Type 37 torpedo boat
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Kriegsmarine |
| Completed: | 9 |
| Lost: | 3 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Torpedo boat |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: | 85.20 m |
| Beam: | 8.87 m |
| Draught: |
|
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h) |
| Range: | 1,600 nmi (2,960 km) at 19 knots (35 km/h) |
| Complement: | 119 |
| Armament: |
|
The German Type 37 Torpedo Boat (German: Flottentorpedoboot "Fleet Torpedo Boat") were a class of warships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine between 1939 and 1942. They were a development of the Type 35 torpedo boat.
Like the Type 35, they were not considered very successful, their weak gun armament was disliked and the machinery was unreliable and difficult to repair. They also had relatively poor sea-keeping and a weak bridge structure.
These ships fought in the North Sea, English Channel and Baltic Sea.
General characteristics
The Type 37 torpedo boats followed on from the Type 35 torpedo boats, but were similarly unsuccessful. The 1937s incorporated some modifications, including lower pressure turbines, but with little real improvement. They displayed the same limitations as their predecessors, with engines that were unreliable and difficult to repair and maintain in the restricted space of the hull. The low displacement made them unseaworthy. As designed, they also focused on torpedo armament, with a single 10.5 centimetre gun and minimal anti-aircraft protection. The anti-aircraft protection was increased later in the war.
Nine ships were built, all at Schichau, Elbing. Three were sunk, and one scuttled, by the end of the war; of the survivors, four were transferred abroad as war reparations and the last was scrapped in Germany.
Ships
All these ships were built by Schichau in Elbing
| Ship | Launched | Commissioned | Fate [2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| T13 | 15 June 1939 | 31 May 1941 | Sunk 10 April 1945 in Skagerrak by air attack |
| T14 | 20 July 1939 | 14 June 1941 | Transferred to France as the Dompaire, stricken 8 November 1951 and scrapped |
| T15 | 16 September 1939 | 26 June 1941 | Sunk 13 December 1943 at Kiel by RAF bombers |
| T16 | 23 November 1938 | 24 July 1941 | Damaged beyond repair, 13 April 1945, while escorting Hansa. Decommissioned and broken up |
| T17 | 13 March 1940 | 18 August 1941 | Transferred to USSR post war, served as destroyer Poryvisty (Порывистый). Later (1952) East German Rosa Luxembourg; BU 1957 |
| T18 | 1 June 1940 | 22 November 1941 | Sunk 17 September 1944; rocket attack by Soviet aircraft near the Åland Islands |
| T19 | 20 July 1940 | 18 December 1942 | Transferred to US post war, then Denmark. Broken up 1951 without re-commissioning |
| T20 | 12 September 1940 | 5 June 1942 | Transferred to France as the Baccarat, stricken 8 November 1951 and scrapped |
| T21 | 21 November 1940 | 11 July 1942 | Transferred to USA post war, scuttled 16 December 1946 in Skagerrak |
Notes
References
- Gardiner, Robert (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. (1991). German Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-302-8.
- - page on Type 37 from German Navy.de
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