German torpedo boat Albatros

Coordinates: 59°5′40″N 10°47′30″E / 59.09444°N 10.79167°E / 59.09444; 10.79167

Albatros
Right elevation and plan of the Type 23
History
Nazi Germany
Name: Albatros
Namesake: Albatross
Builder: Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Yard number: 105
Laid down: 5 October 1925
Launched: 15 July 1926
Completed: 15 May 1927
Fate: Beached, 4 May 1940
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Type 23 torpedo boat
Displacement:
Length: 87.7 m (287 ft 9 in) o/a
Beam: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)
Draft: 3.65 m (12 ft 0 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 32–34 knots (59–63 km/h; 37–39 mph)
Range: 1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement: 120
Armament:

Albatros was the fourth of six Type 23 torpedo boats built for the German Navy (initially called the Reichsmarine and then renamed as the Kriegsmarine in 1935). Completed in 1928, she often served as a flagship of various torpedo boat units. The ship made multiple non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. After an attack by aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force killed German sailors in 1937, Albatros participated in the retaliatory bombardment of Almería.

At the beginning of World War II in 1939, she helped to lay minefields and made anti-shipping patrols before participating in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940. Albatros fired the first shots of the campaign when she encountered and crippled a Norwegian patrol boat. She was lightly damaged during the Battle of Horten Harbor and then ran aground and was wrecked while maneuvering in an attempt to avoid Norwegian coastal artillery.

Design and armament

Derived from the World War 1-era torpedo boat SMS H145,[Note 1] the Type 23 torpedo boat was slightly larger, but had a similar armament and speed.[1] The Type 23 had an overall length of 87.7 meters (287 ft 9 in) and was 85.7 meters (281 ft 2 in) long at the waterline.[2] The ships had a beam of 8.25 meters (27 ft 1 in), and a mean draft of 3.65 meters (12 ft 0 in). They displaced 923 long tons (938 t) at standard load and 1,290 long tons (1,310 t) at deep load.[3] The pair of Schichau geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller, were designed to produce 23,000 shaft horsepower (17,000 kW) using steam from three water-tube boilers, which propelled the ship at 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph).[4] Albatros carried a maximum of 321 metric tons (316 long tons) of fuel oil which was intended to give a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).[1] The effective range proved to be only 1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at that speed. Their crew consisted of 4 officers and 116 sailors.[3]

As built, the Type 23s mounted three 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) SK L/45[Note 2] guns, one forward and two aft of the superstructure. They carried six above-water 50 cm (19.6 in) torpedo tubes in two triple mounts and could also carry up to 30 mines.[2] After 1931, the torpedo tubes were replaced by 533-millimeter (21.0 in) tubes and a pair of 2-centimeter (0.8 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns were added.[1][3]

Construction and career

Albatros was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven (Navy Yard) on 5 October 1925 as yard number 105,[5] launched on 15 July 1926 and commissioned on 15 May 1928.[4][4] After working up, Albatros became the flagship of the 4th Torpedo Boat Half-flotilla, consisting of her sister ships Falke, Greif and Möwe. The half-flotilla was under the command of Korvettenkapitän Karl Dönitz, who later became grand admiral of the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany.

In the spring of 1929, Albatros took part in a fleet patrol in Spanish waters, but collided with Möwe at the exit from Wilhelmshaven. Both ships followed the fleet four days later after repairs. In 1931, the Commander of the Reconnaissance Forces (B.d.A), Konteradmiral Conrad Albrecht, took part with his flagship Königsberg, and the 4th Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla in the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Latvian Navy in Libau. In 1932, Albatros, again with her sisters and Königsberg, represented Germany at the celebration of the betrothal of the Swedish Crown Prince Gustav Adolf with the German princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. On 7 December 1932, Albatros was decommissioned and replaced by Greif as flagship of the 4th Half-Flotilla.[6]

On 5 October 1933, Albatros, commanded by Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant) Werner Hartmann, was put back into service. Albatros replaced the pre-war boat T151 in the 2nd Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla based at Swinemünde (now Świnoujście, Poland). On 1 October 1934, the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla was commanded from Albatros and consisted of Möwe and the two Type 24 torpedo boats Jaguar and Leopard.[6]

Spanish Civil War

From July 1936 to October 1937, Albatros carried out four patrols of neutral Spanish waters. On the first mission from 28 July to 27 August 1936, the four ships of the 2nd Flotilla escorted the light cruiser Köln, and the heavy cruisers Deutschland and Admiral Scheer to the north Spanish coast and evacuated Germans and other refugees to France. The warships not only transported refugees, but also escorted the many merchant ships that were chartered by the Reich for the repatriation of German citizens. The 2nd Flotilla returned to Spain with Albatros from 28 September to 29 November 1936.[6] Seeadler ran aground while leaving Cadiz harbor that same month and had to return to Germany on one turbine, escorted by Albatros.[7]

The flotilla returned to Spain for the third time from May to June 1937. On 24 May, Republican aircraft attacked the town and harbor of Palma de Mallorca causing Deutschland to depart for Ibiza, although Albatros's captain chose to remain in port. During subsequent attacks later that day, several bombs fell near the ship and he steamed to join the cruiser in Ibiza. Five days later, another attack was carried out on Deutschland, lying in front of Ibiza. The ship was hit by two bombs, starting large fires and killing 31 men with another 110 men wounded. As retaliation, Adolf Hitler ordered Admiral Scheer to bombard the Republican-held city of Almería. On 31 May the ship did so, accompanied by the four boats of the 2nd Flotilla,[7] targeting Republican coastal artillery, naval buildings and ships in the harbor. The German shells killed 19 people.[8] On 24 June Albatros was replaced by Möwe, and returned to Germany escorting the light cruisers Köln and Leipzig.[6]

