Wangerooge-class tug (Type 722)

The auxiliary vessels of the Wangerooge class were sea tugs of the German Navy. Their main task was to tow and recover seagoing vessels and provide assistance at sea. The towing of targets and the recovery of practice torpedoes and mines was another task of the sea tugs.

As part of the 1960 shipbuilding program, Schichau Unterweser AG in Bremerhaven was awarded the contract to build six Wangerooge-class sea tugs. They have a steel hull with a Maier shape and ice reinforcement, which is divided into eight compartments. The superstructures are made of light metal and there is NBC protection.

All units of this class were named after East Frisian islands and have or had civilian crews.

With the exception of the Spiekeroog, all sea tugs were decommissioned and laid up again after a short time due to the reduction in naval personnel as part of a structural change.

Two of the units were later put back into service as sea tugs. The other three were converted into training boats.

In order to replace the last remaining Wangerooge-class vessels, it was decided not to commission newbuilds but to purchase available capacity on the market. The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag made EUR 24 million available for this purpose in 2022. The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support was to use this money to purchase two used salvage tugs that would be able to “tow ships with a full load of up to 21,000 tons in the A3 sea area to safe harbour”. The Rügen is the first of the two ships from this procurement. In 2023, the first of the two successors, the Rota Endurance, was acquired. It arrived in Kiel in July 2023 for handover to the German Navy and is to be put into service as the Rügen for the German Navy following necessary conversion work at the Rostock naval arsenal. On June 20, 2024, the Britoil Guardian was acquired as the second ocean-going tug for the German Navy.