Navy of the Baltic States. What strength do Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have at sea?

No one will be surprised that the lowest sea forces in the Baltic Sea are maintained by three so-called Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. They are the smallest and the lowest number of taxpayers state organisms. In addition, they regained independence only 29 years ago, and their economy faced various kinds of problems for many years – from the need for destitution, to the struggles of global economic change (including the 2009 crisis) to emigration. It is therefore no wonder that the Baltic States put limited tasks before their maritime forces, investing primarily in – the most cost-effective in their situation – land forces.

Polish Navy Lithuania

The Lithuanian Navy (Lietuvos karinės jūrē pajėgos) has a rather limited range of tasks, including operations to detect and destroy mines and explosives. This is due to the fact that Lithuanian territorial waters, like Latvian, Estonian or Polish, were an audience of very intense maritime activities during World War II, including mine warfare. The remains of that conflict are still a threat.

This specialization makesthat Lithuania is one of the countries supporting the NATO-wst mine group No. 1 (Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1) in the NATO Rapid Response Force, along with other Baltic States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Britain and Belgium. Lithuania and Latvia also have two vessels to fight mines. They form part of the so-called Baltic Mine Combat Division (BALTRON). It is also supported by Estonia, which, however, makes its port infrastructure available to it after reductions.

In addition, Lithuanian ships and their crews are tasked with supporting operations of their own special forces. The selected ships are also part of the Rapid Reaction Force, which is mobilised within a maximum of 24 hours in the event of a hybrid war or terrorism threat. In addition, there are tasks to be done against every civilised navy, such as protecting national interests in territorial waters, including protection against their pollution, SAR missions, combating smuggling, protecting the shipping lines and fisheries.

Lithuania Polish Navy consists of a fleet of ships (divided into a mine squadron, a patrol squadron and a group of port units), a maritime surveillance system, a team of divers specialised in the destruction of explosives, a logistics service, a training centre, and a sea rescue coordination centre. Its staff consists of 600 people including civil workers. It is not much, given that the total number of armed forces is expected to reach 20,000 people in the coming years.

The ships of the Republic of Lithuania belong to the oldest in the Baltic, despite the withdrawal of several units in recent years, including two post-Soviet corvet. The largest unit – the mine stander Jotvingis (type Vidar, standard displacement of 1 750 tons) – was acquired from Norway, in which it served since 1977. Other two units (Sklavis and Kuršis)) are Hunt-type mine destroyers, taken after the Royal Navy and originally put into service in 1982. In turn the patrol fleet consists of four Post-Danish ships serving from 1985, 1988 (two) and 1993 respectively. The image of the Lithuanian fleet is supplemented by a post-Soviet rescue ship, boat and tugboat (yearbooks 1983, 1986 and 1955 respectively) from the port group. The base of the Lithuanian Navy is Klaipeda, which was also adapted to accept allied NATO units under the host country's responsibility.

Latvia Maritime Force

The Latvian Maritime Forces (Latvijas Jūras Spēki) are larger than the Lithuanian Navy and play a greater role in the state defence system due to the longer coastline of the country and the numerous mine activities that were carried out in the Bay of Riga during World War II. However, her tasks are similar. The base of the mine squadron is created by the second Vidar (Virsaitis) mine pointer and five mines destroyers acquired from the Netherlands (Tripartite type, all built in 1984). The pride is made up of five 125-ton, modern Skrunda-type patrol boats produced partly in Latvia in cooperation with Germany (Abeking & Rasmussen) in the catamaran system.

They entered the service from 2011 to 2014. They form a squadron of patrol ships, and in tasks they are supplemented by six KBV patrol boats, belonging to the Coast Guard fleet. They were obtained from Sweden and remember the 1960s. The Varonis hydrographic ship is also not much younger, which originally entered service in the Dutch Navy in 1973 and now forms part of a patrol squadron together with Skrunda ships. There's a team of Navy divers on board. In addition, the Latvian navy includes the surveillance and communications service, staff and the Baltic Mine Equipment Workshop.

The bases and infrastructure of the Latvian fleet are spread along the coast. The fleet staff of warships (divisions: mine and patrol vessels) is located in Lipawa, as is the training centre (including diving training center for all Baltic states) and the main logistics base. The Coast Guard fleet is stationed mostly in Riga (part of ships in Lipava and Elevator). Along the entire coastline is also a battalion of coastal defence.

Estonian naval forces

Polish Navy Estonia (Eesti Merevägi) has been significantly reduced in recent years for financial reasons. In 2013, the frigate Admiral Pitka was withdrawn – the only such large battleship operated by this Baltic State. Now the Estonians only exploit four vessels: three Sandown mine destroyers purchased from the United Kingdom in 2006 (produced from 1988 to 1992) and a Wampola auxiliary vessel (type Lindormen) acquired from Denmark, which is a base for divers-miners (year of production: 1973). Min destroyers are valuable units and are currently undergoing upgrades costing a total of around $30 million.

The Estonians have engaged in numerous international operations, taking part, among others, in Baltic Sea surveillance (SUCBAS) and EU NAVFOR MED/Sophia. Currently Polish Navy Estonia uses the Miinisadam base in northern Tallinn. Tallinn also has a Baltic Maritime Communication School common to all Baltic States.

Written by: Maciej Szopa