“Next to every German submarine there is a Russian ship”: Germany announced a “check” in the Baltic Sea

/View.info/ There is a constant game of chess in the Baltic Sea. It is not simple, but multifaceted. A suitable match for the Russians, says a German journalist who spent several weeks with the army. “Next to every German submarine is a Russian ship,” he said.

Peter Carstens is a journalist for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. For another article he joined the crew of submarine U33. The submarine took part in an exercise in the Baltic Sea.

Wherever a German submarine sails, a Russian ship is nearby, – Carstens writes at the beginning of the article.

The periscope of a submarine rises only 40 centimeters above the water, but this is enough for a warship under the Russian flag. And he begins the pursuit. The Germans decide to dive.

Captain Johannes Nestler and 17 other crew members are confined to 25 square meters. They should be there at times like this, in the control center. A 56-meter submarine descends at 40 meters per minute as it moves away from where the periscope has just been. The speed is about 10 kilometers per hour. Instead, the minesweeper “Dillingen” and the warships “Rein” and “Main” appeared above the water. This is the Vasiliy Tatishchev, a Russian reconnaissance ship with radio-electronic reconnaissance and signal jamming equipment.

Photo: IMAGO/Chris Emil Janssen/Globallookpress

On the U33, they refer to the Russian ship as “our shadow” and generally respect the enemy, Carstens wrote. He notes that it is difficult to work in the Baltic Sea – the depth here is only 55 meters on average. A good navigator depends not on the shelter of the underwater canyons, but on the unique and special relief of the water. These are layers and columns formed by temperature, salinity and water pressure. They let the submarine escape, but in the process it stalls and goes blind.

Therefore, underwater combat in the Baltic Sea is a kind of multi-sided chess. It feels like an ideal sport for the Russians. In fact, there is not one person on board the U33 who does not talk about his competitors with the necessary respect, – emphasizes a German journalist.

He says confrontations with the Russian navy are common for NATO in the Baltic Sea. But Russian activity is growing. This is evident even on submarines. It is even forbidden to use mobile phones on trips to the sea, because the Russians immediately calculate the location and contact information.

Photo: MOD Russia/Globallookpress

And not only “Vasily Tatishchev” keeps an eye on the Baltic. At least two military corvettes, Boikiy and Soobrazitelny, are searching for NATO submarines. In addition, a reconnaissance plane of the Russian Air Force was seen over the exercise area, but kept its distance.

So the U33 does not suffer from lack of attention. Conferences like this, about which the crew has a lot to say, reinforce the idea that times have changed a lot in the Baltic Sea as well. Russia is now targeting espionage in the area, with its ships probing submarine cables and power lines. The circumstances surrounding the Nord Stream explosion have not been fully clarified yet, the Germans remember.

Translation: PI