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E-BOAT MOTOR TORPEDO BOAT
SCHNELLBOOT (S-BOOT)
E-boats, a
British designation using the letter E for Enemy, were
primarily used by Germany during WWII 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 Motor Gun Boats (MGBs), Motor Torpedo Boats
(MTBs), Motor Launches, frigates and destroyers.
Before the
beginning of World War II the Friedrich Lurssen
shipyard, in Vegesack, Germany, carried out much
pioneering work and developed a fast, seaworthy
speedboat under the guise of pleasure craft that were
capable of top speed even in heavy seas, these boats had
great maneuverability and the torpedo boats that came
from these developments were so successful that they
were built until the end of the war without major
modifications.
The S-100
class was the most popular among Schenellboot (meaning
"fast boat" in German), They were very seaworthy,
heavily armed, and fast – capable of sustaining 43.5
knots (80.6 km/h or 50.1 mph) and briefly accelerating
to 48 knots (89 km/h; 55 mph).
They were much sleeker than any of the Allied PT / MTB
Boats and unlike most allied boats was not based on a
planing hull design but was rather a deeper round bottom
design, more suitable for heavy sea's.
These craft were 114'10" (35 meters) long.
Their
three Daimler-Benz MB 511-V 2500 hp
diesel
engine propulsion had substantially longer range (700
nautical miles) than the gasoline-fueled American PT
boat and the generally similar British Motor Torpedo
Boat (MTB).
Emerged from the North Sea mist, launched their
torpedo's and disappeared just as quickly, S-100 were
sometimes called the "Greyhounds of the Sea".
During World War II, E-boats sank 12 destroyers, one
submarine, 11 minesweepers, a minelayer, eight landing
ships, a torpedo boat, six MTBs. They also
downed 101 merchant ships, totaling 214,728 tons and
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 August of 1945, future US president
John F. Kennedy visited defeated Germany with US Navy
Secretary James Forrestal. As a former PT boat captain,
he was naturally interested in the German counterpart so
he made a point of carefully inspecting an "E-Boat" at
Bremen. Kennedy's diary records his conclusion:
the Schnellboot was "far superior to our PT boat."
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