Standing NATO Maritime Group 1

Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability.^[1]

Standing NATO Maritime Group 1
Active	1968–present
Allegiance	North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Commanders
Current commander	Rear Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo, Spanish Navy

SNMG1 per 13 August 2007 in formation. From left to right:
NRP Álvares Cabral - Portugal
HMCS Toronto - Canada
USS Normandy - United States
Spessart - Germany
HNLMS Evertsen - Netherlands
HDMS Olfert Fischer - Denmark

History

In late November 1966, U.S. Rear Admiral Richard G. Colbert prepared a concept paper proposing a permanent Allied Command Atlantic naval contingency force based on Operation Matchmaker, an annual six-month exercise involving ships from NATO navies. The proposed contingency force was approved by NATO in December 1967 and activated in January 1968 as Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT).^[2][3]

During the 1990s, STANAVFORLANT was heavily involved in Operation Maritime Monitor (July 1992 to November 1992), Operation Maritime Guard (November 1992 to June 1993) and Operation Sharp Guard (June 1993 to October 1996), the maritime embargo operations in the Adriatic Sea established to ensure compliance by Serbia and Montenegro with United Nations (UN) resolutions 713, 715, 787, 820 and 943. Between November 1992 and June 1996 some 74,000 ships were challenged, almost 6,000 were inspected at sea and more than 1,400 were diverted and inspected in port.^[4]

The force was under the operational control of SACLANT until SACLANT was decommissioned in 2003 and it was folded into NATO's Allied Command Operations (ACO) at that time.^[5]

The force was re-designated Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in January 2005.^[6]

In September 2007, SNMG1 was in the Red Sea bound for Suez to complete a circumnavigation of Africa when the Jabal al-Tair volcano erupted. SNMG1 ships assisted the Yemeni coast guard in the recovery of their military personnel stationed on the island.^[7]

From March 2009 to June 2009 SNMG1 was deployed by NATO off the Somali coast to conduct Operation Allied Protector, to deter, defend and protect World Food Programme (WFP) vessels against the threat of piracy and armed robbery, thereby allowing WFP to fulfill its mission of providing humanitarian aid.^[8]

Since August 2009, SNMG1 has been providing ships for NATO's Operation Ocean Shield anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.^[9]

On 23–25 March 2012 the group conducted a passing exercise with Carrier Strike Group Twelve, led by USS Enterprise, while carrying out Operation Active Endeavor missions in the Mediterranean Sea.^[10] The group's commander, Commodore Ben Bekkering, Royal Netherlands Navy visited Enterprise.^[11] At the time the group consisted of the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate De Ruyter, the Spanish Navy frigate Álvaro de Bazán, the German Navy frigate Rheinland-Pfalz, and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate Charlottetown.^[12]

Otto Sverdrup and D. Francisco de Almeida during a visit to London in December 2017; both were attached to SNMG1

In November 2018, HNoMS Helge Ingstad was operating with SNMG1 when she was involved in a collision with a Maltese flagged tanker and had to be deliberately run aground to prevent her sinking. The remainder of SNMG1 stood by to provide assistance.^[13]

During 2021, SNMG1 was active in the region of the Baltic Sea for 12 days.^[14]

Current ships

As of 20 January 2024, SNMG1 consists of:^[15][16]

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2024	Rear Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo (January 1 – )	ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón	F-100	January 1 – ongoing	January 1 – ongoing
		ESPS Cantabria	Replenishment oiler	January 1 – ongoing	n/a
		FGS Bonn	Berlin-class replenishment ship	January 1 – ongoing	n/a

Previous task groups

As of 8 January 2023, SNMG1 consists of:^[15][16]

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2023	Commodore Jeanette Morang (January 1 – January 6) Rear-Admiral Thorsten Marx (January 6 – ongoing)	HNLMS Tromp	De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate	September 19 – n/a	September 19 – n/a
		FGS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Brandenburg-class frigate	January 6 – n/a	n/a
		ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	January 6 – n/a	n/a

In 2022, SNMG1 consisted of:^[15][16]

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2022	Commodore Ad van de Sande (January 7 – July 8) Commodore Jeanette Morang (July 8 – ongoing)	HNLMS Rotterdam[17]	Rotterdam-class amphibious transport dock	January 7 – February 4	January 7 - February 4
		HDMS Peter Willemoes[18]	Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate	January 15 – April	n/a
		HMS Kent	Duke-class frigate	January 24 – February 4	n/a
		FGS Berlin	Berlin-class replenishment ship	February 4 – April	February 4 – April 6
		HNLMS Van Amstel	Karel Doorman-class frigate	February 7 – March	n/a
		FGS Erfurt	Braunschweig-class corvette	March 2 – May	n/a
		HNLMS De Zeven Provincien	De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate	March 10 – July	April 6 - July
		HMS Northumberland	Duke-class frigate	March – April 20	n/a
		FS Languedoc	Aquitaine-class destroyer	March – April	n/a
		FS Dixmude	Mistral-class amphibious assault ship	March – April	n/a
		FS Latouche-Tréville	Georges Leygues-class destroyer	March – May	n/a
		HMCS Halifax	Halifax-class frigate	April 18 – July	n/a
		FGS Spessart	Rhön-class replenishment oiler	April – August 4	n/a
		HNLMS Karel Doorman	Joint support ship	May 8 – September 23	July 8 – September 19
		NRP Corte-Real	Vasco da Gama-class frigate	May 27 – September 14	n/a
		FGS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Brandenburg-class frigate	May 30 – July 15	n/a
		HMS Portland	Duke-class frigate	June 15 – August 4	n/a
		HNoMS Roald Amundsen	Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate	August 9 – November / December	n/a
		HNoMS Maud	Replenishment oiler	August 29 – November / December	n/a
		HMS Lancaster	Duke-class frigate	August 29 – October 6	n/a
		FGS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Brandenburg-class frigate	September 10 – October 11	n/a
		HNLMS Tromp	De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate	September 19 – ongoing	September 19 – ongoing
		FS Ducuing	D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso	September 24 – October	n/a
		HDMS Esbern Snare	Absalon-class frigate	October 26 – November / December	n/a

