Small Ships

[eswube]

Well done, Mates!

[eswube]

This entry is a by-product of my Pre-war Lithuanian Navy project (http://shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10667), that - as usual - has escalated somewhat. Unfortunately, source material is far from perfect for these. Dreadnought Project has nice blueprints for 2 of the 1915-class minesweepers and of one of the 1916-class (albeit only in post-WW1 configuration), leaving (blueprint-wise) basically only small and rather undetailed drawings in publications like Groener or Conway's all the world fighting ships and the like, which, coupled with less than great amount of quality and quantity of available photographs, made making these drawings rather challenging. Unfortunately, it means that I can't vouch for their accuracy as much as I would like, though certainly they represent a big progress over the drawings of these classes that were in the Archive until now (although, being made by WhyMe, back in the day they were "cutting edge" of SB quality).

It should be noted, that while in number of publications these vessels are treated as belonging to 3 separate classes (1914, 1915 and 1916), in number of others they are considered to be a one class, with merely 3 sub-classes (and number of variants).


Minensuchboot 1914 (M1 - M26)

Initially the Kaiserliche Marine entrusted the task on minesweeping to converted obsolete torpedo boats and only in 1914 the first "real" minesweepers were ordered. First of the Minensuchboot 1914 class entered service in 1915: 6 of the original vessels (M1 to M6) had displacement of 425 t, length of 55,1 m, were powered by 1029,7 kW engine and were armed with 1 (later usually 2) 88 mm cannon. Next 20 (M7 to M26) vessels were of slightly improved design - displacement increased to 450 t, length to 56,4 m while engine power rose to 1176,8 kW. 11 ships of this class were lost during the war; 6 were scrapped by 1922; 7 were apparently demilitarized and (possibly) sold abroad (though their fates are unknown); 1 (M10) was sold to Greece where it operated as "auxiliary cruiser" Aktion and in 1930 was sold to Canada where it served until 1947 as Prince William; and finally the M19 was used as training vessel by German navy until March 1945 when it was sunk in a storm.

Germany, M4
Built at Seebeck Geestemünde and commissioned in October 1915, she survived the war and was afterwards sold abroad to unknown fate.



Germany, M7
Built at Neptun Rostock, commissioned in July 1915, she also survived the war only to be scrapped in 1922.




Minensuchboot 1915 (M27 - M56)

Next 30 vessels represented improved, enlarged and up-armed design, and these were also built in two variants. M27 to M42 had displacement of 480 t, length of 58,41 m, 1323,9 kW engine and were armed with 2 105 mm cannons. Remaining ships - M43 to M56 had displacement of 476 t, length of 58,3 m and had 3 88 mm cannons. 10 were lost during the war; 10 were scrapped by 1922; 2 were sold abroad to unknown fate; 4 were sold to Argentina (see below); M28 become a fleet tender, then in 1929 was converted to a torpedo trials ship Pelikan before returning in 1940 to it's original role as minesweeper M528 and eventually was taken over by USA in 1945 and scrapped in 1950; M38 was converted in 1922 to barrack ship and after 1945 was taken over by Soviet Union; M42 become a ferry Nymphe, then it was sold to France as La Nymphe, mobilized in 1939 as minesweeper AD 204 and then captured by original owners, used as training vessel and minelayer until lost in April 1945; finally the M50 remained in service, finally being converted to R-boot depot ship Brommy (see below).

Germany, M31
Built at Seebeck Geestermünde, commisioned in June 1916, she was sunk on a mine in the Baltic Sea off Courland on 7 October 1917.



Germany, M54
Built at Vulkan Bremen, commissioned in October 1916, she survived the war and was scrapped in 1922.



Germany, Brommy
Built at Sebeck as M50 and commissioned in September 1916, she remained in service in Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine and in 1938 was converted to R-boot depot ship (R-Begleitschiff) Brommy. In 1940 was re-converted to minesweeper as M550 and met her fate on 15 June 1944 at Boulogne during an air raid.



Argentina, M3
Argentinian navy purchased 4 1915 class minesweepers in 1922. They were M48, M51, M52, M53 - renamed M1 to M4 and in 1936 renamed again to A1 Bathurst, A2 Fournier, A3 Jorge, A4 King respectively, and A3 in 1940 was re-classified as aviso and named Cormoran. They spent most of their service lives on the Southern Hemisphere as training vessels (attached to Escuela Naval) or in survey duties. They were scrapped in 1951, 1943, 1946 and 1948 respectively.




