Type s 26 torpedo boat. Torpedo boat. Interesting and little-known historical facts

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S-100 Klasse (1945): master of the seas

German "schnellboats" - fast torpedo boats - became a symbol of German naval dominance in the waters of several seas and, of course, in the English Channel.
We will talk about one of these boats today.

The S-100 class torpedo boat of 1945 is a real child of the war. The boat was created in 1943, taking into account the experience of military operations in the English Channel against the military and merchant fleets of Great Britain. As a result of long studies and experiments, German engineers created an excellent torpedo boat for active combat operations and patrolling sea areas and straits, in which many shortcomings of early class boats were taken into account and corrected. For the design of the boat, shipbuilders chose wood as a light, elastic and reliable material. The wooden structures of the ship were made of different breeds wood - oak, cedar, mahogany, Oregon pine. The double casing of wooden sheathing was divided by metal bulkheads into 8 watertight compartments. The cabin of boats of this class was armored, the thickness of the steel sheets is 12 mm, which is a good anti-bullet and anti-fragmentation protection. In addition, the air cooling device used to supercharge the engines was protected by armor. Three engines, 2500-horsepower Mercedes-Benz diesels, were located in two independent engine compartments. Sufficiently heavy for a torpedo boat, the S-100 could nevertheless accelerate to a speed of 42.5 knots (almost 80 km/h)!

The armament of the boat was dictated by the combat missions it performed, the main of which was the destruction of enemy ships of almost any type and class. This “schnellbot” performed this task with the help of torpedo and artillery weapons - the S-100 was equipped with two tubes for torpedoes of 533 mm caliber, and each torpedo tube could be reloaded with one more torpedo right in a combat campaign. The boat had excellent artillery equipment - one automatic 37-mm cannon (analogous to the famous FlaK36 anti-aircraft gun), one twin and one single installation of 20-mm C / 38 cannons, which were successfully used against both aircraft and ships. In addition to this arsenal, rifle-caliber machine guns could be mounted on the sides of the armored tube, and a twin depth charge release mechanism was located at the stern.

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IN War Thunder The S-100 class torpedo boat is a fast, dangerous machine that has a downright futuristic design compared to its classmates. Like most torpedo-artillery boats of the second half of the war, this “schnellboat” is suitable for almost all tasks in naval battles. The owners of the boat will be especially pleased with the ammunition load of 4 torpedoes and the excellent 37-mm cannon, the high-explosive shells of which remarkably perforate the sides of the opponents, causing fires and breakdowns of internal modules.

The idea to use a torpedo boat in combat first appeared in the First World War with the British command, but the British failed to achieve the desired effect. Further, the Soviet Union spoke on the use of small mobile ships in military attacks.

History reference

A torpedo boat is a small warship designed to destroy warships and transport ships with projectiles. During the Second World War, it was repeatedly used in hostilities with the enemy.

By that time, the naval forces of the major Western powers had a small number of such boats, but their construction increased rapidly by the time hostilities began. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, there were almost 270 boats equipped with torpedoes. During the war, more than 30 models of torpedo boats were created and more than 150 were received from the allies.

The history of the creation of a torpedo ship

Back in 1927, the TsAGI team carried out the development of the project of the first Soviet torpedo ship, headed by A.N. Tupolev. The ship was given the name "Pervenets" (or "ANT-3"). It had the following parameters (unit of measurement - meter): length 17.33; width 3.33 and draft 0.9. The strength of the vessel was 1200 hp. s., tonnage - 8.91 tons, speed - as much as 54 knots.

The armament that was on board consisted of a 450 mm torpedo, two machine guns and two mines. Pilot production boat in mid-July 1927 became part of the Black Sea naval forces. They continued to work at the institute, improving the units, and in the first month of the autumn of 1928, the ANT-4 serial boat was ready. Until the end of 1931, dozens of ships were launched into the water, which they called "Sh-4". Soon, the first formations of torpedo boats arose in the Black Sea, Far Eastern and Baltic military districts. The Sh-4 ship was not ideal, and the fleet management ordered a new boat from TsAGI in 1928, which was later called the G-5. It was a completely new ship.

Torpedo ship model "G-5"

The G-5 planing vessel was tested in December 1933. The ship had a metal hull and was considered the best in the world both in terms of technical characteristics and armament. Serial production of "G-5" refers to 1935. By the beginning of World War II, it was the basic type of boats in the USSR. The speed of the torpedo boat was 50 knots, the power was 1700 hp. with., and were armed with two machine guns, two 533 mm torpedoes and four mines. Over the course of ten years, more than 200 units of various modifications were produced.

During the Great Patriotic War, the G-5 boats hunted enemy ships, guarded ships, carried out torpedo attacks, landed troops, and escorted trains. The disadvantage of torpedo boats was the dependence of their work on weather conditions. They could not be at sea when its excitement reached more than three points. There were also inconveniences with the placement of paratroopers, as well as with the transportation of goods associated with the lack of a flat deck. In this regard, before the war itself, new models of long-range boats "D-3" with a wooden hull and "SM-3" with a steel hull were created.

Torpedo leader

Nekrasov, who was the head of the experimental design team for the development of gliders, and Tupolev in 1933 developed the design of the G-6 ship. He was the leader among the available boats. According to the documentation, the vessel had the following parameters:

• displacement 70 tons;
• six 533 mm torpedoes;
• eight motors of 830 hp from.;
• speed 42 knots.

Three torpedoes were fired from torpedo tubes located at the stern and having the shape of a chute, and the next three from a three-tube torpedo tube that could turn and was located on the deck of the ship. In addition, the boat had two cannons and several machine guns.

Gliding torpedo ship "D-3"

USSR torpedo boats of the D-3 brand were produced at the Leningrad plant and Sosnovsky, which was located in the Kirov region. There were only two boats of this type in the Northern Fleet when the Great Patriotic War began. In 1941, another 5 ships were produced at the Leningrad plant. Only starting from 1943, domestic and allied models began to enter service.

The D-3 ships, unlike the previous G-5s, could operate at a farther (up to 550 miles) distance from the base. The speed of the torpedo boat of the new brand ranged from 32 to 48 knots, depending on the engine power. Another feature of the "D-3" was that they can make a volley while stationary, and from the "G-5" units - only at a speed of at least 18 knots, otherwise the fired missile could hit the ship. On board were:

• two torpedoes 533 mm sample of the thirty-ninth year:
• two DShK machine guns;
• gun "Oerlikon";
• coaxial machine gun "Colt Browning".

The hull of the ship "D-3" was divided by four partitions into five waterproof compartments. Unlike boats of the G-5 type, the D-3 was equipped with better navigation equipment, and a group of paratroopers could move freely on the deck. The boat could take on board up to 10 people, who were accommodated in heated compartments.

