Editing Volksmarine (section)

==History==
[[File:East German frigate Berlin underway on 1 October 1985 (6409381).jpg|thumb|Koni-class frigate ''Berlin-Haupstadt der DDR'' underway on 1 October 1985, observing NATO ships participating in "Exercise BALTOPS '85"]]
Soon after the end of [[Second World War|World War II]] and the beginning of the [[Cold War]], the [[Soviet Union]] initiated the rearming of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR), which had been founded in October 1949 as a [[satellite state]] from the [[Soviet Zone of Occupation]].  Beginning in 1950, [[Soviet Navy]] officers helped to establish the ''[[Hauptverwaltung Seepolizei]]'' (Main Administration Sea Police), which was renamed ''Volkspolizei&ndash;See (VP&ndash;See)'' (People's Police &ndash; Sea) on 1 July 1952. At the same time parts of the erstwhile maritime police were reorganized into the new ''[[Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic|Grenzpolizei]]&ndash;See'' (Border Police &ndash;&ndash; Sea), to guard the sea frontiers, and incorporated into the ''Deutsche Grenzpolizei'' (German Border Police) that had been set up in 1946. By 1952 the ''VP&ndash;See'' is estimated to have numbered some 8,000 personnel.

On 1 March 1956, the GDR formally created its armed forces, the [[National People's Army]] (''Nationale Volksarmee'', NVA), and the ''VP&ndash;See'' became the ''Verwaltung Seestreitkräfte der NVA'' (Maritime Forces Administration of the NVA) with about 10,000 men. In November 1960, these maritime forces of the National People's Army were officially designated {{lang|de|Volksmarine}} (People's Navy).  Over the next years the navy gradually received a number of new ships, mostly built in the GDR.  Only the coastal protection ships and some of the fast torpedo boats were provided by the Soviet Union, as were all helicopters, and some auxiliary craft were purchased from Poland.

Following the erection of the [[Berlin Wall]] on 13 August 1961, the ''Grenzbrigade Küste der Grenzpolizei (''GBK'')'' (Coastal Border Brigade of the Border Police) was incorporated into the {{lang|de|Volksmarine}}.  With the reorganization of 1965 all attack forces, i.e., the fast torpedo boats, were combined into a single [[flotilla]] (the 6th Flotilla) and stationed on the Bug peninsula of the island of [[Rügen]]. In the 1970s, the {{lang|de|Volksmarine}} had grown to about 18,000 men. In the 1980s some of the ships were replaced and the {{lang|de|Volksmarine}} acquired Soviet-built [[fighter-bomber]]s. During 1985{{spaced ndash}}1989, the {{lang|de|Volksmarine}} caused about 180 reported incidents due to a maritime border dispute with Poland in the [[Bay of Pomerania|Pomeranian bay]]; in subsequent negotiations about two thirds of the disputed maritime area were allocated to the GDR.<ref>[https://iz.poznan.pl/plik,pobierz,803,117719edb58a482a1261864c50dd596e/9-05.%20Jackowska.pdf The Border controversy between the Polish People’s Republic and the German Democratic Republic in the Pomeranian Bay], Natalia Jackowska, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.polska1918-89.pl/pdf/nrd-kontra-prl,6167.pdf NRD kontra PRL] (''GDR contra Poland''), Tomasz Ślepowroński, 2005.</ref>

The {{lang|de|Volksmarine}} was dissolved, like all other branches of the former National People's Army, on 2 October 1990 – the day before the official [[reunification of Germany]].  Some of its staff was absorbed into the ''[[Bundesmarine]]'' (which was henceforth called the ''Deutsche Marine''), some by the [[German Border Police]].  Most of the ships and other equipment were scrapped or sold; about one third of the ships went to the [[Indonesian Navy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indonesia buying 42 East German warships, adding two naval bases |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/10/26/Indonesia-buying-42-East-German-warships-adding-two-naval-bases/7162720075600/ |access-date=2022-04-15 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref> Few if any former {{lang|de|Volksmarine}} vessels remain in service with the modern-day [[German Navy]]. The last commander of the {{lang|de|Volksmarine}}, ''Vizeadmiral'' [[Hendrik Born]], wrote a multi-paragraph commentary for Dieter Flohr and Peter Seemann's 2009 book, ''Die Volksmarine'', a comprehensive and picture-oriented history of the {{lang|de|Volksmarine}}.