A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes.
At the outbreak of the Second World War Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine had 21 destroyers in service, while another one was just being completed. These 22 vessels – comprising 3 classes – had all been built in the 1930s, making them modern vessels. Including that final pre-war vessel, a further 19 were brought into service during the war and more were captured from opposing navies, including the Italian Navy after the Italian Armistice with the Allies in 1943.
Novík was a protected cruiser in the Imperial Russian Navy, built by Schichau shipyards in Elbing near Danzig, Germany.
The six Nagara-class light cruisers were a class of six light cruisers built for and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Nagara-class cruisers proved useful in combat operations ranging from the Aleutian Islands to the Indian Ocean throughout World War II. Most served as flagships for destroyer or submarine squadrons, and were deployed for transport or local defense missions. Towards the end of the war, the surviving vessels were increasingly obsolete and were retained as second-line units.
The Hayabusa-class torpedo boats were a class of fifteen 1st class torpedo boats constructed for the Imperial Japanese Navy as part of the 1896 Ten Year Naval Expansion Programme. They were completed between 1900 and 1904.
The French destroyer Amiral Sénès was a 1916 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy during World War I. Built as SMS S113 she was the first ship of her class to be laid down, but the second and final ship of her class to be launched.
SMS S36 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy during World War I, and the 12th ship of her class. She was equipped with of three single mounted 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns and with six 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes, two forward and four aft; twenty-four mines could also be carried. She was launched on 17 October 1914 and commissioned on 4 January 1915. S36 took part in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in 1915 and the Battle of Jutland in 1916. In late 1916 she served in the English Channel and took part in a number of engagements, including the Battle of Dover Strait during which a British merchant ship and a destroyer were sunk by her Half-Flotilla. She was scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919.
The V25 class was a class of torpedo boat built for the Imperial German Navy. It was numerically the largest class ever built for the High Seas Fleet, consisting of 71 ships. Of the class, 32 were sunk during World War I, several to mines in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Of those that survived the war 29 were scuttled with the German fleet at Scapa Flow, one was destroyed by a mine on the way there, four were given to Britain and were not scuttled while one was given to Italy and France.
HMS Albrighton was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy. She entered service in February 1942, first carrying out an attack on German ships in the English Channel then taking part in the Dieppe Raid, rescuing survivors from the sinking destroyer HMS Broke. Albrighton was next assigned to search for and destroy the German auxiliary cruiser Komet, then escorted a convoy to Gibraltar in prevision of the Allied landings in North Africa. Between December 1942 and April 1943, she participated in the sinking of three more Axis ships with the First Destroyer Flotilla. During the Normandy Landings in June 1944, Albrighton served as a headquarters ship, then sank two German trawlers in the weeks after the invasion. After being converted to a destroyer in early 1945, she was damaged in a collision with a Landing Ship, then was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet. However, the war ended before she was deployed and Albrighton went into reserve.
SMS S119 was a S90-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy that served during the First World War. The ship was built by Schichau at Elbing in Prussia, and was completed in September 1903. The ship was sunk during the Battle off Texel on 17 October 1914.
Torpedo boats had been operated by the Imperial German Navy from the very beginning. The "Imperial Navy" existed between 1871 and 1919. In 1870 there had been 14 tugboats and harbour vessels and 7 rowing boats, which had been armed with spar torpedoes to protect the Elbe and Weser during the Franco-Prussian War.
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.
The Type 1941 torpedo boats were a group of 15 torpedo boats that were built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Ordered in late 1942, none of the ships were finished before the German surrender on 8/9 May 1945, although four of the ships had been towed west to be completed earlier in that year. They were all either scuttled or demolished in the shipyard in 1945–1946.
The Type 1940 torpedo boats were a group of 24 torpedo boats that were intended to be built for Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Although classed as fleet torpedo boats by the Germans, they were comparable to contemporary large destroyers. They were designed around surplus Dutch propulsion machinery available after the Germans conquered the Netherlands in May 1940 and were to be built in Dutch shipyards. Hampered by uncooperative Dutch workers and material shortages, none of the ships were completed before the Allies invaded Normandy in June 1944. The Germans towed the three ships that were most complete to Germany to be finished, but one was sunk en route by Allied fighter-bombers and no further work was done of the pair that did arrive successfully. The remaining ships in the Netherlands were later broken up for scrap and the two that reached Germany were scuttled in 1946.
SMS S32 was a V25-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy that served during the First World War. She was built by the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Elbing, East Prussia, being launched on 28 February 1914 and was completed in September that year.
SMS S13 was a V1-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was built by Schichau-Werke, at their Elbing shipyard, completing in 1912. She served in the First World War with the German High Seas Fleet, taking part in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight in 1914. She was sunk by an accidental explosion on 6 November 1914.
SMS S16 was a V1-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was built by Schichau-Werke, at their Elbing shipyard, completing in 1912. S16 served with the German High Seas Fleet during the First World War, taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. She was sunk by a mine on 20 January 1918.
SMS S17 was a V1-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was built by Schichau-Werke, at their Elbing shipyard, completing in 1912. S17 served with the German High Seas Fleet during the First World War, taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. She was sunk by a mine on 16 May 1917.
SMS S18 was a V1-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was built by Schichau-Werke, at their Elbing shipyard, completing in 1912. S18 served with the German High Seas Fleet during the First World War, taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. S18 survived the war, serving in the Weimar Republic's Reichsmarine. She was scrapped in 1935.
SMS S23 was a V1-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The ship was built by Schichau-Werke, at their Elbing shipyard, completing in 1913.
