The German Mine Sweeping Administration (GMSA) was an organisation formed by the Allies from former crews and vessels of the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's '' Kriegsmarine'' for the purpose of mine sweeping after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, predominantly in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

, which existed from June 1945 to January 1948.

History

The GMSA was formed on 21 June 1945 under Allied supervision, specifically that of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, to clear

naval mines A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

in the North Sea and Baltic. It was made up of 27,000 former members of the ''Kriegsmarine'' on nearly 300 vessels. The Allied command was well aware of the problem caused for commercial shipping by the over 600,000 naval mines laid in the seas of Western, Northern and Eastern Europe and had asked that the German mine sweeping formations not be dismissed after the surrender in May 1945. For this reason, Vice Admiral Sir Harold Burrough, British Naval Commander-in-Chief, Germany, undersigned the instruction for the GMSA in June 1945. The British Admiralty preferred to risk German sailors rather than their own to do the dangerous work. The GMSA was originally under the command of Commodore H. T. England; below him, as the highest ranking German officer, was

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...

Fritz Krauss, who had been in charge of mine sweeping operations during the war.Madsen (1998), p.128 The German sailors initially served in their Second World War uniforms, with the

German Eagle The coat of arms of Germany displays a black eagle with a red beak, a red tongue and red feet on a golden field, which is blazoned: ''Or, an eagle displayed sable beaked langued and membered gules''. This is the (German for "Federal Eagle"), for ...

and the Swastika removed, and under the same rules and regulations as were valid in the ''Kriegsmarine''. The sailors were paid a moderate wage and had the right to take local leave, unlike other German POWs, but service was not voluntary. Still, the daily, dangerous operations and the resulting high esprit de corps led to increasing uneasiness about the GMSA, especially in the Soviet Union. The service was sub-divided into six mine sweeping divisions (German: ''Räumbootdivisionen''). The German headquarters of the service were located in

Glückstadt Glückstadt (; da, Lykstad) is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona. Glückstadt is part of th ...

. On 25 May 1946, the GMSA was equipped with new blue work uniforms and special rank insignia, worn on the sleeve. The headquarters of the GMSA were moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in December 1947, and it was disbanded in January 1948, despite American objections. The reason for its disbanding was primarily pressure from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

which feared the GMSA was an attempt by the western allies to re-form the German ''Kriegsmarine'', something the Royal Navy bitterly opposed themselves. The ''

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the ''Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the '' ...

'' had used mine sweeping operations after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to preserve a talent pool of officers and the Royal Navy wanted to avoid a repetition of this experience. The "German mine sweeping formation Cuxhaven", a civilian organisation, replaced the GMSA, still under British control and using equipment and personnel of the previous organisation. In 1956 the

Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

formed on the basis of the former organisations, just as the Soviet Union had predicted. One of the few large surface ships of the ''Kriegsmarine'' to survive the war, the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

, in a fairly bad condition, served as an accommodation hulk for the GMSA.

Divisions

The GMSA was sub-divided into six regional divisions of varying strength: * 1st Division: ''Schleswig Holstein'' * 2nd Division: ''West Germany (Cuxhaven)'' * 3rd Division: ''Denmark'' * 4th Division: ''Norway'' * 5th Division: ''Netherlands'' * 6th Division: ''Bremen (US division)''

Statistics

* Area cleared: ** North Sea: ** Baltic Sea: * Naval Mines cleared: 2,721 *Losses: ** Vessels lost: 10 ** Crew killed: 348

Ships

As of early 1947, the service consisted of the following ships and vessels: * 84 × M-class Minehunting boats (German: ''Minensuch-Boote''), ''Type 35'', ''Type 40'', ''Type 43'' * 63 × Minesweeper boats (German: ''Räum-Boote''), some with

Voith-Schneider A cyclorotor, cycloidal rotor, cycloidal propeller or cyclogiro, is a fluid propulsion device that converts shaft power into the acceleration of a fluid using a rotating axis perpendicular to the direction of fluid motion. It uses several blades wi ...

propulsion systems * 62 ×

Naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built ...

s (German: ''Kriegsfischkutter'') * 6 × Mine barrage breakers (German: ''

Sperrbrecher A ''Sperrbrecher'' (German; informally translated as "pathfinder" but literally meaning "mine barrage breaker"), was a German auxiliary ship of the First World War and the Second World War that served as a type of minesweeper, steaming ahead of ot ...

'') * 5 × Auxiliary minesweepers (former fishing trawlers) * 110 × Auxiliary ships

Similar formations

* The ''4th Mine Sweeping Group'' (German: ''4. Minensuchgruppe'') in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

, France, was made up from crews of French sailors and German POWs. * ''Deutscher Minenräumverband Cuxhaven'' (''German mine sweeping formation Cuxhaven''), based in

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

, Germany, a civilian formation under control of the British Customs, replaced the GMSA, active from January 1948 to June 1951 * '' Labor Service Unit (B)'' (LSU/B), based in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

and under control of the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, the formation was active until 1957, many of its members continued to serve in the German ''

'' after that.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

* * * {{German Navies Naval history of Germany German Navy Kriegsmarine Germany–United Kingdom military relations Non-combat military operations involving Germany Naval units and formations of Germany Mine warfare and mine clearance organizations