Right elevation and plan of the Type 1935 | |
History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | T11 |
Ordered | 29 June 1936 |
Builder | DeSchiMAG, Bremen |
Yard number | 938 |
Laid down | 1 July 1938 |
Launched | 1 March 1939 |
Completed | 24 May 1940 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1951 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Type 35 torpedo boat |
Displacement | |
Length | 84.3 m (276 ft 7 in) o/a |
Beam | 8.62 m (28 ft 3 in) |
Draft | 2.83 m (9 ft 3 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
Range | 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
Complement | 119 |
Armament |
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The German torpedo boat T11 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during the late 1930s. Completed in mid-1940, the boat was deployed in the English Channel later that year and returned to Germany in December. She then supported operations in the Baltic Sea after the start of Operation Barbarossa in June. T11 was transferred to France at the end of the year and helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the Channel back to Germany in the Channel Dash in early 1942. She then escorted German ships in Norwegian waters for several months and was placed in reserve when she returned to Germany. The boat spent all of 1943 and 1944 either refitting or assigned to the Torpedo School. T11 returned to active duty at the beginning of 1945 and survived the war. The boat was allocated to the British after the war, but she was transferred to France in 1946. Unused by the French Navy, she was stricken from the Navy List in 1951 and subsequently scrapped.
The Type 35 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kriegsmarine to design a fast, ocean-going torpedo boat that did not exceed the 600-long-ton (610 t) displacement limit of the London Naval Treaty for ships that counted against the national tonnage limit. [1] The boats had an overall length of 84.3 meters (276 ft 7 in) and were 82.2 meters (269 ft 8 in) long at the waterline. After the bow was rebuilt in 1941 to improve seaworthiness, the overall length increased to 87.1 meters (285 ft 9 in). [2] The ships had a beam of 8.62 meters (28 ft 3 in), and a mean draft of 2.83 meters (9 ft 3 in) at deep load and displaced 859 metric tons (845 long tons ) at standard load and 1,108 metric tons (1,091 long tons) at deep load. [3] Their crew numbered 119 officers and sailors. [4] Their pair of geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller, were designed to produce 31,000 shaft horsepower (23,000 kW ) using steam from four high-pressure water-tube boilers [2] which would propel the boats at 35 knots (65 km/h ; 40 mph ). They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). [3]
As built, the Type 35 class mounted a single 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 gun on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a single 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 anti-aircraft gun superfiring over the 10.5 cm gun and a pair of 2 cm (0.8 in) C/30 guns on the bridge wings. They carried six above-water 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes in two triple mounts and could also carry 30 mines (or 60 if the weather was good). Many boats exchanged the 3.7 cm gun for another 2 cm gun, depth charges and minesweeping paravanes before completion. Late-war additions were limited to the installation of radar, radar detectors and additional AA guns, usually at the expense of the aft torpedo tube mount. [5]
T11 was ordered on 29 June 1936 from DeSchiMAG, laid down at their Bremen shipyard on 1 July 1938 [6] as yard number 938, [2] launched on 1 March 1939 and commissioned on 24 May 1940. The boat was working up until July when she was transferred to the Skaggerak for convoy escort duties. [6] On 18 September, T11 was slightly damaged by bomb splinters when the Royal Air Force bombed Cherbourg, France. Several of her crew were wounded during the attack. She returned to Germany in December and was decommissioned for repairs that lasted until June 1941. The boat was recommissioned and assigned to the Baltic Sea where she escorted, together with her sister ships T7 and T8, the light cruisers Leipzig and Emden as they supported German forces invading the Estonian islands of Ösel, Dagö and Muhu (Operation Beowulf) in mid-September. T11 and her sisters T2, T5, T7, and T8 were among the escorts for the Baltic Fleet, a temporary formation built around the battleship Tirpitz, as it sortied into the Sea of Åland on 23–29 September, to forestall any attempt by the Soviet Red Banner Baltic Fleet to breakout from the Gulf of Finland. [7]
