7th clearing boat flotilla

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The 7th Räumbootsflottille was a naval unit of the German Navy in World War II and in the post-war period.

Setup and missions

The escort ship Weser in Norway.

The flotilla was set up in Holland on October 15, 1940 by the crews of the 11th clearing boat flotilla, which was disbanded on the same day . It consisted of the mine clearance boats R 151 - R 162 and initially operated on the Dutch and Belgian coasts. As escort ship it was immediately after the war began converted for this purpose former fishery protection ship Weser allocated, which had hitherto been accompanying ship of the 11th Flotilla. The chief of the flotilla was Corvette Captain Bernd von Foerster, who had previously commanded the 11th clearing boat flotilla.

In December 1940, the flotilla was moved to Trondheim in Norway , where the boats carried out run- in and practice trips in the Trondheimfjord , but were also used for escort and security tasks. In June 1941, when the German attack on the Soviet Union began , the flotilla was relocated to Kirkenes on the Polar Sea , from where the boats alternated with those of the 5th clearing boat flotilla to carry out escort duties in the Hammerfest -Kirkenes- Petsamo area. In November 1942 Corvette Captain Hans von Quednow became the new chief of the flotilla. He was followed in May 1944 by Lieutenant Rolf Heuser, who led the flotilla until it was dissolved on November 28, 1946.

On the day of the German capitulation (May 8, 1945) the flotilla was in Tromsø (Norway), where the boats and the escort ship Weser fell into British hands.

Post-war service

After the war, the seventh in Räumbootsflottille served German mine clearing service ( "German Minesweeping Administration" (GMSA)), first in Norway and then in 1946 in Denmark . On November 28, 1946, the flotilla was disbanded and the boats were handed over to the Danish Navy . The Weser stayed with the GMSA.

Boats

The composition of the flotilla changed over the years due to losses, regroupings and the allocation of new buildings. In the flotilla almost without exception boats of the type clearing boat 1937-43 were used. These were: R 32 , R 151 , R 152 , R 153 , R 154 , R 155 , R 156 , R 157 , R 158 , R 159 , R 160 , R 161 , R 173 , R 202 , R 223 , R 262 and R 277 .

The boats were 35.4 m long and 5.55 m wide, had a draft of 1.5 m and displaced 110 tons (t) standard and 126 t maximum. The machine system consisted of two 6-cylinder four - stroke diesel engines of the type MWM RS 127 Su with a total of 1,800 hp , which allowed a top speed of 23.5 knots via two Voith-Schneider propellers . The range of action was 1,100 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots. The boats were armed with a 3.7 cm L / 83 rapid-loading cannon C / 30 and two 2-cm L / 65 C / 30 machine guns and could carry up to 10 mines . The crew consisted of 31 men.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ At this time the flotilla consisted of the boats R 32 , R 152 , R 153 , R 154 , R 155 , R 156 , R 157 , R 160 and R 173 as well as their escort ship Weser . (Source: http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/minen/mrdiv4-frames.htm )
  2. ↑ The technical data relating to the July 18, 1940 with the hull number 2440 at the Burmester shipyard in Bremen from the stack overflowed boat 151 R of class R 25 .

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