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Standing NATO Maritime Group 2

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Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standing maritime immediate reaction force. SNMG2 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability.

History

Portuguese frigate NRP Corte Real and Turkish frigate TCG Gelibolu, participating in SNMG-2 during Phoenix Express (PE 08).

Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED) was activated on 30 April 1992, at Naples, Italy. STANAVFORMED was the successor to the NATO Naval On-Call Force Mediterranean (NAVOCFORMED) – which had been periodically activated for more than 20 years.

During the 1990s, STANAVFORMED 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.

On 6 October 2001, STANAVFORMED deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Active Endeavour, NATO's maritime contribution to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction.

The force was re-designated Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in January 2005.

From June 2009 to August 2009 SNMG2 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, SNMG2 has been providing ships for NATO's Operation Ocean Shield anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.

In 2019, SNMG2 was tasked with patrol of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. In 2021, SNMG2 took part in Exercise Sea Breeze 2021 in the Black Sea, co-hosted by the Ukrainian Navy and the United States Sixth Fleet.

Current ships

In 2026, SNMG2 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2026	Italy Rear Admiral Cristian Nardone (January 1 – ongoing)	Italy ITS Virginio Fasan	Carlo Bergamini-class frigate	January – ongoing	January – ongoing
Greece HS Limnos	Elli class frigate	January - ongoing	n/a

Previous task groups

In 2025, SNMG2 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2025	Turkey Rear Admiral H. Ilker Avci (January – July 4) Italy Rear Admiral Francesco Iavazzo (July 4 – December 31)	Turkey TCG Kemalreis	Barbaros-class-class frigate	January – July	January – July
Italy ITS Carlo Bergamini	Carlo Bergamini-class destroyer	July – December	July – December
Canada HMCS St. John's	Halifax-class frigate	unknown – unknown	n/a
Spain ESPS Cantabria	Replenishment oiler	unknown – unknown	n/a

In 2024, SNMG2 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2024	Italy Rear Admiral Pasquale Esposito (January – July 1) Canada Commodore Matthew Coates (July 1 – December 3) Turkey Rear Admiral H. Ilker Avci (December 3 – ongoing)	Italy ITS Carlo Bergamini	Carlo Bergamini-class destroyer	January – n/a	January – n/a
Canada HMCS Charlottetown	Halifax-class frigate	July 1 – December 3	July 1 – December 3
Spain ESPS Cristóbal Colón	Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate	July 1 – December 3	n/a
Turkey TCG Yıldırım	Yavuz-class frigate	July 1 – December 3	n/a
Turkey TCG Kemalreis	Barbaros-class-class frigate	December 3 – ongoing	December 3 – ongoing

In 2023, SNMG2 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2023	United States Rear Admiral Michael Scott Sciretta (January – July) United Kingdom Commodore Paul Stroude (July – December 7) Italy Rear Admiral Pasquale Esposito (December 7 – n/a)	United States USS James E. Williams	Arleigh Burke-class destroyer	January – July	January – July
Italy ITS Carlo Margottini	Bergamini-class frigate	January – n/a	n/a
Turkey TCG Barbaros	Barbaros-class frigate	January – n/a	n/a
Greece HS Psara	Hydra-class frigate	January – n/a	n/a
Canada HMCS Fredericton	Halifax-class frigate	January – n/a	n/a
United Kingdom HMS Duncan	Type 45 Destroyer	July – December 7	July – December 7
Italy ITS Carlo Bergamini	Carlo Bergamini-class destroyer	December 7 – n/a	December 7 – n/a

In 2022, SNMG2 consisted of:

