The Type 23 torpedo boat (also known as the ''Raubvogel'' (
bird of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators h ...
) or the ''Möwe'' class) was a group of six
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
s built for the ''
Reichsmarine
The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the ''Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the ''K ...
'' during the 1920s. As part of the renamed ''
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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...
'', the boats made multiple
non-intervention patrols during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
in the late 1930s. 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 ...
, they played a minor role in the
Norwegian Campaign of 1940, being lost when she
ran aground. The Type 23s spent the next several months escorting
minelayer
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...
s as they laid
minefield
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
s and escorting ships before the ships were transferred to France around September. was torpedoed during this time and did not return to service until 1942. They started laying minefields themselves in September and continued to do so for the rest of the war.
After refits in early 1941, the boats were transferred to the
Skaggerak
The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea.
The ...
where they were assigned escort duties. Most of the surviving ships returned to France in 1942 and helped to escort the
capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet.
Strategic im ...
s sailing from France to Germany through the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
in the
Channel Dash
The Channel Dash (german: Unternehmen Zerberus, Operation Cerberus) was a German naval operation during the Second World War. (Cerberus), a three-headed dog of Greek mythology who guards the gate to Hades. A (German Navy) squadron comprising ...
. They helped to escort
blockade runners,
commerce raider
Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
s and
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s through the English Channel and the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
throughout 1942 and 1943. was sunk escorting a commerce raider in early 1942. , however, was refitting through all of 1942 and was then assigned to escort duty in Norwegian waters before joining her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s in France in mid-1943.
In 1944, the Type 23s were mostly occupied with laying mines. ''Greif'' was sunk by British aircraft and was badly damaged by a mine in May. The two surviving operational boats, and ''Möwe'', attacked
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
ships during the
Invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
in June with little success and they were sunk by British bombers later that month. ''Kondor'', the last survivor, was wrecked by bombers at the end of July.
Design and description
Derived from the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
-era large torpedo boat ,)., group=Note the Type 23 torpedo boat was slightly larger, but had a similar armament and speed. The boats were drier than the older design, but had a lot of
weather helm Weather helm is the tendency of sailing vessels to turn towards the source of wind, creating an unbalanced helm that requires pulling the tiller to windward (i.e. 'to weather') in order to counteract the effect.
Weather helm is the opposite of le ...
so that they were "almost impossible to hold on course in wind and at low speed".
[Gröner, p. 191] The design has been criticized for being equipped with too many torpedoes for the role that they were actually used during World War II.
The first ship to be built, ''Möwe'', was slightly smaller than her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s and had an
overall length
The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of and was
long at the waterline because she had a round
cruiser stern
The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow (ship), bow, the foremost part of a ...
rather than the flat
transom stern of her sisters.
[Gröner, pp. 191–192] The other Type 23s had an overall length of and had a waterline length of .
[Sieche, p. 237] All of the ships had a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of , and a mean
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of . They displaced at
standard load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
and at
deep load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
.
[Whitley 1991, p. 202] The figures for ''Möwe'' were and respectively. Their
hull was divided into 13
watertight compartment
A compartment is a portion of the space within a ship defined vertically between decks and horizontally between bulkheads. It is analogous to a room within a building, and may provide watertight subdivision of the ship's hull important in retaini ...
s and they were fitted with a
double bottom that covered 96% of their length.
[ Their crew consisted of 4 officers and 116 sailors.][
The Type 1923s were the first German ships to use geared ]steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s and they had two sets of turbines, each driving a single three-bladed propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
, using steam provided by three water-tube boiler
A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...
s that operated at a pressure of .[ The turbines were designed to produce for a speed of , although maximum speeds ranged from on the ships' ]sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s. They carried a maximum of of fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
which gave a range of at . The effective range proved to be only at that speed.[
]
Armament and sensors
As built, the Type 23s mounted three 42-caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
SK L/45 guns, one forward and two aft of the superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
; the aft superfiring
Superfiring armament is a naval military building technique in which two (or more) turrets are located in a line, one behind the other, with the second turret located above ("super") the one in front so that the second turret can fire over the ...
gun was on an open mount while the others were protected by gun shield
A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield
A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery piece ...
s.[Whitley 1991, p. 45][ The mounts had a range of elevation from -10° to +50° and the guns fired projectiles at a ]muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
of . Many guns were altered to use the ammunition of the SK C/32 gun which weighed and increased the muzzle velocity to . The new ammunition had a maximum range of at an elevation of 44.4°. Each gun was provided with 100 shells.[
The boats carried six above-water 50 cm (19.7 in) ]torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s in two triple mounts (the first triple mounts in German service) and could also carry up to 30 mines. After 1931, the torpedo tubes were replaced by tubes[ which probably used the ]G7a torpedo
The G7a(TI) was the standard issue ''Kriegsmarine'' torpedo introduced to service in 1934. It was a steam-powered design, using a wet heater engine burning decaline, with a range of at speed. In 1936, the Kriegsmarine's first electrical powered ...
