Schnellboot (S-Boot/E-boat): German Fast Attack Craft

S-14.

 

E-boat was the Western Allies’ designation for the fast attack craft (German: Schnellboot, or S-Boot, meaning “fast boat”) of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. The most popular, the S-100 class, were very seaworthy, heavily armed, and fast – capable of sustaining 43.5 knots (80.6 km/h; 50.1 mph) and briefly accelerating to 48 knots (89 km/h; 55 mph).

These craft were 35 meters (114’ 10”) long and 5.1 meters (16’ 9”‘) in beam. Their diesel engine propulsion had substantially longer range (approximately 700 nautical miles) than the gasoline-fueled American PT boat and the generally similar British Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB).

As a result, the Royal Navy later developed better matched versions of MTBs using the Fairmile ‘D’ hull design.

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 overcame many of the disadvantages of such a hull and, with the Oheka II, produced a craft that was fast, strong and seaworthy. This attracted the interest of the Reichsmarine, which in 1929 ordered a similar boat but fitted with two torpedo tubes. This became the S-1, and was the basis for all subsequent E-boats.

After experimenting with the S-1, 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 somewhat, allowing even greater speed, and the reduced stern wave made E-boats harder to see, especially at night.

E-boats, a British designation using the letter E for Enemy, 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 Gun Boats (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.

Crew members could earn an award particular to their work—Das 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.

E-boats of the 9th flotilla were the first naval units to respond to the invasion fleet of Operation Overlord. They left Cherbourg harbor 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 sank 101 merchant ships totaling 214,728 tons. In addition, they sank 12 destroyers, 11 minesweepers, eight landing ships, six MTBs, a torpedo boat, a minelayer, one submarine and a number of small merchant craft. They also damaged two cruisers, five destroyers, three landing ships, a repair ship, a naval tug and numerous merchant vessels. Sea mines laid by the E-boats were responsible for the loss of 37 merchant ships totaling 148,535 tons, a destroyer, two minesweepers and four landing ships.

In recognition of their service, the members of E-boat crews were awarded 23 Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and 112 German Cross in Gold.

In order 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 was elected 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, where they were transferred back to water and towed towards Linz. Upon reaching the Austrian city, 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, S-26 and S-28, arrived in Constanța on 24 May 1942, the second pair, S-72 and S-102 on 3 June, and the final pair, S-27 and S-40 10 days later. After the sinking of S-27 by a malfunctioning torpedo, four more reserve boats, S-47, S-49, S-51, S-52 were dispatched to the Black Sea, in order to replace boats undergoing maintenance. S-28, S-72 and S-102 were soon relegated to the Constanța Shipyard for engine replacement, leaving only S-26 and the newly commissioned S-49 operational. On 1 January 1944, the 1st S-flotilla numbered six operational boats: S-26, S-42, S-47, S-49, S-52 and S-79 while S-28, S-40, S-45 and S-51 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: S-28, S-40, S-47, S-49, S-72, S-131, S-148 and S-149. The boats were however penned in harbor, due to fuel shortage. During July, S-26, S-28, S-40 and S-42 were transferred to Sulina at the mouth of the Danube, where S-42 was fitted with a new propeller. They were joined by S-72 in early August, the rest of the boats remaining in Constanța. On 19 August, S-26, S-40 and S-72 were destroyed in port by a Soviet air attack. On 22 August S-148 hit a mine and sank near Sulina, and on the following day, S-42, S-52 and S-131 were destroyed in Constanța by a soviet air attack. What remained of the S-flotilla was disbanded after Romania switched sides on the same day.

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 six German-built E-boats captured from the Yugoslav Navy in 1941. Two of them sank the British light cruiser HMS Manchester in August 1942, the largest victory by fast torpedo craft in the Second World War. After the war these boats served with the Italian Navy, some well into the 1970s.

The Kriegsmarine supplied the Spanish Navy with six E-boats during the Spanish Civil War, and six more during the Second World War. Another six were built in Spain with some assistance from Lürssen. One of the early series, either the Falange or the Requeté, laid two mines during the civil war that crippled the British destroyer HMS Hunter off Almería 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.

