Torpedo boats had been operated by the Imperial German Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) 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.
| Vessels | Type | Launched | In Service | Comments. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devrient I – III | spar torpedo boat | 1871 | 1872–1885 | harbour protection boats, stricken 1885, mine layers. |
| Waltjen I – III | spar torpedo boat | 1871 | 1872–1881 | harbour protection boats, stricken 1881, mine layers. |
| Notus, Zephir, Rival, Ulan | torpedo steamer | 1873–1876 | 1874–1909 | torpedo testing, used as tug steamers or mine layer (Minenleger 4 ex Rival). |
| Zieten | torpedo cruiser | 1876 | 1876–1919 | after torpedo testing aviso, coastal patrol ship in WW I, stricken 1919. |
| Basilisk, Jäger | torpedo canon boat | 1862 & 1883 | 1863–1889 | torpedo testing since 1874. |
| Schütze, Flink, Scharf, Tapfer, Kühn, Vorwärts, Sicher | torpedo boat I. class | 1882 | 1882–1891 | school boats, Tapfer: harbour protection boat and mine layers. |
| A 1, G 1, H 1, K 1 | small torpedo boats | 1884–1888 | 1885–1899 | torpedo testing and school boats. |
| Th 1 | small torpedo boat (Thornycroft) | 1884 | 1884–1899 | testing and harbour protection boat, scrapped 1900. |
| Th 2 | small torpedo boat (Thornycroft) | 1884 | 1884–? | torpedo testing, later Seebär testing gyroscopic stabilization. |
| Y 1 | small torpedo boat (Yarrow) | 1884 | 1885–1899 | testing and harbour protection boat. |
| White I, White II | micro torpedo boat (White) | - | 1885–1910 | fate unknown. |
6 boats built at AG Weser, Bremen; 10 boats built at AG Vulcan, Stettin; 6 boats built at Schichau, Elbing.
| Vessels | Launched | In Service | Comments. |
|---|---|---|---|
| W 1 – W 6 | 1884 | 1884–1899 | stricken 1899 and scrapped 1910. |
| V 1 – V 10 | 1884 | 1884–1899 | stricken 1899 and scrapped 1910. |
| S 1 – S 6 | 1884 | 1884–1899 | stricken 1899 and scrapped 1910. |
The later USS Somers was built as a private speculation by Schichau in 1897.
60 boats of S 7-class had been built at Schichau, Elbing, 22 boats of S 66-class had been built at Schichau and the boats G 88 and G 89 had been built at Germaniawerft in Kiel.
The first boats had been stricken in 1905. The remaining boats had been renamed in 1910 and 1914 as SM T 11 – SM T 65. S12, T 21, T 25, S 26, S 32, S 41, S 48, T 50 got lost by collisions or storm. The S 66-class boats had been renamed in 1914 as SM T 66 – SM T 89.
In World War I the remaining boats had been used as mine sweepers, school boats and tenders. T 43, T 46, T 47, T 51, T 52, T 54, T 57, T 58, T 64, T 65 and T 66, T 67, T 68, T 78 had been sunk by mines.
| General characteristics (S7–S65) | |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 98 t (96 long tons) [1] |
| Speed | 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph) [1] |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (S66–S87) | |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 172–186 t (169–183 long tons) [1] |
| Speed | 22–25 knots (41–46 km/h; 25–29 mph) [1] |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (G88 & G89) | |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 177 t (174 long tons) [1] |
| Speed | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) [1] |
| Armament |
|
| Vessels | Launched | In Service | Comments. |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 7 – S 10 | 1885 | 1885–1910 | stricken 1905–1910, used for heating or scrapped 1910. |
| S 11 – S 16 | 1885 | 1885–1920 | S 12 sunk after collision in 1908, the others stricken and scrapped 1920. |
| S 17 – S 19 | 1885 | 1885–1906 | stricken 1905 and 1906. |
| S 20 – S 65 | 1885–1892 | 1885–1920 | losses due to collision, storm and mines; the remaining boats had been stricken and scrapped 1920. |
| S 66 – S 87 | 1893–1897 | 1893–1921 | 4 sunk by mines, the others stricken 1920 and 1921, scrapped 1921. |
| G 88, G 89 | 1897–1898 | 1898–1921 | stricken 1921. |
The A-class torpedo boats were a class of single-funnelled torpedo boat or light destroyer designed for operations off the coast of occupied Flanders in the First World War. Six groups of vessels were built under the class between 1914 and 1918, increasing in displacement from 109 tons to 335 tons.
These boats had been the predecessors of the ocean-going torpedo boats. In the first years they had been used as torpedo boat leaders. D 1 – D 9 had been built by Schichau, Elbing. D 10 was built by Thornycroft.
| Vessels | Launched | In Service | Comments. |
|---|---|---|---|
| D 1 – D 4 | 1886–1887 | 1887–1921 | used for coastal protection in WW I; scrapped 1921. |
| D 5 – D 9 | 1888–1894 | 1889–1920 | used for coastal protection until 1916, submarine school, 1919 mine sweepers; scrapped 1921. |
| D 10 | 1898 | 1898–1922 | 1914 coastal protection, submarine school, 1919 barracks ship; scrapped 1922. |
The ocean-going torpedo boats (Hochseetorpedoboote) or large torpedo boats (Große Torpedoboote) had been in many ways the equivalent of the contemporary destroyers in other navies. But the gun armament had been lighter than British destroyers. In 1916 most of the boats of the 1913/1913 Mob-type had been refitted with three much more powerful 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 guns, with 70 shells per gun.
The B 97 and G 101-class destroyers were re-armed in early 1916 by replacing the 8.8 cm guns with four 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval guns, which could fire a 17.4 kg (38 lb) shell to a distance of 9,460 metres (10,350 yd).
The A-class torpedo boats were a class of German single-funnelled torpedo boat/light destroyer designed by the Reichsmarineamt for operations off the coast of occupied Flanders in the First World War. The "A" designation was to avoid confusion with older classes and designs. They were classed officially as "coastal torpedo boats" to differentiate from larger, ocean-going torpedo boats.
The German torpedo boats of World War II were armed principally, if not exclusively, with torpedoes and varied widely in size. They were not small schnellboote but small seagoing vessels, the larger of which were comparable to destroyers. During World War II, German torpedo boats were administratively grouped into several torpedo-boat flotillas.
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.
SMS S35 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy during World War I. She served at the Battle of Jutland where she was sunk by British battleships.
SMS S31 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat of the Imperial German Navy. Commissioning in August 1914, she served during World War I and was sunk by a mine during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga on 19 August 1915.
SMS S115 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 February 1903. The ship was sunk during the Battle off Texel on 17 October 1914.
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.
SMS S90 was a torpedo-boat of the Imperial German Navy. She was built by Schichau at Elbing as the lead ship of her class, completing in 1899.
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 S116 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 March 1903. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine E9 on 6 October 1914.
SMS S15 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.
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 S19 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. S19 served with the German High Seas Fleet during the First World War, taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The ship 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.
SMS S143 was a S138-class large torpedo boat of the Imperial German Navy. The S138-class were large torpedo boats that were required to reach a speed of 30 kn and armed with three 45 cm torpedo tubes. S143 was built by the Schichau-Werke at Elbing and was launched on 6 April 1907, entering service later the same year.
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