V1-class destroyer


The German V1-class torpedo boats was a class of 26 large torpedo boats in service with the Imperial German Navy, Reichsmarine, Kriegsmarine and Royal Hellenic Navy in the early 20th century.

Design

In 1911, the Imperial German Navy placed orders for a flotilla of twelve torpedo boats as part of its shipbuilding programme for that year, with one half flotilla of six ordered from AG Vulcan, and six from Germaniawerft. The 1911 torpedo boats were smaller than those ordered in recent years in order to be more manoeuvrable and so work better with the fleet, which resulted in the numbering series for torpedo boats being restarted. The reduction in size resulted in the ships' seaworthiness being adversely affected, with the 1911 torpedo boats and the similar craft of the 1912 programme acquiring the disparaging nickname "Admiral Lans' cripples".
The six Vulcan-built ships, the V1 class, ship was long overall and at the waterline, with a beam of and a draught of. Displacement was normal and deep load. Three coal-fired and one oil-fired water-tube boilers fed steam to two direct-drive steam turbines rated at, giving a design speed of. of coal and of oil were carried, giving a range of at or at.
Armament consisted of two 8.8 cm SK L/30 naval gun|/30 naval guns in single mounts fore and aft, together with four 50 cm torpedo tubes with one reload torpedo carried. Up to 18 mines could be carried. Crew was 74 officers and other ranks.

Ships

Imperial German Navy

1912 Program
On completion, these vessels formed the VII Torpedo Boat Flotilla of the High Seas Fleet.
VesselLaunchedCompletedFate
7 Dec 19112 Jul 1912sunk 08.56 hrs 6 Nov 1914 in following a torpedo explosion.
2 Mar 19121 Nov 1912sunk by internal explosion, 19 Feb 1915 in the Jade in ; raised, 1915 and scrapped, Wilhelmshaven.
23 Mar 19121 Nov 1912mined 21 Aug 1917 in the English Channel in ; removed from service as beyond repair, 20 Sep 1917 and scrapped, Ghent.
20 Apr 19121 Oct 1912mined and sunk 18.15 hrs, 20 Jan 1918 in .
22 Jun 19127 Dec 1912mined and sunk 16 May 1917 in .
10 Aug 191212 Jan 1913to Reichsmarine, 1919; collided with battleship off Rugen, 23 May 1922 ; repaired; stricken from Fleet list, 1929; sold 31 Mar 1931 and scrapped, Kiel, 1935.
17 Oct 191229 Mar 1913to Reichsmarine, 1919; stricken from Fleet list, 1929; sold 31 Mar 1931; scrapped, Kiel, 1935.
4 Dec 19121 Nov 1913sunk in action with, 04.00 hrs 5 Jun 1917 off Flanders Coast in .
11 Jan 191320 Jun 1913rammed and sunk by 21 Apr 1915 in .
15 Feb 191323 Jul 1913mined and sunk 21.35 hrs 26 Mar 1916 in .
29 Mar 19131 Nov 1913to Reichsmarine, 1919; renumbered T 123 16 Mar 1932; renamed Komet, 23 Apr 1939; control vessel for radio-controlled target vessel ; the fat since November 1944 is unknown.
28 Jun 191327 Aug 1913surrendered to the UK at Cherbourg, 28 Apr 1920; stranded on the south coast, 1920; later scrapped.

1912 Supplementary order
Replacements for the two vessels sold to Greece in 1912.
VesselLaunchedCompletedFate
25 Apr 191317 Jul 1913to Reichsmarine, 1919; deleted from Fleet list, 18 Nov 1929; scrapped, Wilhelmshaven.
28 Feb 1913;17 May 1913to Reichsmarine, 1919; deleted from Fleet list, 27 Mar 1929; scrapped, Wilhelmshaven

History

The ships were ordered from Germany in 1912. The ships V1 through V4 served as V-class destroyers in the Imperial German Navy. The ships that served in the Greek Navy had been assigned German numbers V5 and V6, but were purchased before entering service in the German Navy, from the German shipyard Vulcan AG in Stettin, when the Balkan Wars were under-way. They were the first ships of the fleet that had steam turbines.
Later, during World War I, Greece belatedly entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente and, due to Greece's neutrality the two ex-German V-class ships were seized by the Allies in October 1916, taken over by the French in November and served in the French Navy from 1917–18. By 1918, they were back on escort duty under Greek colors, mainly in the Aegean Sea.
The two ships were stricken in 1919 and scrapped in 1922.

Citations and notes