The Chinese Nationalist Navy had three S-7-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,” its meaning is “SEAWHALE.” The People’s Liberation Army Navy used it as a patrol boat until 1963.

The Chinese Nationalist government also ordered eight S-30-class E-boats and a tender, Qi Jiguang. These were taken over by the Kriegsmarine in 1939. Qi Jiguang was renamed Tanga.

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 totaling 2,850 hp and were armed with two 500 mm (19.7 inch) torpedo tubes. Each of the four boats had a crew of 25. They were numbered 10 to 13 and served in the Romanian Navy until at least 1954.

At the end of the war about 34 E-boats were surrendered to the British. Three boats, S-130 (renamed P5230), S-208 (P5208) and S-212 (P5212) were retained for trials.

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 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 2,500 hp apiece. Lieutenant-Commander Hans-Helmut Klose (de) was assigned to command a German crew, recruited by the British MI-6 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.

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.

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

There is just one surviving E-boat, identified as S-130. S-130 was purchased and towed from Wilhelmshaven, Germany to the Husbands Shipyard, Marchwood, Southampton, England in January 2003, under the auspices of the British Military Powerboat Trust. In 2004, S-130 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, S-130, having been purchased by Kevin Wheatcroft, set up ashore at Southdown in Cornwall to undergo restoration work involving Roving Commissions Ltd. As of June 2012, this work continues and includes an S130 Members’ Club.

Built as hull No. 1030 at the Schlichting boatyard in Travemünde, S-130 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, S-130 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 S-208, (Kommandant Hans-Helmut Klose) to insert agents into Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland. The operations were very successful and continued under a more permanent organization based in Hamburg. In 1952, S-130 joined the operation and the mission was enlarged to include signal intelligence (SIGINT) equipment. In 1954/55, S-130 and S-208 were replaced by a new generation of German S-boote.

S-130 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.

S-130 was on display in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, formerly used as a houseboat.

Today S-130 is undergoing thorough restoration in Southdown Marina, Cornwall, following purchase by the “Wheatcroft Collection,” England.

Variants

The Schnellboot design evolved over time. The first had a pair of torpedo tubes on the fore deck.

S-2 class: The first production of the E-boat in 1931, based on the S-1; S-1 to S-6 were transferred to Spain

S-7 class: Built from 1933, three were sold to China.

S-14 class: Improved S-7, built in 1934. Enlarged hull.

S-18 class

Wartime types were:

S-26 class: Entered service in 1940. 40 m hull. Torpedo tubes covered by forward deck.

S-30 class

S-38 class

S-38b class: Improved S-38 class with armored bridge. Various armament including 40 mm Bofors or 20 mm Flak aft, MG34 Zwillingsockel midships. (designation ‘b’ is not Kriegsmarine nomenclature and originated in a postwar American hobby publication).

S-100 class: From 1943. 1 × 20 mm in the bow, 2 × 20 mm gun amidships and 37 mm gun aft.

S-151 class

Type 700: Late war design proposal with stern torpedo tubes and 30 mm gun turret forward. Eight boats built but completed to S-100 design specification.

 

Schnellboot.

Otto Herman Kahn’s luxury yacht Oheka II the grandfather of the Schnellboot.

Lifted into drydock, this view shows the gracefully curved form of its displacement type hull.

Bow view in drydock, note the pronounced knuckle to the bow.

This view shows the main rudder and “effect” side rudders. Also note the center prop tip is mounted inside the rudder bracket.

One of the early boats built by Lurssen from the S-7 plans for export to the Bulgarian Navy.

S-12 and S-13 in line astern.

Schnellboot under examination by the U.S. Navy.

Schnellboot under examination by the U.S. Navy.

Schnellboot under examination by the U.S. Navy.

Schnellboot under examination by the U.S. Navy.

View of two S-151 boats under construction at the Gusto boatyard in Holland, these were hybrids based on captured Dutch hulls.

