View source for German torpedo boat T11

{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Torpedoboot1935-Erstzustand.svg
|Ship caption=Right elevation and plan of the Type 1935
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[Nazi Germany]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}}
|Ship name=''T11''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=29 June 1936
|Ship builder=[[Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG|DeSchiMAG]], [[Bremen]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=938
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=1 July 1938
|Ship launched=1 March 1939
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=24 May 1940
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship fate=[[ship breaking|Scrapped]], 1951
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= (as built)
|Ship class= [[Type 35 torpedo boat|Type 35]] [[torpedo boat]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|859|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|1108|LT|t}} ([[deep load]])
|Ship length={{convert|84.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|8.62|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|2.83|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 × shafts; 2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed= {{convert|35|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{cvt|1200|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|19|kn}}
|Ship power=*4 × [[water-tube boilers]]
*{{cvt|31000|shp|lk=on}}
|Ship complement=119
|Ship armament= *1 × single [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun|{{convert|10.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}]] gun
*1 × single [[3.7 cm SK C/30|{{convert|3.7|cm|1|abbr=on}}]] [[AA gun]]s
*2 × single [[2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling|{{convert|2|cm|1|abbr=on}}]] AA guns
*2 × triple {{cvt|533|mm|in|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*30–60 [[naval mine|mines]]
}}
|}
The '''German torpedo boat ''T11''''' was one of a dozen [[Type 35 torpedo boat]]s built for the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' (German Navy) during the late 1930s. Completed in mid-1940, the boat was deployed in the [[English Channel]] later that year and returned to Germany in December. She then supported operations in the [[Baltic Sea]] after the start of [[Operation Barbarossa]] in June. ''T11'' was transferred to France at the end of the year and helped to escort a pair of [[battleship]]s and a [[heavy cruiser]] through the Channel back to Germany in the [[Channel Dash]] in early 1942. She then escorted German ships in Norwegian waters for several months and was placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] when she returned to Germany. The boat spent all of 1943 and 1944 either refitting or assigned to the Torpedo School. ''T11'' returned to active duty at the beginning of 1945 and survived the war. The boat was allocated to the British after the war, but she was transferred to [[France]] in 1946. Unused by the [[French Navy]], she was stricken from the [[Navy List]] in 1951 and subsequently [[ship breaking|scrapped]].

==Design and description==
The Type 35 was an unsuccessful attempt by the ''Kriegsmarine'' to design a fast, ocean-going [[torpedo boat]] that did not exceed the {{cvt|600|LT|t|adj=on}} displacement limit of the [[London Naval Treaty]] for ships that counted against the national tonnage limit.<ref>Whitley 1991, pp. 47–49</ref> The boats had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|84.3|m|ftin|sp=us}} and were {{convert|82.2|m|ftin|sp=us}} [[Length at the waterline|long at the waterline]]. After the [[bow (ship)|bow]] was rebuilt in 1941 to improve [[seaworthiness]], the overall length increased to {{convert|87.1|m|ftin|sp=us}}.<ref name=g3>Gröner, p. 193</ref> The ships had a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|8.62|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a mean [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|2.83|m|ftin|sp=us}} at [[deep load]] and displaced {{convert|859|MT|LT|lk=on}} at [[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard load]] and {{convert|1108|MT|LT}} at deep load.<ref name=w2/> Their crew numbered 119 officers and sailors.<ref name=gc>Sieche, p. 237</ref> Their pair of geared [[steam turbine]] sets, each driving one propeller, were designed to produce {{convert|31000|shp|lk=on}} using steam from four high-pressure [[water-tube boiler]]s<ref name=g3/> which would propel the boats at {{convert|35|kn|lk=on}}. They carried enough [[fuel oil]] to give them a range of {{convert|1200|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|19|kn}}.<ref name=w2>Whitley 1991, p. 202</ref>

As built, the Type 35 class mounted a single [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun|{{cvt|10.5|cm|in}} SK C/32]] gun on the [[stern]]. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a single [[3.7 cm SK C/30|{{cvt|3.7|cm|in}} SK C/30]] [[anti-aircraft gun]] [[superfiring]] over the 10.5&nbsp;cm gun and a pair of [[2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling|{{cvt|2|cm|1}} C/30]] guns on the [[bridge wing]]s. They carried six above-water {{cvt|533|mm|in|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s in two triple mounts and could also carry 30 [[naval mine|mines]] (or 60 if the weather was good). Many boats exchanged the 3.7&nbsp;cm gun for another 2&nbsp;cm gun, [[depth charge]]s and [[Paravane (weapon)|minesweeping paravanes]] before completion. Late-war additions were limited to the installation of [[radar]], [[radar detector]]s and additional AA guns, usually at the expense of the aft torpedo tube mount.<ref>Whitley 1991, pp. 49–51; Whitley 2000, p. 71</ref>