In 2021, SNMG1 consisted of:^[15]

  Was a flagship at any time during its deployment

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2021[16]	Commodore Bradley Peats	HMCS Halifax	Frigate	January 18 – April 12 May 19 – July 10	January 18 – April 12 May 19 – July 10
		HDMS Absalon	Frigate	March 25 – June 18	April 12 – May 19
		HMS Lancaster	Frigate	March	n/a
		HMS Westminster	Frigate	March	n/a
		RFA Tiderace	Replenishment Oiler	March	n/a
		FS Bretagne	Destroyer	May 7 – May 14 November 22 – December 15	n/a
		FS Normandie	Destroyer	May 21 – May 30 September 22 – September 29	n/a
		HNoMS Storm	Corvette	June 6 – June 18	n/a
		HNoMS Gnist	Corvette	June 6 – June 18	n/a
		FS Commandant Blaison	OPV	June 6 – June 18	n/a
		HMCS Fredericton	Frigate	August 2 – October 5 October 17 – December 15	August 2 – October 5 October 30 – December 15
		NRP Corte-Real	Frigate	August 25 – December 15	n/a
		HNLMS Van Amstel	Frigate	September 6 – December 15	n/a
		HNoMS Maud	Replenishment Oiler	September 6 – December 3	n/a
		ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón	Frigate	September 16 – October 30	October 5 – October 30
		BNS Leopold I	Frigate	October 9 – October 29	n/a

During this deployment, SNMG1 took part in numerous exercises including:

• TG 21-1 from February 8 to February 19 in Norway^[19]
• Dynamic Guard 21 from February 24 to February 26 in Norway^[20]
• Joint Warrior 21-1 from May 7 to May 14 in the United Kingdom^[21]
• Steadfast Defender 21 from May 21 to June 2 in Portugal^[22]
• BALTOPS50 from June 6 to June 18 in the Baltic Sea^[14]
• Dynamic Mongoose 21 from July 1 to July 9 in Norway^[23]
• Joint Warrior 21-2 from 18 September to 30 September 2021 in the United Kingdom^[24]
• FLOTEX 21 from November 22 to December 3 in Norway^[25]
• Exercise REP(MUS) from 12 September to 22 September in Portugal^[26]

Organization

SNMG1 is a component of the NATO Response Force (NRF).^[1]

See also

• Standing NATO Maritime Group 2
• Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1
• Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2

References

1. "Maritime Groups". NATO. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
2. Hattendorf, John B. (Summer 2008), "Admiral Richard G. Colbert: Pioneer in Building Global Maritime Partnerships" (PDF), Naval War College Review, vol. 61, no. 3^{[permanent dead link]}
3. See also, John B. Hattendorf, “NATO’s Policeman on the Beat: The First Twenty-Years of the Standing Naval Force, Atlantic, 1968-1988,” in: John B. Hattendorf, Naval History and Maritime Strategy: Collected Essays. (Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing, 2000), pp. 187-200.
4. "Operation Sharp Guard". NATO. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
5. "New NATO Transformation Command Established in Norfolk". American Forces Press Service. United States Department of Defense. 19 June 2003. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
6. Bekkevold, Jo Inge; Till, Geoffrey (2016). International Order at Sea: How it is challenged. How it is maintained. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 136. ISBN 978-1137586629.
7. "NATO Press Release(2007)097". www.nato.int.
8. Counter-piracy Operations. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Retrieved: 27 December 2013.
9. Operation Ocean Shield Archived 2011-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
10. "SNMG1 in PASSEX with US Carrier Group". Allied Command Operations. NATO. March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
11. "Enterprise Hosts Commander, Standing NATO Maritime Group 1". NNS120326-04. Enterprise Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs. March 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
12. "Enterprise Hosts Commander, Standing NATO Maritime Group 1". US Navy. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
13. "Allied Maritime Command - SNMG1 ship accident at sea". mc.nato.int.
14. "BALTOPS 50 Comes to a Close". sfn.nato.int.
15. "Allied Maritime Command - Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1)". mc.nato.int.
16. SNMG1, Commander. "SNMG1 Twitter". SNMG1 Twitter. Retrieved 20 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
17. "Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1)". NATO. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
18. "Danish Frigate HDMS Peter Willemoes and F-16 Fighting Falcons to Reinforce NATO Forces". Military Leaks. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
19. "SNMG1 participates in the Norwegian exercise TG 21-1". mc.nato.int.
20. "NATO exercise Dynamic Guard underway in Norway". mc.nato.int.
21. "NATO ships train in exercise Joint Warrior 21-1 with UK Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group". mc.nato.int.
22. "Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021 to test NATO readiness and military mobility". mc.nato.int.
23. "NATO Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 21 Underway in High North". mc.nato.int.
24. "NATO Exercise Dynamic Mariner and Joint Warrior Begins in the Atlantic". mc.nato.int.
25. Vavasseur, Xavier (November 19, 2021). "Royal Norwegian Navy Kicked Off FLOTEX 21 Exercise".
26. NATO. "NATO exercises with new maritime unmanned systems". NATO. Retrieved 2022-10-09.

External links

• Official SNMG1 Homepage
• Allied Maritime Command Headquarters Homepage
• Africa Deployment Brochure ^{[permanent dead link]}
• Photos from SNMG1 2009