Elbe-class replenishment ship

The Type 404 Elbe-class replenishment ships of the German Navy were built to support its squadrons of Fast Attack Craft, submarines and minesweeper/hunters, as such they are usually referred to as tenders.

Donau in Warnemünde
Class overview
Name	Elbe class
Builders	Bremer Vulkan
Operators	German Navy
Succeeded by	Berlin class
In commission	1993–present
Completed	6
Active	6
General characteristics
Type	Replenishment ship
Displacement	3,586 tonnes
Length	100.55 m (329 ft 11 in)
Beam	15.40 m (50 ft 6 in)
Draft	4.05 m (13 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	1 × Deutz-MWM SBV diesel engines 2,562 kW, Bow thruster
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Range	2,600 nmi (4,800 km; 3,000 mi)
Capacity	24 standard 6.2 m containers (maximum) Supplies: 700 m³ fuel 60 m³ aviation (helicopter) fuel 280 m³ fresh water 160 tonnes ammunition 40 tonnes supplies Disposal: 5 tonnes solid waste 180 m³ waste water 32 m³ waste oil
Complement	40 (standard) + >38 (repair party, passengers, squadron staff)
Armament	2 × Fliegerfaust 2 surface-to-air missile stands (MANPADS) 2 × Rheinmetall Rh202 20 mm autocannon; being replaced by 2 × MLG-27 27 mm remote controlled autocannons
Aviation facilities	No hangar, but a heli deck was added for Sea King sized or larger helicopters

The ships carry fuel, fresh water, food, ammunition and other matériel. They also have a medical station aboard but doctors are not part of their standard complement and will have to be flown in. The tender also manage waste disposal for the ships they support at sea and can carry out minor repairs of assigned ships. For this purpose Elbe-class tenders assigned to fast attack craft squadrons, for example, carry the SUG repair and support shop specialized for these boats on their deck in a set of 13 standard containers.

Extensive communication gear and accommodations enable them to serve as squadron flagship.

While in general all Elbe-class tenders are quickly configurable to be reassigned to support other squadrons, one of the six ships is usually modified to support German submarines - carrying batteries for reloading for example. This ship - currently Main - while still being of the same class, and easily reconfigurable - is often named as a separate "sub-class" due to this larger modification.

List of ships

Pennant number	Name	Call sign	Commissioned	Base	Unit
A511	Elbe	DRHJ	January 28, 1993	Warnemünde	7th FAC squadron
A512	Mosel	DRHK	July 1, 1993	Kiel	5th Minesweeper squadron
A513	Rhein	DRHL	September 1, 1993	Kiel	3rd Minesweeper squadron
A514	Werra	DRHM	December 9, 1993	Kiel	3rd Minesweeper squadron
A515	Main	DRHN	June 10, 1994	Eckernförde	1st Submarine squadron
A516	Donau	DRHO	November 15, 1994	Warnemünde	1st Corvette squadron

The ships were named after German rivers.

Gallery

• 
  Tender Elbe in Warnemünde.
• 
  Tender Elbe.
• 
  Tender Rhein in Eckernförde
• 
  Werra in London
• 
  Main in Catania
• 
  MLG-27 onboard Elbe-class tender Rhein.
• 
  Donau in the Belgian Navy Base of Zeebrugge.

References

• [1] - German Navy, official homepage (in German)
• https://web.archive.org/web/20050130085054/http://www.tender-elbe.de/seiten/typenbla.htm (in German)