SMS S15 (1912)

Last updated
History
War Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg German Empire
Name:S15
Builder: Schichau-Werke, Elbing
Launched: 23 March 1912
Commissioned: 1 November 1912
Fate:
  • Mined 21 August 1917
  • Stricken 20 September 1917 and scrapped
General characteristics
Displacement: 697 t (686 long tons)
Length: 71.1 m (233 ft 3 in) oa
Beam: 7.6 m (24 ft 11 in)
Draft: 3.11 m (10 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:
Speed: 32 knots (59.3 km/h; 36.8 mph)
Range: 1,190 nmi (2,200 km; 1,370 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement: 74 officers and sailors
Armament:

SMS S15 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] 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.

Contents

S15 served in the North Sea and English Channel during the First World War, taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. She was badly damaged by a mine on 21 August 1917 and was scrapped as a result.

Construction and design

In 1911, the Imperial German Navy decided to break the pattern of each year's orders of torpedo boats being a development of the previous year's designs, as it felt that they were getting too big to work for the fleet, and instead the 12 torpedo boats (six each ordered from AG Vulcan and Germaniawerft [lower-alpha 3] ) (the V1-class) were smaller than those ordered in recent years in order to be more manoeuvrable and so work better with the fleet. This change resulted in the numbering series for torpedo boats being restarted. The 1912 programme placed orders for a flotilla of 12 torpedo boats of similar design (S13 to S24) with Schichau-Werke. [2] The reduction in size resulted in the ships' seaworthiness being adversely affected, however, [2] with the 1911 and 1912 torpedo boats acquiring the disparaging nickname "Admiral Lans' cripples". [1] [3]

The Schichau boats were 71.5 m (234 ft 7 in) long overall and 71.0 m (232 ft 11 in) at the waterline, with a beam of 7.43 m (24 ft 5 in) and a draught of 2.77 m (9 ft 1 in). Displacement was 568 tonnes (559 long tons) normal and 695 tonnes (684 long tons) deep load. Three coal-fired and one oil-fired water-tube boilers fed steam to two direct-drive steam turbines rated at 15,700 metric horsepower (15,500 shp; 11,500 kW), giving a design speed of 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph). [3] 108 tonnes (106 long tons) of coal and 72 tonnes (71 long tons) of oil were carried, giving a range of 1,050 nautical miles (1,940 km; 1,210 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) or 600 nautical miles (1,100 km; 690 mi) at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). [2]

S15's armament consisted of two 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 naval guns [lower-alpha 4] in single mounts fore and aft, together with four 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes with one reload torpedo carried. Up to 18 mines could be carried. [2] [3] The ship had a crew of 74 officers and other ranks. [2] In 1916, the guns were replaced by more powerful 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns, and in 1917, these guns were again replaced, this time with 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval guns, while the ship's forecastle was lengthened. [3]

S15, yard number 866, [3] was launched at Schichau's shipyard in Elbing, East Prussia (now Elbląg in Poland) on 23 March 1912 and was commissioned on 1 November 1912. [4]

Service

S15 was a member of the 13th Half-flotilla of the 7th Torpedo boat flotilla of the German High Seas Fleet on the outbreak of war. [5] The 7th Torpedo Boat Flotilla supported the Raid on Yarmouth on 3 November 1914 and the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914. [6] On the night of 19/20 December 1914, the two torpedo boats S22 and S23 of the 7th Flotilla stopped the Swedish steamer Argo, suspected of carrying contraband to Russia near Simrishamn on the East coast of Sweden. Argo rammed S22 and made off, ignoring a warning shot over her boxs, with the two torpedo boats not opening fire as the commanding officer was unsure whether they were in Swedish territorial waters. The Flotilla commander disagreed, arguing that Argos's hostile actions authorised the use of force, and ordered S15 and S17 to intercept Argo and to use "all means" to capture the ship. Argo was seized at Utlängan in Swedish waters, and taken to the German port of Swinemünde (now Świnoujście in Poland) but was released after a few hours. [7] S15, as part of the 7th flotilla, was part of the High Seas Fleet when it sailed to cover the Lowestoft Raid on 24–25 April 1916. [8]

