German torpedo boat T7

Last updated
Torpedoboot1935-Erstzustand.svg
Right elevation and plan of the Type 1935
History
War ensign of Germany (1938-1945).svg Nazi Germany
NameT7
Ordered15 January 1936
Builder DeSchiMAG, Bremen
Yard number936
Laid down20 August 1937
Launched18 June 1938
Completed20 December 1939
Fate Scrapped, 1947–1949
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type Type 35 torpedo boat
Displacement
Length84.3 m (276 ft 7 in) o/a
Beam8.62 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draft2.83 m (9 ft 3 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range1,200  nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement119
Armament

The German torpedo boat T7 was one of a dozen Type 35 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) 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.

Contents

Design and description

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]

Construction and career

T7 was ordered on 15 January 1936, from DeSchiMAG, laid down at their Bremen shipyard on 20 August 1937, [6] as yard number 936, [2] launched on 18 June 1938, and commissioned on 20 December 1939. The boat was working up until July 1940, when she began convoy escort duties. [6] Now assigned to the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, T7, her sister ships T2 and T8 and the torpedo boats Kondor, Falke, and Jaguar, escorted minelayers as they laid a minefield in the southwestern North Sea on 7–8 August, and again on 14–15 August. By 31 August, T7 was assigned to the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla with her sisters T5, T6 and T8 as the flotilla escorted minelayers as they laid minefields in the southwestern part of the North Sea from 31 August, to 2 September. The flotilla escorted a minelaying mission in the English Channel on 5–6 September, and then laid minefields itself on 8–9, and 15–16 September, in the Straits of Dover. By November, the 1st and 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotillas had transferred to Stavanger, Norway. German aerial reconnaissance had located two coastal convoys in early November, that the Kriegsmarine estimated would pass Kinnaird Head, Scotland, during the early morning of 7 November. Both flotillas, consisting of T7 and her sisters, T1, T4, T6, T8, T9 and T10, sailed on 6 November, in an attempt to pass through a gap in the British minefields and intercept the convoys around 02:00 (UT) the following morning. The British had extended their minefields further north unbeknownst to the Germans and T6 struck a mine shortly after midnight and sank. T7 and T8 rescued the survivors and the operation was abandoned. T7 began a lengthy refit at Wesermünde in January 1941, that lasted until August. [7]

Upon its completion, the boat was assigned to the Baltic Sea where she escorted, together with her sisters T8 and T11, 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. T2, T5, T7, T8 and T11 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. Dagö was captured on 12–13 October, after T7 is part of a decoy force used to distract the defenders. On 16 November, T7, T4 and T12 departed Copenhagen, Denmark, en route to Cherbourg, France, to meet the commerce raider Komet . The torpedo boats arrived on 25 November, and Komet reached Cherbourg the following day. The ships departed that night and arrived at Le Havre the following morning, where they waited for night to fall before proceeding. The British had spotted them and they were intercepted by motor torpedo boats (MTB) on 28 November, between Boulogne and Dunkirk. In a very confused night action, T7 was machine-gunned by one of the MTBs, losing three dead and three wounded. On 3 December, T4, T7 and the torpedo boat T14 rendezvoused with the commerce raider Thor and T2 and T12 in the Schillig Roads. Later that day, they began to escort Thor through the Channel. Delayed by heavy fog, the ships did not reach Brest, France, until the 15 December, while Thor continued onwards into the Atlantic. T7 and T12 sailed for Germany on 17 December, where the former was to begin another refit at Wesermünde. [8]

The boat was transferred to Norway in April 1942, and escorted the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and the replenishment oiler Dithmarschen from Trondheim to Narvik on 9–10 May, together with T5. During the beginning stages of Operation Rösselsprung, T7 and the torpedo boat T15 were among the escorts for Tirpitz and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper as they sailed from Trondheim to Altafjord in early July. The pair of torpedo boats screen the damaged heavy cruiser Lützow from Narvik to Trondheim during 8–10 July. T7 was briefly refitted in East Prussia in August–September, before she was reduced to reserve for the rest of the year. The boat was recommissioned for service as a training ship with the Torpedo School in January 1943, and then began a refit at Bremen in May 1944. On 29 July 1944, T7 was sunk by American bombers attacking Bremen. She was refloated on 25 October, but was not repaired. The boat may have been sunk again on 30 April 1945, if so she was salvaged again and scrapped between December 1947, and June 1949. [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Whitley 1991, pp. 47–49
  2. 1 2 3 Gröner, p. 193
  3. 1 2 Whitley 1991, p. 202
  4. ↑ Sieche, p. 237
  5. ↑ Whitley 1991, pp. 49–51; Whitley 2000, p. 71
  6. 1 2 Whitley 1991, p. 209
  7. ↑ Rohwer, pp. 35, 38–40, 48; Whitley 1991, p. 114
  8. ↑ Rohwer, pp. 99, 102–103, 108; Whitley 1991, pp. 116–117, 209
  9. ↑ Gröner, p. 193; Rohwer, pp. 164, 175, 179; Whitley 1991, pp. 141, 168, 173, 175, 209

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German torpedo boat <i>Falke</i>

Falke was the sixth and last Type 23 torpedo boat built for the German Navy. The boat made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. During World War II, she played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign of 1940. Falke spent the next several months escorting minelayers as they laid minefields and damaged heavy ships back to Germany before she was transferred to France around September. She started laying minefields herself that month and continued to do so for the rest of the war. After a refit in early 1941, the boat was transferred to the Skaggerak where she was assigned escort duties. Falke returned to France in 1942 and was one of the escorts for the capital ships sailing from France to Germany through the English Channel in the Channel Dash. She helped to escort blockade runners, commerce raiders and submarines through the Channel and the Bay of Biscay for the next several years. The boat attacked Allied ships during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944, but was sunk by British bombers that same month.

German torpedo boat <i>Möwe</i>

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German torpedo boat <i>Iltis</i> Type 24 torpedo boat

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German torpedo boat <i>Jaguar</i>

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German torpedo boat <i>T1</i>

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German torpedo boat <i>T2</i>

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German torpedo boat <i>T3</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T4</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T5</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T6</i>

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German torpedo boat <i>T8</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T9</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T10</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T12</i>

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T13</i> German torpedo boat

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.

German torpedo boat <i>T19</i> German torpedo boat

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.

References

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