5th clearing boat flotilla
The 5th Räumbootsflottille was a naval unit of the German Navy during World War II , which existed from August 1939 to the end of 1945.
Established in 1939
The flotilla was set up in August 1939, shortly before the start of the war, in the Baltic Sea area according to the naval mobilization plans with twelve small mine clearance boats of the type Räumboot 1930–33 from the mine clearance schools. These were the boats R 1 and R 3 - R 13 built at the Lürssen shipyards in Vegesack and Abeking & Rasmussen in Lemwerder . They were 24.5–27.8 m long and 4.38–4.50 m wide, had a 1.12–1.58 m draft and displaced a maximum of between 46 and 52.5 t . The drive consisted of two 6-cylinder four - stroke diesel engines from Motorenwerke Mannheim (MWM) or DWK with a total of 1428–1540 hp . With their two Voith-Schneider propellers , the boats reached top speeds of 16.5 to 19.8 knots . The range of action was 800 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 13 knots. The boats were initially only armed with a 2 cm L / 65 C / 30 machine gun and could carry up to ten mines ; later they were equipped with four 2-cm machine guns. The crew consisted of 18 men.
The former fishery protection ship Elbe, which had recently been converted for this purpose, was assigned to the flotilla as escort ship. The first flotilla chief was Lieutenant Walter Gemein.
Mission history 1939–1941
The flotilla was initially under the direct command of the commander in charge of securing the Baltic Sea , then from mid-September 1939 to the leader of the minesweeper east (FdMO), and operated in the Baltic Sea until spring 1940. After the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, the flotilla was moved to Northern Norway , where it was subordinate to the leader of the Minesweeper Nord (FdMN) and carried out escort and security tasks . In June 1940, Lieutenant Werner Dobberstein became the new chief of the flotilla.
Refitting in 1941
From mid-May 1941, the majority of the previous boats of the flotilla were transferred via French inland waterways into the Mediterranean , where they served from then on with the 6th clearing boat flotilla , and the 5th flotilla received instead of twelve large boats of the type clearing boat 1936–42 : R 53 - R 64 . These boats of the class R21 , all at Abeking & Rasmussen built and there between August 1940 and January 1941 from the stack running, were considerably larger than their predecessors. With a length of 37.8 m, width of 5.82 m and a draft of 1.51 m, they had a water displacement of 135 t (maximum). Two 6-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines from MWM with a total of 1,800 hp enabled a top speed of 20 knots via two Voith-Schneider propellers. The range of action was 900 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots. The armament consisted of six 2 cm machine guns L / 65 C / 30 and up to ten mines. The crew numbered 38 men.
Mission history 1941–1945
During the German attack on the Soviet Union , the flotilla was used to lay mines in the Gulf of Finland , but soon moved back to Northern Norway , where the boats alternated with those of the 7th clearing boat flotilla to carry out escort duties in the Hammerfest - Kirkenes - Petsamo area. From March 1943, Lieutenant Captain Franz Kleemann was the chief of the flotilla; he was followed in February 1945 by Lieutenant Captain Hans Alexy, who commanded the flotilla to its end.
On the day of the German surrender (May 8, 1945), the flotilla and its escort ship were in Ålesund , where the boats were British spoils of war.
Post-war service
After the war, was the fifth part of the fourth Räumflottille mines clearing of the German Mine Räumdiensts ( "German Minesweeping Administration" (GMSA)) in Norway. After the dissolution of the 4th Mine Clearance Division, the remaining boats and the escort ship Elbe were delivered to the Soviet Navy as spoils of war in December 1945 . The Elbe then served there under the name Terek until it was scrapped in 1962. What happened to the R-boats is not known.
Individual evidence
- ↑ In the further course of the war, R 89 , R 90 , R 113 , R 121 , R 122 , R 124 , R 238 , R 250 , R 265 , R 269 and R 273 were added to the flotilla to replace lost or detached boats .
- ↑ At that time the flotilla consisted of the boats R 53 , R 58 , R 63 , R 90 , R 113 , R 122 , R 124 , R 238 , R 260 and R 265 , the three war fishing boats K 122 , K 221 and K 222 and the support ship Elbe . (Source: http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/minen/mrdiv4-frames.htm )