Torpedo ship "Komsomolets"

On the eve of World War II, torpedo boats in the USSR were further developed. Designers continued to design new and improved models. So a new boat called "Komsomolets" appeared. Its tonnage was the same as that of the G-5, and the tube torpedo tubes were more advanced, and it could carry more powerful anti-aircraft anti-submarine weapons. For the construction of ships, voluntary donations from Soviet citizens were attracted, hence their names appeared, for example, "Leningrad Worker", and other similar names.

The hull of the ships, released in 1944, was made of duralumin. The interior of the boat included five compartments. On the sides on the underwater part, keels were installed to reduce pitching, the trough torpedo tubes were replaced with tube tubes. Seaworthiness increased to four points. Armament included:

• torpedoes in the amount of two pieces;
• four machine guns;
• depth bombs (six pieces);
• smoke equipment.

The cabin, which housed seven crew members, was made of an armored seven-millimeter sheet. World War II torpedo boats, especially Komsomolets, distinguished themselves in the spring battles of 1945, when Soviet troops approached Berlin.

The path of the USSR to create gliders

The Soviet Union was the only major maritime country that built ships of this type. Other powers switched to the creation of keel boats. During the calm, the speed of the red-lined vessels was significantly higher than that of the keel ones, with a wave of 3-4 points - on the contrary. In addition, keeled boats could carry more powerful weapons.

Mistakes made by engineer Tupolev

The float of a seaplane was taken as a basis in torpedo boats (Tupolev's project). Its top, which affected the strength of the device, was used by the designer on the boat. The upper deck of the vessel was replaced by a convex and steeply curved surface. It was impossible for a person to stay on deck even when the boat was at rest. When the ship was moving, it was completely impossible for the crew to leave the cockpit, everything that was on it was thrown off the surface. In wartime, when it was necessary to transport troops on the G-5, the servicemen were put into the gutters that the torpedo tubes have. Despite the good buoyancy of the vessel, it is impossible to transport any cargo on it, since there is no place to place it. The design of the torpedo tube, which was borrowed from the British, was unsuccessful. The lowest ship speed at which torpedoes were fired is 17 knots. At rest and at a lower speed, a salvo of a torpedo was impossible, since it would hit the boat.

Military German torpedo boats

During the First World War, in order to fight the British monitors in Flanders, the German fleet had to think about creating new means of fighting the enemy. They found a way out, and in 1917, in the month of April, the first small one was built, having torpedo armament. The length of the wooden hull was a little over 11 m. The ship was propelled by two carburetor engines, which overheated already at a speed of 17 knots. When it was increased to 24 knots, strong splashes appeared. One 350 mm torpedo tube was installed in the bow, shots could be fired at a speed of no more than 24 knots, otherwise the boat hit the torpedo. Despite the shortcomings, the German torpedo ships entered mass production.

All ships had a wooden hull, the speed reached 30 knots in a wave of three points. The crew consisted of seven people, on board there was one 450 mm torpedo tube and a machine gun with a rifle caliber. By the time the armistice was signed, there were 21 boats in the Kaiser fleet.

Worldwide, after the end of the First World War, there was a decline in the production of torpedo ships. Only in 1929, in November, the German company "Fr. Lyursen" accepted the order for the construction combat boat. Released vessels were improved several times. The German command was not satisfied with the use of gasoline engines on ships. While the designers were working to replace them with hydrodynamics, other designs were being finalized all the time.

German torpedo boats of World War II

Even before the outbreak of World War II, the naval leadership of Germany set a course for the production of combat boats with torpedoes. Requirements were developed for their shape, equipment and maneuverability. By 1945, it was decided to build 75 ships.

Germany was the third largest exporter of torpedo boats in the world. Before the start of the war, German shipbuilding was working on the implementation of Plan Z. Accordingly, the German fleet had to be solidly re-equipped and have a large number of ships with carriers torpedo weapons. With the outbreak of hostilities in the fall of 1939, the planned plan was not fulfilled, and then the production of boats increased sharply, and by May 1945, almost 250 units of Schnellbotov-5 alone were put into operation.

Boats with a hundred-ton carrying capacity and improved seaworthiness were built in 1940. Warships were designated starting with "S38". It was the main weapon of the German fleet in the war. The armament of the boats was as follows:

• two torpedo tubes with two to four missiles;
• two thirty-millimeter anti-aircraft weapons.

The maximum speed of the vessel is 42 knots. 220 ships were involved in the battles of World War II. German boats on the battlefield behaved bravely, but not recklessly. In the last few weeks of the war, the ships were involved in the evacuation of refugees to their homeland.

Germans with a keel

In 1920, despite the economic crisis, a check was made in Germany on the work of keel and row ships. As a result of this work, the only conclusion was made - to build exclusively keel boats. At the meeting of Soviet and German boats, the latter won. During the fighting in the Black Sea in 1942-1944, not a single German boat with a keel was drowned.

Interesting and little-known historical facts

Not everyone knows that the Soviet torpedo boats that were used during the Second World War were huge floats from seaplanes.

In June 1929, aircraft designer A. Tupolev began the construction of a planing vessel of the ANT-5 brand, equipped with two torpedoes. The ongoing tests showed that the ships have such a speed that the ships of other countries could not develop. The military authorities were pleased with this fact.

In 1915, the British designed a small boat with great speed. Sometimes it was called a "floating torpedo tube".

Soviet military leaders could not afford to use Western experience in designing ships with torpedo launchers, believing that our boats were better.

The ships built by Tupolev had an aviation origin. This is reminiscent of the special configuration of the hull and the ship's plating, made of duralumin material.

Conclusion

Torpedo boats (photo below) had many advantages over other types of warships:

• small size;
• high speed;
• great maneuverability;
• a small number of people;
• minimum supply requirement.

The ships could go out, attack with torpedoes and quickly hide in sea waters. Thanks to all these advantages, they were a formidable weapon for the enemy.

Torpedo boats are fast small-sized and fast ships, whose main weapons are self-propelled warheads - torpedoes.

The progenitors of boats with torpedoes on board were the Russian mine ships Chesma and Sinop. Combat experience in military conflicts from 1878 to 1905 revealed a number of shortcomings. The desire to correct the disadvantages of boats has led to two directions in the development of ships:

1. Dimensions and displacement have been increased. This was done in order to equip the boats with more powerful torpedoes, strengthen artillery, and increase seaworthiness.
2. The ships were small in size, their design was lighter, so maneuverability and speed became an advantage and the main characteristics.

The first direction gave birth to such types of ships as. The second direction led to the appearance of the first torpedo boats.

Mine boat “Chamsa”

The first torpedo boats

One of the first torpedo boats were created by the British. They were called boats "40-pound" and "55-pound". They very successfully and actively participated in the hostilities in 1917.

