Rhein - A513

RHEIN (A513) is a German Navy multipurpose support ship of the Elbe class – Type 404, commissioned in 1993 and designed to provide smaller naval combatants with fuel, ammunition, provisions, maintenance support and command facilities.

The vessel has repeatedly served as a command and support ship for NATO mine-countermeasures formations, including deployments in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

RHEIN remains officially part of the German Navy's Unterstützungsgeschwader – Support Squadron in 2026.

Rather than being decommissioned, the ship has been undergoing a substantial scheduled technical overhaul at the German Navy's Warnowwerft / Marinearsenal in Rostock-Warnemünde.

Vessel Details

Name: RHEIN

Pennant Number: A513

Type: Tender / Fleet Support and Repair Ship

Class: Elbe class – Type 404

Navy: German Navy / Deutsche Marine

Home Port: Kiel

Commissioned: 22 September 1993

Builder: Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, Germany

Current Unit: Unterstützungsgeschwader

Call Sign: DRHL

Length Overall: approx. 100.6 m

Beam: 15.4 m

Draught: approx. 4.1 m

Current Bundeswehr Published Displacement: approx. 3,200 t

Older Full-Load Published Figure: approx. 3,580–3,586 t

Main Propulsion: 1 × diesel engine

Power: approx. 2,500 kW

Propulsion: single propeller plus bow thruster

Maximum Speed: 15 knots

Container Capacity: up to 24 standard containers

Fuel for Supported Units: approx. 700 m³

Aviation Fuel: approx. 60 m³

Fresh Water: approx. 280 m³

Ammunition Capacity: approx. 160 t

Provisions: approx. 40 t

Current Armament: 2 × 27 mm MLG, plus heavy machine guns

Aviation Facilities: Helicopter deck, no hangar

Current Status: Active / undergoing scheduled technical overhaul

The Elbe Class

RHEIN is one of six:

Elbe-class Type 404 tenders.

The class consists of:

ELBE A511

MOSEL A512

RHEIN A513

WERRA A514

MAIN A515

and:

DONAU A516.

The ships entered German Navy service between 1993 and 1994.

A Floating Support Base

The purpose of an Elbe-class tender is fundamentally different from that of a frigate or destroyer.

RHEIN acts as a mobile support base for smaller naval vessels.

She can provide:

fuel,

fresh water,

ammunition,

food,

technical maintenance,

repair specialists,

medical and logistical support,

and command facilities.

Modular Containers

A particularly useful feature is the ability to embark up to:

24 standard containers.

Different mission packages can therefore be loaded according to operational requirements.

This gives the ship substantial flexibility when supporting different naval units.

NATO Flagship

RHEIN has repeatedly served as a:

NATO command / flagship vessel.

She has been particularly associated with:

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 – SNMCMG2.

Deployments have included Mediterranean and Black Sea operations.

Mediterranean Operations

RHEIN served as SNMCMG2 flagship during multiple periods, including:

2008

2014

and:

2018.

She also participated in:

UNIFIL

and:

EU NAVFOR MED.

The vessel's command spaces and logistical capability make her particularly useful as the headquarters platform for multinational groups of relatively small minehunters.

Migrant Rescue Operations

During her 2017 Mediterranean deployment, RHEIN was involved in major migrant-rescue operations.

German records state that during that deployment the ship and crew assisted in the rescue of approximately:

2,100 people.

This represented a very different mission from her original role supporting German fast-attack craft and minehunters.

PiraeuShips in 2019

PiraeuShips published the dedicated:

RHEIN – A513

entry in:

February 2019.

The original entry recorded:

100.55 m length

15.40 m beam

and:

3,586 tonnes displacement.

The footage dates from the era when RHEIN was repeatedly deployed as a NATO support and command ship in the Mediterranean.

Why the Displacement Figure Has Changed

The current Bundeswehr technical page lists approximately:

3,200 tonnes displacement.

Older reference material, including the original PiraeuShips information, gives approximately:

3,586 tonnes.

This does not necessarily indicate a physical reduction in the ship's size.

Naval sources frequently quote displacement under different load conditions, including:

standard,

operational,

and full-load displacement.

For historical accuracy, the old 3,586-tonne figure can therefore remain mentioned, while the current official Bundeswehr figure should also be included.

Major Technical Overhaul

RHEIN has undergone significant maintenance during her career.

A major overhaul between 2019 and 2021 returned the vessel to service after extensive work.

Another scheduled technical-maintenance period began at the:

Marinearsenal Warnowwerft in Rostock-Warnemünde.

The German Bundeswehr officially reported RHEIN in drydock there in:

January 2025,

together with the corvette OLDENBURG.

German naval reporting during 2026 continued to refer to RHEIN undergoing technical overhaul work.

Still an Active German Navy Unit

Importantly, RHEIN has not been decommissioned.

The German Navy's current Support Squadron page continues to list:

Tender RHEIN

among its units.

The vessel is therefore best described in 2026 as:

active but undergoing major scheduled maintenance / overhaul.

PiraeuShips Record

RHEIN (A513) was recorded by PiraeuShips during the veteran German Navy tender's extensive Mediterranean and NATO career. Commissioned on 22 September 1993, the Type 404 Elbe-class support vessel was designed to sustain smaller naval units with fuel, ammunition, provisions, repair specialists and command facilities and has repeatedly served as flagship for NATO mine-countermeasures groups. RHEIN has taken part in SNMCMG2, UNIFIL and EU NAVFOR MED deployments and has supported both conventional naval operations and large-scale humanitarian rescue missions. The ship remains an official unit of the German Navy's Support Squadron in 2026, although she is undergoing a substantial scheduled technical overhaul at the Marinearsenal Warnowwerft. The PiraeuShips footage therefore documents a support ship that remains in German naval service more than three decades after commissioning.

Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.