Hydra (speed boat)
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The small speed boat Hydra was a small series produced speed boat of the German Navy towards the end of the Second World War . The boat was intended for mass production, but from January to April 1945 only 39 boats were completed and combined in the Hydra Special Command , the 1st Hydra Flotilla. At the end of April 1945 the flotilla was ready for action, but was no longer used due to the near end of the war. Their units surrendered to the advancing Allies at the Glücksburg station .
Development history
The development of the torpedo speedboat Hydra goes back to the request of the small combat units in the High Command of the Navy to design a speedboat that could be transported by the cargo glider Go 242 to any place of action in order to expand its radius of action considerably. In response to this request, the first draft of the Hydra was presented at a preliminary meeting on June 13, 1944. It was based on a concept developed by the Luftwaffe in cooperation with the Kröger shipyard in Warnemünde and had been postponed until then.
prototype
On August 25, 1944, two prototypes were commissioned. They were given the designations H 1 and H 2 . The boats, the hulls of which were made in a laminated glue construction, reached a top speed of 36 knots . As drive served a petrol engine of the type Avia - Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 with throttled 650 PS . The tank capacity of 1100 liters allowed a range of 290 nm at 25 kn or 158 nm at 36 kn. The primary armament consisted of two accommodated in the rear aircraft torpedoes of the type F5b . After successful sea trials, 1 million Reichsmarks were approved for series production on September 19, 1944 .
Series production
On December 4, 1944, the building contract for 50 boats was given. However, the fuel capacity was increased from the original 1100 liters to 1400 liters. This increased the range of the boats to 370 nm at 25 kn and 160 nm at 36 kn. In addition, the crew, which consisted of two men, received a machine gun for self-protection. In the winter of 1944/45, a comparative test was carried out between the torpedo speedboats Hydra , Kobra , Schlitten and Wal , in which the Hydra was rated best in terms of sea behavior and sound absorption. The reasons for the superiority of the Hydra were its ship dimensions, which exceeded the dimensions specified for a boat capable of air transport by 30%. The Hydra was thus far ahead of its competitors, but at the expense of the possibility of air transport. The OMC confirmed yet by this test, the mass production and issued on February 8, 1945 another construction contract for 115 units. The boats were built in different shipyards. However, only 39 boats had been completed and handed over by the end of the war. Towards the end of the war, three wagons with 1000 hp Rolls-Royce-Merlin engines arrived, which promised a higher speed, but these could no longer be installed before the surrender of the Wehrmacht . In the meantime there had also been engine tests with less powerful Jumo engines , but these were abandoned.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The information relates to the prototype, which, apart from the tank volume, went into series production.
- ↑ Kröger-Werft (Warnemünde), Schlichting-Werft ( Travemünde ), Lürssenwerft ( Bremen ), Danziger Waggonfabrik, boat yard Gebrüder Engelbrecht, boat yard Karl Mathan, boat yard Robert Franz, boat yard Karl Vertens, boat yard Heidtmann, boat yard Hinrich Hamburger Schiff Cölln as well as various .
- ↑ Harald Fock: Naval small weapons. Manned torpedoes, small submarines, small speedboats, explosives yesterday - today - tomorrow. Nikol, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-930656-34-5 , pp. 134-135.