Kaiman-class torpedo boat
69 F (later renamed T11) photographed in 1916
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Class overview | |
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Operators |
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Preceded by | Cobra class |
Succeeded by | 110t class |
Built | 1904–1910 |
In commission | 1905–1930 |
Completed | 24 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Sea-going torpedo boat |
Displacement | 209–211 t (206–208 long tons) (full load) |
Length | 56 m (183 ft 9 in) |
Beam | 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) |
Draught | 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) |
Installed power | |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) |
Endurance |
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Complement | 31 |
Armament |
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The Kaiman class were high-seas
Design and construction
After the commissioning of the last of four
They were armed with four
Initial name | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Redesignated |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kaiman |
October 1904 |
3 June 1905 |
14 September 1905 |
50 E
|
Anaconda |
11 October 1905 |
8 May 1906 |
21 September 1906 |
51 T
|
Alligator |
20 October 1905 |
30 June 1906 |
31 December 1906 |
52 T
|
Krokodil |
14 November 1905 |
25 July 1906 |
31 December 1906 |
53 T
|
Wal |
12 December 1905 |
10 September 1906 |
15 June 1907 |
54 T
|
Seehund |
29 December 1905 |
15 September 1906 |
15 June 1907 |
55 T
|
Delphin |
12 May 1906 |
29 November 1906 |
15 June 1907 |
56 T
|
Narwal |
19 June 1906 |
17 December 1906 |
15 June 1908 |
57 T
|
Hai |
9 July 1906 |
24 March 1907 |
15 June 1908 |
58 T
|
Möve |
1 August 1906 |
30 March 1907 |
15 June 1908 |
59 T
|
Schwalbe |
14 September 1906 |
8 April 1907 |
20 March 1909 |
60 T
|
Pinguin |
18 September 1906 |
18 April 1907 |
20 March 1909 |
61 T
|
Drache |
January 1907 |
13 July 1907 |
20 March 1909 |
62 T
|
Greif |
January 1907 |
8 July 1907 |
20 March 1909 |
63 T
|
Triton |
26 July 1907 |
18 July 1908 |
31 December 1908 |
64 F
|
Hydra |
31 July 1907 |
11 October 1908 |
19 January 1909 |
65 F
|
Skorpion |
14 August 1907 |
15 November 1908 |
22 January 1909 |
66 F
|
Phönix |
7 January 1908 |
10 January 1909 |
3 August 1909 |
67 F
|
Krake |
2 June 1908 |
7 February 1909 |
15 September 1909 |
68 F
|
Polyp |
27 July 1908 |
17 April 1909 |
15 September 1909 |
69 F
|
Echse |
22 October 1908 |
8 May 1909 |
15 June 1910 |
70 F
|
Molch |
21 November 1908 |
14 July 1909 |
15 June 1910 |
71 F
|
Kormoran |
13 January 1909 |
31 July 1909 |
5 March 1910 |
72 F
|
Alk |
12 February 1909 |
2 October 1909 |
15 June 1910 |
73 F
|
Service history
World War I
1914
At the outbreak of
The concept of operation for the Kaiman-class boats was that they would sail in a flotilla at the rear of a cruising battle formation, and were to intervene in fighting only if the battleships around which the formation was established were disabled, or in order to attack damaged enemy battleships.[9] When a torpedo attack was ordered, it was to be led by a scout cruiser, supported by two destroyers to repel any enemy torpedo boats. A group of four to six torpedo boats would deliver the attack under the direction of the flotilla commander.[10]
The Kaiman class was considered to be a very capable design, and all boats saw significant active service during the war. All survived, although several were badly damaged by
On 2 September, another shore bombardment of the Montenegrin coast was conducted by the Huszár-class destroyers Scharfschütze and Ulan, assisted by 64 F and 66 F. On 16 September, 68 F and 72 F were involved in a raid and landing at San Giovanni di Medua on the Albanian coast.[12] The French submarine Cugnot slipped between the protective minefields outside the Bocche di Cattaro and entered the bay on 29 November, but she was spotted by 57 T, commanded by Linienschiffsleutnant Albert Heinz-Erian, who raised the alarm. The destroyers Ulan and Blitz, along with the Schichau-class torpedo boat No. 36, chased Cugnot, which was intending to attack the ironclad Kronprinz Erzherzog Rudolf. Cugnot struck an underwater obstacle and cancelled the attack, and 57 T fired a torpedo at her, but the torpedo missed because its depth was set too low. Cugnot then escaped from the bay and out through the minefield gap.[14] On 20 December, the French submarine Curie posed a serious threat when she entered the harbour at Pola and became tangled in anti-submarine net cables. After four hours of fruitless attempts to free herself, she surfaced and was attacked by 63 T, the Schichau-class torpedo boats Nos. 24 and 39, the Huszár-class destroyer Turul, the older Schichau-built destroyer Satellit, some smaller auxiliaries of the 1st Mine Command, and the "Cristo" coastal artillery battery. Curie was sunk by gunfire, but only one crew member was killed and another died of his wounds. Curie was later raised and re-commissioned as SM U-14.[15]
1915
On 14 February 1915, 68 F, the Huszár-class destroyer
On the night of 1/2 March, the Huszár-class destroyers Ulan, Csikos and Streiter, accompanied by 57 T, 66 F and 67 F, attacked Antivari. The destroyers covered the torpedo boats from outside the harbour while the torpedo boats entered. 67 F destroyed the old long wooden pier with a torpedo and 66 F laid mines near the new pier. Rumija was captured and a prize crew was put aboard, but a strong gale prevented 57 T from taking her in tow, so instead she sank Rumija with a torpedo. This attack was a severe blow for the Montenegrins, as they lost the only ship they could use to tow smaller sailing vessels and lighters, and the destruction of the old longer pier meant that the unloading of larger steam ships was no longer possible.[17] Three days later, 57 T returned to bombard Antivari.[12] The constant Austro-Hungarian attacks, combined with the expectation that Italy would soon enter the war on the Allied side, meant that the French abandoned their efforts to supply Antivari by sea.[18]
