Schnellboot

E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat"; plural ''Schnellboote'') of the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a large ''Torpedoboot.'' The name of E-boats was a British designation using the letter ''E'' for ''Enemy''.

The main wartime production boats, from ''S26'' onwards (but often designated the ''S100'' class), were very seaworthy,PT-Boat.com–German S-100 Class Schnellboot (Fast Boat)
/ref> heavily armed and capable of sustaining , briefly accelerating to . These were armed with torpedoes and Flak guns; commonly one 37 mm at the stern, one 20 mm at the bow with a twin mount amidships, plus machine guns. Armament varied and some ''S26'' class boats substituted a 40mm Bofors or, less commonly, a 20mm ''flakvierling'' (quadruple mount) for the aft 37mm cannon.

The ''S26'' class boats – which provided the bulk of the wartime deliveries – were long and in beam. Their diesel engines provided a range of , substantially greater than the gasoline-fueled American PT boats and British motor torpedo boats (MTBs).

As a result of early war experience of combat against the fast and powerful S-boats, the Royal Navy created its motor gunboat (MGB) force and later developed better-matched MTBs, using the Fairmile 'D' hull design.

History

Development

This design was chosen because the theatre of operations of such boats was expected to be the North Sea, English Channel and the Western Approaches. The requirement for good performance in rough seas dictated the use of a round-bottomed displacement hull rather than the flat-bottomed planing hull that was more usual for small, high-speed boats. The shipbuilding company Lürssen at Vegesack, Bremen, overcame many of the disadvantages of such a hull and, with the private motor yacht '' Oheka II'' in 1926, produced a craft that was fast, strong and seaworthy. It was also very light, being constructed of wooden planking over alloy frames. This attracted the interest of the '' Reichsmarine'', which in November 1929 ordered a similar boat but fitted with two torpedo tubes. This became the ''S1'', and was the basis for all subsequent E-boats.

After experimenting with the ''S1'', the Germans made several improvements to the design. Small rudders added on either side of the main rudder could be angled outboard to 30 degrees, creating at high speed what is known as the Lürssen Effect. This drew in an "air pocket slightly behind the three propellers, increasing their efficiency, reducing the stern wave and keeping the boat at a nearly horizontal attitude". This was an important innovation as the horizontal attitude lifted the stern, allowing even greater speed, and the reduced stern wave made E-boats harder to see, especially at night.

The rounded wood planking hull helped reduce weight, and flattened at the stern area, the aft section area was reduced at high speeds, it allowed more hydrodynamic lift.

Layout

The internal layout of the E-boat remained the same for all types. Its length was generally divided by eight transverse bulkheads (made of 4mm steel below the waterline and slightly thinner light metal alloy above) into nine watertight compartments. From bow to stern, these were:
# Containing a trimming tank, the anchor chain storage locker, forward "head" (WC) and crew washroom;
# the accommodation for senior ratings (six bunks, including one in a separate curtained-off compartment for the coxswain);
# comprising the captain's cabin on the starboard side, and the radio room on the port side;
# the two forward fuel tanks (capacity 2 x 3,000 litres), one on either side of a centreline walkway, located directly below the bridge;
# the forward engineroom, housing the two wing engines, still with a central walkway between them;
# the second engineroom held the engine driving the central shaft, with a walkway on each side, flanked next to the hull by auxiliary machinery;
# the two largest of the fuel tanks (each of capacity 3,150 litres), again on either side of a central walkway, with a third (smaller) tank of 1,490 litres below the deck;
# the junior ratings' accommodation, with bunks for fourteen men, plus the galley and the stern "head"; the boat's magazine was also in this compartment;
# the two aft fuel tanks (capacity 2 x 2,000 litres) and rudder gear.

Note that the earliest (shorter) boats lacked the first transverse bulkhead, and thus the senior ratings' accommodation was included in the first watertight compartment.

Personnel

The earliest six boats had a crew of 12 men, but by the time of the ''S7'' and ''S14'' types (''S7'' to ''S25'') the manning had increased to 18 men. The ''S26'' class required a complement of between 21 and 24 men, and this remained generally constant for all subsequent boats (except the ex-Italian and KS and LS boats). This comprised a commanding officer (usually an ''Oberleutnant zur See''), a Chief Boatswain (''Oberbootsmann''), a Helmsman (''Matrosen-Gefreiter''), about six seamen including those operating semaphore and engine telegraph posts (''Matrosen''), a Chief Engineer (''Obermaschinist''), three engineer NCOs (''Maschinenmaaten''), six engine-room ratings (usually ''Heizer''), two radio operators (''Funkgefreiter'' or ''Funkgast'') for radio communications including decoding, and a torpedo mechanic (''Torpedomechanikergefreiter'') who doubled as the boat's cook.