The first models had a number of characteristics:

• Small displacement of water - from 17 to 300 tons;
• A small number of torpedoes on board - from 2 to 4;
• High speed from 30 to 50 knots;
• Light auxiliary weapon - machine gun from 12 to 40 - mm;
• unprotected design.

Torpedo boats of World War II

At the beginning of the war, boats of this class were not very popular among the participating countries. But during the war years, their number increased by 7-10 times. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, developed the construction of light ships, and by the beginning of hostilities, the fleet had approximately 270 torpedo-type boats in service.

Small ships were used in conjunction with aviation and other equipment. In addition to the main task - attacking ships, the boats had the functions of scouts and sentinels, guarded convoys off the coast, laid mines, and attacked submarines in coastal zones. They were also used as a vehicle for transporting ammunition, landing, and played the role of minesweepers for bottom mines.

Here are the main representatives of torpedo boats in the war:

1. Boats of England MTV, the speed of which was 37 knots. Such boats were equipped with two single-tube devices for torpedoes, two machine guns and four depth mines.
2. German boats, the displacement of which was 115 thousand kilograms, a length of almost 35 meters and a speed of 40 knots. The armament of the German boat consisted of two devices for torpedo shells and two automatic anti-aircraft guns.
3. The Italian MAS boats of the Balletto design organization developed a speed of up to 43-45 knots. They were equipped with two 450-mm torpedo launchers, one 13-caliber machine-gun mount and six bombs.
4. A twenty-meter torpedo boat of the G-5 type, created in the USSR, had a number of characteristics: The displacement of water was about 17 thousand kilograms; Developed a stroke of up to 50 knots; It was equipped with two torpedoes and two small-caliber machine guns.
5. The PT 103 torpedo-class boats, in the service of the US Navy, displaced about 50 tons of water, were 24 meters long and developed a speed of 45 knots. Their armament consisted of four torpedo mounts, one 12.7 mm machine gun and 40 mm anti-aircraft automatic mounts.
6. Japanese fifteen-meter torpedo boats of the Mitsubishi model had a small water displacement of up to fifteen tons. The boat type T-14 was equipped with a gasoline engine, which developed a speed of 33 knots. They were armed with one 25-caliber cannon or machine gun, two torpedo shells and bombers.

USSR 1935 - boat g 6

Mine boat MAS 1936

The torpedo-class ships had several advantages over other warships:

• Small dimensions;
• High speed abilities;
• High maneuverability;
• Small crew;
• Little need for supplies;
• The boats could quickly attack the enemy and also hide with lightning speed.

Schnellbots and their characteristics

Schnellbots are German torpedo boats from World War II. Its hull was a combination of wood and steel. This was dictated by the desire to increase speed, displacement and reduce financial and time resources for repairs. The cabin was made of light alloy, had a conical shape and was protected by armored steel.

The boat had seven compartments:

1. - there was a cabin for 6 people;
2. - radio post, commander's cabin and two fuel tanks;
3. – there are diesels;
4. – fuel tanks;
5. - dynamos;
6. - steering post, cockpit, ammunition depot;
7. - fuel tanks and steering gear.

The power plant by 1944 was upgraded to a diesel model MV-518. As a result, the speed increased to 43 knots.

The main weapons were torpedoes. As a rule, combined-cycle G7a were installed. The second effective weapon of the boats were mines. These were TMA, TMV, TMS, LMA, 1MV bottom shells or EMC, UMB, EMF, LMF anchor shells.

The boat was supplied with additional artillery weapons, including:

• One stern gun MGC/30;
• Two portable machine gun mounts MG 34;
• At the end of 1942, some boats were equipped with Bofors machine guns.

German boats were equipped with sophisticated technical equipment to detect the enemy. The FuMO-71 radar was a low power antenna. The system made it possible to detect targets only at close distances: from 2 to 6 km. Radar FuMO-72 with a rotating antenna, which was placed on the wheelhouse.

The Metox station, which could detect enemy radar exposure. Since 1944, boats have been equipped with the Naxos system.

Mini Schnellbots

Mini boats of the LS type were designed to be placed on cruisers and large ships. The boat had following characteristics. The displacement is only 13 tons, and the length is 12.5 meters. The crew consisted of seven people. The boat was equipped with two Daimler Benz MB 507 diesel engines, which accelerated the boat to 25-30 knots. The boats were armed with two torpedo launchers and one 2 cm caliber gun.

The KM type boats were 3 meters larger than the LS. The boat displaced 18 tons of water. Two BMW petrol engines were installed on board. The floating apparatus had a speed of 30 knots. Of the weapons on the boat, there were two devices for firing and storing torpedo shells or four mines and one machine gun.

Ships of the post-war period

After the war, many countries abandoned the creation of torpedo boats. And they switched to the creation of more modern missile ships. Israel, Germany, China, the USSR and others continued to engage in construction. Boats in the post-war period changed their purpose and began to patrol coastal areas and fight enemy submarines.

The Soviet Union presented a project 206 torpedo boat with a displacement of 268 tons, a length of 38.6 meters. Its speed was 42 knots. The armament consisted of four 533-mm torpedo tubes and two twin AK-230 mounts.

Some countries have begun production of mixed-type boats, using both missiles and torpedoes:

1. Israel produced the boat "Dabur"
2. China has developed a combined boat "Hegu"
3. Norway built the Hauk
4. In Germany it was "Albatross"
5. Sweden was armed with "Nordköping"
6. Argentina had the boat "Intrepida".

Soviet torpedo-class boats are warships used during the Second World War. These light, maneuverable vehicles were indispensable in combat conditions, with their help they landed landing troops, transported weapons, carried out trawling and setting mines.

Torpedo boats model G-5, mass production of which was carried out from 1933 to 1944. A total of 321 ships were produced. The displacement ranged from 15 to 20 tons. The length of such a boat was 19 meters. Two GAM-34B engines of 850 horsepower were installed on board, allowing speeds up to 58 knots. Crew - 6 people.

Of the weapons on board, a 7-62 mm DA machine gun and two 533-mm aft grooved torpedo tubes were installed.

Armament consisted of:

• Two twin machine guns
• Two tube torpedo devices
• Six M-1 bombs

Boats model D3 1 and 2 series were planing vessels. The dimensions and mass of displaced water practically did not differ. Length -21.6 m for each series, displacement - 31 and 32 tons, respectively.

The boat of the 1st series had three Gam-34VS gasoline engines and developed a speed of 32 knots. The crew included 9 people.

Series 2 boat had more powerful power plant. It consisted of three Packard gasoline engines with a capacity of 3600 horsepower. The crew consisted of 11 people.

The armament was practically the same:

• Two 12mm DShK machine guns;
• Two devices for launching torpedoes 533-mm caliber model BS-7;
• Eight BM-1 depth charges.