At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916, S15 was still part of the 13th Half-flotilla of the 7th Torpedo boat flotilla, operating in support of the main German battle fleet. [9] During the night action, the 7th flotilla was ordered to search for and attack the British fleet. [10] At about 23:00 hr CET (i.e. 22:00 hr GMT) on the night of 31 May/1 June, there was a brief confrontation between the 7th Torpedo Boat flotilla and the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla. Four German torpedo boats, including S15, each fired one torpedo at the British destroyers, while the British ships replied with gunfire, but no ships were damaged and contact was soon lost, although the two formations met again at about 23:42 CET (22:42 GMT) when S24 fired another torpedo, which also missed. [11]

In February 1917, S15 was one of ten torpedo boats that were transferred to the German naval forces based in Flanders, arriving in Belgium on 18 February, [12] [lower-alpha 5] joining the 2nd Zeebrugge half-flotilla. [13] On the night of March 17/18 1917 the Germans launched a major raid by the Flanders-based torpedo boats against Allied defences and shipping in the English Channel. While two groups of torpedo boats, the seven ships of the 6th Flotilla and the five ships of the 1st Zeebrugge half-flotilla were to operate against the Dover Barrage, S15 led three more torpedo boats of the 2nd Zeebrugge half flotilla [lower-alpha 6] that were ordered to attack shipping on the Downs. S15's group swept past the drifters guarding the entrance to the Downs, firing at one of the drifters, the Paramount as they passed. Only a single merchant ship, the steamer SS Greypoint, which was suffering from engine problems was anchored in the Downs. S15 and S20 each fired a single torpedo at Greypoint, - S15's torpedo missed, but S20's torpedo sunk the steamer. The four torpedo boats then attacked the drifters again, damaging the Redwald before firing a few shells at Ramsgate, Broadstairs and St Peter's before withdrawing. [16] [17] The torpedo boats of the 6th flotilla sank the British destroyer Paragon and badly damaged the destroyer Llewellyn. [18] [19]

On 5 June 1917, the British Dover Patrol, supported by the Harwich Force carried out a bombardment of the port of Ostend. On the morning of that day, S15 and S20 were returning from a patrol when they encountered four light cruisers and nine destroyers of the Harwich Force. The British opened fire on the two German torpedo boats, which made for port. Four British destroyers (Satyr, Sharpshooter, Taurus and Torrent) were ordered to intercept the German ships. S20 was hit in the boiler room by a shell from one of the cruisers, immobilising her, and was sank by the British destroyers, while S15 was hit twice, destroying one of her turbines, which cut her speed to 17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h) and damaging her rudder, but she managed to reach the cover of German coastal defences causing the British destroyers to break off their pursuit. Four of S15's crew were killed. [20] [21]

On 21 August 1917, S15 was escorting minesweepers off the coast of Flanders when she was badly damaged by a mine. She was towed back to port by S24 but was stricken on 20 September 1917 and scrapped at Ghent. [22] [4] [23]

Notes

  1. ↑ "SMS" stands for " Seiner Majestät Schiff " (German: His Majesty's Ship)
  2. ↑ The "S" in S15 denotes the shipyard at which she was built, in this case Schichau-Werke. [1]
  3. ↑ The Imperial German Navy's practice was to split a year's orders into half-flotillas of six torpedo boats from different builders, to differing detailed design. [1]
  4. ↑ In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, the L/30 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/30 gun is 30 caliber, meaning that the gun is 30 times as long as it is in diameter.
  5. ↑ These were the large torpedo boats S15, S18, S20, S24, G95 and G96 and the smaller A-class coastal torpedo boats A39, A40, A42 and A45. [12]
  6. ↑ S15, S18, S20 and S24. [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

SMS G37 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy during World War I, and the 13th ship of her class.

SMS <i>S36</i> (1914)

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.

SMS V46 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy during World War I, and the 22nd ship of her class.

SMS S50 was a V25-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. Launched in 1915, she served through the rest of the war, taking part in the Battle of Jutland and operations in the Baltic. She was scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919, but was later raised and scrapped.

HMS Lightfoot was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Construction by J. Samuel White began in June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, and the ship was launched and completed in 1915. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1921.

SMS G96 was a large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy that was built and served during the First World War. She was the prototype ship of the 1916 Mobilisation Type torpedo boats, and was launched at Germaniawerft's Kiel shipyard on 19 September 1916, completing in December that year.

