Type 39 torpedo boat

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T-35 in US service, August 1945
Class overview
NameType 39
BuildersSchichau, Elbing
Operators
Preceded byType 37 torpedo boat
Succeeded byType 40 torpedo boat
Built1940–1944
In commission1941–1955
Planned39
Completed15
Cancelled24
Lost11
General characteristics (T22 as built)
TypeTorpedo boat
Displacement1,294 t (1,274 long tons) (standard)
Length102.5 m (336 ft 3 in) o/a
Beam10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft3.22 m (10 ft 7 in)
Installed power
  • 4 ×
    water-tube boilers
  • 32,000 
    kW
    )
Propulsion
Speed33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph)
Range2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement206
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament

The Type 1939 torpedo boats, also known as the Elbing class by the Allies, were a group of 15 torpedo boats that were built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The first eight ships to be completed were sent to western France in pairs after they finished

minefields. Not long after the first pair arrived, they sank a British cruiser and an escort destroyer without loss or damage to themselves in the Battle of Sept-Îles in October 1942. Over a year later, two ships were sunk by British cruisers in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay in December 1943. During the action of 26 April 1944 and subsequent operations, Allied forces intercepted three Type 39s of which two were lost, although they sank a Canadian destroyer in exchange. Of the two remaining ships based in France when the Allies invaded Normandy (Operation Neptune) on 6 June, one ship helped to sink a Norwegian destroyer
before escaping to Germany and the other was sunk by fighter-bombers in August.

All of the remaining Type 39s were committed to the

Moonsund Landing Operation as the Germans began evacuating the islands off the west coast of Estonia
, and they continued to do so for the rest of the war, often in conjunction with cruisers. In May, with the collapse of Germany imminent, their role changed to evacuating people from areas that were threatened by the advancing Soviets, and they helped to rescue hundreds of thousands before the German surrender. One ship was lost to Soviet aircraft during this time.

Four Type 39s survived the war and were seized by the Allies as

war reparations. The United States Navy briefly evaluated one before turning it over to the French in 1947 as spares for their pair that the French Navy kept in service until 1954–1955. The Soviet Union used their ship until about the same time before scrapping
it in 1956.

Background and design

Type 1936A-class destroyers. The smaller design emerged as the Type 39 torpedo boat that was a radical change from the preceding, and much smaller, torpedo boats like the Type 35 and Type 37 classes that were specialized for torpedo attack and had limited utility outside that role. The Type 39s used the same troublesome high-pressure boilers as the earlier designs, but their propulsion machinery was arranged into separate units so that one hit could not completely immobilize the ship.[1]

The ships had an

seaboats and were very maneuverable.[2] Their crew numbered 206 officers and sailors.[4]

The Type 39 ships had two sets of Wagner geared

kW) for a speed of 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph). The ships carried a maximum of 375 metric tons (369 long tons) of fuel oil, which gave a range of 2,400 nautical miles (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[3] In service the steam consumption of the engine-room auxiliary machinery proved to be excessive, and the boilers could not generate enough steam to drive the turbines at their designed capacity. This reduced the Type 39s' top speed to 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) and their range to 2,085 nmi (3,861 km; 2,399 mi) at 19 knots.[5]

Armament and sensors

The main armament of the Type 39 class consisted four 42-

ft/s). It had a range of 15,175 meters (16,596 yd) at an elevation of +44.4°.[7]

bridge wings.[6] The gun had an effective rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute. Its 0.12-kilogram (0.26 lb) projectiles were fired at a muzzle velocity of 875 m/s (2,870 ft/s) which gave it a ceiling of 3,700 meters (12,100 ft) and a maximum horizontal range of 4,800 meters (5,200 yd).[10] Each ship carried 2,000 rounds per gun.[2]

The Type 39s were also equipped with six above-water 533 mm (21 in)

search radar.[12]

Modifications

Boston, Massachusetts
, 14 September 1945

The bridge wing 2 cm mounts were replaced by twin mounts in 1943–1944. In January–February 1944, T22, T23, T24 and T27 had their bridge wing guns replaced by quadruple mounts, FuMB7

