First World War
On 28 August 1914, a British force of destroyers and cruisers supported by battlecruisers made a sortie into the Heligoland Bight in order to ambush German torpedo boats on patrol, which caused the Battle of Heligoland Bight. The 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, including V5, were sent out from Heligoland to investigate sightings of British submarines (which were deployed as bait to draw out German ships), and ran into several British destroyers. The Flotilla then turned away to try and escape the trap, but the torpedo boat V1, which along with S13 could not make full speed and lagged behind the rest of the flotilla, was hit by British shells before the arrival of the German cruiser Stettin allowed the 5th Flotilla to escape. [6] [7] In total, however, three German light cruisers (Ariadne, Cöln and Mainz) and one torpedo boat of the German outer screen (V187) had been sunk. [8]
On 23 January 1915, a German force of Battlecruisers and light cruisers, escorted by torpedo boats, and commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper, made a sortie to attack British fishing boats on the Dogger Bank. [9] V1, part of the 9th Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla of the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, formed part of the escort for Hipper's force. [10] British Naval Intelligence was warned of the raid by radio messages decoded by Room 40, and sent out the Battlecruiser Force from Rosyth, commanded by Admiral Beatty aboard Lion and the Harwich Force of light cruisers and destroyers, to intercept the German force. [11] The British and German Forces met on the morning of 24 January in the Battle of Dogger Bank. On sighting the British, Hipper ordered his ships to head south-east to escape the British, who set off in pursuit. [12] V5, along with sister ship V1 and the torpedo boat S178 lagged behind the rest of the German force owing to engine troubles. [13] Under heavy fire from the British ships, V5's commander, believing that his ship could not survive much longer, decided to launch a torpedo attack against the British battle line. V5 launched two torpedoes, neither of which hit their targets, but shortly after V5's attack, Admiral Beatty ordered the British battlecruisers to alter course away from the German line after sighting an apparent periscope. While no submarines were present, it is possible that one of V5's torpedoes, breaking surface at the end of its run, was mistaken for a periscope. [14] [15] The armoured cruiser Blücher was disabled by British shells and was sunk, but the rest of the German force escaped, with the German battlecruiser Seydlitz and the British battlecruiser Lion badly damaged. [16]
On 21 June, V5 was protecting minesweepers west of the Arum Bank in the German Bight when she briefly sighted a hostile submarine, although attempts to direct aircraft against the submarine failed. [17]
At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916, V5 was part of the 10th Half-Flotilla, 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, operating in support of the main German battle fleet. [18] At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916, V3 was part of the 9th Half-Flotilla, 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, operating in support of the main German battle fleet. [18] From about 20:15 CET (19:15 GMT), the German torpedo boat flotillas launched a series of torpedo attacks against the British battle line in order to cover the German fleet's turn away from the British. First to attack were the 6th and 9th Flotillas, followed by the 3rd Flotilla. At 20:38, the 5th Flotilla started an attack run, but it was unable to find the British battleline due to poor visibility caused by fog and smoke, and the attack was aborted. [19] [20] During the night action, the 5th Flotilla was ordered to search for and attack the British fleet, but failed to encounter the British battleships. [21] In the morning of 1 June, when the German battleship Ostfriesland stuck a mine, V5, along with V3 and G11, screened the damaged Ostfriesland as she returned to port. [22] V5 was undamaged. [23]
In 1918, V5 served in an escort flotilla. [3]
German Empire 
