Herring gull class

Herring Gull Class (149)
Type	Torpedo speedboat
Type boat	Herring Gull (ex "Silver Gull")
units	6th
Technical specifications
displacement	109  tons
length	35.4 meters
width	5.1 meters
Draft	1.8 meters
Speed:	43 kn (~ 79.5 km / h)
crew	19th
Range	900 nm (at 34 kn)
drive	3 propellers 3 diesel engines Mercedes-Benz MB 518
power	7,500 PS (3 × 2,500 PS)
Armament	2 × torpedo tubes ø 533 mm 2 x 20 mm L / 85 twin gun Hispano-Suiza or 40 mm Bofors - Flak

The six herring gull-class boats (149) were built from 1952 by the Lürssen shipyard according to plans of the German S-38 speedboats of the Second World War for the German maritime border protection . However, they were confiscated by the Allied Control Commission and two of the boats were initially handed over to the BBFPS, which operates under British command . After the Bundeswehr was founded, all six boats were incorporated into the new German Navy and served as training and test boats.

construction

The boats were slight modifications of the last speedboat type of the Kriegsmarine . Like these, they were displacement boats that were made in composite construction with three-layer diagonally glued wooden hulls on light metal frames. The superstructures also consisted of an aluminum alloy .

The boats were powered by three Mercedes-Benz MB 518 diesel engines with 2500 hp each, which operated on three shafts with fixed propellers . The boats reached a speed of 43 knots and at 34 kn had a range of almost 900 nm.
They also had two auxiliary diesel engines to generate electricity.

Due to their intended use in the police force, no heavy armament was originally intended for the boats, which is why they lacked the typical torpedo tubes built into the forecastle of the German speed boats . In the Bundeswehr, the boats were initially only armed with two 20 mm twin guns from Hispano-Suiza , one each on the deck structure and one in the stern.

In 1957, instead of the rear guns, a 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun was installed, and at the same time they were equipped with two individual torpedo tubes of British origin on the side of the bridge structure, for each of which a torpedo could be carried in reserve. The pipes were movably mounted and were swiveled out by 15 ° for the shot.

The space for equipping with electronics was very limited. A radar system was installed, but an electric compass and a plotting table were missing.

history

At the beginning of the 1950s, the border guard of the Federal Republic was established. For this purpose, three boats were commissioned from the Lürssen shipyard to monitor the sea borders. At that time, Germany was still under occupation law and was not allowed to maintain military units. When the boats were about to be completed, the Allied Control Commission classified them as prohibited weapons of war because of their very high speed and confiscated them, even though no armament was intended for them.

The boats were built on behalf of the British BBFPS and were named Storm Gull , Silver Gull and Wild Swan . 1954 to 1955 Silver Gull and Storm Gull were used in the Klose Association . Here they were mainly busy with reconnaissance missions in the Baltic Sea .

Note on naming:

The boats were later given the translations of the English names by the German Navy and the other boats were given appropriate names. The Storm Gull (" Storm Gull ") was the first boat of the class to be launched, but the British first put the Silver Gull ("Herring Gull") into service, which is why the class was later named after her.

1st Speedboat Squadron

All boats in the package, arrow in the foreground

When the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO in 1955, the Military Security Office approved the construction of three more boats of the class. Two of the boats were initially handed over to the maritime border protection. The last boat in the Seeschwalbe series was not completed until 1956.

When the Bundeswehr was founded in 1956, all six boats were transferred to the German Navy . Five of them formed the basis of the Schnellbootlehrgeschwader (speed boat training squadron) (later renamed the 1st Schnellbootgeschwader). Here they were initially used to train the crews for the new Jaguar class boats that were coming in . In mid-1957, they were equipped with torpedo tubes and the aft 20 mm twin was replaced by a 40 mm gun.

When the squadron was dissolved in 1967, the boats of the 1st S-Squadron were sold to Greece, where the boats were in service until 1974.

Seeschwalbe was equipped with Maybach engines and controllable pitch propellers and was not integrated into the squadron service due to its test assignment and ongoing technical problems. She later switched to the Marine Underwater Weapons School as UW 9 and finally served as the test boat Wilhelm Laudahn with civilian crew until the mid-1970s at test site 73 in Eckernförde .

The boats

P6056 Skua

Herring gull class radar and radio antennas

NATO identifier	Surname	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
P6052	herring gull	May 29, 1956	March 15, 1967	until 1974 Greece ("Drakon")
P6053	Common gull	May 29, 1956	March 15, 1967	until 1974 Greece ("Dolphin")
P6054	Wild swan	May 29, 1956	March 15, 1967	until 1974 Greece ("Polydeykes")
P6055	Ice gull	July 1, 1956	March 15, 1967	until 1974 Greece ("Phoenix")
P6056	Skua	July 1, 1956	March 15, 1967	until 1974 Greece ("Polikos")
P6057	Tern	April 16, 1957	January 31, 1964	until the middle of the 1970s first as UW 9, later "Wilhelm Laudahn", test site Eckernförde

Web links

Commons : Herring Gull Class  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

swell

• www.schnellboot-seeadler.de [1]
• www.schnellboot.net [2]
• History S-130 and the new boats (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paperback for military issues 1959, Festlandverlag Bonn
2. ^ Federal Navy - Chronicle from 1964–1981 ( Memento from August 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.