The German School Squadron

To substantiate the theoretical knowledge of Officer-Aspirants of the Navy during a longer period at sea by practice once a year the German School Squadron is formed with changing units participating. The squadron was formed for 6 weeks in 1995 for the first time and visited among others the harbours of Istanbul (Turkey), Constanza (Romania), Piräus (Greece), La Valetta (Malta) and Den Helder (Netherlands). 

In 1996 "S60 Kranich" of the 5. S-Squadron, the Systemsupportgroup (SUG) and Tender "Main" were called in for the training for the Officer-Aspirants of Crew VII/95 from 10.06. to 29.09. The squadron performed AAG 212/96 and visited the harbours of Visby, Sundsvall and Gävle (all Sweden), Paldisky (Estland) as well as Kotka (Finnland) furthermore Lauterbach, Saßnitz, Ladebow (Rügen/GE) and Karlskrona (Sweden). Efter visits of the harbours of Rønne, Kopenhagen and Århus (all Denmark) the squadron returned to Olpenitz on 19.09.1996.

In 2000 the School Squadron was formed by Trossschiff „Ammersee“ and Tender „Elbe“ as well as the S-Boats "S74 Nerz", "S66 Greif", "S72 Puma", "S75 Zobel", "S71 Gepard", "S73 Hermelin" and "S67 Kondor" under command of commander 7. SGschw. The squadron performed the 121st AAG from 03.05. to 29.06.2000 in the Northsea, in the Channel, in the Golf of Biscay and in the Mediterranean Sea. The harbours of Plymouth (Great Britain), Brest (France), Sevilla, Cadiz, Mahon (all Spain), Bizerta (Tunesia) und Malaga (Spain) were visited.

In 2001 the German School Squadron was formed by the units Trossschiff „Westensee“, Tender „Donau“, „S62 Falke“, „S65 Sperber“, „S76 Frettchen, „S77 Dachs“, „S78 Ozelot“ und „S80 Hyäne“ under command of commander 2. SGschw. The training-voyage AAR 125/01 with Officer-Aspirants of Crew VII/00 on board led via Den Helder (Netherlands), Brest (France), Vigo and Cadiz (both Spain) to the Mediterranean Sea. There the harbour of Toulon (France) was entered, which also was the basis of the squadron during exercise Trident d'Or. Then the voyage led to Cagliari (Italy), Piräus (Greece), Antalya (Turkey), Souda (Greece), Tuzla (Turkey), La Valetta (Malta), Mahon (Spain) and Lissabon (Portugal) where the Officer-Aspirants were disembarked. The boats returned to Warnemünde on 10.07.2001 after bunker-stops at El Ferrol (Spain) and Den Helder (Netherlands).

Badge of the German School Squadron 2001

In 2005 the German School-Squadron sailed on 24.02 under command of commander  2. S-Squadron for a training-voyage to Swinemünde (Poland), Kopenhagen (Denmark), Göteborg (Sweden) and Oslo (Norway) with Officer-Aspirants of Crew VII/04. The unit was formed by  Trossschiff „Ammersee“, Tender „Donau“, Tender „Elbe“, „S 63 Geier“, „S 65 Sperber“, „S 77 Dachs“, „S 78 Ozelot“, „S 79 Wiesel“, „S 80 Hyäne“ as well as the fast minesweepers „Bad Bevensen“, „Grömitz“, „Kulmbach“ and "Überherrn". At the end of the voyage the squadron was resolved again on 01.04.2005.

  Coat of Arms of the German School Squadron