Crew members could earn an award particular to their work — the '' Schnellbootkriegsabzeichen'' — denoted by a badge depicting an E-boat passing through a wreath. The criteria were good conduct, distinction in action, and participating in at least twelve enemy actions. It was also awarded for particularly successful missions, displays of leadership or being killed in action. It could be awarded under special circumstances, such as when another decoration was not suitable.

Operations with the Kriegsmarine

E-boats were primarily used to patrol the Baltic Sea and the English Channel in order to intercept shipping heading for the English ports in the south and east. As such, they were up against Royal Navy and Commonwealth, e.g., Royal Canadian Navy contingents leading up to D-Day, motor gunboats (MGBs), motor torpedo boats (MTBs), motor launches, frigates and destroyers. They were also transferred in small numbers to the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea by river and land transport. Some small E-boats were built as boats for carrying by auxiliary cruisers.

E-boats were organisationally under the command of the ''Seekriegsleitung'' or SKL (the naval warfare command, responsible for the planning, execution and direction of naval warfare), and were administratively organised into flotillas, each originally comprising 8 boats. Consequently most orders for new construction were placed in batches of eight boats, or of multiple of eight. The first half-flotilla (''1st Schnellbootshalbflotille'') was formed in July 1932, but was reorganised as ''1st Schnellbootsflotille'' in June 1935. A second flotilla was established in August 1938, and a third in 1940. Eventually there were fourteen operational flotillas, numbered 1st to 11th plus 21st, 22nd and 24th, together with three training flotillas (''Schnellbootsschulflotille''). Each flotilla required the backup of a depot ship; initially this was provided by the converted steamer ''Nordsea'', but from 1934 a series of purpose-built tenders were commissioned - the ''Tsingtau'' in 1934, followed by the ''Tanga'' (in 1939), ''Carl Peters'' and ''Adolf Lüderitz'' in 1940, and finally the ''Herman von Wissmamm'' and ''Gustav Nachtigal''.

E-boats of the 6th & 9th flotillas from Cherbourg attacked Exercise Tiger on 28 April 1944, causing about 749 American Army and Navy casualties.

The E-boats of the 9th flotilla were the first naval units to respond to the invasion fleet of Operation Overlord. They left Cherbourg harbour at 5 a.m. on 6 June 1944. On finding themselves confronted by the entire invasion fleet, they fired their torpedoes at maximum range and returned to Cherbourg.

During World War II, E-boats claimed 101 merchant ships totalling 214,728 tons.Connelly & Krakow, 2003. p.54 Additional claims include 12 destroyers, 11 minesweepers, eight landing ships, six MTBs, one torpedo boat, one minelayer, one submarine, and a number of smaller craft such as fishing boats. They also damaged two cruisers, five destroyers, three landing ships, one repair ship, one naval tug, and numerous other merchant vessels. Sea mines laid by the E-boats sank 37 merchant ships totalling 148,535 tons, a destroyer, two minesweepers, and four landing ships.

E-boat crews were awarded 23 Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses and 112 German Crosses in Gold.

Operations in the Black Sea

To boost Axis naval strength in the Black Sea, the OKW ordered to the region the transfer of six E-boats of the 1st S-flotilla, the last to be released from action in the Baltic Sea before refit. The Romanian port of Constanța, in the Black Sea, was chosen as the S-flotilla's headquarters. Transporting the six boats overland from Germany to Romania was an impressive logistical feat. The superstructure and all weapons were removed, leaving only the hull. After a long road journey of 60 hours, the boats arrived at Ingolstadt, Germany, where they were transferred back to water and towed towards Linz, Austria. There the superstructure was rebuilt, then the journey continued down the Danube to Galați, where the main engines were installed. The E-boats then continued on their own power towards Constanța, where refitting was completed.

The first two boats, ''S26'' and ''S28'', arrived in Constanța on 24 May 1942, the second pair, ''S72 and S102'' on 3 June, and the final pair, ''S27'' and ''S40'' 10 days later. After the sinking of ''S27'' by a malfunctioning torpedo, four more reserve boats, ''S47'', ''S49'', ''S51'' and ''S-52'' were dispatched to the Black Sea, in order to replace boats undergoing maintenance. ''S28'', ''S72'' and ''S102'' were soon relegated to the Constanța Shipyard for engine replacement, leaving only ''S26'' and the newly commissioned ''S49'' operational. On 1 January 1944, the 1st S-flotilla numbered six operational boats: ''S26'', ''S42'', ''S47'', ''S49'', ''S52'' and ''S79'', while ''S28'', ''S40'', ''S45'' and ''S51'' were all out of commission, undergoing repair in Constanța. Three more boats were shipped down the Danube and were being reconstructed at Constanța. On 1 June 1944, 8 boats were operational in Constanța: ''S28'', ''S40'', ''S47'', ''S49'', ''S72'', ''S131'', ''S148'' and ''S149''. The boats were however penned in harbor, due to fuel shortage. During July, ''S26'', ''S28'', ''S40'' and ''S42'' were transferred to Sulina at the mouth of the Danube, where ''S42'' was fitted with a new propeller. They were joined by ''S72'' in early August, the rest of the boats remaining in Constanța. On 19 August, ''S26'', ''S40'' and ''S72'' were destroyed in port by a Soviet air attack. On 22 August ''S148'' hit a mine and sank near Sulina, and on the following day, ''S42'', ''S52'' and ''S131'' were destroyed in Constanța by a Soviet air attack.Lawrence Paterson, ''Schnellboote: A Complete Operational History'', p. 261 What remained of the S-flotilla was disbanded after Romania switched sides on the same day.Lawrence Paterson, ''Schnellboote: A Complete Operational History'', p. 262

