove

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Remember that time Japanese and German troops hit the beach in Northern Australia?

Well, relax, we aren’t speaking about an alternate reality from 1942, we are talking about the events of the last week.

Among the 30,000 troops from 13 countries taking part in Talisman Sabre 2023 in “Sunny Queensland,” Australia is a group of 200 Germans including a platoon of marines from the Küsteneinsatzkompanie of 1. Seebataillon and a reinforced company of paratroopers from the 31. Fallschirmjägerregiment in Saxony.

The Luftwaffe flew the task force from Cologne-Wahn military airport in mid-July via two A400Ms and they have been working both with the Australians and aboard the gator USS New Orleans (LPD-18), gelling with the 31st MEU then participating in landings via LCU and LCAC.

Hanging out on USS New Orleans

German infantry members ride in a truck supplied by the U.S. Marine Corps’ 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit during Talisman Sabre 23 at Midge Beach, Australia, July 26, 2023. David Vergun, DOD VIRIN: 230726-D-UB488-011

German Army Soldiers conduct a MOUT(Military Operations on Urban Terrain) movement to tactically clear buildings during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) rotation at Townsville Field Training Area (TFTA), Townsville, Australia, July 23, 2023. Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key Allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns.(U.S. Army photos by Spc. Mariah Aguilar)

Besides the above-mentioned troops, there are also elements from the United Kingdom, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, France, and Indonesia, so there is a certain irony for WWII buffs in seeing Japanese and German paratroopers in Northern Australia, something worth of a Turtledove novel.

Japanese defense forces participate in Talisman Sabre 23 at Midge Beach, Australia, July 26, 2023. 230726-D-UB488-012C

NATO’s From the Sea Option

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NATO recently released a decent little 10-minute sizzle reel highlighting the alliance’s sea soldiers. It includes Dutch Korps Mariniers and the newly-reformed German Seebataillon Marines in Scotland, the Portuguese Corpo de Fuzileiros on the rivers of Lithuania (still keeping it old school with HK G3 battle rifles and Zodiacs), Royal Marine Commandos training in Norway with their interesting 32-foot ORC (Offshore Raiding Craft) jetboats, and the U.S. Marine Corps, which exercises across the European continent.

So whether you call them Devil Dogs, Bootnecks, Schwarzen Teufel, or Fuzos, odds are, some of your favorite guys who operate from 10 fathoms inward are covered.

And, in a companion piece, the USMC themselves just put out a 10-minute hype video on the future Fleet Marine Force.

Enjoy!

 

Schneller Adler, Guest Starring the Kings!

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Last week some 200 German marines from the Seebataillon were on maneuvers for a major non-combatant evacuation exercise, Schneller Adler, or Swift Eagle. Together with the Dutch Corps Mariniers, Feldjäger, and an electronic warfare specialist team, they operated from aboard the Dutch Navy dock landing ship Rotterdam (L800). At the same time, the German and Dutch armies trained on land, supported by the Luftwaffe.

Bundeswehr/Nico Theska

In all, a total of around 2,000 soldiers and other participants took part in the regular exercise this year.

Of note to observers on this side of the pond is a familiar old girl in the form of SH-3 Sea Kings on deck and still in front line service.

Bundeswehr/Nico Theska

Bundeswehr/Nico Theska

Bundeswehr/Nico Theska

The German Navy’s Marinefliegerkommando unoffically traces it origins to the old Kaiserliche Marine’s Zeppelins and rascals like Kapitän Gunther Plüschow. More officially, they date to 1956 when West Germany’s Bundesmarine Federal Navy was founded. During the Cold War, the Marineflieger consisted of not only P-3 Orions and two whole wings of anti-ship capable Tornado strike aircraft, but a sea-going force of Sea Lynx and Sea Kings.

The old West German Navy had no less than 112 Tornado IDS models for anti-shipping and marine reconnaissance roles, carrying AS.34 Kormoran anti-ship missiles. Here one is seen at NAS Fallon at 1989.

Built on license from Sikorsky by Westland in the UK, Germany ordered 22 Mk 41 Sea Kings with an enlarged cabin arrangement similar to the Westland HC4 Commando in 1969 to replace Grumman HU-16 Albatross flying boats in a SAR/transport role. Lacking ASW gear or the capability to drop torpedos, they were later fitted with a Ferranti Seaspray radar in a nose radome (which they still have) to aid them in carrying up to four British Sea Skua AShMs (which have since been retired).

Bundeswehr/Nico Theska

These days, 19 German Kings are left, flying operationally for Marinefliegergeschwader 5 out of Nordholz. Showing their age, they are set to be replaced by 18 NHI NH90 Sea Lions within the coming decade.

Besides the Germans, Egypt, India, Norway, and Pakistan still fly the old bird, an aircraft that ended production in 1995.

Speaking of which, India just test-fired a new helicopter-launched anti-ship missile from a Sea King this week. The missile is known as the “Naval Anti-Ship Missile-Short Range” or NASM-SR.

Go, Kings!