The Cold War: A MILITARY History (31 page)

The Danish navy found itself facing a major re-equipment problem in the 1980s, which unfortunately coincided with a general domestic feeling of opposition to defence (it was the time of NATO’s ‘twin-track’ approach to the Soviet SS-20 programme). As a result, the navy produced a novel type of warship, the Stanflex 300 (Flyvefisken class), which employed a single
basic
hull constructed of fibreglass and a common propulsion system, but with changeable weapon and sensor containers, which enabled the ships to be employed and equipped for either fast attack, minelaying, mine counter-measures (MCM) or ASW duties.

France

The French navy started the post-war era with a mixture of pre-war French warships, war-built British and American ships, and German and Italian prizes, which were used to re-establish France as a naval power – a process which was aided by the acquisition of two aircraft carriers from the UK and a third from the USA. The fleet also included two battleships:
Richelieu
, which had taken part in the war, and
Jean Bart
, which had lain incomplete throughout the war and was eventually completed, at very considerable expense, in 1949.

France was a founder member of NATO, but, while committing a substantial part of its naval forces to the Alliance, which involved the construction of large numbers of escorts, the navy also retained substantial colonial responsibilities and in 1947–54 was heavily committed to the war in distant Indo-China.

The Mediterranean was also of particular importance to France, which had a large number of dependent territories along the southern littoral, and, as a result, the US and, to a lesser extent, British domination of the NATO command structure in the Southern region caused deep resentment. Matters came to a head when General De Gaulle returned to power in 1958, and when a French request for a greater share of the command appointments was turned down he removed the French fleet from the NATO command structure – an act which led eventually to the complete withdrawal of all French forces. Thereafter the French navy acted independently, although there was still a degree of co-operation with NATO and with the US navy.

The navy also played a key role in De Gaulle’s aspirations for French strategic power, and he placed an increased priority on its nuclear weapons programme, which had been in place for some years. This enormous undertaking was successful, but at the expense of other naval programmes, and very few other warships were built in the 1960s. Indeed, the nuclear development programme coupled with the operations of the submarine force absorbed a growing proportion of the available naval funds for the remainder of the Cold War, rising to some 37 per cent in 1990.

French naval aspirations also led France to develop a nuclear aircraft carrier to replace the two Clemenceau-class carriers. Although the new carrier,
Charles De Gaulle
, was completed some years after the end of the Cold War, the expense of the ship and its associated aircraft was having an effect on the rest of the fleet from the early 1980s onwards.

The economies necessary to fund these programmes included keeping ships in service longer than had been planned, delays in construction of surface ships, and the construction of a very unsophisticated ‘colonial corvette’, the Floreal class (designated an ‘
aviso
’ or ‘
fregatte de surveillance
’ in French service). In addition, the two Clemenceau-class carriers, commissioned in 1960–61, were required to operate to the end of the 1990s, as were their aircraft, including the F-8 Crusader and Étendard naval fighters and the Alizé early-warning aircraft.

West Germany

The West German navy (
Bundesmarine
) was created in 1956 and from then on was firmly integrated within NATO, its principal tasks being the defence of the Baltic and North seas, in conjunction with other NATO navies. Initially the ships were a mixture of surplus US and British types, with a few German-built ships which had been transferred to the Allies as war reparations being returned as well, but the warship-building industry was rapidly restored.

The largest units were destroyers, of which the first six were ex-US Fletcher-class ships, supplemented in the mid-1960s by four German-designed and -built ships. Next to be acquired were three US-designed Adams-class destroyers and then eight frigates based on a Dutch design. The German navy also provided a large number of fast-attack craft and mine-countermeasure vessels (MCMVs), but, not surprisingly in view of its history, one of its main strengths lay in its U-boats. These were all of German design, and by the 1970s eighteen 500-tonne-displacement Type 206s were in service. West Germany also proved particularly successful in exporting submarines, which helped to sustain its design and construction capability at times when there were no domestic orders.

