The R boats (''Räumboote'' in German, meaning ''minesweeper'') were a group of small naval vessels built as

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

for the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' (German navy) before and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They were used for several purposes during the war, and were also used post-war by the

German Mine Sweeping Administration The German Mine Sweeping Administration (GMSA) was an organisation formed by the Allies from former crews and vessels of the Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' for the purpose of mine sweeping after the Second World War, predominantly in the North Se ...

for clearing naval mines. In 1954, the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol I ...

ordered 10 ''Pulau Rau''-class minesweepers to Abeking & Rasmussen in West Germany. The ''Pulau Rau''-class were modified R boats armed with one Bofors 40mm L/60 Mk 3 gun, two Oerlikon 20mm/70 Mk 10 guns and also mechanical minesweeping gear.Jalesveva Jayamahe, 1960. page 103
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Operational use

A total of 424 boats were built for the ''

'' before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The German Navy used them in every theatre including the Baltic, Mediterranean, the Arctic and the Black Sea. In addition to its designed use as minesweepers, these boats were used for convoy escort, coastal patrol, minelaying and

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

. About 140 R boats survived the war and these were distributed amongst the Allies. Some were used by the

(GMSA) to clear western Europe of

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s. Twenty-four boats were transferred back to the post-war German Navy, the ''

Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

'', in 1956 and were used until the late 1960s. An unusual feature of these ships is the use of

Voith Schneider Propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously ...

s on approximately one quarter of the boats for extra maneuverability. Additionally, dozens of captured vessels from France, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy were used as foreign R-boats (''R-boote Ausland'') and were designated with RA-, RH- and RD- prefixes. A further 8 coastal motor fishing boats were designated as auxiliary R-boats and named R111-R118 in the 11th R-boat flotilla.

R boat classes

R boat units

In the inter-war years and during the Second World War, a total of twenty ''Räumboots-Flottille'' (German for "Minesweeper Flotillas") were created. While most were dissolved late in the war or after the German surrender, a few were kept for use by the

(GMSA) and dissolved post-war. An additional flotilla was created in the immediate post-war, also for use by the GMSA.

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-1562-23, Frankreich, R-Boote.jpg, File:WWII German R boats (mineweepers) in 1939 (26787005191).jpg, File:Räumboote-1938-N37.jpg, File:Pulau Rau class minesweeper, Jalesveva Jayamahe, p37.jpg,

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'' * * Hervieux, Pierre "German Motor Minesweepers at War 1939–1945" in ''Warship'' 2002–2003, Conway's Maritime Press * Lenton, H. T. ''German Warships of the Second World War''. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1975. .

Online sources

R Boat at German Navy.de
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