Second World War

Now assigned to the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Albatros was used in the North Sea mining operations that began on 3 September 1939. Together with three destroyers and her sisters Greif and Falke, Albatros was tasked with anti-shipping patrols in the Kattegat and Skaggerak from 3 to 5 October that captured four ships.[9]

Map of operations in the Oslofjord on the night of 8/9 April, showing how far the Germans had progressed at various times as well as their movements

During the Norwegian Campaign, Albatros was assigned to Group 5 under Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz on the heavy cruiser Blücher, tasked to capture Oslo. Albatros transported about 100 men of the invasion force and was one of the cruiser's escorts through the Baltic and Kattegat. While passing Skagen, Denmark, on 8 April the British submarine HMS Triton unsuccessfully attacked the cruisers of the group with torpedoes. Albatros spotted their tracks and unsuccessfully depth charged the submarine. Later that night the group encountered the Norwegian patrol boat HNoMS Pol III in heavy fog at 23:00. After firing a warning shot and realising that Albatros would not turn away, but was going to violate Norwegian neutrality, Pol III fired flares to alert Norwegian coastal batteries and rammed Albatros in the side. From Albatros it was clear that the guns on Pol III were manned, and that the Norwegians intended to fight. Despite clear orders from Kummetz to only fire if fired upon, the torpedo boat's captain, Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Strelow, opened fire, hitting Pol III with at least two 10.5 cm shells and raking her with machine guns, thus firing the opening shots of the campaign. The Norwegian ship's crew attempted to abandon ship in the only intact boat remaining, but it capsized and they were taken aboard Albatros. The Germans set the patrol boat on fire and abandoned it, proceeding up the foggy Oslofjord independently. The torpedo boat was finally able to get a bearing from her sister Kondor and followed her towards the naval base at Karljohansvern, in the town of Horten. En route, she was spotted by the lightly armed minesweeper Otra which sheered off after radioing a report at 04:03.[10]

The German force tasked to occupy Karljohansvern was scheduled to do so at dawn on 9 April, but Kondor's captain, the commander of the force, decided to assault the harbor directly since the Norwegians had already been alerted. About 140 soldiers were transferred to the small motor minesweepers R17 and R21 and the former ship was in the lead as they steamed through the harbor entrance at 04:35 at high speed, slowly followed by Albatros, while Kondor was transferring her embarked troops to another ship. The minelayer HNoMS Olav Tryggvason engaged R17 ten minutes later and set her on fire, but not before she unloaded her troops. The minelayer was only able to get a few shots off at R21 before she steamed behind an island in the harbor. About this time, Albatros was approaching the harbor mouth and exchanged fire with Olav Tryggvason without effect. Strelow, with only a single gun able to bear on the minelayer, withdrew behind one of the outer islands and started blindly bombarding the harbor. The minelayer was occasionally struck by shrapnel, but she hit the torpedo boat with one shell at 06:30, killing two and wounding another pair of sailors. Albatros withdrew not long afterwards and the German troops that had made it ashore bluffed the Norwegians into surrendering at 07:35.[11]

Later that morning, Kondor and Albatros were ordered to land their troops at Son and then, reinforced by R21, she was ordered to secure the submarine base at Teie. The following morning, Kondor and Albatros were engaged by coastal batteries on the island of Bolærne and forced to turn away. Later that day, Albatros was escorting the merchant ship SS Curityba while landing men on the island of Rauøy; Strelow decided to steam east of the island to avoid any further attention from the guns on Bolærne. Unbeknownst to him, sea ice had removed the marker for the Gyren shoal a few weeks earlier and Albatros struck it at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). The impact ripped open at least one fuel tank and holed the turbine and boiler rooms. The ship settled with a pronounced list to port and her stern in the air. She quickly lost all electrical power and several fires were ignited that caused several small explosions; Albatros was declared a total loss. The crew was rescued by the auxiliary V707 and later took over Olav Tryggvason which was initially renamed Albatros II and then became Brummer.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" (German: His Majesty's Ship).
  2. ↑ In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 caliber, meaning that the gun is 45 times as long as it is in diameter.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Gröner, p. 191
  2. 1 2 Gardiner & Chesneau, p. 237
  3. 1 2 3 Whitley 1991, p. 202
  4. 1 2 3 Whitley 2000, p. 57
  5. ↑ Gröner, p. 192
  6. 1 2 3 4 Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz, p. 86
  7. 1 2 Whitley 1991, p. 79
  8. ↑ Haar 2013, pp. 32–33
  9. ↑ Rohwer, pp. 2, 6
  10. ↑ Haar 2009, pp. 83–84, 119–123, 129
  11. ↑ Haar 2009, pp. 147–151
  12. ↑ Haar 2009, pp. 153, 155, 163, 380, fn. 11, p. 458

Bibliography

  • Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Volume 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-790-9.
  • Haarr, Geirr H. (2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 – April 1940. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-331-4.
  • Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-310-9.
  • Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe (Volume 1) (in German). Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 3-78220-237-6.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
  • Whitley, M. J. (1991). German Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-302-8.
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