SMS V46

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History
German Empire
Ordered1914 Peacetime order
BuilderAG Vulcan Stettin, Germany
Launched23 December 1914
Commissioned31 October 1915
Fate
  • Interned at Scapa Flow 22 November 1918
  • Transferred to France in 1920
  • Scrapped in 1924
General characteristics
Class and typeV25-class torpedo boat
Displacement1,106 t (1,089 long tons)
Length79.6 m (261 ft 2 in)
Beam8.32 m (27 ft 4 in)
Draft3.61 m (11 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
Speed34.5 knots (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph)
Range1,270 nmi (2,350 km; 1,460 mi)at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement88 officers and sailors
Armament

SMS V46 was a 1913 Type

Stettin
shipyard, being launched on 23 December 1914 and completing in October 1915.

V46 was part of the German

scuttle her
on 21 June 1919 failed, was transferred to France in 1920 and scrapped in 1924.

Construction

Ordered from AG Vulcan on 22 April 1914 as part of the 1914 construction programme of high-seas torpedo-boats (with a half-flotilla of 6 ordered from Germaniawerft and a second half-flotilla from Vulcan),[1][2] she was launched from AG Vulcan's Stettin, (now Szczecin in Poland) on 23 December 1914 and commissioned on 31 October 1915.[3] The "V" in V46 denoted the shipbuilder who constructed her.[4]

V46 was 79.6 metres (261 ft 2 in)

draught of 3.61 metres (11 ft 10 in). Displacement was 852 tonnes (839 long tons) normal and 1,106 tonnes (1,089 long tons) deep load.[5] Three oil-fired water-tube boilers fed steam to 2 sets of AEG-Vulcan steam turbines rated at 24,000 metric horsepower (24,000 shp; 18,000 kW), driving two propeller shafts via Föttinger hydraulic couplings giving a speed of 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph). 296 tonnes (291 long tons) of fuel oil was carried, giving a range of 1,750 nautical miles (3,240 km; 2,010 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) and 1,270 nautical miles (2,350 km; 1,460 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[1][5]

Armament originally consisted of three 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns in single mounts, together with six 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes with two fixed single tubes forward and 2 twin mounts aft. Up to 24 mines could be carried.[1][5] The ship had a complement of 87 officers and men.[1]

Service

V46 was assigned to the Sixth Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Twelfth Half-Flotilla, of the

2nd Light Cruiser Squadron at about 21:52 CET and turned away, with S50 being damaged by a British shell. V46 and V69 later returned to their search for the British battleships,[8] but although they spotted flashes of the night battles, they encountered no British ships.[9]

In January 1917, the 6th Flotilla was transferred to

River Maas. The 6th Flotilla ran into the British destroyer Laverock which was patrolling the Barrage. While the German ships attacked Laverock with heavy gunfire and torpedoes (one of which hit the British destroyer but failed to explode), the British destroyer only received light damage, and the 6th Flotilla turned back for Zeebrugge, with the drifters of the Dover Barrage unharmed.[14][15] The Flanders-based flotillas attacked again on the night of 17/18 March. Seven torpedo boats of the 6th Flotilla (S49, G86, G87, G37, V43, V45 and V46) were to attack the Dover Barrage north of the Sandettie Bank, with five torpedo boats of the 1st Zeebrugge Half-Flotilla attacking south of the Sandettie Bank, and four ships of the 2nd Zeebrugge Half-Flotilla operating against the Downs. The 6th Flotilla met the British destroyer Paragon on crossing the Dover Barrage. Paragon challenged the German torpedo boats, which replied with gunfire and torpedoes, Paragon being struck by torpedoes from S49 and G46 and sunk. The 12th Half-Flotilla (including V46) became separated from the rest of the 6th Flotilla and therefore returned to base, while the remaining three ships of the flotilla continued on, torpedoing and badly damaging the destroyer Llewellyn before returning to base, while a merchant ship was sunk by the 2nd Zeebrugge Half-Flotilla east of the Downs.[16][17] The 6th Flotilla returned to Germany on 29 March 1917.[18]

In October 1917, Germany launched

capture of Riga. The Germans assembled a powerful naval force to support the operation, reinforced by forces detached from the High Seas Fleet, including the 6th Torpedo Boat Flotilla.[19][20] V46 carried out operations in Tagga Bay in support of Operation Albion on 14 October.[21]

After the end of hostilities, V46 was interned at

scuttle her with the rest of the German fleet were unsuccessful.[3] She was handed over to France in 1920 as a short term trials ship and was scrapped in 1924.[3][22]

See also

  • German ocean-going torpedo boats of World War I

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 168.
  2. ^ Fock 1989, p. 47.
  3. ^ a b c Gröner 1983, p. 54.
  4. ^ Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 164.
  5. ^ a b c Gröner 1983, p. 53.
  6. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 25.
  7. ^ Campbell 1998, pp. 113–114.
  8. ^ Campbell 1998, pp. 261–262.
  9. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 277.
  10. ^ Karau 2014, p. 81.
  11. ^ Newbolt 1928, pp. 73–79.
  12. ^ Karau 2014, pp. 112–114.
  13. ^ Halpern 1994, p. 347.
  14. ^ Newbolt 1928, pp. 352–355.
  15. ^ Karau 2014, pp. 119–120.
  16. ^ Newbolt 1928, pp. 361–365.
  17. ^ Karau 2014, pp. 120–121.
  18. ^ Karau 2014, p. 122.
  19. ^ Halpern 1994, pp. 213–215.
  20. ^ Gagen 1964, p. 200.
  21. ^ Gagen 1964, p. 233–234.
  22. ^ Dodson 2019, pp. 130, 132.

Bibliography

External links