Ships in bold are currently part of the naval force

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2022	Italy Rear Admiral Mauro Panebianco (January – July) United States Rear Admiral Michael Scott Sciretta (1 July – July 2023)	Italy ITS Carlo Margottini	Bergamini-class frigate	January – July	January – July
Turkey TCG Göksu	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	January – April	n/a
Germany FGS Lübeck	Bremen-class frigate	January – 1 June	n/a
Spain ESPS Blas de Lezo	Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate	22 January – 30 June	n/a
France FS Auvergne	Aquitaine-class frigate	22 February – May	n/a
United Kingdom HMS Trent	River-class offshore patrol vessel	February – March	n/a
Greece HS Aegean	Elli-class frigate	March –	n/a
Italy ITS Stromboli	Stromboli-class replenishment oiler	March –	n/a
Canada HMCS Montréal	Halifax-class frigate	March – July	n/a
United Kingdom HMS Diamond	Type 45 destroyer	March – April	n/a
Turkey TCG Barbaros	Barbaros-class frigate	24 March – 30 May	n/a
France FS Alsace	Aquitaine-class frigate	4 April – May	n/a
Spain ESPS Cantabria	Replenishment oiler	10 May – 26 June	n/a
France FS Forbin	Horizon-class frigate	May – 16 June	n/a
Germany FGS Bonn	Berlin-class replenishment ship	29 May – June	n/a
Turkey TCG Salihreis	Barbaros-class frigate	30 May – July	n/a
France FS Provence	Aquitaine-class frigate	16 June – 31 July	n/a
United States USS Forrest Sherman	Arleigh Burke-class destroyer	1 July – 13 December	1 July – 13 December
Turkey TCG Kemalreis	Barbaros-class frigate	1 July – September	n/a
Italy ITS Vulcano	Logistic support ship	14 July – 28 July	n/a
Greece HS Kountouriotis	Kortenaer-class frigate	20 July – August	n/a
Spain ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón	Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate	24 July – 6 September	n/a
France FS Languedoc	Aquitaine-class frigate	31 July – 6 September	n/a
Germany FGS Bonn	Berlin-class replenishment ship	16 August – September	n/a
Italy ITS Antonio Marceglia	Bergamini-class frigate	21 August – September	n/a
Spain ESPS Cristóbal Colón	Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate	13 September – 30 November	n/a
Turkey TCG Gemlik	G-class frigate	September – December	n/a
France FS Provence	Aquitaine-class frigate	September – December	n/a
Italy ITS Alpino	Bergamini-class frigate	September – December	n/a
United States USS James E. Williams	Arleigh Burke-class destroyer	13 December – July 2023	13 December – July 2023

In 2021, SNMG2 consisted of:

Year	Commander	Ship	Type	Part of task force	Flagship
2021	Italy Rear Admiral Stefano Russo	Spain ESPS Cristóbal Colón	Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate	January – March	January – March
Germany Brandenburg	Brandenburg-class frigate	January – February	n/a
Greece HS Machitis	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	January – February	n/a
Greece HS Simeoforos Simitzopoulos	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	January – February	n/a
Greece HS Armatolos	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	January – February	n/a
Greece HS Plotarchis Maridakis	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	January – February	n/a
Turkey TCG Türkeli	Tuzla-class patrol boat	January – March May – August	n/a
Spain Patiño	Replenishment oiler	January – February	n/a
Italy ITS Virginio Fasan	Carlo Bergamini-class frigate	February – March	n/a
Turkey TCG Kemalreis	Barbaros-class-class frigate	February – May	n/a
Greece HS Kountouriotis	Kortenaer-class frigate	February – March	n/a
Greece HS Navmachos	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	February – March	n/a
Greece HS Xenos	Fast attack craft	February – March	n/a
Greece HS Tolmi	Asheville-class gunboat	February – May	n/a
Germany FGS Werra	Replenishment oiler	February – August	n/a
Turkey TCG Karaburn	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	March – May	n/a
Romania Regina Maria	Type 22 frigate	March – April	n/a
Bulgaria Smeli	Frigate	March – April	n/a
Spain ESPS Méndez Núñez	Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate	April – August	April – August
Greece HS Kasos	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	May – August	n/a
Greece HS Aittitos	Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat	May – August	n/a
Greece HS Degiannis	Fast attack craft	May – August	n/a
Germany FGS Lübeck	Bremen-class frigate	May – September	n/a
Turkey TCG Kumkale	Tuzla-class patrol boat	June – August	n/a
United Kingdom HMS Kent	Type 23 frigate	June – August	n/a
Italy ITS Virginio Fasan	Carlo Bergamini-class frigate	August – December	August – December
Spain ESPS Cantabria	Replenishment oiler	August – October	n/a
Turkey TCG Gökçeada	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	September – December	n/a
Germany FGS Spessart	Rhön-class tanker	September – December	n/a
Italy ITS Carlo Margottini	Carlo Bergamini-class frigate	December – July 2022	December – July 2022

Organization

SNMG2 is a component of the NATO Response Force (NRF).

See also

External links