World War I German destroyers

Garlicdesign

Post subject: Re: World War I German destroyers

Posted: November 27th, 2015, 8:53 pm

Posts: 1071
Joined: December 26th, 2012, 9:36 am
Location: Germany

Hello again!

Moving backwards in the timeline to the previous German destroyer class: The Grosses Torpedoboot 1911.

These ships were smaller than their immediate predecessors by some 100 tons; the Chief of the Torpedo Inspectorate of the German Navy (in charge of all destroyers and submarines at that time), Admiral Lans, had lobbied for smaller destroyers which he reckoned would be faster and more maneuverable and thus more useful in a pitched fleet battle, where they would have an easier time dashing around between the battle lines than larger ships would. The resulting design was somewhat disappointing; they managed to mount the same armament than the preceding class (two 88mm L/30 guns and four single 500mm torpedo tubes, two firing forward and two on the centerline) on a smaller hull, but they were neither faster nor more maneuverable, but more cramped and their seakeeping abilities were distinctly inferior. They were labeled 'Lans-Cripples' by their crews. Despite their shortcomings, they were all very active in the first world war, and ten were lost (plus one constructive total loss). Their tiny size saved the survivors from having to be scrapped after the war, however, and thirteen were retained by the Reichsmarine, first as torpedo boats and later in various support functions.

Unlike earlier and later German destroyer classes, the 24 units of the Grosses Torpedoboot 1911 type were very homogeous, having nearly exactly the same size and external appearance. The first Group, V1 through V6, were built at the Vulcan yard in Stettin, all looking like this upon completion:

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The last two were sold to Greece for use in the Balkan wars right off the stocks, being renamed Nea Genea (ex V5) and Keravnos (ex V6). I'm not quite sure about their Greek paintwork; photoes from this era are hard to interpret. At least for some time they had black hulls with distinctly lighter superstructure (shown in Wikipedia).

[ img ]

Other photographs show them brighter overall, so I've provided another picture sporting colours I have extracted from a recent photograph of the armoured cruiser Georgios Averoff.

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That's what I could find out; whoever knows better, fire away!

The sold units were immediately replaced by two more destroyers recycling their numbers, which were the last of their class to complete. V5 was identical to V1 through V4, but V6 received a lenghtened forecastle and was the best sea boat of the whole lot.

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The next six, also provided for under the 1911 estimates, were built by the Germaniawerft in Kiel and numbered G7 through G12. They had a slightly different hull form and were considered somewhat more stable; the whaleback bows were less pronounced, and there were other minor external differences.

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The final group was ordered from Schichau in Elbing under the 1912 estimates. They were designated S13 through S24 and outwardly resembled the G-boats very much; their foremasts were shorter and their W/T huts (behind the forefunnel) smaller.

[ img ]

Unless lost in the early days of the war, all received more powerful main guns by 1916, swapping their two 88mm L/30 pieces by 88mm L/45 guns. Apart from four early war losses, all were present at Jutland, where they did not achieve much.

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After Jutland, where V4 was lost, the remaining boats were modernized with higher bridges for better visibility and less spray interference; the forward funnel was heightened and received a cap (on V- and G-Boats, the aft funnel also received one), and four machineguns were added. During most of the latter half of the war, the class looked like this:

[ img ]

Four units - S15, S18, S20 and S24 - received a much more thorough reconstruction in 1917; they had their forecastle extended all the way aft to the forefunnel and received 105mm guns in lieu of their 88mm pieces. They were the most powerful of their class now, and their seakeeping was much improved, but they were quite overweight. Nevertheless, all surviving units were rebuilt in a similar fashion during the 1920s.

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Greetings
GD

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