Minensuchboot 1916 (M57 - M176)
1916 class was an ultimate development of the family. M57 to M96 had displacement of 506 - 515 t, length of 59,28 m and 1360,7 kW engine. Ships from M97 upwards had displacement of 525 - 535 t, length of 59,6. They were armed either with 2 105 mm or 3 88 mm cannons. A total of 120 were ordered, but only 80 were actually commissioned to Kaiserliche Marine (of the remaining, 13 were scrapped incomplete, 10 were sold to civilian operators in incomplete state and finished as merchant vessels, and 17 were cancelled entirely at war's end). Of those used by German navy, 8 were sunk during the Great War; 1 was converted to hospital vessel and capsized in 1920; 16 were scrapped by 1922; 1 was sold in 1922 to civilian operator, 17 ended up in foreign navies (see below, including M70 sold to Hungary in 1929 where apparently it was to be converted to riverine minelayer, but it didn't came to fruition), while remaining 37 survived - in various roles (as minesweepers, training ships, fleet tenders, trials ships, accomodation vessels etc.) - until the days of nazi Kriegsmarine and some - under ownership of victorious powers - even bit longer.

Germany, M57
Built at Seebeck and commissioned in September 1917, she survived the war, only to become an acommodation vessel and to be scrapped at unknown date.



Germany, M60 / Hecht
Built at Seebeck, commissioned in January 1918, remained in service in Reichsmarine and in 1938 was converted to fleet tender Hecht. In 1940 she was reconverted to minesweeper again and renamed M560 (used also as training ship in that period), then in 1942-1943 converted to base for R-boots (R-Begleitschiff) and named Hille. After the war the ship was used by Allied-controlled German Mine Sweeping Administration until November 1945, when it was transferred to the Soviet Navy, where it was used as tender Donets by Black Sea Fleet until 1958.




Argentina, Golondrina (M10)
In addition to 4 1915 class vessels, Argentina purchased in 1922 also 6 1916 ones: M74, M79, M80, M90, M101, M105, renamed M5 to M10 and later A5 Murature, A6 Pinedo, A7 Py, A8 Segui, A9 Thorne, while M10 became a presidential yacht and training vessel Golondrina. Like they older sisters, more than as minesweepers, they are used as avisos and training or survey vessels. They were decommissioned in 1946 (Murature), 1951 (Pinedo - remaining in civilian use until 1969), 1937 (Py - after accidential sinking in a river), 1950 (Segui - remaining in civilian use until 1963), 1947 (Thorne in the final period known as Petrel) and 1955 (Golondrina).



Italy, Crotone
In 1921 Italian navy obtained pair of 1916 type minesweepers as part of war reparations. M119 was originally commissioned into Kaiserliche Marine in August 1918 and under new ownership was renamed in 1921 Meteo. In 1925 was modified to minelayer and renamed Vieste. As such, she had fairly long and rather uneventful service life until 11 September 1943, when she was taken over by her original owners, only to be sunk in an air raid on 23 September. M120 was commissioned into Kaiserliche Marine in September 1918, and when passed into italian hands in 1921 she was renamed Abastro. Like her sister, she was converted to minelayer in 1925 and renamed Crotone. In 1941 she was adapted to antisubmarine duties (now as AS102 Crotone) and in 9 September 1943 was taken over by Kriegsmarine, first as minelayer Kehrwinder, and from January 1944 as escort ship (Geleitschiff) G702. On 19 May 1944 she was sunk in dock during an air raid, but in 1947 was raised and rebuilt (by 1951) as civilian training ship Redenzione, serving in this capacity until 1968.
Several more vessels of the type were captured from Yugoslavia during World War 2 (see below).



