The GMSA was formed on 21 June 1945 under Allied supervision, specifically that of the Royal Navy,[1][2] to clear naval mines in the North Sea and Baltic.

[4] The GMSA was originally under the command of Commodore H. T. England; below him, as the highest ranking German officer, was Konteradmiral Fritz Krauss, who had been in charge of mine sweeping operations during the war.

The reason for its disbanding was primarily pressure from the Soviet Union which feared the GMSA was an attempt by the western allies to re-form the German Kriegsmarine, something the Royal Navy bitterly opposed themselves.

[7] The Reichsmarine had used mine sweeping operations after the First World War to preserve a talent pool of officers and the Royal Navy wanted to avoid a repetition of this experience.

One of the few large surface ships of the Kriegsmarine to survive the war, the light cruiser Leipzig, in a fairly bad condition, served as an accommodation hulk for the GMSA.