SMS G85

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History
War Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg German Empire
Name:G85
Ordered: 1914 Mobilization (Mob) order
Builder: Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany
Launched: 24 July 1915
Commissioned: 14 December 1915
Fate: Sunk by the Royal Navy, 20 April 1917
General characteristics
Class and type: V25-class torpedo boat
Displacement: 1,051 tonnes
Length: 83.5 m (274 ft)
Beam:  8.33 m (27.3 ft)
Draught:  3.74 m (12.3 ft) (fwd); 3.45 m (11.3 ft) (aft)
Speed: 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph)
Range: 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement: 83 officers and sailors
Armament:

SMS G85 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat (Großes Torpedoboot) of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I, and the 40th ship of her class.

Imperial German Navy Navy of the German Empire between 1871 and 1919

The Imperial German Navy was the navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy, which primarily had the mission of coastal defence. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded the navy, and enlarged its mission. The key leader was Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, who greatly expanded the size and quality of the navy, while adopting the sea power theories of American strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan. The result was a naval arms race with Britain as the German navy grew to become one of the greatest maritime forces in the world, second only to the Royal Navy. The German surface navy proved ineffective during World War I; its only major engagement, the Battle of Jutland, was indecisive. However, the submarine fleet was greatly expanded and posed a major threat to the British supply system. The Imperial Navy's main ships were turned over to the Allies, but were sunk at Scapa Flow in 1919 by German crews.

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

Contents

Construction

Built by Germaniawerft in Kiel, Germany, she was launched in December 1915. The "G" in G85 refers to the shipyard at which she was constructed.

Kiel Place in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 249,023 (2016).

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Service

G85 was sunk in the Battle of Dover Strait on 21 April 1917 by HMS Swift. In this action, two groups of German destroyers set out to bombard Allied positions ashore at Dover, England and Calais, France. However, Swift intercepted G85 and sank her with a torpedo.

Battle of Dover Strait (1917)

The Second Battle of Dover Strait was a naval battle of the First World War, fought in the Dover Strait in April 1917 and should not be confused with the major Battle of Dover Strait in 1916. Two Royal Navy destroyers defeated a superior force of German Kaiserliche Marine torpedo boats

HMS <i>Swift</i> (1907) ship

HMS Swift was a unique destroyer leader designed and built for the Royal Navy prior to World War I, another product of Admiral "Jackie" Fisher's relentless quest for speed. The class was envisioned as a large ocean-going destroyer, capable of both the usual destroyer requirements and of high-speed scouting duties for a major fleet.

Destroyer Type of warship

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.

SMS G42 was also sunk in this action.

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References

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