On the D3 2 series, the Oerlikon gun was additionally installed.

Boat "Komsomolets" - an improved torpedo boat in every respect. Its body was made of duralumin. The boat consisted of five compartments. The length was 18.7 meters. The boat was equipped with two Packard gasoline engines. The vessel developed a speed of up to 48 knots.

June 24 "U-20" artillery fire and ramming sank the landing boat "DB-26", which was going from Sochi to Sukhumi.

On August 20, 1944, during a large raid on Constanta, the submarine "U-9" was sunk by aircraft, and the boats "U-18" and "U-24" were damaged. The Germans took them out of Constanta and flooded them.

On September 1, at 04:20, the submarine U-23 approached the port of Constanta and managed to launch two torpedoes between the booms. One of the torpedoes hit the stern of the Oytuz transport (2400 tons), which was under repair. Transport sat stern on the ground. And the second torpedo exploded near the wall.

The next day, September 2, the submarine "U-19" 32 miles southeast of Constanta sank the base minesweeper "Vzryv" with a torpedo. 74 crew members and Marines were killed. Along with the "Explosion" were minesweepers "Iskatel" and "Shield" and two large hunters. Nevertheless, the boat managed to escape.

September 9, 1944 submarines "U-19", "U-20" and "U-23" surfaced in the sea. Their commanders held a two-hour meeting, after which they sent the boats to Turkish coast, landed the crews on land and blew up the boats.

In December 1941, the Kriegsmarine command decided to send the 1st torpedo boat flotilla to the Black Sea under the command of Corvette Captain Heimut Birnbacher. The flotilla consisted of 6 boats ("S-26", "S-27", "S-28", "S-40", "S-102"), built in 1940-1941, and "S-72 ”, which entered service on February 3, 1942.

German torpedo boat "S-100"

Armament and diesels were removed from the boats and taken in tow up the Elbe to Dresden. There, the boats were loaded onto heavy four-axle platforms. Each platform was towed by three powerful tractors. The resulting train weighed 210 tons and could move at a speed of no more than 5-8 km / h. The train had to cover the 450-kilometer journey to Ingolstadt in 5 days.

In Ingolstadt, boats were launched and towed along the Danube to Linz. There, at the local shipyard, with the help of Lursen specialists, part of the equipment was installed. And at the shipyard in Galati, motors were mounted on boats. Then the boats went on their own to Constanta, where weapons and instruments were installed on them.

The transfer of boats took place without incident, and by June 1, 1942, there were already two fully combat-ready boats in Konstanz - "S-26" and "S-28".

On the Black Sea, the Germans used exclusively torpedo boats of the S-26 type. These boats began to be built in 1938 by the Lyursen company. Standard displacement of boats is 93 tons, total displacement is 112-117 tons; length 35 m, width 5.28 m, draft 1.67 m. Three Daimler-Benz diesel engines with a total power of 6000 to 7500 hp. allowed to develop a speed of 39-40 knots. Cruising range 700 miles at 35 knots. Armament: torpedo - two tubular 53-cm torpedo tubes; artillery - two 2 cm anti-aircraft guns with an ammunition load of 6000 rounds, and from the S-100 boat they began to install one 4 cm Bofors cannon (4 cm Flak.28) with an ammunition load of 2000 rounds and one 2 cm machine gun (3000 shots). The crew of the boat is from 24 to 31 people.

Torpedo boat "S-100" with armored wheelhouse

The boats had a high forecastle, which provided them with good seaworthiness. The hull design was mixed - metal and wood. Starting with the S-100 boat, the wheelhouse and steering station received armor 10-12 mm thick. The German boats operating in the Black Sea did not have a radar.

In late 1942 - early 1943, German torpedo boats "S-42", "S-45", "S-46", "S-47", "S-49", " S-51" and "S-52", which were completed in March - August 1941.

In the spring of 1942, the Germans purchased the Romania ship from the Romanians, which was commissioned on December 6, 1942 as a mother ship for German torpedo boats.

The first task of the German torpedo boats was the blockade of Sevastopol from the sea. For this purpose, a temporary base was equipped in Ak-Mecheti (now the Chernomorskoye urban-type settlement). The first combat campaign of the boats took place on the night of June 19, 1942. At 01:48, the boats "S-27", "S-102" and "S-72" noticed a Soviet convoy as part of the transport "Bialystok" (2468 brt) in guarding the base minesweeper "Anchor" and five patrol boats. The commander of the boats later reported that three destroyers and three patrol boats were guarding. The Germans fired 6 torpedoes, but only one, from the S-102 boat, hit the Bialystok. The transport sank. According to the "Chronicles ...", in addition to the crew, there were 350 wounded and 25 evacuees on board. 375 people died. According to other sources, there were more people on the ship, and about 600 people died.

After the fall of Sevastopol, German torpedo boats began to operate off the coast of the Caucasus, based on a new forward base in the village of Kiik-Atlama in Dvuyakornaya Bay near Feodosia. For some reason, the Germans called her Ivan-Baba.

On August 10, 1942, the S-102 torpedo boat sank the Sevastopol transport with a capacity of 1339 gross tons, which was sailing from Tuapse to Poti in the escort of the SKA-018 patrol boat. On the transport were the wounded and evacuees. 924 people died, 130 people were saved. At the same time, neither Sevastopol nor SKA-018 noticed a German torpedo boat and the attack was attributed to a submarine, which was recorded in top secret post-war publications.

On the night of October 23, 1942, four German torpedo boats launched a daring attack on the port of Tuapse. The Germans, apparently, knew in advance that the cruiser Krasny Kavkaz, the leader Kharkiv and the destroyer Merciless, on board of which the 9th Guards Rifle Brigade (3180 people) were transported, would arrive from Poti. At 23:33, when our ships began mooring, the Germans fired 8 torpedoes. However, their commander was too cautious and fired from too great a distance. As a result, 5 torpedoes exploded in the area of ​​the breakwater at the entrance to the port, and three - on the shore near Cape Kodosh. Our ships were not damaged.

On February 18, 1943, at 4:15 a.m., the Lvov transport near Cape Idokopas was attacked by five German torpedo boats, which fired 10-10 cable torpedoes at it from a distance. But all the torpedoes passed by, and the Lvov arrived safely in Gelendzhik.

February 27 at 23:20 German torpedo boats attacked the ships Black Sea Fleet in the Myskhako region. The minesweeper "Gruz" unloaded ammunition and, having received a torpedo hit, sank. The gunboat "Red Georgia" was hit by a torpedo in the stern and sat on the ground. Subsequently, the gunboat was subjected to periodic attacks by enemy aircraft and artillery and received new damage, which finally disabled it. On the "Red Georgia" 4 people were killed and 12 wounded.