Yugoslav Navy

Eight E-boats were built by Lürssen, Vegesack for the Yugoslav Navy from 1936 to 1939. These were named ''Orjen'', ''Durmitor'', ''Suvobor'', ''Kajmakcalan'', ''Velebit'', ''Dinaira'', ''Rudnik'' and ''Triglav''. Each measured 28.00 (overall)/27.70 (waterline) x 4.46 x 1.51 m (91 ft 10in/90 ft 10in x 14 ft 4in x 4 ft 11in) and 51 tonnes standard (61.7 tonnes full load). Three Daimler-Benz BF2 petrol engines of 1,100 hp each = 3,300 hp = 33 kts, while they carried 5.8 tonnes of petrrol to give them a radius of 265 nmiles @ 33 knots. Each carried two 550mm torpedo tubes, a 40mm gun and 16 men. ''Kajmakcalan'' and ''Durmitor'' escaped to Alexandria in April 1941 to join the Allies; the other six fell into Italian hands and became ''Ms41'' to ''Ms46'', four of them eventually captured by the Germans and refitted with standard 533 mm torpedoes (see below under "''S2 '' class").

Italian MS boat

The poor seaworthiness of the Italian-designed MAS boats of World War I and early World War II led its navy to build its own version of E-boats, the CRDA 60 t type, classed MS (''Motosilurante''). The prototype was designed on the pattern of the six German-built E-boats captured from the Yugoslav Navy in 1941. Two of them sank the British light cruiser in August 1942, the largest warship to be sunk by fast torpedo craft in the Second World War.
After the war these boats served with the Italian Navy, some well into the 1970s.

Spanish Navy

The ''Kriegsmarine'' supplied the Spanish Francoist Navy with six E-boats (''S1'' to ''S6'') in December 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, and sold six more (''S73'', ''S78'', ''S124'', ''S125'', ''S126'' and ''S134'') to them in 1943 during the Second World War. Another six were built in Spain with some assistance from Lürssen. A motor boat of the early series, either the ''Falange'' or the ''Requeté'', laid two mines off Almería that crippled the British destroyer HMS ''Hunter'' on 13 May 1937. The German-built boats were discarded in the 1960s, while some of the Spanish-built ones served until the early 1970s.

China

The Chinese Nationalist Navy had three ''S7''-class boats during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
* ''Yue-22'' (''岳-22'')
* '' Yue-253'' (''岳-253'')
* '' Yue-371'' (''岳-371'')
''Yue-22'' was destroyed by Japanese planes, ''Yue-371'' was sunk by its sailors to avoid being captured by the Japanese soldiers, and ''Yue-253'' was captured by the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War. ''Yue-253'' was renamed "Hoiking" (海鯨), meaning "Seawhale" in Chinese. The People's Liberation Army Navy used it as a patrol boat until 1963.

The Chinese Nationalist government also ordered eight E-boats and a tender, ''Qi Jiguang'' (戚繼光). These were all taken over while under construction by the ''Kriegsmarine'' in 1939. The E-boats had MB502 diesels and were shorter (by 2.18m) than the standard ''S26'' design of boats. They were re-numbered as ''S30'' to ''S37'', while the ''Qi Jiguang'' was renamed '' Tanga''.

Romanian Navy

Germany sold four E-boats to Romania on 14 August 1944. These vessels displaced 65 tons, had a top speed of 30 knots generated by three Mercedes-Benz engines totalling and were armed with two 500 mm (19.685 in) torpedo tubes. Each of the four boats had a crew of 25. They were numbered 10 to 13 (formerly ''S151'', ''S152'', ''S153'' and ''S154'') and served in the Romanian Navy until at least 1954.

Post-war service

Royal Navy

At the end of the war about 34 E-boats were surrendered to the British. Three boats, ''S130'' (renamed ''P5230''), ''S208'' (''P5208'') and ''S212'' (''P5212'') were retained for trials.

