SMS S36 (1914)
History | |
---|---|
German Empire | |
Ordered | 1913 |
Builder | Schichau-Werke, Elbing |
Launched | 17 October 1914 |
Commissioned | 4 January 1915 |
Fate |
|
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 971 tonnes (956 long tons) |
Length | 79.6 m (261 ft 2 in) oa |
Beam | 8.3 m (27 ft 3 in) |
Draft | 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) |
Installed power | 23,500 shp (17,500 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph) |
Range | 1,100 nmi (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Complement | 83 officers and sailors |
Armament |
|
SMS S36 was a 1913 Type
Construction
S36 was the last of the half-flotilla of six torpedo-boats ordered from the shipbuilder
Description
S36 was 79.6 metres (261 ft 2 in) long
Armament consisted of three
Service
Riga and Jutland
S36, part of the 17th Half Flotilla, took part in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915.[5] This was an attempt by German forces, supported by the High Seas Fleet to enter the Gulf of Riga, destroy Russian naval forces in the Gulf and to mine the northern entrances to the Gulf in order to prevent Russian reinforcement. The attempt failed with Germany losing the torpedo boats S31 and V99 and the minesweeper T46, while failing to destroy any major Russian warships or lay the planned minefield.[6]
S36 participated in the
Dover Barrage
In October 1916, the 3rd and 9th Flotillas were ordered to reinforce the German naval forces based in Flanders, in order to disrupt the Dover Barrage, a series of anti submarine minefields and nets that attempted to deter U-boat activities in the English Channel, and to directly attack cross-Channel shipping. The twenty torpedo boats of the two flotillas, including S36, still part of the 17th Half Flotilla of the 9th Flotilla, left Wilhelmshaven on 23 October, reaching Belgium the next day.[13][14] The 9th Flotilla took part in a large scale raid into the English Channel on the night of 26/27 October 1916, and was assigned the role of attacking Allied shipping while other torpedo boats went after the Dover Barrage, with the 17th Half Flotilla operating north of the Varne Bank. The 17th Half Flotilla sank the merchant ship The Queen, and then, on their journey home, encountered the British destroyer Nubian, which was one of six destroyers that had set out from Dover in response to the attacks on the Dover Barrage. Not knowing the identity of the ships of the 17th Half Flotilla, the commander of Nubian challenged them. Nubian was met with concentrated gunfire and was struck by a German torpedo, completely disabling the ship. Some time later, the 17th Half Flotilla encountered another British destroyer, Amazon, which was again uncertain of the identity of the German ships, and was also heavily damaged by German shellfire. Other German units sank several drifters that were part of the Dover Barrage, and the old destroyer Flirt.[15][16]
Channel sorties
The 9th Flotilla took part in a sortie against merchant shipping sailing between Britain and the Netherlands on the night of 1/2 November,[17] and in another raid against shipping in the Channel on the night of 23/24 November, which resulted in a brief, inconclusive, exchange of fire with British armed drifters near the entrance to The Downs before the Germans retired.[18][19] After a final, unsuccessful, sortie into the Channel on the night of 26 November, the 9th Flotilla, including S36, returned to Germany on 30 November.[20] At war's end 17th Half Flotilla consisted of S36, S51, S52, S60 and V80; V80 was the half-leader.[21]
Scuttling
After the end of hostilities, S36 was interned at
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 168
- ^ a b Gröner 1983, p. 54
- ^ Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 164
- ^ a b Gröner 1983, p. 53
- ^ Rollmann 1929, p. 270
- ^ Halpern 1994, pp. 196–198
- ^ Campbell 1998, p. 25
- ^ Barnett 1963, p. 129.
- ^ Campbell 1998, p. 13.
- ^ Campbell 1998, pp. 50, 56, 341
- ^ Campbell 1998, p. 113
- ^ Campbell 1998, pp. 210–211
- ^ Karau 2014, p. 75
- ^ Karau 2014, pp. 75–79
- ^ Karau 2014, p. 80
- ^ Bacon 1919, pp. 344–345.
- ^ Karau 2014, p. 81
- ^ a b "SMS S36: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
References
- Bacon, Reginald (1919). The Dover Patrol 1915–1917, Vol. II. London: Hutchinson & Co. OCLC 609286588.
- Barnett, Correlli (1963). The Sword Bearers. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. OCLC 750443358.
- Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-750-3.
- Firle, Rudolph (1921). Der Krieg in der Ostsee: Erster Band: Von Kriegsbeginn bis Mitte März 1915. Der Krieg zur See: 1914–1918 (in German). Berlin: Verlag von E. S. Mittler und Sohn.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Gröner, Erich (1983). Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815–1945: Band 2: Torpedoboote, Zerstörer, Schnelleboote, Minensuchboote, Minenräumboote (in German). Koblenz, Germany: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 3-7637-4801-6.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. London: UCL Press. ISBN 1-85728-498-4.
- Karau, Mark K. (2014). The Naval Flank of the Western Front: The German MarineKorps Flandern 1914–1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-231-8.
- Monograph No. 32: Lowestoft Raid. 24–25 April, 1916 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XVI. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1927.
- OCLC 669033099.
- Rollmann, Heinrich (1929). Der Krieg in der Ostsee: Zweiter Band: Das Kreigjahr 1915. Der Krieg zur See: 1914–1918 (in German). Berlin: Verlag von E. S. Mittler und Sohn. OCLC 752288088.