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Elbing-class torpedo boat

T 35 as DD 935 in US seas August 1945.jpg
T-35 seized by the U.S., as DD 935.
Class overview
Name: Flottentorpedoboot 1939
Builders: Schichau, Elbing
In commission: 1941–58
Completed: 15
Lost: 11
General characteristics
Type: Torpedo boat
Displacement:
  • 1,295 long tons (1,316 t) (standard)
  • 1,755 long tons (1,783 t) (maximum)
Length:
  • 97 m (318 ft 3 in) (w/l)
  • 102.5 m (336 ft 3 in) (o/a)
Beam: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft: 3.22 m (10 ft 7 in)
Installed power: 32,560 shp (24,280 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 32.5 kn (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range: 2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement: 205
Armament:

The Elbing-class torpedo boats (or Flottentorpedoboot 1939) were a class of 15 small warships that served in the Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Although classed as Flottentorpedoboot ("fleet torpedo boat") by the Germans, in most respects—displacement, weaponry, usage—they were comparable to contemporary medium-size destroyers. The most notable difference was in the armament of the Elbings being fewer in number and of a slightly smaller caliber — 105 mm (4.1 in) compared to the 4.7 in (120 mm) of contemporary British destroyers such as the "L"- and "M"-classes.

Service was either in western France from late 1942-August 1944 or in the Baltic Sea from March 1944 until the end of the war.

The design and weapons mix resulted from experience of earlier, more specialised classes such as the Type 35. The Elbings were a radical change to an all-purpose vessel capable of torpedo attacks, anti-aircraft defence and escort duties. These ships adopted unit machinery with two separate engine rooms and two boiler rooms. Their machinery was however relatively unreliable.

They were effective fighting vessels, a notable success being the sinking of the British light cruiser HMS Charybdis and the escort destroyer HMS Limbourne by torpedoes, off Brittany in October 1943. The 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla—T22, T23, T25, T25, and T26—had been protecting an important blockade runner though despite their success it ran aground and was lost. Two vessels, T25 and T26, were lost in a similar operation three months later. Three ships—T22, T30, and T32—were accidentally lost on 18 August 1943 on a German minefield in the Gulf of Finland. In April 1944 the Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed by T24.


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