= Operation Jungle

=

The Gehlen Organization, an intelligence agency established by American occupation authorities in Germany in 1946 and manned by former members of the Wehrmacht's '' Fremde Heere Ost'' (Foreign Armies East), used the Royal Navy's E-boats in order to infiltrate its agents into the Baltic states and Poland. Royal Navy Commander Anthony Courtney was struck by the potential capabilities of former E-boat hulls, and John Harvey-Jones of the Naval Intelligence Division was put in charge of the project. He discovered that the Royal Navy still had two E-boats, ''P5230'' and ''P5208'', and had them sent to Portsmouth, where one of them, ''P5230'' (ex-''S130''), was modified to reduce its weight and increase its power with the installation of two Napier Deltic engines of each.

Lieutenant-Commander was assigned to command a German crew, recruited by the British MI6 and funded by the American Office of Policy Coordination. The missions were assigned the codename " Operation Jungle". The boats carried out their missions under the cover of the British Control Commission's Fishery Protection Service, which was responsible for preventing Soviet navy vessels from interfering with German fishing boats and for destroying stray mines. The home port of the boats was Kiel, and operated under the supervision of Harvey-Jones. Manned by Klose and his crew, they usually departed for the island of Bornholm waving the White Ensign, where they would hoist the Swedish flag for a dash to Gotland, and there they would wait for orders from Hamburg. The first mission consisted in the landing of Lithuanian agents at Palanga, Lithuania, in May 1949, and the last one took place in April 1955 in Saaremaa, Estonia. During the last two years of the operation, three new German-built motorboats replaced the old E-boats. Klose was later assigned the command of a patrol boat in the '' Bundesmarine'' and became commander-in-chief of the fleet before his retirement in 1978.Adams, Jefferson (2009)''. Historical Dictionary of German Intelligence''. Scarecrow Press, pp. 234-35.

Royal Danish Navy

In 1947, the Danish navy bought twelve former Kriegsmarine boats. These were further augmented in 1951 by six units bought from the Royal Norwegian Navy. The last unit, the P568 ''Viben'', was retired in 1965.

Royal Norwegian Navy

After World War II, the Norwegian Navy received a number of former Kriegsmarine boats. Six boats were transferred to Denmark in 1951.

Operators

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Survivor

There is just one surviving E-boat, identified as ''S130''. It was built as hull No. 1030 at the Schlichting boatyard in Travemünde. ''S130'' was commissioned on 21 October 1943 and took an active part in the war, participating in the Exercise Tiger attack and attacks on the D-Day invasion fleet.

According to Dutch military historian Maurice Laarman:

In 1945, ''S130'' was taken as a British war prize (FPB 5030) and put to use in covert operations. Under the guise of the "British Baltic Fishery Protection Service", the British Secret Intelligence Service MI-6 ferried spies and agents into Eastern Europe. Beginning in May 1949, MI-6 used ''S208'', (Kommandant Hans-Helmut Klose) to insert agents into Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland. The operations were very successful and continued under a more permanent organisation based in Hamburg. In 1952, ''S130'' joined the operation and the mission was enlarged to include signal intelligence (SIGINT) equipment. In 1954/55, ''S130'' and ''S208'' were replaced by a new generation of German S-boote.

''S130'' was returned to the newly formed Bundesmarine in March 1957, and operated under the number ''UW 10''. Serving initially in the ''Unterwasserwaffenschule'' training sailors in underwater weaponry such as mines and torpedoes, she later became a test boat under the name EF 3.

''S130'' was on display in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, having formerly been used as a houseboat.

''S130'' was purchased and towed from Wilhelmshaven to the Husbands Shipyard, Marchwood, Southampton, England in January 2003, under the auspices of the British Military Powerboat Trust. In 2004, ''S130'' was taken to the slipway at Hythe, where, under the supervision of the BMPT, she was prepared and then towed to Mashfords yard in Cremyll, Cornwall, England to await funding for restoration. In 2008, ''S130'', having been purchased by the Wheatcroft Collection, was set up ashore at Southdown in Cornwall to undergo restoration work involving Roving Commissions Ltd. In July 2020, ''S130'' was still awaiting restoration, with the intention that upon completion it would be a museum-ship at the Richmond dry docks in Bideford, Devon.

Variants and vessels

The ''Schnellboot'' design evolved over time. The first groups had a pair of torpedo tubes fitted on the foredeck, but from ''S26'' onwards the forecastle had been raised so that the torpedo tubes were built into the structure.