Yugoslavia, Galeb
Royal Yugoslav Navy inherited 6 1916 type minesweeper in the course of splitting the Imperial German Navy, and most of these enjoyed quite long and varied careers. The vessels transferred to Adriatic in 1921 were Jastreb (Hawk, ex-M112), Kobac (Sparrowhawk, ex-M121), Orao (Eagle, ex-M97), Sokol (Falcon, ex-M144), Galeb (Seagull, ex-M100), Gavran (Raven, ex-M106). They were classed as minonosets and later minopolagac (minelayer) and in 1941 all were taken over by Italian Navy, although Galeb very briefly raised Croatian flag. They become Zirona, Unie, Vergada, Eso, Selve, Zuri respectively, and in later 1941 were adapted to antisubmarine duties and given tactical numbers (AS133, AS110, AS112, AS111, AS118, AS120 respectively - last one was shortly after also renamed Oriole). Selve was sunk in Benghazi harbor on 6 November 1942, Zirona on 18 November 1942 during evacuation of said base, Eso was sunk by allied aircraft on 19 January 1943 off Tunisia, and Kobac met similar fate on 30 January, and Oriole was was scuttled in Augusta bay after being heavily damaged by British aircraft on 10 July 1943. Only Vergada survived the was - after surrender of Kingdom of Italy in1943, she was transferred back to exile Royal Yugoslav Navy at Malta and in August 1945 returned to country, where it served until 1962, when she was sold to civilian operator which attempted conversion to merchant vessel, before cancelling the project and selling the ship for scrap.



Latvia, Virsaitis
1916-clas minesweeper M68 became the main surface vessel of the inter-war Latvian navy. Originally built at Neptun Werft in Rostock (yard no. 382), she was launched on 25 July 1917 and commissioned on 6 October 1917. Assigned to forces operating in the Gulf of Riga, already on 29 October was lost on a mine in the Daugava estuary. Although neither engine room or other critical section was significantly damaged, the vessel lost sufficiently much of the buoyancy to sink in the shallow waters off Daugavgrīva with the loss of one crewman. In the spring of 1918 M68 was provisionally refloated and towed to Riga for repairs, although these dragged long enough to become prey for latvian communists who took control of Riga in the early days of 1919. Government of Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic commissioned the ship into their nascent naval force as command and despatch vessel Sarkanā Latvija (Red Latvia). In May 1919 she was captured moored to the pier in Riga by troops from German Freikorps and in July transferred to the custody of Entente-backed Latvian Provisional Government, where it became core of their flotilla. Once the hostilities subdued, she was sent for refit which lasted until 12 June 1921, when she was re-commissioned as gunboat (with some minesweeping capability) Virsaitis. In Latvian service the gunboat was armed with 2 Škoda 83,5 mm guns, 2 57mm guns (2 machine guns also being mentioned). Also, at some unclear point, ship was additionaly armed with Vickers 3 inch gun. Being Latvian navy's main vessel, the Virsaitis took part in number of foreign visits, including taking presidents of the republic to Finland (1926) and Sweden (1929) and international fleet exercises (with navies of Estonia and Finland). In 1940, together with all assets of Latvian navy she was taken over by Soviet Union on 19 August 1940 and after some adaptations (including rearming with 2 76 mm guns, 2 45 mm guns and machine guns), in October of same year became Tralshchik 297 and on 25 May 1941 become escort ship (storozhevoy korabl) and returned to her Latvian name (but written Russian-way). In late 1941 ship took part in evacuation of Soviet troops from besieged Hanko naval base and in the course of that operation sank on a mine during the night of 2-3 December 1941, with great loss of life (both among the crew and evacuated personnel).




Lithuania, Prezidentas Smetona
One of the 1916-class ships happened to be also the largest vessel of inter-war Lithuanian naval forces. M59 was built at Seebeck-Werft at Geestemünde (yard no. 402), launched on 31 October 1917 and commissioned on 30 November. She was struck from Reichsmarine lists on 24 October 1921 and in the next year sold (disarmed) to a commercial enterprise in Wilhelmshaven. On 27 July 1927 she was bought by Lithuanian government for the Coast Guard, where it was to become (after necessary adaptations) a patrol gunboat and training ship. She was commissioned in her new role - and new name Prezidentas Smetona - on 4 November 1927. At the end of the decade she received additional duties as presidential yacht and for that purpose her stern superstructure was enlarged (besides some other changes). During that period she was usually armed with a single 57 mm cannon, 2-3 37 mm cannons and up to 3 machine guns (although it seems there was a period when she was armed only with MG's). In 1932, largely due to financial reasons, vessel was decommissioned, but it didn't meant a definitive end to her service. At that time Lithuanian authorities decided to create a "proper" navy, as part of the armed forces, and Prezidentas Smetona was to become her flagship. As such, she underwent general refit between 1934 and 1935, after which new changes were made to superstructure and to armament (which was reduced to single 37 mm and 3 machine guns - 1 heavy and 2 light). After Soviet takeover in 1940 ship was renamed Pirmunas (The First) and few months later Zadorny (Pugnacious), attached to border forces of NKVD. In August 1941 she was back at VMF as minesweeper Tralshchik 76, only to become an escort just month later, named Korall. Under that classification she spent next 2 years, when she become minesweeper again, from 1944 named T-33. She sank, most likely on mines, on 11 January 1945 during cruise between Helsinki and Tallin.