==Construction and career==
''T11'' was ordered on 29 June 1936 from [[Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG|DeSchiMAG]], [[laid down]] at their [[Bremen]] [[shipyard]] on 1 July 1938<ref name=w9>Whitley 1991, p. 210</ref> as [[yard number]] 938,<ref name=g3/> [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 1 March 1939 and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 24 May 1940. The boat was [[Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z)#W|working up]] until July when she was transferred to the Skaggerak for convoy escort duties.<ref name=w9/> On 18 September, ''T11'' was slightly damaged by bomb splinters when the [[Royal Air Force]] bombed [[Cherbourg]], [[France]]. Several of her crew were wounded during the attack. She returned to Germany in December and was decommissioned for repairs that lasted until June 1941. The boat was recommissioned and assigned to the Baltic Sea where she escorted, together with her [[sister ship]]s {{Ship|German torpedo boat|T7||2}} and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T8||2}}, the [[light cruiser]]s {{ship|German cruiser|Leipzig||2}} and {{ship|German cruiser|Emden||2}} as they supported German forces invading the [[Estonia]]n islands of [[Saaremaa|Ösel]], [[Hiiumaa|Dagö]] and [[Muhu]] ([[Operation Beowulf]]) in mid-September. ''T11'' and her sisters {{Ship|German torpedo boat|T2||2}}, {{Ship|German torpedo boat|T5||2}}, ''T7'', and ''T8'' were among the escorts for the Baltic Fleet, a temporary formation built around the battleship {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}}, as it [[sortie]]d into the [[Sea of Åland]] on 23–29 September, to forestall any attempt by the Soviet [[Red Banner Baltic Fleet]] to breakout from the [[Gulf of Finland]].<ref>Rohwer, pp. 41, 99, 103; Whitley 1991, pp. 106, 109, 210</ref>

The boat was transferred to France around the beginning of 1942. As part of the preparations for the Channel Dash, the ''Kriegsmarine'' substituted a quadruple 2&nbsp;cm mount for ''T11''{{'}}s aft torpedo tubes and added a 2&nbsp;cm single mount at the bow to reinforce the boat's anti-aircraft suite. On the morning of 12 February 1942, the 2nd and 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotillas (with ''T2'', ''T4'', ''T5'', ''T11'', {{Ship|German torpedo boat|T12||2}} and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T13||2}}, {{ship|German torpedo boat|T15||2}}, {{ship|German torpedo boat|T16||2}}, and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T17||2}} respectively) rendezvoused with the battleships {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and the heavy cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Prinz Eugen||2}} to escort them through the Channel to Germany. ''T11''{{'}}s torpedo tubes were replaced afterwards, although the quadruple mounting may have been moved to the aft superfiring position and she also may have kept her [[bow-chaser]]. She was transferred to Norway the following month and was one of the escorts for the badly damaged ''Prinz Eugen'' from [[Trondheim]] to [[Kiel]] on 16–18 May (Operation ''Zauberflote'' (Magic Flute)), together with ''T12'' and the destroyers {{Ship|German destroyer|Z25||2}} and {{ship|German destroyer|Z5 Paul Jacobi||2}}. ''T11'' returned to Germany that month and was placed in reserve until the end of the year.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 143, 166; Whitley 1991, pp. 51, 118, 140, 210</ref>

The boat was recommissioned in January 1943 and was assigned to the Torpedo School in April. She began a refit in mid-1944 that lasted until December when she was assigned to the 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotilla in the Baltic. On 2 April 1945, ''T11'' was involved in a collision with the minesweeper ''R 256'' east of [[Bornholm]] Island, which was sunk by Soviet aircraft later that day. The torpedo boat was allocated to the British when the Allies divided the surviving ships of the ''Kriegsmarine'' amongst themselves in late 1945. The [[Royal Navy]] had no interest in her and she was transferred to France in February 1946 and was renamed ''Bir Hacheim'' on 4 February. The boat was immediately placed in reserve until she was stricken on 8 October 1951 and subsequently scrapped.<ref>Rohwer, p. 405; Whitley 1991, pp. 168, 173, 180, 191, 199, 210</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |last2=Cant |first2=Serena |title=Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-5267-4198-1|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{Cite book |last=Gröner|first=Erich|title=German Warships 1815&ndash;1945|year=1990 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|volume=1: Major Surface Warships|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-87021-790-9|author-link=Erich Gröner}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005 |edition=Third Revised |isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
*{{cite book|author1-last=Sieche|author1-first=Erwin|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|year=1980|publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=0-85177-146-7|name-list-style=amp|chapter=Germany}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=German Destroyers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=1991 |isbn=1-55750-302-8 |location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
*{{cite book |last1=Whitley |first1=M. J. |title=The "Type 35" Torpedoboats of the Kriegsmarine |date=n.d. |publisher=World Ship Society |location=Kendal, UK |isbn=0-905617-39-8}}

==External links==
*[http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/torpedoboats/torpedoboot1935/index.html Type 35 on German Navy.de]

{{Type 35 torpedo boat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:T11}}
[[Category:Type 35 torpedo boats]]
[[Category:1939 ships]]