Greece and Turkey

The Greek and Turkish navies operated in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, but, unlike Greece, Turkey also had major commitments in the Dardanelles and the Black Sea. Although their countries were traditional enemies, the two navies were of similar size and followed very similar development patterns during the Cold War, largely because assistance from the USA and other NATO allies had to be demonstrably even-handed to ensure that neither felt the other was being favoured.

Both navies operated large numbers of ex-US destroyers until the early 1980s, when Greece acquired two ex-Dutch Kortenaer-class frigates. The Turkish navy did not buy any Kortenaers, but when it started to acquire German-designed MEKO frigates the Greek navy followed suit.

Both navies also operated large submarine forces, and here again they used ex-US boats of Second World War vintage, until they both started to
acquire
German Type 209s in the early 1970s. Both also operated a number of landing ships, since much of their maritime rivalry revolved around the islands in the Aegean.

Italy

The Mediterranean was a very important area both to NATO and to Italy, with a substantial Soviet threat. There were Soviet air and naval bases on the Black Sea and a steadily growing naval squadron in the Mediterranean itself. In addition, the Soviet navy maintained a submarine base in Albania until the diplomatic split in December 1961, and also operated naval and air bases in Egypt (until 1976) and in Libya. The Italian navy had ended the Second World War with a fleet consisting almost entirely of Italian-built vessels, but some of the best of these were lost when they were allocated to former Allied powers under the terms of the 1949 peace treaty.

During the Cold War the Italian navy built up a substantial force of large, fast and well-armed cruisers and destroyers, and also built the
Giuseppe Garibaldi
, a highly effective carrier for V/STOL aircraft, displacing 13,850 tonnes. These were all Italian-designed and -built, and the first generation of post-war submarines which were provided from US navy surplus stocks were also steadily replaced by Italian-designed boats. The Italian navy also maintained a substantial number of corvettes and fast patrol boats for operations close to the Italian coast, particularly in the Adriatic and in the Strait of Messina.

The Netherlands

The Dutch navy was rebuilt after the war with help from both the USA and the UK. On the establishment of NATO, the Dutch were given two tasks: helping in the provision of ASW forces in the eastern Atlantic and in the anti-submarine and anti-mine defence in the North Sea. Three large ships were operated for some years: the ex-British carrier
Karel Doorman
(acquired in 1948) and two large Dutch-built cruisers which had been laid down in 1939 and were completed in 1953. All three proved too expensive, however, and the carrier was sold in 1969, while the cruisers lasted until 1973 and 1976.

The Dutch navy provided a task group for employment in the north Atlantic, comprising a flagship (a Tromp-class destroyer), a number of frigates and a replenishment ship, all Dutch-designed and -built. The Dutch also operated a small number of diesel-electric submarines and a large MCM force.

Norway

Norway occupied a particularly important place in NATO’s maritime strategy, since it lay alongside the only route by which ships and submarines of
the
Soviet Northern Fleet could sail out into the Atlantic. The Norwegian navy was far too small to challenge the large Soviet surface action groups, and it concentrated instead on anti-submarine warfare, particularly in its many fjords. Its equipment included a number of frigates built to a US design in Norwegian shipyards (the Oslo class), and sixteen small diesel-electric submarines (the Kobben class), which were designed and built in Germany. Replacement of the latter by the new Ula class (also German-built) was just beginning as the Cold War ended. Norway also operated some coastal-attack craft and MCMVs.

Portugal

Although Portugal was a long-established maritime nation, the Portuguese navy remained relatively small throughout the Cold War. This was in part due in the early years to colonial commitments in Africa and Asia, but also, throughout the period, to the fragile state of the Portuguese economy. The navy sustained a small force of frigates and corvettes, but managed eventually to obtain three large and modern German-built frigates, for which a group of other NATO nations provided 60 per cent of the funding. The navy also operated four small submarines and a number of patrol vessels.

