SMS G 12 (1912)
 The sister boat G 7 in heavy seas
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G 12 was a large torpedo boat of the Imperial Navy . The boat was part of a six-unit series that wasawardedto the Germania shipyard in Kiel by the Reichsmarinamt in1911. G 12 sank on September 8, 1915 after a collision with the torpedo boat V 1 in the North Sea.
history
Construction and commissioning
The Germania shipyard in Kiel began building the G 7 to G 12 series of boats in 1911 . The eighth boat with hull number 175, for which the designation G 12 was intended, was ready for launch on July 15, 1912 . The boat was completed by the fall of that year and was put into active service by the Navy on October 17th. The construction cost around 1,682,000 marks .
The boats of this series, which were smaller than their predecessors in the budget year 1910 (series V 186 to V 191 and series G 192 to G 197 ), were called Lans-Krüppel - the head of the torpedo at the time , due to their correspondingly poorer sea properties. Survey and responsible Wilhelm von Lans . In contrast to the Vulcan and Schichau boats, the Germania boats were not bulky, which benefited their seaworthiness.
Mission history
The boat together with the sister ships from the Germania shipyard formed the 10th torpedo boat semi-flotilla, while the 9th torpedo boat semi-flotilla was formed from the Vulcan boats of the same budget year. Both half flotillas in turn formed the 5th torpedo boat flotilla, in the framework of which G 12 acted as a guide boat, ie there were additional guidance and accommodation options for the flotilla staff.
At the beginning of the First World War , these boats were the most modern torpedo carriers of the Imperial Navy, as the large boats from V 25 onwards were only put into service from the start of the war and were still being tested.
At the beginning of the war, the G 12 was used in the outpost service in the North Sea and as a submarine safety device when the heavy units of the deep-sea fleet advanced . The boat was involved in the sea battle near Helgoland in 1914 and in the battle on the Dogger Bank in 1915 - where it served as part of the security forces. It was also used in late summer 1915 on the advance into the Riga Bay to secure heavy units.
loss
During a reconnaissance advance into the German Bight on September 7, 1915, due to a rudder failure, the morning of the following day near Horns Rev , it rammed the torpedo boat V 1 so badly that it detonated the starboard forward torpedo on G 12 with a subsequent explosion of the oil Kessels came. On V1 , the entire forecastle was torn down, killing 33 people. The wrecked boat was caught and brought in by V 6 and G 10 . A total of 47 men were killed on the G 12 , including the commander, lieutenant captain Hans Loening (1882–1915) and the flotilla chief, corvette captain Bernd von dem Knesebeck (1876–1915). The boat sank at 06.00 am on 55 ° 25 ' N , 7 ° 28' O .
Individual evidence
literature
- Harald Fock: Black journeymen , Volume 2: Destroyers until 1914 , Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1981, ISBN 3-7822-0206-6 .
- Harald Fock: Z-before! , Volume 1: International development and war missions of destroyers and torpedo boats 1914 to 1939 , Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0762-9 .
- Erich Gröner : The German warships 1815-1945 Volume 2: Torpedo boats, destroyers, speed boats, minesweepers, mine clearance boats , Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1998, ISBN 3-7637-4801-6 .