In line with our mission #meerverstehen, we want to reach not only the insiders, but also those interested in the navy. That is why we are launching the series "What is actually... " Today: a Tender?
Definition: A tender boat is actually a dinghy. Anyone who has ever been on a cruise will be familiar with the term, as they often have more than a dozen of them. In the German Navy, on the other hand, the term Tender a support ship for the boat squadrons. They supply corvettes, minesweepers and even submarines on the high seas with fuel, water, food, spare parts and ammunition. At the same time, they also dispose of waste and have waste water treatment facilities on board. Tender were always specialised in the boats they had to supply. They were therefore referred to as "speedboat tenders" or "submarine tenders" of the "Rhine class", which served until 1994.
A warship Tender may confuse some people who have just treated themselves to a snack in the supermarket 🙂 Because the English term "tender" means something like soft and tender. Of course, that's not what it means here. The word originally comes from the railway industry, which Tender was a wagon coupled to the locomotive for coal or water. The term was also used in seafaring for supply ships. As with all naval vessels, the colour is RAL 7000, also known as Fehgrau, a medium shade of grey. While dinghies can also be aluminium boats in civilian shipping, the Tender of the navy made of steel, of course.
Fleet: The navy has a total of six Class 404 ships. The tasks of the Tender go far beyond the storage and delivery of fuel, fresh water, spare parts, provisions and ammunition. Especially for minehunting boats Tender The Elbe class tenders often have experts on board for maintenance and repair work, the so-called system support groups (SUG). Helicopters can land and take off on the flight deck of all Elbe-class tenders, for example the Sea King Mk 41, which facilitates the transport of materials and personnel, including during rescue operations. A helicopter can be carried on board, for example on missions abroad. Tender but not.
Specialisation: The Tender Main specialises in missions with submarines. This Tender is responsible for the supply of torpedoes, for example. During manoeuvres, his crew is responsible for recovering practice torpedoes. The Main is also equipped with a battery charging station for submarines, its own sonar, a stationary diving pressure chamber and the so-called underwater telephone for communicating with submarines.
For five years, the Tender are no longer assigned to the boat squadrons, but are grouped together in a separate support squadron in Kiel. Besides Tender Mainwhich has remained with the 1st submarine squadron due to its special features. This simplifies the deployment of personnel and logistics. The Tender can be used in a variety of ways because they have standard containers on board in which workshops, material storage or equipment can be accommodated, customised for the respective operations.
This specialisation sets them apart from the much larger Einsatzgruppenversorgern (EGV) of the Berlin class. They can be used universally for both EU and NATO missions to support frigates or destroyers in multinational operations. The large supply ships also have a military hospital on board to provide medical care for the task forces. However, this does not make them a hospital ship, as they would have to be manned by civilians and are not allowed to be warships.
Deployments: The Tender of the navy are only lightly armed and were built for coastal waters. However, they can also cross the Atlantic or be deployed in the Mediterranean. The best-known missions were Operation Sophia (EU NAVFOR Med) to rescue refugees in the Mediterranean. In June 2015 Werra 627 people in one day and a further 211 people from distress at sea on 15 July 2015. In the same operation in 2017 Tender Rhine in the rescue of over 2,100 shipwrecked people. Also in the missions Maritime Task Force UNIFIL and ATALANTA took Tender participate. They are also often part of NATO's permanent task forces. For example, the Tender Werra in the NATO task force SNMGStanding NATO Maritime Group 2 in the Mediterranean this year.
Procurement: In June 2021, the German Bundestag approved 7.3 billion euros for the Navy to procure maritime armaments projects. Three fleet service boats, two fuel tankers, five submarine-hunting aircraft and many other modernisation projects will be purchased from this sum. These urgently needed procurements will replace obsolete units and modernise others. However, this will not make the navy any bigger, and the number of aircraft being replaced is even lower than before. However, this budget cannot simply be spent; the projects are subject to a tendering process before procurement.
New Tender However, there won't be any for a while, because although they are still in good shape at around 28 years old, they will also have to be replaced in the next few years.
Departure of the Tender Elbe
Ships
A 511 Tender "Elbe", put into service on 28 January 1993
A 512 Tender "Mosel", put into service on 15 July 1993
A 513 Tender "Rhein", put into service on 22 September 1993
A 514 Tender "Werra", put into service on 9 December 1993
A 515 Tender "Main", put into service on 23 June 1994
A 516 Tender "Donau", put into service on 17 November 1994
Dimensions
100.6 m length
15.4 m width
4.1 m draught
3,200 tonnes displacement (Tender "Main": 3,600 tonnes)
Drive
1 x diesel engine
2,500 kW (3,300 hp)
1 x propeller
1 x bow thruster
Speed: 15 kn
Sensors
2 x navigation radar
1 x sonar (only tender "Main")
Supply capacity
Fuel: 780 m3
Fresh water: 240 m3
Ammunition: 150 tonnes
Catering: 27 t
Crew and other features
Permanent crew (without additional staff): 68
2 x dinghy
2 x torpedo boat (only tender "Main")
1 x water treatment system
English 
German
0 Kommentare