Spain

Spain did not join NATO until 1982, and even then it did not become a part of the integrated command structure, although from 1953 onwards it had received considerable assistance from the United States under a bilateral agreement. Some ships were supplied from surplus US stocks, but others, such as the Baleares and Numancia classes, were to US designs but built in Spanish yards. The Spanish navy also operated an aircraft carrier, with a V/STOL air wing, and a number of submarines, which were licence-built in Spanish yards to French designs.

The UK

The United Kingdom emerged from the Second World War essentially bankrupt, but still retaining a large empire and with the second largest navy in the world. The manpower needs of the civil economy, combined with the need to reduce expenditure, ensured that the navy was reduced very quickly. Despite all these factors, the navy failed to appreciate its reduction in status and, while strongly supporting the founding of NATO, it challenged the paramountcy of the US navy in areas such as the Atlantic and Mediterranean, although it eventually had to be satisfied with the Channel command.

In the early years the British navy had to combine its Cold War duties in European and Atlantic waters with a wide range of imperial and post-imperial duties. There was an understandable wish to retain larger ships,
although
the largest of them all, the battleships, were quickly disposed of. Cruisers were smaller and cheaper to run than battleships and were retained for somewhat longer, but even they proved large and expensive by post-war standards and the last of them were phased out in the late 1970s.

Great efforts were put into retaining a carrier capability, as carriers were of great value in both NATO and ‘out-of-area’ operations. Numbers and effectiveness both peaked in the early 1960s, but thereafter a steady reduction saw the final fixed-wing carrier paid off in 1978. Fixed-wing carriers were succeeded by a smaller and innovative design, the V/STOL carrier, which was originally envisaged as an ASW platform, operating helicopters for anti-submarine duties and Sea Harrier fighters for self-defence, although the Falklands War (1982) showed that they were also capable of serving as attack carriers in a limited-war setting.

The main strength of the British navy in the Cold War, however, lay in its surface escorts (destroyers and frigates), of which it built 123 new ships between 1950 and 1990. Other types like amphibious-warfare ships, MCMVs and coastal-attack craft were also built, but in much more modest numbers.

In the field of nuclear propulsion, the British followed closely on the US lead – a process which was eased by considerable US help, another tangible result of the close relationship between the two navies. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the navy operated four SSBNs and fifteen SSNs, although, unlike the US navy, it also continued to produce and operate diesel-electric submarines.

In NATO, the UK’s principal task was anti-submarine warfare in the north Atlantic, the Channel and the North Sea, which also involved air-force maritime-patrol aircraft. The British navy also made modest contributions to the Alliance’s amphibious-warfare capabilities.

STANDING NAVAL FORCES

As evidence of Alliance solidarity, NATO navies contributed to three standing naval forces, which were maritime equivalents to the land-based Allied Command Europe Mobile Force (AMF). The Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) was formed in 1967 and consisted of one destroyer or frigate each from Canada, West Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA, with periodic additions from Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Portugal. This force operated as a group and came under command of SACLANT, with command delegated to CINCLANT when in European waters.

A second force, the Naval On-Call Force Mediterranean (NAVOC-FORMED), was formed in 1969 for service in the Mediterranean. As its
name
indicated, the ships were ‘on call’ and not permanently assigned, although they exercised together once per year. This force was later upgraded to standing-force status, becoming STANAVFORMED.

A third force, Standing Naval Force Channel (STANAVFORCHAN), was formed in 1973 and consisted of MCMVs from Belgium, West Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, with periodic additions from Denmark, Norway and the USA. The force came under the command of CINCHAN.

These standing forces carried out an annual programme of exercises, manoeuvres and port visits, and provided a practical demonstration of NATO’s naval solidarity. Within each group, command was exercised by one of the captains, rotating on an annual basis between nations. The groups carried out NATO tasks and could be deployed at short notice to a crisis area.
^fn3
They also provided continuing experience in multinational tactics and operations, command-and-control procedures, communications, data links, and replenishment at sea.