10. Torpedo boat flotilla

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The 10th Torpedo Boat Flotilla (10th T-Flotilla) was a military association of the German Navy during World War II .

history

It was erected in Genoa in January 1944 and consisted of formerly Italian torpedo boats captured by the navy after the armistice of Cassibile in September 1943 and, as a guide boat , the converted former Yugoslav destroyer Dubrovnik , which had been a Premuda in the Italian since 1941 Marine had served. The flotilla was personally subordinate to the destroyer leader , in terms of troops and operations to the Italian naval command or, from January 1945, to the southern naval command , tactically to the 7th Security Division . Their tasks were reconnaissance operations, offensive and defensive mining operations , escort and security service and the bombardment of land targets in the Ligurian Sea .

Between April 25, 1944 and June 25, 1944, the flotilla lost four of its eight boats to enemy action, and another in September 1944. Despite these losses, the flotilla noticeably damaged the British naval forces in the Mediterranean. For this, their commander was awarded the Knight's Cross in June 1944.

Two of the three remaining were sunk on March 18, 1945 in a mine laying operation northwest of Corsica by the two British destroyers HMS Meteor and HMS Lookout ; only TA 32 escaped damaged. During the German evacuation of Genoa, TA 32 was sunk on April 24th by its own crew in the port by blowing up.

units

The following units belonged to the flotilla:

  • TA-23 (ex Impavido ), sunk April 25, 1944
  • TA-24 (ex Arturo ), sunk March 18, 1945
  • TA-27 (ex Auriga ), sunk June 9, 1944
  • TA-28 (ex Rigel ), sunk September 4, 1944
  • TA-29 (ex Eridano ), sunk March 18, 1945
  • TA-30 (ex Dragone ), sunk June 15, 1944
  • TA-31 (ex Dardo ), sunk June 25, 1944
  • TA-32 (ex Premuda , ex Yugosl. Dubrovnik ), self- sunk April 24, 1945

Flotilla Chiefs

  • Corvette Captain Wirich von Gartzen - January 1944 to November 1944
  • Corvette Captain Franz Burkart - November 1944 to March 1945
  • Kapitänleutnant Emil Kopka (mWdGb) - March 1945 to April 1945

literature

  • Wirich von Gartzen: The flotilla. Extraordinary naval warfare of German Mediterranean torpedo boats. Koehler, Herford, 1982

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Clemens Range: The knight's cross bearers of the Navy . Motorbuch Verlag, 1974, ISBN 3-87943-355-0 , p. 81 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ↑ Wirich Giselbert Bruno von Gartzen (* August 20, 1909, † December 4, 1993)
  3. ↑ Assigned to carry out the business