''S1''

The first post-WW1 torpedo boat was ordered in November 1929 to be built by Lürssen at Vegesack, near Bremen, in 1930 as their Yard No. 12120, using mahogany and light metal composite. Originally numbered as ''UZ(S)16'', it was commissioned into the Reichmarine on 7 August 1930. It was renamed ''W1'' on 31 March 1931, and then as ''S1'' on 16 March 1932. It measured 26.8 x 4.2 x 1.06 metres (87 ft x 13 ft 9in x 3 ft 6in) and had a displacement of 39 tons standard (50 tons full load). Powered by three Daimler-Benz BF2 12-cylinder 900 hp petrol engines on three shafts, with a rating of 2,700 bhp, it had a sustained speed of 34.2 knots (maximum 39.8 knots). It carried two 500mm (19.685 inch) torpedo tubes and one 20mm flak gun. It had a complement of 12 (later 18) men. Along with the next five boats (''S2'' to ''S6''), it was stricken on 10 December 1936 and sold to Spain as ''Badajoz'' (renamed ''LT15'' in 1939).

The number ''S1'' was re-used in 1939. Five boats had been ordered by Bulgaria from Lürssen, Vegesack, of which the first four were delivered as ''F1'' to ''F4''. The fifth boat was retained in Germany and given the number ''S1''. These were petrol-engined boats, similar to the ''S2'' class built for the Kriegsmarine. Although commissioned in 1939, its petrol engines gave frequent problems, and on 10 September 1940 its stern was rammed (by ''S13'') in Vlissingen, and was later removed from active service.

''S2'' class

The first production of the E-boat in 1931, a lengthened version of the prototype ''S1''. The first two were ordered from Lürssen on 28 April 1931 and the other two on 16 July 1931. Each measured 27.95 x 4.2 x 1.06 metres (91 ft 8in x 13 ft 9in x 3 ft 6in) and had a displacement of 46.5 tons standard (58 tons full load). Powered by Daimler-Benz petrol engines on three shafts, with a rating of 3,300 bhp, they had a speed of 33.8 knots. Armament and men as in ''S1''. They formed a "Half Flotilla" and were used for training crews for later E-boats; all were stricken on 10 December 1936 (along with ''S1'') for transfer to Spain.

The numbers ''S2'' to ''S5'' were re-used in 1943. Eight petrol-engined boats similar to the original ''S2'' class had been ordered from Lürssen, Vegesack, and completed in 1937-39 for that navy as ''Orjen'', ''Durmitor'', ''Suvobor'', ''Kajmakcalan'', ''Velebit'', ''Dinaira'', ''Rudnik'' and ''Triglav''. When Italy occupied Yugoslavia in April 1941, two of them (''Durmitor'' and ''Kajmakcalan'') escaped to Alexandria and served with the Allied forces, while the other six were commissioned into the Italian Navy as ''Ms41'' to ''Ms46''.Aldo Fraccaroli, ''Italian Warships of World War II'', Ian Allan, 1968. In September 1943 ''Ms41'' (ex ''Orjen'') at Monfalcone and ''Ms45'' (ex ''Suvobor'') at Cattolica were scuttled, while the other four were captured by the Germans on 9 September and renamed ''S2'' (ex ''Velebit''), ''S3'' (ex ''Dinara''), ''S4'' (ex ''Triglav'') and ''S5'' (ex ''Rudnik''); all four were scuttled by the Germans at Salonika in October 1944.

''S6''

The first diesel-powered boat was also ordered from Lürssen, Vegesack on 28 August 1932. Its dimensions and other details were the same as for ''S7'' to ''S9''. It was stricken and sold to Spain on 10 December 1936 (together with the preceding petrol-engined boats) and renamed ''Toledo'' (renamed ''LT14'' in 1939 and stricken in 1942).

''S7'' class

Built from 1933 onwards. Similar to ''S6'', but with an improved hull form, these were the first operational diesel boats. The first three, ordered (together with ''S6'') on 26 August 1932, were fitted with MAN L7 19/30 diesels on three shafts giving a speed of 36.5 knots and measured 75.8 tonnes standard (95 tonnes full load), while the last four - ordered on 20 July 1932 - were equipped with the more reliable Daimler-Benz MB502 diesels of 3,960 hp to produce 35 knots, and were 78 tonnes standard (92 tonnes full load). They had a fuel capacity of 10.5 tonnes, giving them a radius of 600 miles @ 30 knots. All measured 32.36 x 5.06 x 1.36 m (106 ft 2in x 16 ft 6in x 4 ft 6in) except that ''S10'' to ''S13'' had a draught of 1.42m (4 ft 8in). These carried the larger 533mm (21-inch) torpedoes rather than the 500mm of the petrol-driven boats; two torpedo tubes were mounted on the forecastle, and the boats also carried a single 20mm MgC/30 gun, with a crew of 18 (later 21) men.

