Minesweeping Unit
Cuxhaven
Minesweeping Unit Cuxhaven
Also after disbanding of the German Minesweeping Administration GM/SA, minesweeping had to go on because of the ground mines, the detonators of which had a longer life than first thought. The Allied control commission in the British occupied part of Germany decided to set up the Minesweeping Unit Cuxhaven in January 1948.
This unit, which had a civilian status, was first controlled by the Frontier Control Service and later by the Royal Navy. Personnel and vessels came from the disbanded GM/SA. The crews were taken over voluntarily as employees. Payment was made according to the pay rates of merchant shipping on long journey.
The uniform was blue, similar to the one of the GM/SA. The officers had golden stars on their epaulettes as insignias.
The unit was under the control of the officer of 1st grade (commander) Adalbert von Blanc. He had available a staff, a personnel reserve and various working groups. The entire unit counted, board personnel included, 45 officers, 317 petty officers and ratings, 33 civilian employees and workers.
From the former Kriegsmarine the following vessels were employed:
12 Minesweeper (R 132-138 und R 140, 142, 144, 146, 147)
Tender Weser (former fishery protection ship)
3 War fishing cutters (KFK 409,531,616)
1 Mine barrage breaker (Sperrbrecher F212)
1 Tanker Dievenow
The 12 minesweepers belonged to the US prize of war and were given on loan to the Minesweeping Unit.
The vessels carried the flag of the Control Commission of Germany, a blue fabric with a red cross and a shield with the letters CCG. The German Federal Ministry for traffic - section sea - in Hamburg gave orders over the Royal Navy Cuxhaven. The final approval was given by the Mine Clearance Board.
In the North Sea the existing obligatory waterways were widened and the access ways to the East Frisian Islands were sweeped. In the Baltic Sea the ferry ways from Großenbrode to Gedser and from Kiel to Korsör had been made free of mines.
In July 1949 the mine barrage breaker (Sperrbrecher F 212) hit a mine near the Jade mouth and sank, 7 persons were blessed. Three members of the minesweeping unit died during minesweeping in accidents.
The Minesweeping Unit had become commonly known by press reports in connection with Helgoland, the island which was closed and which served as target of bombs for the Royal Air Force. In december 1950 two students had occupied the island und put the European flag, they refused to leave the island.
The chief of the unit von Blanc got order from his English superior to get the students from the island. However, he refused, thereupon he was suspended from his duties.
The German people got indignant about this incident, but it caused that steps were taken to surrender the island.
Since spring 1950 there were negotiations that the minesweeping unit should be taken over by the The German Federal Ministry for traffic. This did not take place, as the Americans demanded back the 12 minesweepers.
The Minesweeping Unit had been disbanded on June 30th 1951.
18 officers and 220 petty officers and ratings went, together with the minesweepers, to the Labor Service Unit B of the US Navy in Bremerhaven.
18 officers and 81 petty officers and ratings joined the new set up German Federal Boarder Guard Sea (Bundesgrenzschutz See)
2 officers and 11 petty officers and ratings changed to the fast patrol boat group of the Fishery Protection Service of the Royal Navy in Kiel.
78 men remained in Cuxhaven as British navy service groups with the tender ship Weser, the 3 KFK and the tanker Dievenow. 124 men had been sent to civilian life.