The next day, February 28, at 6:15 a.m., the Mius tugboat, sailing from Gelendzhik to Myskhako, was also sunk by German torpedo boats in the area of ​​the Sudzhuk Spit.

On March 13, at 00:50, near the village of Lazarevskoye, the tanker Moskva (6086 brt), sailing from Batumi to Tuapse, was illuminated by a luminous aerial bomb dropped from an aircraft, and then torpedo boats S-26 and S-47 fired 4 torpedoes at him. At 2:57 a.m., the tanker was hit by a torpedo in the bow of the port side. There was a huge fire on the ship. To help the tanker, tugs were sent, which led the "Moscow" to the outer roadstead of Tuapse. The tanker was put into operation only after the war.

The Che-2 aircraft was searching for enemy torpedo boats that attacked the Moscow. At 07:48, he discovered 4 German torpedo boats in the Elchankay area and opened fire on them. The pilot and navigator were wounded by return fire from the boats, but they landed the plane safely at their airfield.

On the night of May 19-20, 1943, the S-49 and S-72 boats made a lot of noise in the Sochi area, although without much effect. To begin with, at 23:25 at the entrance to the port of Sochi, they sank with two torpedoes the Pervansh sea tug, which was leading two barges guarded by one patrol boat. According to the SKA-018 report, one of the German torpedo boats was sunk, but this is only a “hunting story”. And less than an hour later, these boats broke into the Sochi roadstead and fired a torpedo salvo. Two torpedoes exploded on the shore near the sanatorium. Fabricius. Coastal battery No. 626 and a separate anti-aircraft artillery battalion opened frantic, but inconclusive fire at the boats.

The night of May 24, 1940 had just begun when two powerful explosion tore apart the side of the French leader "Jaguar", covering the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk. The ship, enveloped in flames, threw itself onto the Malo-les-Bains beach, where it was abandoned by the crew, and at sunrise it was finished off by Luftwaffe bombers. The death of the Jaguar informed the Allies that they had a new one in the waters of the English Channel. dangerous enemy- German torpedo boats. The defeat of France allowed this weapon of the German fleet to “come out of the shadows” and brilliantly justify its concept, which after nine months of the “strange war” had already begun to be questioned.

The birth of the Schnellbot

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Allies reliably mothballed the Germans' backlog in destroyer forces, allowing them to have in the fleet only 12 destroyers with a displacement of 800 tons and 12 destroyers of 200 tons each. This meant that the German navy was obliged to be left with hopelessly obsolete ships, like those with which it entered the First World War - similar ships of other navies were at least twice as large.

German torpedo boats at the Friedrich Lürssen shipyard, Bremen, 1937

Like the rest of the German military, the sailors did not accept this state of affairs and, as soon as the country recovered from the post-war political crisis, they began to explore ways to increase the combat capabilities of the fleet. There was a loophole: the winners did not strictly regulate the availability and development of small combat weapons, which were first widely used during the war - torpedo and patrol boats, as well as motor minesweepers.

In 1924, in Travemünde, under the leadership of Captain zur see Walter Lohmann (Walter Lohmann) and Oberleutnant Friedrich Ruge (Friedrich Ruge), under the guise of a yacht club, the TRAYAG test center (Travemünder Yachthaven AG), as well as several other sports and shipping societies, were created . These events were financed from the secret funds of the fleet.

The fleet already had useful experience the use of small LM-type torpedo boats in the last war, so the main characteristics of a promising boat, taking into account combat experience were identified fairly quickly. It required a speed of at least 40 knots and a cruising range of at least 300 miles at full speed. The main armament was to be two tube torpedo tubes protected from sea ​​water, with four torpedoes (two in tubes, two in reserve). The engines were assumed to be diesel, since gasoline in the last war caused the death of several boats.

It remains to decide on the type of case. In most countries, since the war, the development of glider boats with ledges-redans in the underwater part of the hull has continued. The use of a redan caused the bow of the boat to rise above the water, which reduced water resistance and sharply increased speed characteristics. However, when the sea was rough, such hulls experienced serious shock loads and were often destroyed.

The command of the German fleet categorically did not want "weapons for calm water", which could only protect the German Bay. By that time, the confrontation with Great Britain was forgotten, and the German doctrine was built on the struggle against the Franco-Polish alliance. Boats were needed that could reach Danzig from the German Baltic ports, and from the West Frisian Islands to the French coast.

The extravagant and impetuous Oheka II is the progenitor of the Kriegsmarine Schnellbots. Her strange name is just a combination of the initial letters of the first names and the last name of the owner, millionaire Otto-Hermann Kahn

The task turned out to be difficult. The wooden hull did not have the necessary margin of safety and did not allow to place powerful promising engines and weapons, the steel hull did not give the required speed, the redan was also undesirable. In addition, the sailors wanted to get the boat's silhouette as low as possible, providing better stealth. The solution came from the private shipbuilding firm Friedrich Lürssen, which late XIX specialized in small racing boats for centuries and was already building boats for the Kaiser fleet.

The attention of Reichsmarine officers was attracted by the Oheka II yacht, built by Lürssen for the American millionaire of German origin Otto Hermann Kahn, capable of crossing the North Sea at a speed of 34 knots. This was achieved by using a displacement hull, a classic three-shaft propulsion system and a mixed hull set, the power set of which was made of light alloy, and the skin was wooden.

Impressive seaworthiness, a mixed design that reduces the weight of the vessel, a good reserve for speed - all these advantages of the Oheka II were obvious, and the sailors decided: Lurssen received an order for the first combat boat. It received the name UZ (S) -16 (U-Boot Zerstörer - "anti-submarine, high-speed"), then W-1 (Wachtboot - "patrol boat") and the final S-1 (Schnellboot - "fast boat"). The letter designation "S" and the name "schnellboat" after that were finally assigned to German torpedo boats. In 1930, the first four production boats were ordered, which formed the 1st Schnellboat Semi-Flotilla.

Serial first-born of Lurssen at the shipyard: the long-suffering UZ(S)-16, aka W-1, aka S-1

The leapfrog with names was caused by the desire of the new commander-in-chief, Erich Raeder, to hide from the Allied Commission the appearance of torpedo boats in the Reichsmarine. On February 10, 1932, he issued a special order, which explicitly stated that any mention of shnellboats as carriers of torpedoes should be avoided, which could be regarded by the Allies as an attempt to circumvent the restrictions on destroyers. The Lurssen shipyard was ordered to hand over boats without torpedo tubes, the cutouts for which were covered with easily removable shields. The devices were to be stored in the arsenal of the fleet and installed only for the duration of the exercises. The final assembly was supposed to be carried out "as soon as the political situation permits". In 1946, at the Nuremberg Tribunal, prosecutors would recall this order to Raeder as a violation of the Versailles Treaty.