The boat was transferred to France around the beginning of 1942. As part of the preparations for the Channel Dash, the Kriegsmarine substituted a quadruple 2 cm mount for T11's aft torpedo tubes and added a 2 cm single mount at the bow to reinforce the boat's anti-aircraft suite. On the morning of 12 February 1942, the 2nd and 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotillas (with T2, T4, T5, T11, T12 and T13, T15, T16, and T17 respectively) rendezvoused with the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen to escort them through the Channel to Germany. T11's torpedo tubes were replaced afterwards, although the quadruple mounting may have been moved to the aft superfiring position and she also may have kept her bow-chaser. She was transferred to Norway the following month and was one of the escorts for the badly damaged Prinz Eugen from Trondheim to Kiel on 16–18 May (Operation Zauberflote (Magic Flute)), together with T12 and the destroyers Z25 and Z5 Paul Jacobi. T11 returned to Germany that month and was placed in reserve until the end of the year. [8]
The boat was recommissioned in January 1943 and was assigned to the Torpedo School in April. She began a refit in mid-1944 that lasted until December when she was assigned to the 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotilla in the Baltic. On 2 April 1945, T11 was involved in a collision with the minesweeper R 256 east of Bornholm Island, which was sunk by Soviet aircraft later that day. The torpedo boat was allocated to the British when the Allies divided the surviving ships of the Kriegsmarine amongst themselves in late 1945. The Royal Navy had no interest in her and she was transferred to France in February 1946 and was renamed Bir Hacheim on 4 February. The boat was immediately placed in reserve until she was stricken on 8 October 1951 and subsequently scrapped. [9]
The Type 35 torpedo boat was a class of a dozen torpedo boats built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s. Although the first boats were completed a few months after the start of World War II in September 1939, none of them were able to participate in the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940. They began escorting convoys and minelayers as they laid their minefields in the North Sea and English Channel in July. Most of the boats were transferred to Norway in November where they made an unsuccessful attempt to attack shipping along the Scottish coast that saw one boat sunk.
The Type 37 torpedo boat was a class of nine torpedo boats built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in 1941–1942, one boat helped to escort a commerce raider passing through the English Channel into the Atlantic Ocean in late 1941, but their first major action was in early 1942 when they formed part of the escort for a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the Channel back to Germany in the Channel Dash. Two pairs of boats were sent to France at different times in mid-1942 and were part of the escort during an unsuccessful attempt to pass a different commerce raider back through the Channel in October. One boat was assigned to the Torpedo School as a training ship in mid-1942 and the others followed in the next year.
The German torpedo boat T1 was the lead ship of her class of a dozen torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in late 1939, she was assigned to escort minelayers as they laid their minefields in the English Channel in September 1940. The boat participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast two months later. T1 ran aground in January 1941 and was under repair until July. The following month she was placed in reserve and was reactivated in June 1942 for duty with the Torpedo School. In April 1944 the boat returned to active duty and was assigned to the Baltic Sea area. She escorted a bombardment mission in January 1945 and was sunk during an air raid on 9 April while refitting.
The German torpedo boat T2 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in 1939, she was not combat ready until mid-1940 when she spent several months escorting minelayers as they laid minefields. The boat returned to Germany after being damaged and supported operations in the Baltic Sea after the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. T2 returned to France at the end of the year, escorting a commerce raider through the English Channel en route, and then escorted a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the Channel back to Germany in early 1942 in the Channel Dash. The boat was placed in reserve upon her return and was transferred back to France in 1943 where she helped to escort blockade runners through the Bay of Biscay. In mid-1943 she returned to the Baltic and briefly served as a flagship of a submarine flotilla before being assigned to the Torpedo School. T2 was sunk in an air raid in July 1944, but was refloated several months later. She was never repaired and was scrapped in 1946.
The German torpedo boat T3 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in 1940, she was assigned to escort minelayers as they laid their minefields in the North Sea and English Channel in July. The boat was sunk in France by British bombers in September and was refloated the following year. T3 was assigned to the Torpedo School when her repairs were completed in 1943. She returned to active duty a year later and escorted German ships as they bombarded Soviet positions. The boat sank a Soviet submarine in early 1944 and she struck a mine in March 1945 and sank with heavy loss of life.
