Standing NATO Maritime Group 1

thumb|right|SNMG1 per 13 August 2007 in formation. From left to right: - Portugal - Canada - United States - Germany - Netherlands - Denmark

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.

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).

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.

The force was under the operational control of SACLANT until SACLANT was decommissioned in 2003, when it was merged into NATO's Allied Command Operations (ACO).

The force was re-designated Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in January 2005.

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.

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.

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

On 23–25 March 2012 the group conducted a passing exercise with Carrier Strike Group Twelve, led by , while carrying out Operation Active Endeavor missions in the Mediterranean Sea. The group's commander, Commodore Ben Bekkering of the Royal Netherlands Navy, visited Enterprise. At the time, the group consisted of the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate , the Spanish Navy frigate , the German Navy frigate , and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate .

thumb|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 of the Royal Norwegian Navy 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.

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

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#9b9b9b;"

! Year

! Commander

! Ship

! Type

! Part of task force

! Flagship

| rowspan="10" style="text-align:center;" | 2026

| rowspan="10" style="text-align:center;" | Commodore Arjen S. Warnaar (January 1 – January 15) Rear Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo (January 15 – April 10)

Commodore Maryla Ingham (April 10 - ongoing)

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | Rotterdam-class landing platform dock

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 1 – January 15

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 15 – April 10

| SPS Patiño

| Replenishment Oiler

| Unknown - unknown

| n/a

| FS Commandant Blaison

| D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso

| January 19 – March 14

| n/a

| style="background-color:#969dfa;"| FGS Sachsen

| style="background-color:#969dfa;"|Sachsen-class frigate

| style="background-color:#969dfa;"| April 10 – ongoing

| style="background-color:#969dfa;"| n/a

| HNLMS Van Amstel

| Unknown – ongoing

| n/a

| NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida

| Multi-purpose frigate

| Unknown – ongoing

| n/a

Previous task groups

In 2025, SNMG1 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#9b9b9b;"

! Year

! Commander

! Ship

! Type

! Part of task force

! Flagship

| rowspan="11" style="text-align:center;" | 2025

| rowspan="11" style="text-align:center;" | Commodore Thomas Stig Rasmussen (January 1 – January 9) Commodore Arjen S. Warnaar (January 9 – ongoing)

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | HNLMS Tromp

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 4 – May 28

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 4 – May

| FGS Rhön

| March 19 – December 31

| n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | May – September

| June 27 – unknown

| n/a

| FNS Pori

| July 1 – July 31

| n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | HNLMS Van Amstel

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | November 7 – December

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | November - December

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | September – December 31

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | September – November

| FGS Braunschweig

| Unknown – December 31

| n/a

| Unknown – unknown

| n/a

| FGS Hamburg

| Unknown – December 31

| n/a

In 2024, SNMG1 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="font-weight:bold; background-color:#9b9b9b;"

! Year

! Commander

! Ship

! Type

! Part of task force

! Flagship

| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;" | 2024

| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;" | Rear-Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo (January 1 – July 11) Commodore Thomas Stig Rasmussen (July 11 – ongoing)

| style="background-color:#cbcefb" | ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | F-100

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 1 – n/a

| ESPS Cantabria

| Replenishment oiler

| January 1 – n/a

| n/a

| FGS Bonn

| January 1 – n/a

| n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | HNoMS Maud

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | Replenishment oiler

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | September 9 – ongoing

| HNLMS De Ruyter

| De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate

| August – n/a

| n/a

| NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida

| Multi-purpose frigate

| July 31 – n/a

| n/a

| FS La Fayette

| La Fayette class frigate

|August – n/a

|n/a

| BNS Louise-Marie

|October – December

|No

In 2023, SNMG1 consisted of:

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 7 – February 4

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | January 7 - February 4

| HDMS Peter Willemoes

| January 15 – April

| n/a

| HMS Kent

| Duke-class frigate

| January 24 – February 4

| n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | FGS Berlin

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | February 4 – April

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | February 4 – April 6

| HNLMS Van Amstel

| February 7 – March

| n/a

| FGS Erfurt

| March 2 – May

| n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | HNLMS De Zeven Provincien

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | March 10 – July

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | April 6 - July

| HMS Northumberland

| Duke-class frigate

| March – April 20

| n/a

| FS Languedoc

| Aquitaine-class destroyer

| March – April

| n/a

| FS Dixmude

| March – April

| n/a

| FS Latouche-Tréville

| Georges Leygues-class destroyer

|March – May

|n/a

| HMCS Halifax

|April 18 – July

|n/a

| FGS Spessart

| Rhön-class replenishment oiler

|April – August 4

|n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | HNLMS Karel Doorman

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | Joint support ship

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | May 8 – September 23

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | July 8 – September 19

| NRP Corte-Real

|May 27 – September 14

|n/a

| FGS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

| 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

|September 10 – October 11

|n/a

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | HNLMS Tromp

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" |

| style="background-color:#cbcefb;" | 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:

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

References

External links

Official SNMG1 Homepage
Allied Maritime Command Headquarters Homepage
2007 Africa Deployment Brochure
Photos from SNMG1 2009

History

Previous task groups

See also

References

External links