German torpedo boats of World War II

The German torpedo boats of World War II were armed principally, if not exclusively, with torpedoes and varied widely in size. They were not small schnellboote (known to the Allies as E-boats) but small seagoing vessels, the larger of which were comparable to destroyers.

Certain old torpedo boats from WW I were still on active service during WW II after modernisation in 1920s and 1930s. While most were converted to various auxiliary duties at the beginning of the war, several were still used in their original torpedo boat role. Examples included T107, T108, T110, T 111 and T196. Several others, including T151, T153, T155, T156, T157, T158 and T190 were rearmed after the outbreak of war and used first in the invasions of Poland and Norway, and then in the latter stage of the war participated in Operation Hannibal, the German evacuation from the east. Surviving units were transferred to Allied navies after the war.

The six Type 23 torpedo boats (also known as the Raubvogel (German:"Bird of prey") class) were developed from earlier designs shortly after World War I and came into service in 1926 and 1927. All built by the Naval Dockyard at Wilhelmshaven, they were named Albatross, Falke, Greif, Kondor, Möwe and Seeadler. They were the first to use electrical welding for hull construction to reduce displacement and they also introduced geared turbines. Despite the innovations, and unlike contemporary German destroyers, the Raubvogels were successful sea-boats, although limited to coastal waters, and most remained in service until 1944, by which time all had been lost.

The immediately following six ships of 1924 Type (Raubtier ("predator") class) had been intended to mount 12.7 cm guns but, instead, received updated 10.5 cm weapons. All six were again built by the Wilhelmshaven Naval Dockyard, and were named Iltis, Jaguar, Leopard, Luchs, Tiger and Wolf. Speed and range were improved, but otherwise, they displayed the same good and bad points as the Raubvogels and experienced similar operational conditions and upgrades. They entered service in 1927 and 1928 and all but one had been lost before mid-1942.

The 1935 class were a new design, to be a maximum "declared" displacement of around 600 tons in order to come within a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, and higher speeds than the older 1923 and 1924 classes. In practice these ships were overweight, though still too light to be seaworthy, while their high pressure turbines were unreliable and difficult to repair and maintain.

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