After the first series of boats with gasoline engines, the Germans began to build small series with high-speed diesel engines from MAN and Daimler-Benz. Lurssen also consistently worked on the hull contours to improve speed and seaworthiness. Many failures awaited the Germans along this path, but thanks to the patience and foresight of the fleet command, the development of shnellboats proceeded in accordance with the doctrine of the fleet and the concept of their use. Export contracts with Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and China made it possible to test all technological solutions, and comparative tests revealed the advantages in reliability of the V-shaped Daimler-Benz over the lighter, but capricious in-line MAN products.

"Lurssen effect": layout of the "schnellboat", view from the stern. Three propellers are clearly visible, the main and two additional rudders, distributing water flows from the extreme propellers

Gradually, the classic look of the shnellboat was formed - a durable seaworthy ship with a characteristic low silhouette (hull height of only 3 m), 34 meters long, about 5 meters wide, with a rather small draft (1.6 meters). The cruising range was 700 miles at 35 knots. Max speed 40 knots was achieved with great difficulty only due to the so-called Lurssen effect - additional rudders regulated the flow of water from the left and right propellers. The Schnellbot was armed with two 533 mm tube torpedo tubes with four rounds of ammunition. steam-gas torpedoes G7A (two in vehicles, two spare). Artillery armament consisted of a 20-mm machine gun in the stern (with the outbreak of war, a second 20-mm machine gun began to be placed in the nose) and two removable MG 34 machine guns on pivot mounts. In addition, the boat could take six naval mines or as many depth charges, for which two bomb releasers were installed.

The boat was equipped with a fire extinguishing system and smoke exhaust equipment. The crew consisted of an average of 20 people, who had at their disposal a separate cabin for the commander, a radio room, a galley, a latrine, cabins for the crew, and berths for one shift. Scrupulous in matters of combat support and basing, the Germans were the first in the world to create for their torpedo boats the Tsingtau special-purpose floating base, which could fully meet the needs of the Schnellboat flotilla, including headquarters and maintenance personnel.

"A mother hen with chickens" - a mother ship of torpedo boats "Tsingtao" and her wards from the 1st flotilla of shnellboats

Regarding the required number of boats, opinions in the leadership of the fleet were divided, and a compromise option was adopted: by 1947, 64 boats were to enter service, and 8 more to be in reserve. However, Hitler had his own plans, and he did not intend to wait for the Kriegsmarine to gain the desired power.

"Did not live up to expectations in every way"

By the beginning of the war, the torpedo boats of the Reich found themselves in the position of real stepchildren of both the fleet and the industry of the Reich. The coming to power of the Nazis and the consent of Great Britain to strengthen the German navy gave powerful impulse to the construction of all previously prohibited classes of ships from submarines to battleships. Schnellboats, designed to level the weakness of the "Versailles" destroyer forces, were on the sidelines of the rearmament program of the fleet.

When England and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, the German fleet had only 18 boats. Four of them were considered training, and only six were equipped with reliable Daimler-Benz diesels. This firm, which carried out huge orders for the Luftwaffe, could not reach mass release boat diesels, so the commissioning of new units and the replacement of engines on boats in service was a serious problem.

533-mm torpedo leaves the torpedo tube of the Schnellboat

All boats at the beginning of the war were consolidated into two flotillas - the 1st and 2nd, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Kurt Sturm and Lieutenant Commander Rudolf Petersen. Schnellboats were organizationally subordinate to the Fuhrer of the destroyers (Führer der Torpedoboote) Rear Admiral Günther Lütjens, and the operational management of the fleets in the theater of operations was carried out by the command of the naval groups "West" (North Sea) and "Ost" (Baltic). Under the leadership of Lutyens, the 1st flotilla took part in the campaign against Poland, blocking the Danzig Bay for three days, and on September 3 opened a combat score - the S-23 boat of Oberleutnant Christiansen (Georg Christiansen) sank a Polish pilot boat with a 20-mm machine gun .

After the defeat of Poland, a paradoxical situation developed - the command of the fleet did not see adequate use of the torpedo boats at its disposal. On the Western Front, the Wehrmacht had no coastal flank, and the enemy did not attempt to penetrate the German Bay. In order to operate on their own off the coast of France and England, the schnellboats did not reach operational and technical readiness, and not all autumn storms were up to them.

As a result, the shnellboats were assigned tasks that were unusual for them - anti-submarine search and patrolling, escort of warships and transport ships, a messenger service, and even "high-speed delivery" of depth bombs to destroyers who had used up ammunition in the hunt for Allied submarines. But as a submarine hunter, the shnellboat was frankly bad: its viewing height was lower than that of the submarine itself, there were no possibilities for a low-noise “creeping” move and no hydroacoustic equipment. In the case of performing escort functions, the boats had to adapt to the speed of the wards and go on one central engine, which led to heavy loads and the rapid development of its resource.

Torpedo boat S-14 in light pre-war paint, 1937

The fact that the original concept of the boats was forgotten, and they began to be perceived as some kind of multi-purpose ships, is well characterized by the report of the operational department of the West group dated November 3, 1939, in which the technical characteristics and combat qualities of torpedo boats were subjected to derogatory criticism - it was noted that they "Did not live up to expectations in every way.". The supreme operational body of the Kriegsmarine SKL (Stabes der Seekriegsleitung - Naval Warfare Headquarters) agreed and made an entry in its log that “these conclusions are very unfortunate and most disappointing in the light of the hopes that have been obtained in the course of recent calculations ...” At the same time, the command itself confused the lower headquarters, indicating in the instructions that "anti-submarine activity is secondary to torpedo boats" and declared there that "torpedo boats cannot carry out anti-submarine escort of fleet formations".

Early Kriegsmarine Schnellboats

All this had a negative impact on the reputation of the shnellboats, but the crews believed in their ships, improved them on their own and accumulated combat experience in each routine task. The new "fuhrer of the destroyers", Captain Hans Bütow, who was appointed to this post on November 30, 1939, also believed in them. The most experienced destroyer, he categorically insisted on curtailing the participation of schnellboats in escort missions that destroyed the motor resources of boats, and tried in every possible way to push through their participation in the “siege of Britain” - as the Kriegsmarine pathetically called strategic plan combat operations against the British, involving attacks and minelaying aimed at undermining trade.

The first two planned landfalls in Britain fell through due to weather (storms North Sea already damaged several boats), and the command did not allow combat-ready units to stay at the bases. Operation "Weserübung" (Weserübung) against Norway and Denmark was the next stage in the development of German boats and led them to their first long-awaited success.

The day that changed everything

Almost all combat-ready ships of the German fleet were involved in the landing in Norway, and in this regard, the good cruising range of the shnellboats turned out to be in demand. Both flotillas were supposed to land at two important points - Kristiansand and Bergen. The Schnellbots did a brilliant job, slipping through at speed under enemy fire, which delayed the heavier ships, and made a quick landing of advanced landing groups.