SMS <i>V47</i>

SMS V47 was a V25-class Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy that was built and served during the First World War.

HMS Mentor was a Hawthorn Leslie M-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Built by the Tyneside shipbuilder Hawthorn Leslie between 1913 and 1915, Mentor served during the First World War. She formed part of the Harwich Force in the early years of the war, taking part in the Battle of Dogger Bank and then later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol. She survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1921.

HMS <i>Matchless</i> (1914)

HMS Matchless was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Matchless was built by Swan Hunter from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, operating in the North Sea as part of the Harwich Force in the early part of the war and later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol, where she took part in both the First and Second Ostend Raids. Despite being badly damaged by a German mine in 1915 and being involved in several collisions, she survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1921.

SMS S34 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 in 1913–1914 and was completed in being launched on 4 April 1914 and was completed in November 1914.

HMS Milne was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Milne was built by John Brown & Company from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, at first with the Harwich Force with which she took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, and later with the Dover Patrol, sinking the German submarine UC-26 in May 1917. Milne was sold for scrap in 1921.

SMS V44 was a V25-class Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy, that served during the First World War. V44 was built by AG Vulcan at their Stettin shipyard from 1914–1915, entering service on 22 July that year. V44 took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, and also operated in the English Channel and the Baltic. She survived the war, and was interned at Scapa Flow, surviving the Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow. She was used as a target by the British at Portsmouth, and later scrapped in-situ in 1922, although remnants of the ship remain in Portsmouth Harbour.

SMS <i>V43</i>

SMS V43 was a V25-class Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy, that served during the First World War. V43 was built by AG Vulcan at their Stettin shipyard from 1914–1915, entering service on 28 May that year. V43 took part in operations in the North Sea, the English Channel and the Baltic Sea. She survived the war, and was interned at Scapa Flow, surviving the Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow. V43 was allocated to the US Navy, and was sunk as a target on 15 July 1921.

SMS V26 was a V25-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy that served during the First World War. The ship was built by AG Vulcan at Stettin in Prussia, and was completed in June 1914.

HMS Grenville was a Parker-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Cammell Laird during the First World War, being launched on 17 June 1916 and completing on 11 October that year. Grenville served with the Grand Fleet for the rest of the war, which she survived. The ship took part in operations in the Baltic during the Russian Civil War in the winter of 1919–1920, before entering a long period of reserve. She was sold for scrap in December 1931.

HMS Melpomene was a Medea-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was one of four destroyers, of similar design to the British M-class ordered by Greece in June 1914, which the British purchased during construction owing to the outbreak of the First World War.

SMS V28 was a V25-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy that served during the First World War. The ship was built by AG Vulcan at Stettin in Prussia, and was completed in September 1914. The ship took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank, the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in 1915, and the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916.

SMS V30 was a V25-class torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy that served during the First World War. The ship was built by AG Vulcan at Stettin in Prussia, and was completed in November 1914.

SMS <i>S17</i> (1912)

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 <i>S18</i> (1912)

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.

References

  1. ↑ Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 164
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gardiner & Gray 1985 , p. 167
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Gröner, Jung & Maass 1983 , p. 51
  4. 1 2 Gröner, Jung & Maass 1983 , p. 52
  5. ↑ Fock 1989 , p. 347
  6. ↑ Fock 1989 , p. 350
  7. ↑ Rollmann 1929 , p. 320
  8. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 32 1927 , p. 46
  9. ↑ Campbell 1998 , pp. 14, 25
  10. ↑ Campbell 1998 , pp. 261–263
  11. ↑ Campbell 1998 , p. 279
  12. ↑ Karau 2014 , p. 119
  13. ↑ Fock 1989 , p. 360
  14. Newbolt 1928, p. 362
  15. Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 272, note 4
  16. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933 , pp. 276–277
  17. ↑ Newbolt 1928 , p. 365
  18. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933 , pp. 272–275
  19. ↑ Newbolt 1928 , pp. 362–364
  20. ↑ Karau 2014 , p. 138
  21. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939 , pp. 122–123
  22. ↑ Karau 2014 , p. 161
  23. ↑ Fock 1989 , p. 361

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.