The German torpedo boat T4 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed during World War II in mid-1940, she participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast in November 1940. The boat was one of the escorts for several commerce raiders passing through the English Channel in 1941 and 1942 and helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the Channel back to Germany in the Channel Dash. She was assigned to the Torpedo School in mid-1943 and was then transferred to the Baltic Sea a year later. The boat was allocated to the United States after the war, but she was sold to Denmark a few years later. Unused by the Royal Danish Navy, T4 was scrapped in 1951–1952.
The German torpedo boat T5 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in 1940, she was assigned escort duties in June–July before she was tasked to escort minelayers as they laid their minefields in the North Sea and English Channel in August and September. T5 was transferred to Norway by November and escorted minelaying missions and supported operations in the Baltic Sea after the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. T5 returned to France at the end of the year and then escorted a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the Channel back to Germany in early 1942 in the Channel Dash.
The German torpedo boat T7 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in 1939, she was not combat ready until mid-1940 when she spent several months escorting minelayers as they laid minefields in the North Sea and the English Channel. The boat participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast in November. T7 returned to Germany for a refit in January 1941 and then supported operations in the Baltic Sea after the start of Operation Barbarossa in June. The boat was one of the escorts for several commerce raiders passing through the English Channel in late 1941 and then escorted German ships in Norwegian waters in mid-1942. She was briefly placed in reserve later that year and was then reactivated for service with the Torpedo School. T7 was sunk in an air raid in July 1944, but was refloated several months later. She was never repaired and was scrapped in 1947–1949.
The German torpedo boat T8 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in 1939, she was not combat ready until mid-1940 when she spent several months escorting minelayers as they laid minefields in the North Sea and the English Channel. The boat participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast in November. T8 returned to Germany for a refit in January 1941 and then supported operations in the Baltic Sea after the start of Operation Barbarossa in June. She was briefly placed in reserve at the end of the year and was then reactivated for service with the Torpedo School. In February 1944 the boat returned to active duty and was assigned to the Baltic Sea area where she supported German operations. T8 escorted a bombardment mission in February 1945 and was sunk by British aircraft on 3 May.
The German torpedo boat T9 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in July 1940, the boat participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast in November. T9 was placed in reserve in August 1941 and was reactivated in June 1942 for duties in France. She participated in an unsuccessful attempt to escort a blockade runner through the Bay of Biscay in early 1943 and was then transferred to the Torpedo School in September. In mid-1944 the boat returned to active duty and was assigned to the Baltic Sea area. She escorted a bombardment mission in November and was damaged by bombers in East Prussia in early 1945. T9 was sunk near Kiel, Germany, during an air raid on 3 May.
The German torpedo boat T10 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in mid-1940, the boat participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast in November. T10 was placed in reserve in April 1941 and was reactivated in June 1942 for service in Occupied France. The boat laid several minefields in the English Channel and badly damaged during an attempt to escort a commerce raider through the Channel. After repairs, she was reduced to reserve again and was then assigned to the Torpedo School in mid-1943. In May 1944 the boat returned to active duty and was assigned to the Baltic Sea area. Twice damaged by Soviet aircraft later in the year, T10 was sunk during a British air raid in mid-December.
The German torpedo boat T12 was the last of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in mid-1940, the boat was transferred to Norway where she escorted minelayers as they laid minefields in the North Sea. She was one of the escorts for several commerce raiders passing through the English Channel in 1941 and helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the Channel back to Germany in the Channel Dash in early 1942. T12 was assigned to the Torpedo School in late 1943 and was then transferred to the Baltic Sea in mid-1944 where she escorted heavy cruisers as they bombarded Soviet positions. The boat was allocated to the Soviet Union after the war and renamed Podvizhny, serving with the Baltic Fleet until she was seriously damaged in a boiler explosion. Renamed Kit in 1954 for use as a vessel in simulated nuclear testing on Lake Ladoga, the boat was scuttled in 1959.