After the occupation of the main part of Norway, the command left both fleets to defend the captured coast and the already familiar escort of convoys and warships. Byutov warned that if such use of shnellboats continued, then by mid-July 1940, the engines of the boats would have exhausted their resources.

The commander of the West group, Admiral Alfred Saalwechter, in his office

Everything changed in just one day. On 24 April 1940, SKL dispatched the 2nd Flotilla for minefield and escort operations in the North Sea as Allied light forces suddenly began to raid the Skagerrak area. On May 9, the Dornier Do 18 flying boat discovered an English detachment from the light cruiser Birmingham (HMS Birmingham) of seven destroyers, which was going to the area of ​​German minefields. The scout noticed only one detachment (a total of 13 British destroyers and a cruiser took part in the operation), however, the commander of the West group, Admiral Alfred Saalwächter, did not hesitate to order four serviceable schnellboats of the 2nd flotilla (S-30 , S-31, S-33 and S-34) to intercept and attack the enemy.

An English detachment of destroyers HMS Kelly, Kandahar (HMS Kandahar) and Bulldog (HMS Bulldog) went to connect with Birmingham at a speed of 28 knots of the slowest Bulldog. At 20:52 GMT, the British fired on a Do 18 hovering above them, but it had already brought the Schnellbots into an ideal ambush position. At 10:44 p.m., the signalmen of the flagship Kelly noticed some shadows about 600 meters ahead on the port side, but it was too late. The volley of S-31 Oberleutnant Hermann Opdenhoff (Hermann Opdenhoff) was accurate: the torpedo hit the "Kelly" in the boiler room. Explosion vomited 15 square meters plating, and the position of the ship immediately became critical.

The semi-submerged destroyer Kelly hobbles towards the base. The ship will be destined to die in a year - on May 23, during the evacuation of Crete, it will be sunk by Luftwaffe bombers

The Germans disappeared into the night, and the English commander, Lord Mountbatten (Louis Mountbatten), did not even immediately understand what it was, and ordered the Bulldog to counterattack with depth charges. The operation failed. The "Bulldog" took the flagship, barely holding on to the surface, in tow, after which the detachment headed for their native waters. By nightfall, fog had settled over the sea, but the noise of the diesel engines told the British that the enemy was still circling nearby. After midnight, a boat that unexpectedly jumped out of the darkness rammed the Bulldog with a glancing blow, after which it itself fell under the ramming of the half-flooded Kelly.

It was an S-33 whose engines had stalled, the starboard side and forecastle were destroyed over nine meters, and the commander Oberleutnant Schulze-Jena (Hans Shultze-Jena) was wounded. It seemed that the fate of the boat was decided, and they were preparing to flood it, but the visibility was such that the British lost the enemy already 60 meters away and fired at random. Both Kelly and S-33 were able to safely reach their bases - the strength of the ships and the training of their crews affected. But the victory was for the Germans - four boats thwarted a major enemy operation. The Germans considered the Kelly sunk, and SKL noted with satisfaction in his war diary "The first glorious success of our Schnellbots". On May 11, Opdenhoff received the Iron Cross 1st Class, and on May 16 he became the tenth in the Kriegsmarine and the first holder of the Knight's Cross among boatmen.

Destroyer "Kelly" under repair in the dock - damage to the hull is impressive

When the victors celebrated their success in Wilhelmshaven, they did not yet know that at the same time on the Western Front German units go to the starting positions for the attack. Operation "Gelb" (Gelb) began, which will open the way for German torpedo boats to their true purpose - to torment the coastal communications of the enemy.

"Brilliant proof of ability and skill"

The Kriegsmarine command did not carry out any large-scale preparatory measures on the eve of the attack on France and took the most minimal part in its planning. The fleet was licking its wounds after a heavy battle for Norway, moreover, fighting was still ongoing in the Narvik area. Entirely absorbed in the tasks of continuously supplying new communications and strengthening the captured bases, the command of the fleet allocated only a few small submarines and seaplanes of the 9th Air Division for operations off the coast of Belgium and Holland, which at night laid mines in coastal fairways.

Heavier shnellboats with troops on board go to Norwegian Kristiansand

However, the fate of Holland was already decided within two days of the offensive, and the command of the West group immediately saw great opportunity for small operations strike ships to support the coastal flank of the army from the Dutch bases. SKL was in a quandary: the rapidly expanding theater of operations required the involvement of more and more forces, which were not there. The commander admiral in Norway urged that one flotilla of shnellboats be left, "indispensable in matters of protection of communications, delivery of supplies and pilotage of ships", in its permanent operational subordination.

But common sense eventually prevailed: on May 13, an entry appeared in the SKL combat log giving the green light to the offensive use of torpedo boats in the southern North Sea:

« Now that the Dutch coast is in our hands, the command believes that a favorable operational situation has developed for the actions of torpedo boats off the Belgian, French coast and in the English Channel, in addition, there is good experience similar actions in the last war, and the area of ​​​​action itself is very convenient for such operations.

The day before, the 1st flotilla was released from escort functions, and on May 14, the 2nd flotilla was also removed from the command of the admiral in Norway - this was the end of the participation of the Schnellbots in Operation Weserübung, along with their role as guards.

Schnellboats of the 2nd flotilla, moored in the captured Norwegian Stavanger

On May 19, nine boats of both flotillas, together with the mother ship "Karl Peters" (Carl Peters) made the transition to the island of Borkum, from which, already at night on May 20, they went on the first reconnaissance searches for Ostend, Newport and Dunkirk. Initially, the Schnellboats were planned to be used to cover the troops landing on the islands at the mouth of the Scheldt, but the Wehrmacht did it on its own. Therefore, while the Dutch bases and fairways were hastily cleared of mines, the boatmen decided to “probe” a new combat area.

The very first exit brought victory, but somewhat unusual. The Anson flight from the 48th squadron of the Royal Air Force noticed the boats in the IJmuiden area at dusk and dropped bombs, the nearest of which exploded 20 meters from the S-30. The lead aircraft was set on fire by return fire, and all four pilots, led by Flight Lieutenant Stephen Dodds, were killed.

On the night of May 21, boats carried out several attacks on transports and warships in the Newport and Dunkirk area. Despite the colorful reports of victories, these successes were not confirmed, but the crews of the shnellboats quickly regained their qualifications as torpedo hunters. The first exits showed that the enemy did not expect surface ships to attack in their internal waters - with the noise of the engines, the beams of the searchlights rested on the sky to highlight the attacking Luftwaffe aircraft. SKL was pleased to say: "The fact that the boats managed to attack the enemy destroyers near his bases justifies the expectations of successful continuous operations from the Dutch bases".

