Polecat class (1964)

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Torpedo speedboat project 63 type Iltis
Torpedo speedboat project 63 type Iltis
Overview
Type Speedboat
units 30 and 8 prototypes
Shipyard

Peene shipyard

period of service

1964 to 1977

Technical specifications
displacement

16.8 t normal

length

14.8 m

width

3.40 m

Draft

1.5 m

crew

3

drive

2 M-50F diesel engines with 880 kW (1200 hp) each, 2 screws

speed

maximum 52  kn

Range

230  nm

Armament

Iltis class was the name for a class of light torpedo speed boats (LTS) of the People's Navy of the GDR with the project number 63.3. The Wiesel class (project 68.2), sometimes referred to as the Iltis B class , was in use at the same time .

Development and construction

From 1959 the development of a modern torpedo speedboat began . Deliveries to the People's Navy began in 1964 . Eight boats of three prototype variants (projects 63.0 to 63.2), and finally 30 series boats project on the 63.3 were first built Peene Werft in Wolgast .

Hull and drive

The boats had a light metal hull. Two Soviet-made diesel engines of the type M-50F with a total of 1760 kW (2400 hp) served as drive.

Armament and use

Project 63 during a fleet parade in 1974
Project 63 in the Danish Navy Museum

The main armament of the class were two 533 mm torpedo tubes , which were permanently installed parallel to the keel and could not be reloaded with on-board equipment. During the attack, the torpedoes, rather atypical, were dropped aft in order to then follow the course of the launching boat. In order not to have to supply the LTS in a certain port during use, floating bases without self-propulsion (project 62) and with self-propulsion (project 162) were built especially for the small boat associations.

The NVA army film studio produced an educational film about the Iltis class, entitled “The fastest in the Baltic Sea”. There the task of the boats as offensive coastal protection of the GDR was described.

All boats of the class were part of the 6th Flotilla of the People's Navy , where they were replaced by the somewhat larger and less weather-prone Dragonelle class until 1977 .

Modifications

There were boats with removable marine mine discharge tubes, which could also be used by combat swimmers, among other things.

Current Status

There are no more speedboats of this type in use. Two boats have been preserved, one can be seen in the Danish Navy Museum.

literature

  • Günther Miel: The LTS and KTS boats of the Volksmarine. Role models and models. Neckar-Verlag, Villingen-Schwenningen 2007, ISBN 978-3-7883-1138-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Harald Fock: Combat Ships. Naval shipbuilding in German shipyards. 1870 until today. Koehler, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-7822-0624-X .
  2. ↑ Federal Archives A 65 "The fastest in the Baltic Sea" or "The tactics of combat use of an LTS boat department"