Class 762 Sachsenwald - Minetransport/Minelayer

Built by Blohm & Voss Hamburg these two ships had an unspectacular, but significant role in the defense of the NATO Baltic flank. They were to support the laying of defensive mine barriers off the (federal) German and Danish coasts and sounds. Originally, these ships only were to transport the mines and transfer them to smaller minelayers (landing crafts, minesweepers etc) at sea. But after completion, mine rails were added so they could lay mines themselves. One of these ships was always at readiness in the cold war years. After 1990, they were no longer needed and discarded.