German torpedo boat T1

The German torpedo boat T1 was the lead ship of her class of a dozen torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during the late 1930s. Completed in late 1939, she was assigned to escort minelayers as they laid their minefields in the English Channel in September 1940. The boat participated in an abortive attempt to attack several convoys off the Scottish coast two months later. T1 was placed in reserve in April 1941 and was reactivated in June 1942 for duty with the Torpedo School. In April 1944 the boat returned to active duty and was assigned to the Baltic Sea area. She escorted a bombardment mission in January 1945 and was sunk during an air raid on 9 April.

Right elevation and plan of the Type 1935
History
Nazi Germany
Name: T1
Ordered: 16 November 1935
Builder: Schichau, Elbing, East Prussia
Yard number: 1380
Laid down: 14 November 1936
Launched: 17 February 1938
Completed: 1 December 1939
Fate: Sunk by aircraft, 9 April 1945
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Type 35 torpedo boat
Displacement:
  • 859 t (845 long tons) (standard)
  • 1,108 t (1,091 long tons) (deep load)
Length: 84.3 m (276 ft 7 in) o/a
Beam: 8.62 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draft: 2.83 m (9 ft 3 in)
Installed power:
  • 4 × water-tube boilers
  • 31,000 shp (23,000 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range: 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement: 119
Armament:

Design and description

The Type 35 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kriegsmarine to design a fast, ocean-going torpedo boat that did not exceed the 600-long-ton (610 t) displacement limit of the London Naval Treaty for ships that counted against the national tonnage limit.[1] The boats had an overall length of 84.3 meters (276 ft 7 in) and were 82.2 meters (269 ft 8 in) long at the waterline. After the bow was rebuilt in 1941 to improve seaworthiness, the overall length increased to 87.1 meters (285 ft 9 in).[2] The ships had a beam of 8.62 meters (28 ft 3 in), and a mean draft of 2.83 meters (9 ft 3 in) at deep load and displaced 859 metric tons (845 long tons) at standard load and 1,108 metric tons (1,091 long tons) at deep load.[3] Their crew numbered 119 officers and sailors.[4] Their pair of geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller, were designed to produce 31,000 shaft horsepower (23,000 kW) using steam from four high-pressure water-tube boilers[2] which would propel the boats at 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[3]

As built, the Type 35 class mounted a single 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 gun on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a single 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 anti-aircraft gun superfiring over the 10.5 cm gun and a pair of 2 cm (0.8 in) C/30 guns on the bridge wings. They carried six above-water 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in two triple mounts and could also carry 30 mines (or 60 if the weather was good). Many boats exchanged the 3.7 cm gun for another 2 cm gun, depth charges and minesweeping paravanes before completion. Late-war additions were limited to the installation of radar, radar detectors and additional AA guns, often at the expense of the aft torpedo tube mount. T1 exchanged her aft torpedo tubes for a 3.7 cm gun in July 1944, either the faster-firing Flak M42 or the Flak M43, but had not received radar as of February 1945 and probably never had it installed.[5]

Construction and career

T1 was ordered on 16 November 1935 from Schichau, laid down at their Elbing, East Prussia, shipyard on 14 November 1936[6] as yard number 1380,[2] launched on 17 February 1938 and commissioned on 1 December 1939. Plagued with mechanical problems, the boat was working up until September 1940 when she was transferred to France.[6] Now assigned to the 1st Torpedo Boat Flotilla with her sister ships T2, T3, and the torpedo boat Kondor, they escorted a minelaying mission in the English Channel on 6–7 September. By November the 1st and 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotillas had transferred to Stavanger, Norway. German aerial reconnaissance had located two coastal convoys in early November that the Kriegsmarine estimated would pass Kinnaird Head, Scotland, during the early morning of 7 November. Both flotillas, consisting of T1 and her sisters, T4, T6, T7, T8, T9 and T10, sailed on 6 November in an attempt to pass through a gap in the British minefields and intercept the convoys around 02:00 the following morning. The British had extended their minefields further north unbeknownst to the Germans and T6 struck a mine shortly after midnight and sank. T7 and T8 rescued the survivors and the operation was abandoned.[7]

T1 remained in Norway until April 1941 when she was reduced to reserve that lasted through June 1942. That month, she was recommissioned and assigned to the Torpedo School. In November 1943 the boat began a long refit that lasted through March 1944. By the end of the year, T1 was assigned to the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla and she escorted the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen as the latter ship supported a German counterattack against advancing Soviet forces near Cranz, East Prussia, on 29–30 January 1945. T1 was sunk after being hit by two or three bombs during a Royal Air Force attack on Kiel on the night of 9 April with the loss of nine crewmen. Her wreck was demolished on 20 May 1946.[2][6][8]

Notes
  1. Whitley 1991, pp. 47–49
  2. Gröner, p. 193
  3. Whitley 1991, p. 202
  4. Gardiner & Chesneau, p. 237
  5. Whitley 1991, pp. 49–51; Whitley 2000, p. 71
  6. Whitley 1991, p. 209
  7. Rohwer, pp. 39, 48; Whitley 1991, p. 114
  8. Rohwer, pp. 387, 408

References
  • Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Volume 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-790-9.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
  • Whitley, M. J. (1991). German Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-302-8.
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