''S14'' class

Improved ''S7'' type, ordered on 16 July 1934 (first two) and 5 November 1935 (last two) with new MAN L11 (11-cylinder) engines producing 6,150 hp, which proved unsatisfactory. Enlarged hull, measuring 34.62 x 5.26 x 1.67 m (113 ft 7in x 17 ft 3in x 5 ft 6in) and displacing 92.5 tonnes standard (105.4 tonnes full load). After ''S17'' was broken up, the surviving three boats were transferred to the Fast A/S Group in 1940.

''S18'' class

Built from 1937 onwards. Two new boats were ordered on 21 December 1936 (''S18'' and ''S19'') and six more boats (''S20'' to ''S25'') on 29 December 1937. Almost identical to the ''S14'' class, but with 3 Mercedes Benz MB501 engines (of total 6,000 hp) instead of MAN engines. The bridge, which had been in front of the wheelhouse on earlier designs, was raised to the wheelhouse roof to increase all-round visibility.

1938 orders

In May 1938 it was planned to order six additional boats every year until 1943 (thus providing a projected ''S26'' to ''S61''). However, a speeding-up of production was decided on. Twelve additional boats were ordered - all from Lürssen - in August 1938. These were of two different models, due to accommodating different Daimler-Benz diesels.

''S26'' class

The larger type (''S26'' to ''S29''), were ordered on 2 August, and entered service in 1940. Beginning with this model, the two torpedo tubes on the foredeck were encased within a high forecastle deck. This type were slightly lengthened from the ''S18'' design so that the engine compartments could accommodate the larger 20-cylinder diesels, they measured 34.94 x 5.28 x 1.67 m (114 ft 8in x 17 ft 4in x 5 ft 6in), giving a displacement of 92.5 tons (112 tons full load). These dimensions would be retained for all subsequent boats (except for the somewhat smaller ''S30'' class), as the basic design and layout would remain unchanged. The three Daimler Benz engines each produced 2,000 hp for a total rating of 6,000 hp, providing 39 knots.

''S30'' class

The other eight boats (''S30'' to ''S37'') were 2.18 m (7 ft 2in) shorter than the ''S26'' type and 22 cm (8.66 in) narrower. This is because their engines were the 16-cylinder (2,000 hp) Daimler-Benz MB502 diesels. They were originally ordered on 9 August (a week after ''S26'' to ''S29'') for the Chinese (Nationalist) Navy (the last two initially from Naglo, Berlin, but the contract was later switched to Lürssen), and were sequestered for use by the Kriegsmarine. As they were already under construction at the outbreak of war, they were mostly completed before the ''S26'' type boats.

1939 orders

24 more boats were ordered - all from Lürssen (''S44'' and ''S45'' were first scheduled to be built by Stettiner Oderwerk, but in the event all of this batch were contracted to Lürssen - on 24 September 1939. The pre-war Mobilisation New Construction Programme had called for 48 new boats per year, but this target was raised to 60 boats in September 1939 by the Naval War Staff. They called for a fleet level of 40 to 50 operational boats, with 16 being built annually as replacements. Sixteen were virtually identical with the ''S26'' type (measuring 34.94 m in length and with 20-cylinder MB501 diesels), other than simplified ventilators and other minor changes.ADM 223/28. ''German E-boat Operations and Policy 1939-1945'' (compiled in 1948 by the Foreign Documents Section of the Admiralty Tactical and Staff Duties Division - based on German war diaries and naval war staff records captured in 1945 - the ''Tambach Archive''). This design was to provide almost all of the ''Schnellboote'' built in Germany for the rest of the war.

While until this date all boats had been procured from Lürssen, but the German Navy had been seeking a second yard to add to its construction capacity, and on 25 September a contract for eight boats (numbered from ''S101'' to ''S108'') to the standard ''S26'' design was awarded to Schlichting-Werfk at Travemünde. This second builder was assigned a new series of numbers in the "101 range to distinguish them from the Lürssen boats.

Following the outbreak of war, another eight boats were ordered from Lürssen on 14 November 1939 to the same ''Schnellboot 1939'' design as the ''S30'' group (measuring 32.76 m in length and with 16-cylinder MB502 diesels),

1940 orders

On 4 June 1940 a further batch of boats to the ''S26'' design was ordered. This comprised 8 boats from Lürssen (''S62'' to ''S69'') and 9 boats from Schlichting (''S109'' to ''S117''). ''S67'' introduced an improved design with a partially armour-plated cupola (the ''Kalotte'' or ''skull cap'') over the bridge, providing protection from weather as well as small arms fire, with a lower profile. From 1943 orders onwards, this armoured bridge became standard, and was also retro-fitted to many of the earlier boats. Various armaments were carried including 40 mm Bofors or 20 mm Flak aft, MG34 ''Zwillingsockel'' midships.
(Note the designation '38b' sometimes seen is not Kriegsmarine nomenclature and originated in a postwar American hobby publication).