The German torpedo boat T13 was the lead ship of her class of nine torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during the late 1930s. Completed in mid-1941, the boat was assigned convoy escort work in the Baltic Sea before she was transferred to Occupied France in early 1942. T13 helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the English Channel back to Germany in February in the Channel Dash and then returned to France in July after receiving a refit. There the boat laid minefields and escorted Axis blockade runners through the Bay of Biscay into the Atlantic Ocean. In mid-1943, she was assigned to the Torpedo School where she remained until mid-1944. T13 returned to the Baltic where she screened German ships as they bombarded Soviet positions for the rest of the year. The boat was then assigned convoy escort duties in the Skagerrak around the beginning of 1945. During one such mission in April, T13 was sunk by Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers.
The German torpedo boat T15 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in mid-1941, the ship was transferred to Occupied France in December. She helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the English Channel back to Germany in February 1942 in the Channel Dash and then was ordered to Norway for escort work. T15 returned to Germany in August where she was assigned to the Torpedo School and U-boat Flotillas as a training ship. The ship was sunk by American bombers in December 1943.
The German torpedo boat T16 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in mid-1941, the ship arrived in France in January 1942. She helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the English Channel back to Germany in February in the Channel Dash and then was ordered to Norway for escort work. T16 returned to Germany in May to begin a lengthy refit and briefly returned to Norway in May 1943 before going back to Germany. She was assigned to a U-boat Flotilla as a training ship in September. The ship was damaged by a mine in February 1944 and completed her repairs in August. T16 was then assigned to the Baltic Sea where she screened German ships as they bombarded Soviet positions for the rest of the year. The torpedo boat was assigned convoy escort duties in the Skagerrak around the beginning of 1945. During one such mission in April, T16 was badly damaged by British bombers and was deemed a constructive total loss. The ship was scrapped in Denmark beginning in September 1946.
The German torpedo boat T17 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in mid-1941, the ship arrived in France in December. She helped to escort a pair of battleships and a heavy cruiser through the English Channel back to Germany in February 1942 in the Channel Dash and then was ordered to Norway for escort work. The ship returned to Germany in March for a refit before redeploying back to France. T17 began another refit in Germany in early 1943 and was then assigned as a training ship for U-boat flotillas.
The German torpedo boat T18 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in mid-1941, she was later assigned to the Baltic Sea for convoy escort duties. The boat briefly became a training ship in 1942 before she was transferred to France where she laid minefields and escorted Axis blockade runners and U-boats through the Bay of Biscay into the Atlantic Ocean. T18 returned to Germany in mid-1943 and became a training ship again for the Torpedo School and U-boat Flotillas. The boat returned to active duty in mid-1944 and assigned to the Baltic where she was sunk by Soviet aircraft in September.
The German torpedo boat T19 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in late 1941, she served as a training ship in the Torpedo School until mid-1942 when she was transferred to France. There she laid minefields in the English Channel and escorted Axis blockade runners and U-boats through the Bay of Biscay into the Atlantic Ocean. T19 returned to Germany in late 1943 and became a training ship again for the Torpedo School. She returned to active duty a year later and supported German forces operating in the Baltic Sea. The boat was then assigned escort duties in the Skagerrak around the beginning of 1945, which included covering minelaying missions. In May T19 helped to evacuate troops and refugees from advancing Soviet forces. The boat was allocated to the United States after the war, but she was sold to Denmark a few years later. Unused by the Royal Danish Navy, T4 was scrapped in 1951–1952.
The German torpedo boat T20 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in mid-1942, she was transferred to Norway in March 1943 for escort duties. The ship returned to Germany in October and was assigned to the Torpedo School. T20 returned to active duty a year later and supported German forces operating in the Baltic Sea. She was then assigned escort duties in the Skagerrak around the beginning of 1945, which included covering minelaying missions. The ship was allocated to the British after the war, but she was transferred to France in 1946. Unused by the French Navy, she was stricken from the Navy List in 1951 and subsequently scrapped.
The German torpedo boat T33 was one of fifteen Type 39 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Completed in mid-1944, the boat was assigned to convoy escort duties and supporting German forces in the Baltic. She escorted a heavy cruiser in January 1945 as she bombarded Soviet troops and helped to evacuate troops and refugees from advancing Soviet forces in May. T33 was allocated to the Soviet Union after the war and was renamed Primerny. She served with the Baltic Fleet until 1954 when the ship was converted into an accommodation ship and renamed PKZ-63. She was turned over to be scrapped on 9 November 1956 and subsequently broken up.