As expected, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on the afternoon of 23 May, and almost the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet left Pola soon after to deliver an immediate response against Italian cities and towns along the Adriatic coast, aiming to interdict land and sea transport between southern Italy and the northern regions of that country which were expected to be a
On 18 June, the
On the night of 4/5 December, Novara, escorted by three destroyers, and 61 T, 66 F and 67 F, left Cattaro Bay to attack Medova. During the raid, several merchant ships and a French submarine were destroyed.[26] A seaplane attack on Ancona on 9 December was supported by 57T and 58T, accompanying the protected cruiser Szigetvár, two destroyers and three 250t-class torpedo boats. Another seaplane attack, this time on Rimini on 14 December, was supported by 68 F and 69 F, along with Szigetvár, two destroyers and three 250t-class torpedo boats.[27]
1916
On New Year's Day 1916, the Austro-Hungarians began preparations for an assault on the Lovćen mountain range – located in the hinterland south of the Bocche – supported by both land and naval bombardments. A week later, 52 T, 65 F, 67 F and 73 F accompanied the protected cruiser Aspern in a bombardment of Montenegrin troop positions in the mountains.[28] On 22 February, 70 F and three 250t-class torpedo boats laid a minefield outside Antivari harbour.[29]
On 9 July 1916, Novara, 54 T, 73 F and another torpedo boat raided the
1917–1918
At the beginning of 1917, the 2nd Torpedo Flotilla, consisting of Admiral Spaun, Huszár-class destroyers and the Kaiman-class torpedo boats, was based out of Pola.[36] On 21 May 1917, the suffix of all Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats was removed, and thereafter they were referred to only by the numeral.[1] On 16 November 1917, 61 and 65 were part of a minesweeping force supporting the bombardment of a 152 mm (6.0 in) Italian shore battery at Cortellazzo near the mouth of the Piave.[37] All boats were due to have their aft torpedo tube replaced by a single Škoda 66 mm (2.6 in) L/30 anti-aircraft gun in late 1918, but it is not clear whether this actually occurred. 52 ran aground near Split in December 1918.[4][38]
Interwar period
Following World War I, the Kaiman-class boats were allocated to Great Britain, Italy and the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was later renamed Yugoslavia. Great Britain and Italy scrapped their boats, but the Yugoslavs retained 54, 60, 61 and 69 as T12, T9, T10 and T11 respectively. All four were discarded and broken up between 1928 and 1930.[4][38]
See also
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e Gardiner 1985, p. 339.
- ^ Greger 1976, pp. 53–55.
- ^ Domville-Fife & Hopkins 1911, p. 60.
- ^ a b c d e Greger 1976, p. 55.
- ^ Friedman 2011, p. 295.
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 350–351.
- ^ Greger 1976, pp. 11–12, 106–108.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 70.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 68.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 69.
- ^ a b Freivogel 2019, p. 73.
- ^ a b c d e Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 168.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 121.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, pp. 121–122.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 149.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 150.
- ^ a b Freivogel 2019, p. 168.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 169.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 170.
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 169.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 189.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 190.
- ^ Halpern 2012, p. 150.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, pp. 205–206.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 206.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 218.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 221.
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 170.
- ^ a b Freivogel 2019, p. 251.
- ^ Koburger 2001, p. 62.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 252.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 256.
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2015, p. 171.
- ^ Freivogel 2019, p. 296.
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara 2016, p. 67.
- ^ a b Chesneau 1980, p. 357.
References
- Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2015). "The Naval War in the Adriatic Part I: 1914–1916". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2015. London, England: Bloomsbury. pp. 161–173. ISBN 978-1-84486-295-5.
- Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2016). "The Naval War in the Adriatic Part II: 1917–1918". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2016. London, England: Bloomsbury. pp. 62–75. ISBN 978-1-84486-438-6.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London, England: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
- Domville-Fife, Charles William; Hopkins, John Ommaney (1911). Submarines of the World's Navies. London, United Kingdom: Lippincott. OCLC 805947063.
- Freivogel, Zvonimir (2019). The Great War in the Adriatic Sea 1914–1918. Zagreb, Croatia: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-40-8.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London, England: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London, England: Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0623-2.
- Halpern, Paul G. (2012). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-266-6.
- Koburger, Charles W. (2001). The Central Powers in the Adriatic, 1914–1918: War in a Narrow Sea. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-97071-0.