Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe

Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe (NAVSOUTH) was a Component Command in NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH). The NAVSOUTH Commander, also known by the abbreviation COMNAVSOUTH, was an high-ranked admiral assigned to the post by Italy, while the staff came from the other NATO countries

The COMNAVSOUTH's tasks were the control of the sea, a 24-hour surveillance of its area of responsibility, the protection of the sea lines of communication, as well as the naval control of shipping in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. The COMNAVSOUTH's permanent control included the NATO Standing Naval Force Mediterranean and the NATO Mine Counter Measures Mediterranean Force (MCMFORMED).

The NAVSOUTH was founded on 5th June 1967 and its headquarters are located on Nisida island, Naples, Italy upon dissolution of the Headquarters Allied Forces Mediterranean, a major NATO Subordinate Command that was responsible for maritime operations in these same regions as NAVSOUTH.

At the end of the Cold War the structure of Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe was as follows:

• Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe (NAVSOUTH), in Naples, Italy, with the following national commands of Mediterranean NATO members:
  • Commander Gibraltar Mediterranean (COMGIBMED), in Gibraltar, under a Royal Navy Rear Admiral, who doubled as Commander British Forces Gibraltar
  • Commander Western Mediterranean (COMMEDWEST), under a French Navy admiral, until 1962 in Algiers, then Toulon, after France left NATO's integrated command structure in 1966 the command was absorbed by NAVSOUTH
  • Commander Central Mediterranean (COMEDCENT), in Naples, under an Italian Navy admiral
  • Commander Eastern Mediterranean (COMEDEAST), in Athens, under a Greek Navy admiral
  • Commander South-Eastern Mediterranean (COMMEDSOUTHEAST), under a British admiral in Malta, after the disbanding of the Mediterranean Fleet, the command was absorbed by NAVSOUTH
  • Commander North-eastern Mediterranean (COMEDNOREAST), in Ankara, under a Turkish Navy admiral (includes the Black Sea)

In 2004, NAVSOUTH became Allied Maritime Command Naples.

Operations

From 1992 to 1996, COMNAVSOUTH led the joint Western European Union (WEU)/NATO maritime operation known as Operation Sharp Guard in support of NATO operations in the Balkans.