Elbing-class torpedo boat
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (January 2013) |
 T-35 seized by the U.S., as DD 935.
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Flottentorpedoboot 1939 |
| Builders | Schichau, Elbing |
| In commission | 1941-1944 |
| Completed | 15 |
| Lost | 11 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Torpedo boat |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 1,295 long tons (1,316 t) (standard) 1,755 long tons (1,783 t) (maximum) |
| Length | list error: <br /> list (help) 97 m (318 ft 3 in) (w/l) 102.5 m (336 ft 3 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Draft | 3.22 m (10 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | 32,560 shp (24,280 kW) |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × Wagner geared steam turbines 2 × shafts |
| Speed | 32.5 kn (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
| Range | 2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 205 |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 4 × 105 mm (4.1 in) guns 4 × 37 mm (1.46 in) anti-aircraft guns 9 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft cannons 6 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes 50 × mines |
The Elbing class torpedo boats (or Flottentorpedoboot 1939) were a class of 15 small warships that served in the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Although classed as Flottentorpedoboot ("fleet torpedo boat") by the Germans, in most respects—displacement, weaponry, usage—they were comparable to contemporary medium-size destroyers. The most notable difference was in the armament of the Elbings being fewer in number and of a slightly smaller caliber — 105 mm (4.1 in) compared to the 4.7 in (120 mm) of contemporary British destroyers such as the "L" and "M"-classes.
Service was either in western France from late 1942-August 1944 or in the Baltic Sea from March 1944 until the end of the war.
The design and weapons mix resulted from experience of earlier, more specialised classes such as the Type 35. The Elbings were a radical change to an all-purpose vessel capable of torpedo attacks, anti-aircraft defence and escort duties. These ships adopted unit machinery with two separate engine rooms and two boiler rooms. Their machinery was however relatively unreliable.
They were effective fighting vessels, a notable success being the sinking of the British light cruiser HMS Charybdis and the escort destroyer HMS Limbourne by torpedoes, off Brittany in October 1943. The 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla—T22, T23, T25, T25, and T26—had been protecting an important blockade runner though despite their success it ran aground and was lost. Two vessels, T25 and T26, were lost in a similar operation three months later. Three ships—T22, T30, and T32—were accidentally lost on 18 August 1943 on a German minefield in the Gulf of Finland. In April 1944 the Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed by T24.
Construction of the class took place in the Schichau shipyard in Elbing (now Elbląg), hence the Allied name for the class. The first examples were commissioned in late 1942 and the last in late 1944.
The ships
The ships were unnamed, but numbered T22-T36.
| Number | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-22 | 1940 | 1941 | 28 February 1942 | sunk 18 August 1944 - mined in the Baltic. |
| T-23 | 1940 | 14 June 1941 | 14 June 1942 | scrapped February 1955, after serving in the French Navy as the Alsacien. |
| T-24 | 1940 | 13 September 1941 | 17 October 1942 | sunk 24 August 1944, by aircraft launched rockets near Bordeaux. |
| T-25 | 1940 | 1 December 1941 | 12 December 1942 | sunk 28 December 1943, by British cruisers HMS Glasgow and Enterprise in the Bay of Biscay (Operation Stonewall). |
| T-26 | 1941 | 18 February 1942 | 27 February 1943 | sunk 28 December 1943, by British cruisers HMS Glasgow and Enterprise in the Bay of Biscay (Operation Stonewall). |
| T-27 | 1941 | 20 August 1942 | 17 April 1943 | destroyed 6 May 1944, T27 ran aground, en route to L'Aber Vrac'h for repairs after an action against Force 26 on the night of 28/29 April 1944. She was finally destroyed by British MTBs on 6 May after several unsuccessful air attacks. |
| T-28 | 1941 | 24 June 1942 | 19 June 1943 | escaped from western France after D-Day, scrapped 1959, after serving in the French Navy as the Lorraine. |
| T-29 | 1942 | 16 January 1943 | 21 August 1943 | sunk 26 April 1944, by HMCS Haida and other Canadian destroyers near Brittany. |
| T-30 | 1942 | 13 March 1943 | 24 October 1943 | sunk 18 August 1944 - mined in the Gulf of Finland. |
| T-31 | 1942 | 22 May 1943 | 5 February 1944 | sunk 20 June 1944 by Soviet Navy MTB. |
| T-32 | 1942 | 17 July 1943 | 8 May 1944 | sunk 18 August 1944 - mined in the Gulf of Finland. |
| T-33 | 1942 | 4 September 1943 | 15 June 1944 | scrapped 1957-1958 after serving in the Soviet Navy as the Primerniy (Примерный). |
| T-34 | 1942 | 23 October 1943 | 12 August 1944 | sunk 24 November 1944 - mined near Cape Arkona. |
| T-35 | 1942 | 11 December 1943 | 7 October 1944 | scrapped 3 October 1952 - transferred to France and used for spare parts. |
| T-36 | 1942 | 5 February 1944 | 9 December 1944 | sunk 5 May 1945, damaged by a mine near Swinemünde and sunk by Soviet bombing. |
See also
References
- Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. Volume 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-790-9.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Whitley, M. J. (1991). German Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-302-8.
External links
