Standing NATO Maritime Group 1

File:Ships of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1.jpg

SNMG1 per 13 August 2007 in formation. From left to right:
- Portugal
Template:HMCS - Canada
Template:USS - United States
- Germany
Template:HNLMS - Netherlands
Template:HDMS - 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 Template:USS, 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 Template:HNLMS, the Spanish Navy frigate , the German Navy frigate , and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate Template:HMCS.

File:Portuguese and Norwegian warships moored at South Quay in London.jpg

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.

Current ships

As of January 2025, SNMG1 consists of:

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2025	Template:Flagicon Commodore Thomas Stig Rasmussen (January 1 – January 9) Template:Flagicon Commodore Arjen Warnaar (January 9 – )	Template:Flagicon HNoMS Maud	Replenishment oiler	January 1 – January 9	January 1 – January 9
		Template:Flagicon HNLMS Tromp	De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate	January 9 – ongoing	January 9 – ongoing
		Template:Flagicon HSwMS Visby	Visby class corvette	January 21 – ongoing	n/a
		Template:Flagicon FNS Pori	Hamina-class missile boat	January 22 – ongoing	n/a
		Template:Flagicon BNS Louise-Marie	Template:Sclass	February – ongoing	n/a

Previous task groups

In 2024, SNMG1 consisted of:

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2024	Template:Flagicon Rear-Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo (January 1 – July 11) Template:Flagicon Commodore Thomas Stig Rasmussen (July 11 – ongoing)	Template:Flagicon ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón	F-100	January 1 – n/a	January 1 – n/a
		Template:Flagicon ESPS Cantabria	Replenishment oiler	January 1 – n/a	n/a
		Template:Flagicon FGS Bonn	Template:Sclass	January 1 – n/a	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HNoMS Maud	Replenishment oiler	September 9 – ongoing	September 9 – ongoing
		Template:Flagicon HNLMS De Ruyter	De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate	August – n/a	n/a
		Template:Flagicon NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida	Multi-purpose frigate	July 31 – n/a	n/a
		Template:Flagicon FS La Fayette	La Fayette class frigate	August – n/a	n/a
		Template:Flagicon BNS Louise-Marie	Template:Sclass	October – December	No

In 2023, SNMG1 consisted of:

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

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

In 2022, SNMG1 consisted of:

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

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

In 2021, SNMG1 consisted of:

  Previous flagship

  Current flagship

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2021	Template:Flagicon Commodore Bradley Peats	Template:Flagicon HMCS Halifax	Frigate	January 18 – April 12 May 19 – July 10	January 18 – April 12 May 19 – July 10
		Template:Flagicon HDMS Absalon	Frigate	March 25 – June 18	April 12 – May 19
		Template:Flagicon HMS Lancaster	Frigate	March	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HMS Westminster	Frigate	March	n/a
		Template:Flagicon RFA Tiderace	Replenishment Oiler	March	n/a
		Template:Flagicon FS Bretagne	Aquitaine class destroyer	May 7 – May 14 November 22 – December 15	n/a
		Template:Flagicon FS Normandie	Aquitaine class destroyer	May 21 – May 30 September 22 – September 29	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HNoMS Storm	Corvette	June 6 – June 18	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HNoMS Gnist	Corvette	June 6 – June 18	n/a
		Template:Flagicon FS Commandant Blaison	D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso	June 6 – June 18	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HMCS Fredericton	Frigate	August 2 – October 5 October 17 – December 15	August 2 – October 5 October 30 – December 15
		Template:Flagicon NRP Corte-Real	Frigate	August 25 – December 15	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HNLMS Van Amstel	Frigate	September 6 – December 15	n/a
		Template:Flagicon HNoMS Maud	Replenishment Oiler	September 6 – December 3	n/a
		Template:Flagicon ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón	Frigate	September 16 – October 30	October 5 – October 30
		Template:Flagicon 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
• 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

Organization

SNMG1 is a component of the NATO Response Force (NRF).

See also

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

External links

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