. It had a warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Explosiv ...
and three speed/range settings: at ; at and at .
A pair of C/30 anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
s were also added after 1931.[ The gun had an effective rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute. Its projectiles were fired at a muzzle velocity of which gave it a ceiling of and a maximum horizontal range of . Each ship carried 2,000 rounds per gun.][ During the war a quadruple 2 cm mount was added just forward of No. 2 gun, three 2 cm guns were positioned around the aft ]funnel
A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening.
Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...
and another pair were mounted on the bridge wing
file:Bridge of the RV Sikuliaq.jpg, The interior of the bridge of the Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq, Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska
file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topped with a flying bridge
The bridg ...
s, all in single mounts. Around 1944 a FuMB 4 ''Sumatra'' radar detector
A radar detector is an electronic device used by motorists to detect if their speed is being monitored by police or law enforcement using a radar gun. Most radar detectors are used so the driver can reduce the car's speed before being ticketed ...
was installed as was radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
.
Ships
Service
Most of the boats were initially assigned to the 4th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla. By the end of 1936, the ''Kriegsmarine'' had reorganized its torpedo boats into flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...
s with ''Albatros'' and ''Seeadler'' in the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla and ''Falke'', ''Greif'', ''Kondor'' and ''Möwe'' were assigned to the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla. Both flotillas made several deployments to Spain during the Spanish Civil War. After the heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...
was bombed by Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
aircraft on 29 May 1938, Adolf Hitler ordered her sister ship, the to bombard the Republican-held city of Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
. Two days later the ship did so, accompanied by the four boats of the 2nd Flotilla, including ''Seeadler'' and ''Albatros''. Around June 1938, the flotillas were again reorganized with ''Seeadler'' going to the 4th Flotilla and ''Greif'', ''Kondor'' and ''Möwe'' transferred to the newly formed 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla. The other boats were either refitting or in reserve.[Whitley 1991, p. 79]
World War II
At the beginning of the war in September 1939, the 4th Flotilla was disbanded and ''Seeadler'' was transferred to the 6th Torpedo Boat Flotilla.[ All of the Type 23s supported the ]North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
mining operations that began on 3 September 1939. Together with three destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s, ''Albatros'', ''Falke'' and ''Greif'' made anti-shipping patrols in the Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
and Skaggerak
The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea.
The ...
from 3 to 5 October that captured four ships. On 13, 18 and 19 November, the 6th Flotilla and one or two light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s met destroyers returning from minelaying
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...
missions of the English coast. Two days later the flotilla patrolled the Skagerrak to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods before returning to port on the 25th. From 14 to 16 December, ''Seeadler'' and the torpedo boat made contraband patrols in the Skaggerak, impounding six ships.
During the Invasion of Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
in April 1940, all six boats played a minor role in the initial attack. ''Albatros'', ''Kondor'' and ''Möwe'' were assigned to support the attack on the Norwegian capital of Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
while ''Falke'', ''Greif'', ''Seeadler'' were tasked to help capture Kristiansand and Aarendal on the south coast. ''Albatros'' fired the opening shots of the invasion as she crippled a Norwegian patrol boat
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...
at the mouth of the Oslofjord
The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...
leading to on the evening of 8/9 April. She then participated in the capture of the naval base at Horten later that morning with her sister ''Kondor''. That afternoon, ''Albatros'' ran aground and was wrecked. ''Möwe'' ferried troops to the Oslofjord and then searched for survivors of the sunken heavy cruiser . ''Greif'' ferried the troops that captured the undefended town of Arendal before joining ''Seeadler'' at Kristiansand after the garrison there had surrendered. ''Falke'' ferried reinforcements to Kristiansand. Despite an escort by ''Greif'', ''Seeadler'' and the torpedo boat , a British submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
torpedoed and crippled the light cruiser on 9 April, so that she had to be scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
by ''Greif'' with a pair of torpedoes. As the heavy cruiser was proceeding to Germany without an escort two days later, she too was crippled by a British submarine off the Danish coast and all five boats responded to render assistance.
Later that month ''Greif'', ''Kondor'' and ''Möwe'' were among the escorts for minelayers as they laid minefields in the Skaggerak and the latter was torpedoed by a British submarine on 8 May. The detonation blew her stern off and it was rebuilt in the same manner as her sisters during her lengthy repairs. For the next several months, they were also tasked to escort ships through the Skaggerak, Kattegat and Norwegian waters when not escorting minelayers.[ The surviving operational boats were now consolidated in the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla and they screened multiple minelaying missions in the southwestern North Sea in August and September. At the end of the month, the flotilla laid a minefield in the ]English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
and sortie
A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...
d into the Channel twice in October, sinking four small Allied vessels on the second occasion. The flotilla was transferred to St. Nazaire later that month and its ships laid two more minefields in the Channel in December.