A bright flash against the night sky - the explosion of the French leader "Jaguar"

The next exit brought the already mentioned first victory to the Schnellbots in the waters of the English Channel. A pair of boats of the 1st Flotilla - S-21 Oberleutnant von Mirbach (Götz Freiherr von Mirbach) and S-23 Oberleutnant Christiansen - ambushed the French leader "Jaguar" (Jaguar) near Dunkirk. The full moon and the light from the burning tanker did not favor the attack, but at the same time illuminated the "Frenchman". Two torpedoes hit the target and left the ship no chance. Von Mirbach subsequently recalled in a newspaper interview:

“Through my binoculars, I saw the destroyer capsize, and in the next few moments only a small strip of the side was visible above the surface, hidden by smoke and steam from exploding boilers. Our thoughts at that moment were about the brave sailors who fell at our hands - but such is war..

On May 23, all combat-ready boats were transferred to the well-equipped Dutch base Den Helder. Hans Byutov also moved his headquarters there, and now not nominally, but completely led the activities of the boats and their provision in the Western theater under the auspices of the West group. Based at Den Helder, the boats shortened their route to the canal by 90 miles - this made it possible to make better use of the increasingly short spring nights and save engine life.

On May 27, 1940, Operation Dynamo began - the evacuation of allied forces from Dunkirk. The Wehrmacht High Command asked the Kriegsmarine what they could do against the evacuation. The command of the fleet stated with regret that practically nothing, except for the actions of torpedo boats. Only four boats could operate against the entire huge armada of the allies in the English Channel - S-21, S-32, S-33 and S-34. The rest of the shnellbots stood up for repairs. Nevertheless, the successive attacks that followed finally assured the fleet command that the torpedo boats were ready to play their special role in the "siege of Britain."

On the night of May 28, the S-34 of Oberleutnant Albrecht Obermaier (Albrecht Obermaier) discovered the Abukir transport (Abukir, 694 brt) near North Foreland, which had already repelled several Luftwaffe raids with the help of a single Lewis, and attacked it with a two-torpedo volley. On board the Aboukir were about 200 British Army personnel, including a military mission to liaise with the Belgian Army High Command, 15 German prisoners of war, six Belgian priests and about 50 female nuns and British schoolgirls.

The ship's captain, Rowland Morris-Woolfenden, who had repulsed several air attacks, noticed a trail of torpedoes and moved to zigzag, believing that he was attacked by a submarine. Obermayer reloaded the devices and again struck, from which the slow steamer at a speed of 8 knots could no longer evade. Morris-Wulfenden noticed the boat, and even tried to ram it, mistook it for the cabin of an attacking submarine! A hit under the midship frame led to the death of "Abukir" within just a minute. The ship's bridge was lined with concrete slabs from Luftwaffe attacks, but the enemy came from where they were not expected.

Schnellboats at sea

The British destroyers that came to the rescue rescued only five crew members and 25 passengers. Survivor Morris-Wulfenden claimed that a German boat illuminated the crash site with a searchlight and fired machine guns at the survivors, which was widely reported in the British press, describing the "atrocities of the Huns." This completely contradicts the entries in the S-34 log, which retreated to full speed and was even bombarded with the wreckage of an exploding ship. "Abukir" became the first merchant ship sunk by snellboats.

The next night, the Schnellbots struck again, finally dispelling doubts about their effectiveness. The destroyer HMS Wakeful, under the command of Commander Ralph L. Fisher, with 640 soldiers on board, was warned of the danger of surface ship attacks and carried a double watch, but this did not save him. Fisher, whose ship was leading the destroyer column, was zigzagging. Seeing the light of the lightship Quint, he ordered to increase speed to 20 knots, but at that moment he noticed traces of two torpedoes just 150 meters from the destroyer.

"Smash me with thunder, is it really going to happen" was the only thing Fisher managed to whisper before the torpedo tore the Wakeful in half. The commander escaped, but half of his crew and all the evacuees died. Lieutenant Wilhelm Zimmermann, the commander of the S-30, who ambushed and achieved a hit, not only successfully left the scene of the massacre - his attack attracted the attention of the submarine U 62, which sank the destroyer HMS Grafton, which hurried to the aid of a colleague .

The French leader "Sirocco" is one of the victims of schnellbots during the Dunkirk epic

The next day, May 30, 1940, SKL handed over all operationally suitable boats to Admiral Saalwechter, Commander of the West Group. This was a long-awaited recognition of usefulness, but only after the night of May 31, when the French leaders Sirocco and Cyclone were torpedoed by S-23, S-24 and S-26 boats, did SKL triumphantly rehabilitate the Schnellbots for impartial reviews of the beginning of the war: “In Hufden (as the Germans called the southernmost region of the North Sea - ed.) Five enemy destroyers were sunk without loss to torpedo boats, which means a brilliant proof of the capabilities of torpedo boats and the training of their commanders ... " The successes of the boatmen forced both their own command and the Royal Navy to take them seriously.

The British quickly recognized the new threat and sent the 206th and 220th Hudson Squadrons of the RAF Coastal Command to “clean up” their waters from the Schnellboats, and even attracted the naval 826th Squadron on the Albacores. It was then, apparently, that the designation E-boats (Enemy boats - enemy boats) arose, which at first served to facilitate radio exchange, and then became commonly used in relation to the schnellboats for the British Navy and Air Force.

After the capture of the northern coast of France, an unprecedented prospect opened up before the German fleet - the flank of the enemy's most important coastal communications became completely open not only for full-scale mining and Luftwaffe attacks, but also for attacks by Schnellbots. New boats were already coming into operation - large, well-armed, seaworthy - which were hastily reduced to new flotillas. The experience of the attacks was summarized and analyzed, and this meant that hard times were coming for the command of the British forces in the English Channel.

After only a year, in the spring of 1941, the experienced crews of the shnellboats will prove that they can defeat not only single ships and ships, but also entire convoys. The English Channel ceased to be the “home waters” of the British fleet, which now had to defend itself against a new enemy, creating not only a fundamentally new security and escort system, but also new ships capable of withstanding the deadly creation of the Lyurssen company.

Literature:

1. Lawrence Patterson. Snellboote. A complete operational history – Seafort Publishing, 2015
2. Hans Frank. German S-boat in action in the Second World War – Seafort Publishing, 2007
3. Geirr H. Haar. The Cathering storm. The naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940 - Seafort Publishing, 2013
4. M. Morozov, S. Patyanin, M. Barabanov. Schnellbots attack. German torpedo boats of the Second World War - M .: "Yauza-Eksmo", 2007
5. https://archive.org
6. http://www.s-boot.net
7. freedoms battle. Vol.1. The War at Sea 1939–1945. An Anthology of Personal Experience. Edited by Jonh Winton – Vintage books, London, 2007