4 cm (1.6 in) Bofors guns in lieu of the bridge wing guns and the twin 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns. T33 and T36 may also have had two twin-gun 2 cm mounts forward of the bridge.[13]

Construction

Before the war the Kriegsmarine planned to build 39 Type 39s, T22–T60, in an ambitious building schedule such that T52 was expected to be completed on 1 April 1942. The beginning of World War II in September 1939 disrupted its plans and T31–T60 were dropped from the program, although T31–T36 were later reinstated. The ships were ordered in two batches from Schichau, T22–T30 on 10 November 1939 (originally as Type 37 torpedo boats), followed by T31–T36 on 20 January 1941. All were built at the company's shipyard in Elbing, East Prussia, (now Elbląg, Poland) hence the Allied name for the class. Construction was delayed by shortages of labor and materials.[14]

Ships

Construction data
Number
Laid down[15]
 Launched[15] Commissioned[15] Fate [15]
T22 1941 28 February 1942 Sunk by mine, 18 August 1944
T23 1 August 1940 14 June 1941 14 June 1942 Served in the French Navy as L'Alsacien; condemned, 1955[16]
T24 21 September 1940 13 September 1941 17 October 1942 Sunk by aircraft, 24 August 1944
T25 30 November 1940 1 December 1941 12 November 1942 Sunk by torpedo, 28 December 1943
T26 10 May 1941 26 March 1942 28 February 1943
T27 2 July 1941 20 June 1942 17 April 1943 Ran aground, 28/29 April 1944, subsequently destroyed, 6 May
T28 24 September 1941 8 October 1942 19 June 1943 Served in the French Navy as Le Lorrain; condemned, 1954[16]
T29 21 August 1943 Sunk by gunfire, 26 April 1944
T30 10 April 1942 13 March 1943 24 October 1943 Sunk by mine, 18 August 1944
T31 1943 5 February 1944 Sunk by torpedo, 20 June 1944
T32 27 October 1942 17 April 1943 8 May 1944 Sunk by mine, 18 August 1944
T33 16 June 1944 Served in the Soviet Navy as Primerny; scrapped 1957[17]
T34 5 March 1943 23 October 1943 12 August 1944 Sunk by mine, 20 November 1944
T35 20 April 1943 12 December 1943 7 October 1944 Served in the United States Navy as DD-935; transferred to France, 1947; condemned, 3 October 1952[16]
T36 10 June 1943 5 February 1944 9 December 1944 Sunk by aircraft, 5 May 1945

Service history

The first two ships completed, T22 and T23, were the first to be deployed to France when they arrived there in October–November 1942. Together with other torpedo boats, they escorted Italian blockade runners in their attempts to break out into the Atlantic through the Bay of Biscay in November and again in April 1943. The following month they were deployed to the English Channel where they laid minefields in May and June. The sisters returned to the bay in July, reinforced by the arrival of T24 and T25, and they were all grouped together in the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla. They were tasked to escort submarines, convoys and blockade runners through the bay for the next several months, interspersed with the occasional minelaying mission.[18]

T26 and T27 arrived in September and were also assigned to the 4th Flotilla. On 22/23 October the flotilla was providing distant cover for the blockade runner Münsterland as she sailed up the Channel when they discovered a British force attempting to intercept her off the coast of

scuttled.[19]

Battle of the Bay of Biscay

Main article: Battle of the Bay of Biscay

In December 1943, two blockade runners arriving from

Hans Erdmenger, commander of the 8th Flotilla, decided to split his forces and ordered the destroyers Z23, Z27, and T22, T25 and T26 to reverse course to the north. The cruisers pursued the northern group and sank Z27, T25 and T26. All of the ships in the southern group, including T23, T24 and T27 were able to successfully disengage.[20]