S-13, S-8, S-9, S-11 and tender Tsingtau at Schlichting, Travemünde.

The 1. SFltl with tender Tsingtau in Kiel-Wik.

S-13, S-14 and S-15 in the harbor of Worms, 29 July 1937.

S-11 during exercises in the Baltic.

S-14 in the Baltic.

S-15.

Training with new Type 26 boats.

Commanding Officers 1. S-Fltl in Urville, Cherbourg, France, 1940.

S-boat in camouflage paint in Finland, 1941.

S-boats being towed on the Danube, 1941.

S-28 at flank speed in the Black Sea, 1942.

Boats of 1. SFltl entering Iwan Baba, 1942.

S-102 leaving Iwan Baba, 1943.

S-102 in the Black Sea, June 1943.

S-boat under fire in the Black Sea.

S-boat under fire by aircraft in the Black Sea.

S-40 on fire after hit in the Black Sea.

Red and white stripes on the forecastle.

Just missed.

S-47 with the new Kalotte-Bridge (skull cap) in the Black Sea.

S-132 ready for delivery from the Luerssen yard.

The hull numbers have been removed by the censors for security.

S-50 surrenders to the Royal Navy at Felixstowe, 13 May 1945.

Close up of bridge armor details, 7 June 1944. The 4th Flotilla insignia was a Panther. KeK was the Kommandant’s monogram.

Prewar view of S-9 and S-11 showing detail of bow. Notice the white numbers contrasting with the light grey paint scheme.

View forward from bridge on early boat. The canvas covered object is the stowed torpedo sight pedestal.

View looking forward from the bridge. This is a mid-war type 26 without the 2cm bow turret. Notice the glass windows into the wheelhouse and lack of instrumentation

Rather than conning from the bridge, the commander passed orders to the wheelhouse through a flexible voice pipe.

View inside the cockpit of a late war boat.

View showing the torpedo targeting column on a boat salvaged by the U.S. Navy.

A view inside the cockpit through the partially dismantled bridge armor.

A view of the armored bridge.

S-100 Class cockpit interior.

Early bridge showing from left to right, engine room telegraph, propeller revolution counters, compass. The aluminum bulkheads offered no ballistic protection.

Aft view of signal mast and wheelhouse of early boat.

Bow view of early boat. Notice the anchor winch and stowed boat hooks.

S-18’s Officers enjoy a lunch break. Notice the large low ventilators, and the light grey paint to the horizontal surfaces. The clover leaf object is a blackout cover for a 3-porthole engine room skylight.

S-18 from a different angle.

The small anchor winch on S-18.

S-36.

S-36.

S-36.

An overhauled type 30 lowered back into its element. Note the fine lines of the displacement hull.

View aft onboard a camouflaged Type 26.

S-boats arriving in England after the surrender.

Details of a mid-war vessel’s deck.

German motor-torpedo boat S13 passing under a bridge, between 1935 and 1939. S9 to S13 were ordered in 1933, the last being commissioned in December 1935. All boats were assigned to the 1. Schnellbootflottille (1. SFltl)/(1st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla). S13 survived the Second World War. It was transferred to the United Kingdom in 1945 and subsequently scrapped.

Mechanic monitors instruments. On his right, the engine telegraph.

View aft in engine room. A cylinder is serviced.

View of instrument panel and Daimler-Benz engine, facing aft in an early boat.

Instrument panel and engine telegraph in late war boat.

Engine intake and exhaust conduits.

Detail of the engine room telegraph which transmitted orders from the bridge. A visual indicator was necessary due to engine noise

MAN engines. Their height was a disadvantage.

20-cylinder MB501 engine, crated for delivery.

Another view of the MB501 engine.

MB501 being refitted in Norway.

Engine cooling water intake and exhaust ports.

Engine room of salvaged late war boat.

Engine air intakes, mid-war. Note the shutter grille.

Sextant and rangefinder in use on this mid-war boat.

The navigator in his tiny charthouse aft of the wheelhouse.

The Radio Operator’s cabin.

