The Bundesmarine: Operational Capabilities and Contributions to the Alliance

West Germany's geographic position straddling the Danish peninsula gives it interior lines of communication to both the Baltic and the North Seas. With Denmark, West Germany occupies a strategic position on the choke points through which all shipping entering and leaving the Baltic must pass. Furthermore, the West German and Danish Navies are the only allied navies regularly operating in the Baltic and therefore, the only ones capable of opposing Soviet and Warsaw Pact use of the Baltic and its approaches. It is for these reasons that West Germany's Navy is of vital importance to the NATO Alliance. This is a study of the Federal German Navy, its organization, hardware, command structure, and mission within the NATO Alliance. It assesses that Navy's ability to fulfill its mission in the context of the Soviet threat and Atlantic Alliance requirements. NWC Report 85-21