Following the German occupation of France in June 1940, the Naval War Staff decided that 160 E-boats were now needed (comprising 26 flotillas), with 8 flotillas based in France and 6 each in Norway, the Baltic and the North Sea. On 26 August an additional four boats (''S70'' to ''S73'') were ordered from Lürssen, and in December Schlichting were given another order, this time for eight boats (''S118'' to ''S125''),

1941 orders

Another 40 boats were ordered in 1941, 16 from Lürssen on 3 January (numbered ''S74'' to ''S89''), another 16 from the same yard on 18 September (numbered ''S90'' to ''S100'' and from ''S134'' to ''S138'') and 8 from Schlichting at Travemünde (''S126'' to ''S133''), also on 18 September.

1942 orders

Orders for a further 16 boats were given to Lürssen on 24 February 1942. The first 12 of these were numbered ''S139'' to ''S150''; the next sixteen numbers were allocated to construction at Schiedam in Holland, so the final four of the Lürssen batch were numbered ''S167'' to ''S170''.

''S151'' class

Eight smaller torpedo boats were building for the Dutch Navy at Gusto Werf, Schiedam (near Rotterdam) as ''TM54'' to ''TM61'' inclusive. When Holland was occupied by the Germans, these were seized and completed (with some design modifications) by German and Dutch shipyard workers and renumbered as ''S151'' to ''S158''. They measured 28.3 x 4.46 metres (92 ft 10in x 14 ft 7in), displacing 57 tons. Originally the Germans planned to sell these to Bulgaria, and they were formed as the new 7th S-flotilla in October 1941, but the Kriegsmarine's need for them in the Mediterranean had caused them to be sent south via the French inland waterways. They were authorised to transfer to the Mediterranean on 15 July 1942, and arrived there on 8 October, finally reaching Augusta, Sicily on 15 December, when they became operational.Lawrence Paterson, ''Schnellboote: A Complete Operational History'', p. 194

Eight further vessels had been intended by the Dutch Navy as ''TM62'' to ''TM70'', and material had been collected for their construction at Schiedam. They were cancelled with the German occupation in May 1940; they were re-ordered (as ''S159'' to ''S166'') from Gusto Werf on 11 July 1941, but construction of these stopped in April 1942.

Continuation of ''S139'' batch

All these were part of the order placed on 24 February 1942, and the first three were identical to ''S139'' batch. However the final boat, ''S170'', was the prototype (along with ''S228'' at Travemünde) for the final series of boats ordered in December 1943 (few of which were completed) with the first MB518 engines of 3,000 hp for evaluation; her details were the same as for that final series of orders.

1943 orders

Needing to increase production, orders for two batches of vessels were placed during the first half of 1943, totalling sixty boats. An order for sixteen boats was placed with Lürssen's yard on 15 January 1943 (''S171'' to ''S186''), and another order for eight boats with Schlichting at Travemünde on the same day (''S187'' to ''S194''). On 7 May another batch was ordered from the same builders - twenty-four from Lürssen (''S195'' to ''S218'') and twelve from Schlichting (''S219'' to ''S230''), although the final two from the Schlichting order were seemingly deferred, to be re-included in the much larger order placed in December.

Like the ''S139'' batch, almost all of these were a metre longer than the original ''S26'' class in order to have room to fit the new supercharged MB511 engines. The sole exception was ''S228'' - the final boat from this batch to be completed at Travemünde, which was that yard's prototype for the final mass series which were ordered in December 1943, built to carry the new MB518 diesels, and was thus the equivalent test-bed at that yard to ''S170'' from Lürssen. All the other 57 boats completed from this batch had MB 511 diesels fitted.

The final batch ordered on 4 December 1943 comprised a massive total of 282 units - ''S229'' to ''S260'' (32 boats) from Schlichting; ''S301'' to ''S425'' (125 boats) from Lürssen; and ''S701'' to ''S825'' (125 boats) from Danziger Waggon at Danzig. The first four of the Schlichting boats (''S229'' to ''S230'') were completed by April 1945 but not placed into service; these were presumably broken up in the shipyard following the cessation of hostilities. Of the projected numbers from the other two builders only the first five from Lürssen and 9 from Danzig were completed. Another seven were launched but not completed; these were scuttled in the North Sea, while fourteen more were scrapped in the Lürssen shipyard (''S308'' to ''S328'') and others at Travemünde and Danzig. The remainder were all cancelled.

''S501'' class

These small ex-Italian Navy boats of the Baglietto fast type (or ''MAS526'' type) were taken over by the Germans in the Black Sea on 20 May 1943. The first seven of these measured 18.7 x 4.7 x 1.5 m (61 ft 4in x 15 ft 5in x 4 ft 11in) and displaced 25.2 tons (29.4 tons full load). These 2-shaft boats were driven by 2 Isotta-Fraschini petrol engines of 2,000 hp to reach 42 knots. They carried two 450mm torpedoes plus one MG or 20mm gun, and 6 depth charges, with a crew of 10. All 7 were transferred to the Romania in August 1943, but seized by the USSR on 5 September 1943.