1941–1944
''Falke'' was transferred to Norway at the beginning of the year and escorted minelayer over the next several months while ''Seeadler'' escorted a single minelaying mission in the Channel during that time. ''Kondor'', ''Falke'' and ''Seeadler'' were all refitted at Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, from March to May 1941. ''Greif'' had a shorter refit at the same dockyard that lasted April to May. All four boats were then transferred to the Skagerrak for convoy escort duties. ''Kondor'' was briefly refitted at Rotterdam from November–December while ''Seeadler''s refit lasted from December 1941 to February 1942. ''Greif'' received a lengthy refit at Rotterdam that lasted from December 1941 to December 1942. Unlike her sisters, ''Falke'' was not refitted and rejoined the 5th Flotilla in France in January 1942 and was followed by her sisters as they finished working up. They joined the escort force for the battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s and and the heavy cruiser on 12 February 1942 off Cap Gris-Nez
Cap Gris-Nez (literally "cape grey nose"; ) is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' in northern France.
The 'Cliffs of the Cape' is the closest point of France to England – from their English counterparts at Do ...
during the Channel Dash. From 12 March to 2 April, the flotilla escorted the commerce raider
Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
through the Channel despite heavy British attacks, damaging two British destroyers. ''Möwe'' was not fully operational until early 1942 and was transferred to France in May of that year. The flotilla escorted the commerce raider through the English Channel from 12 to 19 May, during which British motor torpedo boats (MTBs) sank ''Seeadler'' and another torpedo boat on the 13th. ''Falke'' was refitted in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
from June to August and returned to France. In September and October, ''Möwe'' was one of the escorts for German blockade runners sailing from ports in the Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
en route to Japan. ''Falke'' and ''Kondor'' helped to escort the Italian blockade runner, , from Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
through the Bay of Biscay on 29–30 November.
''Greif'' was working up through the first couple of months of 1943; in March, she helped to escort the battleships and other ships as they moved from Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
, Norway, to Altafjord
Altafjord ( en, Alta Fjord;Koop, Gerhard, & Klaus-Peter Schmolke. 2000. ''Heavy Cruisers of the Admiral Hipper Class: Warships of the Kriegsmarine''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, p. 55. no, Altafjorden; fkv, Alattionvuono) is a fjord in A ...
. Another Italian blockade runner, ''Himalaya'', escorted by ''Kondor'' and three other torpedo boats, failed in her attempt to break through the Bay of Biscay when she was spotted by British aircraft and forced to return by heavy aerial attacks on 9–11 April. ''Greif'' screened a light cruiser from Harstad
( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...
to Trondheim and then to Kiel between 27 April and 3 May. On 3–7 May, ''Greif'', ''Möwe'', and ''Jaguar'' escorted minelayers in the North Sea as they laid new minefields. All four surviving boats laid two minefields in the English Channel on 4–6 June. Later that month the ships returned to the Bay of Biscay to help escort U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s through the Bay and continued to do so into early August. ''Möwe'' and ''Kondor'' helped to lay two minefields in the English Channel on 3–5 September. ''Kondor'' and ''Greif'' followed this with another minefield there later that month.
The 4th and 5th Torpedo Boat Flotillas, consisting ''Greif'', ''Möwe'', ''Kondor'', ''Jaguar'', and two other torpedo boats laid minefields in the Channel on 21 and 22 March 1944. A few days later, the flotilla laid a minefield on the night of 21/22 April. The following night the torpedo boats engaged British MTBs near Cape Barfleur and sank one of them. Between 26 April and 1 May, the flotilla laid five minefields in the Channel. Three weeks later, they were ordered to transfer from Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
to Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
and departed on the night of 23/24 May. ''Greif'', ''Möwe'', ''Falke'', ''Kondor'' and ''Jaguar'' were attacked by Allied aircraft early the next day and ''Greif'' was struck by two bombs. She sank a few hours later after being towed by ''Möwe''. About an hour later, ''Kondor'' struck a mine and had to be towed by ''Möwe'' for the remainder of the voyage. ''Kondor'' began a lengthy refit in Le Havre, but was cannibalized for spare parts after the Allies landed in Normandy on 6 June.
As the Allies began landing in Normandy, the 5th Flotilla, now consisting of ''Möwe'', ''Falke'', ''Jaguar'' and the newly refitted torpedo boat , sortied multiple times from Le Havre over the next week in attempts to sink Allied shipping. They were generally unsuccessful, only sinking the Norwegian destroyer on 6 June. During an air raid by the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
on the night of 14/15 June, bombs sank ''Falke'' and ''Jaguar'' and badly damaged ''Möwe''. She finally sank on 16 June after some weapons and equipment had been salvaged. ''Kondor'' was decommissioned on 28 June and was then declared a total loss after being hit by bombs on 31 July or 2 August.[Rohwer, pp. 324, 331–332, 335, 345; Whitley 1991, p. 158]
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{{WWII German ships
World War II torpedo boats of Germany
Torpedo boats of the Kriegsmarine
Ships of the Reichsmarine