Subsequent activities in the West

Main article: Action of 26 April 1944

T28 and T29 arrived in France in January 1944 to relieve T22 and T23 which returned to Germany for refits in February. T28 began a long refit upon her arrival that was not completed until early June. After laying a minefield off the Sept-Îles on the north coast of Brittany on the night of 25/26 April, the 4th Flotilla, now consisting of T24, T27 and T29, was engaged by an Allied force that consisted of the light cruiser HMS Black Prince and the destroyers HMS Ashanti, HMCS Athabaskan, HMCS Haida and HMCS Huron off the Île de Batz. The Allied ships were faster than the torpedo boats and closed the range despite the German attempt to disengage. The destroyers began firing at T24 and T27 and one hit significantly reduced the latter's speed; Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Franz Kohlauf, the flotilla commander, ordered her into Morlaix Bay and the Allied ships lost her radar reflection amongst the rocks of the bay. A shell later disabled T29's rudder and Ashanti and Huron concentrated on T29 while Haida and Athabaskan continued their pursuit of T24. They disengaged before T24 reached Saint-Malo, and returned to help sink T29.[21]

After emergency repairs, T27 joined T24 in Saint-Malo during the night of 26/27 April. The sisters departed for Brest on the night of 28/29 April and were intercepted by Haida and Athabaskan off Île Vierge. The Germans turned away, firing all of their torpedoes as they turned. One of T24's torpedoes hit Athabaskan which blew up shortly afterward and sank. Haida pursued T27, badly damaging her. While maneuvering, T27 accidentally ran aground and the Canadian destroyer continued to engage until she started a large fire and then returned to the site where Athabascan had sunk to rescue survivors. T24 and a pair of minesweepers failed in their attempt to pull T27 off. British motor torpedo boats (MTB) and aircraft destroyed her wreck in early May. The 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla was then disbanded and T24 was assigned to the 8th Destroyer Flotilla.[22]

As the Allies began landing in Normandy on 6 June, the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, now consisting of T28 and three older torpedo boats, sortied multiple times from Le Havre over the next week in attempts to sink Allied shipping. Despite the expenditure of over 50 torpedoes and large quantities of ammunition, they were generally unsuccessful, only sinking the destroyer HNoMS Svenner on 6 June.[23] On the night of 8/9 June, the four ships of the 8th Flotilla set out for Cherbourg, but were intercepted by eight Allied destroyers of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla in the Battle of Ushant. The German ships had been spotted first and the British opened fire, with the Germans responding with a four-torpedo salvo from each destroyer that missed when the Allied ships turned to evade them, although T24, the trailing ship in the formation, did not fire because she had no visible targets. The British fire was extremely effective, with Z24, immediately ahead of the torpedo boat, badly damaged only moments after firing her first salvo. She was able to lay smoke and disengage, followed by T24. Haida and Huron pursued the pair until they passed over a British minefield and lost track of the German ships after the Canadian ships were forced to detour around it.[24]

T24 (foreground) and Z24 under attack, 25 August

On the night of 21/22 July, T28 and three

Les Sables d'Olonne. The torpedo boat laid a smoke screen and near-missed Iroquois with her torpedoes. She was hit once by Iroquois and Iroquois was lightly damaged during the attack. Off Le Verdon-sur-Mer on 24 August, T24 and Z24 were attacked by rocket-firing Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bombers that sank the torpedo boat and badly damaged the destroyer.[25]

Activities in the Baltic 1943–1945

While engaged in gunnery practice with the radio-controlled

Sworbe, on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, breaking up a Soviet attack. A month later, they provided support during a Soviet attack on 19 November, but the Germans were forced to evacuate several days later. T34 sank during gunnery training while still working up after hitting a mine on 20 November. The sisters were attached to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla to lay a minefield off the Estonian coast, but a navigation error caused two of the destroyers to blunder into a German minefield and sink on the night of 11/12 December.[26]