I'll be honest that although the basic drawings at Groener (vol. 2, pp. 168-169) and available photos (esp. at navyworld.narod.ru) could permit (to a sufficiently determined Shipbucketeer) to draw few more M1916's in their inter-war/WW2 configurations (including M85, M107, M113, M117, M130, M133, M135 and M138). I wasn't sufficiently determined (after all, I just needed M1916 for Lithuanian Navy project - that's also the reason why these drawings are posted here, instead of dedicated thread, which I would open if I would make a more extensive preview of the group, that would include more of WW2-era modernizations), so if someone would like to try, it would be great (hint, hint! - false-color blanks of M1914/M1915/M1916 available on request )


And one extra here, the F45 of the rather forgotten Flachgehende Minenräumboot class. 75 of these dinky boats were made at C. Wapp and Abeking shipyards (some of them completed after the war) for inshore minesweeper and patrol duties. After the war great many of them found their way into hands of various port capitaincies, maritime administration etc. as well as commercial users.




Sources:
Conway's All the world fighting ships 1906-1921, Conway Maritime Press, London 1986.
Gaiduk Aleksey A., Lapshin Roman V., Voyenno-morskiye sily pribaltiyskikh gosudarstv 1918-1940 gg., Galeya Print, Sankt-Peterburg 2009;
Gröner Erich, Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945. Band 2, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1983;
Jung Dieter, Die Schiffe der Kaiserlichen Marine 1914-1918 und ihr Verbleib, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 2004;
Schäfer Knut, Deutsche Minensuch- und Räumboote. Minenleger und Transporter seit 1914, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2021;

Apalkov Yuri Valentinovich, VMS Germanii. Spravochnik na korablenomu sostavu, "Morskaya Kollektsiya" 1996, nr 3.

Ehlers Hartmut, Litewskie siły morskie przed 1940 rokiem, "Okręty Wojenne" 2012, nr 5.
Ehlers Hartmut, Historia Łotewskich Sił Morskich 1919-1940, "Okręty Wojenne" 2012, nr 3.

http://daivings.lv/en/kugis-virsaitis-1 ... ot-dzelme/
http://forummarine.forumactif.com/t6122 ... e-mondiale
http://forummarine.forumactif.com/t7601 ... -allemands
http://german-navy.de/hochseeflotte/ships/minehunters/
http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virsaitis_(karaku%C4%A3is)
http://navypedia.org/ships/italy/it_ms_meteo.htm
http://navyworld.narod.ru/m1.htm
http://navyworld.narod.ru/Dragamine.htm#Abastro
http://navyworld.narod.ru/Minolovci.htm
http://zudusilatvija.lv/objects/subject/5296/
http://www.diena.lv/raksts/latvija/zina ... s-13908177
http://www.histarmar.com.ar/IndiceARA-SiglosXXyXXI.htm rastreadores / barreminas alemanes de 1922 / balizadores y avisos
http://www.paluba.info/smf/index.php?topic=5475.0

[Gollevainen]

fantastic additions! specially to see the rarer topviews on real design section

[Hood]

Lovely work, great to see the full series behind the Lithuanian drawings.

[eswube]

Thank You for the kind words!

[adenandy]

Great Britain - Severn class Lifeboat

Very nice, be nice to see some more RNLI boats in this and FD scale

I completely concur with the above sentiment please DP

[reytuerto]

Good afternoon, guys.

A Peruvian tugboat of the 1930s: Guardian Rios. In her career, there were two remarcable actions: First, during the Ecuatorian-Peruvian War of 1941, the marine platoon of reinforcement for the small paratroop detachment that was holding Puerto Bolivar, was landed from Guardian Rios. And she was the tugboat that put the raft Kon Tiki out to sea in 1947.



Cheers.

[darthpanda]

USA PGM-39

[odysseus1980]

Well done!

[heuhen]

There have been some excellent work lately