The German Mine Countermeasures Ship FGS Bad Rappenau is expected to sail into the Kiel naval base on November 27.
The 3rd Minesweeping Squadron ship was part of SNMCMG 1 (Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1) during the last four months as a German contribution to NATO forces.
The ship left its homeport under the command of Lieutant Commander Stefan Pahl on August 7, 2015 and joined NATO three days later in the Belgian Zeebrugge.
The international naval forces will be under the command of the Netherlands until the end of the year. Then, from mid-January 2016, the association will be under German command for one year.
Apart from the Belgian flagship BNS Godetia, Bad Rappenau operated with naval units from Lithuania, Latvia Norway, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
The 40-man crew of Bad Rappenau sailed a total of 7.000 nautical miles on their deployment. During that time, the ship took part in a series of naval maneuver including the largest of them all, NATO’s Trident Juncture which took place on the coasts of Portugal.
On their way home, the Bad Rapppenau crew made a detour and sailed into French naval base Brest in order to pay tribute to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. While entering the port, the ship donned a self-made French Tricolour with the slogan “Nous sommes unis”.
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Nval Today Staff, Image: German Navy