Elbe (ship, 1931)

**Elbe** p1
Ship data
flag	German Empire German Empire Soviet Union; ;
other ship names	Terek (1945–1962)
Ship type	Fishing protection ship ; (1931–1939) ; clearing boat support ship ; (from 1939)
class	Elbe class
Shipyard	Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Build number	119
Launch	January 24, 1931
Commissioning	November 14, 1931
Whereabouts	Wrecked in 1962
Ship dimensions and crew
length	48.0 m ( Lüa )
width	8.3 m
Draft	Max. 3.09 m
displacement	Standard: 600 ts; Maximum: 635 ts
crew	67 men
Machine system
machine	2 6-cylinder diesel engines
Machine ; performance	1,600 hp (1,177 kW)
Top ; speed	15 kn (28 km / h)
propeller	2 three-leaf ∅ 2.8 m
Armament
	1 × 8.8 cm L / 45 Flak (200 rounds); 1 × 2 cm flak;

The Elbe was a fishery protection ship of the German Reichsmarine or Kriegsmarine , which later served as a clearing boat accompanying ship.

Construction and technical data

The ship ran in 1931 on the Imperial Naval Shipyard Wilhelmshaven from the stack . It was 48 m long and 8.50 m wide and had a draft of 3.20 m . Two Wumag diesel engines enabled a speed of 14 knots . The distance traveled was 10,500 nautical miles . The ship was armed with a 8.8-cm L / 45 gun and a machine gun. The crew numbered 65 men.

Fisheries Protection Service

The ship, like the sister ship Weser , was assigned to the North Sea naval station and there to the "North Sea Vehicle Association" in the North Sea ship master division and used in fishery protection in the North Sea and the North Atlantic. The main task was to look after the German sea fishing vessels with technical, medical and nautical assistance.

Second World War

In 1939, the ship was converted into an escort ship for mine clearance boats and was also armed with two 2 cm anti-aircraft guns and two depth charges. The hull was lengthened to 54.30 m. The Elbe then served throughout the war as a tender for the 5th clearing boat flotilla, which was set up in the Baltic Sea in August 1939 and operated there until spring 1940 . After the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, the ship was moved with the flotilla to Northern Norway . During the German attack on the Soviet Union , the Elbe was used with the flotilla in the Gulf of Finland , but then moved back to Northern Norway to the so-called Arctic Front , where the R-boats carried out escort duties in the Hammerfest -Kirkenes- Petsamo area. On the day of the German surrender (May 8, 1945) the ship with the 5th clearing boat flotilla was in Ålesund , where it fell into British hands.

Post-war service

After the end of the war, the ship served with the 5th clearing flotilla in the 4th mine clearing division of the German Mining Service ("German Minesweeping Administration" (GMSA)) in Norway. After the dissolution of the 4th Mine Clearance Division, the Elbe was handed over to the Soviet Navy as spoils of war in December 1945 . There the ship served under the name Terek until it was scrapped in 1962.

literature

Erich Gröner : The German warships 1815-1945 . tape 2 : Special ships, auxiliary war ships, auxiliary ships, small ship formations . JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1968, p. 609 .
Emil Maxis: We cross on the Doggerbank. A trip with the protection cruiser "Elbe". Ostdeutsche Verlagsanstalt, Breslau, undated

Footnotes

↑ The flotilla at this time consisted of the boats K 122, K 221, K 222, R 53, R 58, R 63, R 90, R 113, R 122, R 124, R 238, R 260 and R 265 as well as the Escort ship Elbe . (Source: http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/minen/mrdiv4-frames.htm )

Web links

[1] The flotilla at this time consisted of the boats K 122, K 221, K 222, R 53, R 58, R 63, R 90, R 113, R 122, R 124, R 238, R 260 and R 265 as well as the Escort ship Elbe . (Source: http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/minen/mrdiv4-frames.htm )