Artillery carriers

As artillery support in general, all surface vessels are referred to, the main armament of tube artillery there.

designation

During the sailing ship era , all warships were artillery carriers or artillery ships. After the introduction of rocket armament for ships, it was necessary to differentiate between rocket and artillery carriers according to their main armament in order to be able to classify them safely. In the twentieth century the term included conventional ships of the line , battleships and battle cruisers , monitors , heavy and light cruisers , artillery cruisers , destroyers , gunboats and z. T. also auxiliary cruisers , outpost and patrol boats .

Occasionally the designation artillery carrier is also applied to tracked , half- tracked or wheeled vehicles that were retrofitted makeshift guns .

Artillery carrier of the German Navy

Heavy artillery carrier; Main armament amidships, light flak distributed on the forecastle and in front of the navigating bridge .

In the Navy, coasters armed with guns of medium or heavy caliber and anti-aircraft guns were designated as artillery carriers . However, they did not belong to the group of the marine ferry or artillery ferry . Like many auxiliary warships, the artillery carriers were unsuitable for military purposes, especially since they lacked the necessary gun substructures such as the narrow spatial subdivision and adequate underwater protection. Its construction was a stopgap solution, as the navy lacked more suitable units as the war continued. They were therefore mainly used in escort and outpost service.

They were divided into two classes: heavy and light artillery carriers. Heavy artillery carriers ( SAT ) carried a cannon of over 100 mm to 150 mm caliber as main armament, plus light flak, and were mostly 500 to 600 GRT in size. Light artillery carriers ( LAT ) were equipped with a 75 mm or 88 mm caliber gun and light flak and were no more than 300 GRT in size. Available guns, possibly also captured weapons, were used as armament.

A total of 19 heavy and 18 light artillery carriers were put into service. They were grouped in eight different artillery carrier flotillas ( ATF ) with naval ferries, naval artillery lighters and artillery ferries that also carried artillery pieces, and were sometimes subordinated to changing security divisions. It was quite possible that the remaining stocks of dissolved or worn-out flotillas were re-registered or reclassified; in particular the 3rd Artillery Carrier Flotilla was set up and disbanded three times. The marking AF stood for Artillery Carrier Flotilla (not to be confused with AFP : Artilleriefährprahm). At times they were also referred to as naval artillery lighters ( MAL ), in particular the units of the 3rd and 4th artillery carrier flotillas, a reference to their original use.

Overview of the artillery carrier flotillas

flotilla	set up	dissolved	operation area	Deployment ports	units	Insinuation
1. ATF	April 1943	May 1945	North Sea	Rotterdam , later Franeker ( Friesland )	AF 41-45, 47, 48, 58, 59, 86-92	1. Fuse Division
2. ATF	September 1942	May 1945	North Sea	Bruges , Dunkirk , Boulogne u. a.	AF 1, 3, 4, 6 - 8, 10 - 15	2nd Security Division until the beginning of 45, then 5th Security Division until the end of the war
3. ATF (1)	February 1943	September 1943	Black Sea	Constanța et al. a.	TIMES 1 - 4, 8 - 11	10. Backup Division
3. ATF (2)	February 1944	September 1944	Black Sea		MAL 2; 4, 51-56	10. Backup Division
3. ATF (3)	January 1945	May 1945	Baltic Sea		F 410, 457, 490, 1048, 600, 379, 617, 980, 981, 880; Motorprahm D 154 as a workshop boat; SAT 5-8, 10; 11, 13-17	10. Backup Division
4. ATF	January 1944	September 1944 (boats blown up)	Lake Peipus	Dorpat , Kastre , Mustvee	MAL 13 - 24	Commanding Admiral Ostland
5. ATF	February 1944	May 1945	North Sea , Baltic Sea	Esbjerg , Leirvik , Thyborøn , Swinoujscie	AF 73-75, 77, 79-82	8th Security Division until February 45, then 10th Security Division until the end of the war
6. ATF	February 1944	August 1944	North Sea, English Channel	Rotterdam, Isigny	AF 61-72	2. Fuse Division
7. ATF	August 1944	May 1945	Baltic Sea	Kotka , Mõntu , Libau , Adlershorst	AF 2, 5, 9, 19, 21, 23, 26, 29 - 31, 33, 34, 37, 38, 46, 49, 50	9. Fuse Division
8. ATF	April 1944	May 1945	North Sea East Sea	Rotterdam u. a.	AF 97-111	10. Backup Division

Heavy artillery carriers

Number	Surname	Originally Surname	GRT	Whereabouts	annotation
SAT 1	east	east	565	Sunk on July 11, 1943 after being hit by a mine	from January 1941: SAT 28
SAT 2	west	west	573	Sept. 15, 1943 sunk by a Soviet aerial bomb	from May 1941: SAT 20
SAT 3	August	August	400	February 1946 Soviet spoils of war
SAT 4	Helene	Helene	400	March 1946 Soviet spoils of war
SAT 5	Robert Müller 6	Robert Müller 6	399	Sunk April 18, 1945 by Soviet aerial bombs
SAT 6	OEM	OEM	324	1945 to the Netherlands back
SAT 7	Nienburg	Nijenburgh (ex Heiny)	400	1945 returned to the Netherlands
SAT 8	Paraat	Paraat	305	1945 returned to the Netherlands
SAT 9	Unitas	Unitas	359	1945 returned to the Netherlands
SAT 10	Kemphaan	Kemphaan	343	1945 returned to the Netherlands
SAT 11	Cascade	Cascade	338	1945 returned to the Netherlands
SAT 12	Globe	Globe	314	4th Aug. 1944 sunk by an aerial bomb near Walcheren
SAT 13	Joost	Joost	322	1945 returned to the Netherlands
SAT 14	Berkelstroom	Berkelstroom	399	Returned to the Netherlands in 1946
SAT 15	Polaris	Polaris	322	Sunk by Soviet aerial bombs on February 5, 1945 near Pillau
SAT 16	West Flanders	West Flanders	346	Sunk by Soviet bombs on May 1, 1945 near Nexø
SAT 17	Did I	Hast I (ex Uranus)	398	Returned to the Netherlands in 1947
SAT 18	Baltic Sea	Oostzee	336	April 1945 still in action off Hela, whereabouts unknown or 1945 returned to the owner and sunk in a storm near Barfleur on October 1, 1952
SAT 19	Trompenburgh	Trompenburgh	379	1945 returned to the Netherlands