''S601'' class

Further small ex-Italian Navy boats of the Baglietto fast type (of various classes) were taken over by the Germans.

''S700'' class

Late war design proposal with stern torpedo tubes and 30 mm gun turret forward. These were intended to be slightly larger, of prefabricated construction, and to be propelled by the supercharged MB518 engines. They were to have carried two stern-firing torpedo tubes in addition to the usual two bow tubes, with a special 30mm gun in a bow turret. These were ordered from Danziger Waggonfabrik at Danzig on 4 December 1943 as ''S701'' to ''S825'' (125 boats), but only the first nine boats were built, and these were completed to ''S100'' design specification with MB511 diesel engines after the production of the MB518 engine was cancelled due to Allied bombing. The other boats were cancelled or scrapped unfinished in the shipyard.

In the 1944 Programme it was intended to increase production of E-boats to deliver 150 boats per annum, but this level was never achieved. In November 1944 there were 292 boats on order, of which 138 were under construction, usually awaiting delivery of the new MB518 engines, while the other 154 boats were unstarted. Eventually, as the ability to provide engines increased, only 19 of the 138 boats were actually completed.

KS-boats (''Kleinst Schnellboote''), originally KM-series (''Küstenminenleger'')

A class of small fast attack craft designed as offensive mine-layers (rated ''Küstenminenleger''), able to carry up to 4 mines, and to operate close to enemy shores. They measured 15.95 x 3.50 x 1.10 m (52 ft 4in x 11 ft 6in x 3 ft 7in); 15/16 tonnes standard (18/19 tonnes full load). Powered by 2 BMW MB507 12-cylinder aero engines producing 1,650 hp (32 knots), although four boats (nos. 1, 2, 5 and 6) had two Junkers 4-cylinder diesels of 1,500 hp to produce speeds of 30/40.9 knots; radius 225 miles at 25 knots. A total of 36 were ordered (most on 29 and 31 July 1940, but ''KM1'' to ''KM4'' were ordered on 26 August, and ''KM25'' and ''KM26'' on 11 October 1940), but as their engines proved unreliable, they were not used in their intended role and instead most were employed in lakes and rivers, being attached to the Peipusee Flotilla (''KM3'' to the Ladogasee Flotilla). As minelayers they carried four TMB mines and a single Mg39 gun, plus a crew of 6. 21 boats were equipped with 2 x 450mm fixed stern torpedo tubes replacing the mines, and were reclassed as KS-boats (''Kleinst Schnellboote''), retaining their original numbers but replacing the "KM" prefix by "KS".

Of the unreclassified boats, ''KM27'' to ''KM30'' were all sunk by Soviet aircraft in the Gulf of Bothnia during 1943.

LS-boats (''Leichte Schnellboote'')

Another class of even smaller fast attack boat, not intended to operate independently, but to be based on auxiliary cruisers or other vessels operating in overseas areas. They measured 12.50 x 3.46 x 1.02 m (41 ft x 11 ft 4in x 3 ft 4in). These 2-shaft boats weighed 11.5 - 13 tons. The first six were powered by two Junkers 6-cyl JuMo205 aircraft engines, they reached 38 knots. Later boats had two Daimler-Benz MB507 12-cyl diesels of 2,000 hp reaching 40.9 knots, and with an endurance of 300 miles at 30 knots. They carried two 450mm torpedo tubes (instead of up to 4 mines), but had depth charges and a single 20mm MG (in an enclosed turret), plus 7 men. A total of 34 of these boats were ordered, the prototype from Naglo Werft, Berlin, and all the others from Dornier Werft, Friedrichshafen, but the prototype was not completed and only the next eleven were completed; another six (''LS13'' to ''LS18'') were taken over by France incomplete following the war's end, and completed for them; the final 16 (''LS19'' to ''LS34'') were cancelled in 1944.

Source: https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/index.html

See also

* Daimler-Benz DB 602, V-16 diesel aero-engine that was developed into the MB502 and MB501.
* Fast Attack Craft War Badge
* List of Knight's Cross recipients of the Schnellboot service
* R boat
* Steam gun boat

Notes

References

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External links

World War II Schnellboot, or E-boat






Five part video podcast documentary about S130 on www.pod3.tv
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Boat types
Cold War patrol vessels of Germany
Motor torpedo boats of the Kriegsmarine
World War II naval ships of Germany
Ships built in Germany
World War II naval ships of Romania
World War II naval ships of China
Ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy
Ships built in Romania