Prinz Eugen, two destroyers, T23, T33 and T35 supported a German counterattack against advancing Soviet forces near Cranz, East Prussia, on 29–30 January 1945. T36 rescued more than 500 passengers from the torpedoed ocean liner MV Wilhelm Gustloff on the night of 30 January. All of the surviving Type 39s supporting German operations in East- and West Prussia until May. That month their mission became to evacuate as many refugees and troops as possible from those areas still in German hands. T36 was damaged by a mine during one such mission on 4 May and was sunk by Soviet aircraft the next day. They helped to rescue hundreds of thousands of people before Germany surrendered on 9 May.[27]

Postwar service

Only four ships, T23, T28, T33 and T35, of the fifteen built survived the war. The Allies divided the surviving ships of the Kriegsmarine amongst themselves in late 1945 and the British were awarded the first pair, the Soviets received T33 and the Americans T35.

Mediterranean Squadron. They were later assigned to the Anti-submarine Group before they were condemned in 1954–1955 and subsequently sold for scrap.[16] The Americans commissioned T35 as DD-935 and ran extensive trials with her before transferring the ship to France in 1947 for spare parts.[30] T33 was taken over by a Soviet crew on 1 January 1946 and commissioned into the Soviet Navy four days later. Renamed Primerny on 13 February, she was assigned the North Baltic Fleet two days later. The ship was removed from combat duty and converted into a floating barracks on 30 November 1954 before being renamed PKZ-63 on 28 December. The vessel was transferred for scrapping on 9 November 1956.[17]

Notes

  1. ^ In Kriegsmarine gun nomenclature, SK stands for Schiffskanone (ship's gun), C/32 stands for Constructionjahr (Construction year) 1932
  2. ^ T22, the first ship finished, was completed without her quadruple mount, although it was installed later.[9]
  3. ^ Funkmess-Ortung (Radio-direction finder, active ranging)
  4. ^ Funkmess-Beobachtung (Passive radio-direction finder)

Citations

  1. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 34–35, 52–54
  2. ^ a b c d Gröner, p. 195
  3. ^ a b Whitley 1991, p. 203
  4. ^ Sieche, p. 238
  5. ^ Whitley 2000, pp. 73–74
  6. ^ a b c d Whitley 2000, p. 74
  7. ^ Campbell, p. 246
  8. ^ Campbell, p. 256
  9. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 54
  10. ^ Campbell, p. 258
  11. ^ Campbell, p. 263
  12. ^ Friedman, p. 205; Whitley 1991, pp. 52–55; Whitley 2000, p. 73
  13. ^ Friedman, p. 205; Whitley 1991, pp. 52–55; Whitley 2000, pp. 73–74
  14. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 54, 211–212
  15. ^ a b c d Whitley 1991, pp. 211–212
  16. ^ a b c d Jordan & Moulin, p. 284
  17. ^ a b Berezhnoy, p. 20
  18. ^ Rohwer, pp. 215, 241, 249, 254, 279; Whitley 1991, pp. 144–146, 211–212
  19. ^ Rohwer, p. 282; Whitley, pp. 147–148
  20. ^ Hervieux, p. 98; Rohwer, p. 295; Whitley 1991, pp. 149–153
  21. ^ Hervieux, p. 99; Rohwer, pp. 317–318; Whitley, pp. 156–157
  22. ^ Gröner, p. 195; Hervieux, p. 100; Rohwer, p. 318; Whitley 1991, p. 157
  23. ^ Rohwer, pp. 331–332; Whitley, p. 158
  24. ^ Hervieux, p. 100; Rohwer, p. 332; Whitley, pp. 158–161
  25. ^ Gröner, p. 195; Hervieux, p. 100; Rohwer, pp. 341, 347; Whitley 1991, pp. 158, 162–163
  26. ^ Hervieux, p. 101; Rohwer, pp. 318, 336, 351, 359, 361, 373, 377; Whitley 1991, pp. 168, 173, 175, 180–186, 212
  27. ^ Hervieux, pp. 101–102; Rohwer, pp. 387, 390, 398, 410, 414; Whitley 1991, pp. 187, 189, 212
  28. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 191, 199, 212
  29. ^ Roche, pp. 33, 313
  30. ^ Whitley, p. 199

References

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