The table doubled as the Radioman’s bed.

FuG V transmitter.

FuG V receiver.

Inside the wheelhouse, matte black bulkheads eliminated reflections. The radioman operates the ship to ship R/T.

Lo 1 UK 35 ship-to-ship R/T unit. Shown here in its transportation case.

Note the Fu Mo 71 antenna and mast fitted to this mid-war boat.

The FuG set as mounted in a Do 18 flying boat.

The time-honored method of ship to ship communication.

Pennants for two recent victories.

Compass instrument with sight.

2cm Ammunition is stowed around the bow gun position.

2cm bow gunner in action. He wears an inflatable life vest.

Same gunner, close-up.

S-100 class bow gun arrangement.

2cm bow gun in Drehkranzlafette 41.

The bow 2cm was manned by a crew of two who stood in the gun tub.

A close-up inside the forward gun tub. The gun has been removed from this salvaged boat. Note the interior door.

A 4cm Bofors salvaged from an S-boot. These guns were used on the S-38 class.

A depth charge is loaded. These were lashed to rails on the deck.

The meaning of the yellow color is unclear. Practice or live?

2cm “Zwilling” Flak.

Smoke generator, and ready ammunition locker.

Close-up of smoke generator.

Rear view. This gun was fully automatic, fed 5 round clips and fired by foot pedal. This example is on U-505.

MK151 Drilling (triple) mount as used on S-30 and S-151 classes in the Mediterranean.

2cm MG C/30.

Early boats had the standard Kriegsmarine 2cm Flak pedestal at the stern. Notice the opened ammo box and the uncovered master compass.

Firing exercise, Black Sea.

Notice the simple anti-aircraft sight. The optional basket collected spent shell casings.

The wooden slats of the stern 2cm were a feature of the early boats.

The 2cm in action onboard a “Vorpostenboot,” a converted fishing cutter.

Cleanliness and constant maintenance was routine on every boat.

The tube covers were cranked open by the torpedoman.

The torpedo tube covers.

The torpedo tube covers.

The torpedo tube covers open.

On a mid-war boat, the torpedoman waits for the order to fire.

Torpedo tube trigger mechanism.

Reloading using the torpedo winch.

Reloading at night.

The torpedo is coaxed into its cradle.

The torpedo cradle was used when loading torpedoes and occasionally for stowing spares. This is a mid-war boat.

The torpedo cradle on an early war boat. The torpedo was winched into the tube by block and tackle.

Notice the covered torpedo aiming sight/computer, and the highly polished brass cooling sleeve of the antiquated 08/15 machine gun.

The binocular sight is uncovered in this view. Notice the antler talisman. Lucky horseshoes were also popular.

A close-up of the torpedo tube of a salvaged boat.

Tube door of the same boat. Part of the gear cover is missing.

Alongside a tender, torpedoes are loaded.

Torpedo stowed in reload cradle on a camouflaged Type 26.

Stern 2cm on a Type 26.

Stern 2cm on early boat, in action. The spent shell basket was not always used.

Stern 2cm on mid war boat. The deck is covered with a slip resistant matting.

The German Schnellboot (“E-boat”) S 204 flying a white flag of surrender at the coastal forces base HMS Beehive, Felixstowe, Suffolk (UK), on 13 May 1945. The two German E-Boats S 204 and S 205 from the 4th Schnellboot-Flotilla were escorted in by ten British MTBs. On board of S 205 was Rear Admiral Erich Breuning, who had been in charge of E-Boat operations and who signed the instrument of surrender. Note the black panther painted on the side of S 204 which had on board KKpt Kurt Fimmen (CO 4th Schnellboot-Flotilla) and KptLt Bernd Rebensburg (Ia Op/Operations-Officer of the Staff of Führer der Schnellboote/FdS).

Italian MS 472, post-war configuration.

Postwar view of S-Boats used by the Danish Navy.

Photo of Danish S Boat Flyvefisken built after World War II. Among various alterations, the bow has been lengthened. The boat is painted khaki green.

S10.