Thetis Class (Class 420)

THETIS class submarine (class 420)
Type:	Submarine
Period of service:	Germany 1961–1992 Greece 1991–2010
Units:	5 (plus 1 class 421)
Data
Displacement:	658 t
Length:	69.8 m
Width:	8.2 m
Draft:	2.7 m
Drive:	2 MAN diesel engines with 2200 kW (3000 hp) each at 872 rpm
4 electric diesel engines with 172 hp	135 kVA per generator
2 waves	three-bladed KAMEWA variable pitch propellers each 2.40 m ø
Oars number:	2
Top speed:	23.5 knots
Crew:	68 officers, NCOs and men
Sensors	Navigational radar sonar
EloKa system	available
Armament	2 40 mm L / 70 guns in double mount 1 4 375mm × U-hunting missile launcher Bofors 2 (ztws. 4) torpedo tubes 533 mm water bombs mines

The Thetis class (class 420) was a class of five submarine boats of the German Navy . It was named after the nymph Thetis . The boats were built between 1959 and 1963 and entered service from 1961. 1991 to 1992 they were handed over to the Greek Navy , where they were decommissioned between 2004 and 2010. Another boat of class 421 was derived from class 420.

Thetis Class (Class 420)

General

The development of the German Navy from the mid-1950s was based on the specifications that the Federal Republic of Germany received from NATO . Since no submarines were provided in the initial planning, but were considered necessary by the navy, five vehicles suitable for submarine hunting were commissioned under the designation torpedo catch boat , since this type could be procured as a military auxiliary ship. The first name was "torpedo catch boat, large, type A". The designation torpedo catch boat (short: TF boat ) was only used for a short time until they were redesigned as fleet service boats . This designation was derived from the fleet service squadron to which the boats were subordinate. On January 22, 1974, they were given their final designation U-Jagd-Boot. The identification of the boats also changed in accordance with these redesignations . They were put into service with a P ID, were given an A ID on November 1, 1969 and again a P ID in January 1974.

tasks

The boats were designed for submarine hunting from the start. Initially, they served in their role as torpedo capture boats to salvage exercise torpedoes that were fired by other warships and by submarines . According to the order of the fleet service squadron to which the boats belonged, they were also used for training and reconnaissance .

Equipment and technology

With their size and speed, the boats were designed for escort operations in the extended coastal and marginal sea area of ​​the North and Baltic Seas. They were designed for sea ​​supply with fuel to increase their sea endurance.

To combat submarines, the boats had a hull sonar system , torpedoes, anti-submarine missiles and depth charges . The surface armament with a 40 mm twin gun for anti-aircraft defense was designed to be weak, as was the sensor system, which consisted of a combined navigation and sea surveillance radar and a simple EloKa system.

As a torpedo fishing boats boats possessed initially a large Bergekran, who also for exposing the entrained Pinasse served.

Derived projects

Trial boat (class 421)

Under the name "Torpedo catch boat, large, type B" (class 421), another similar vehicle was built at the Atlas works in Bremen at the same time as the Thetis class and named after Hans Bürkner , the chief designer of the Imperial Navy . With the same drive system, the 421 class was significantly larger at around 1200 t, but achieved the same speed. The armament also corresponded to class 420, but was only partially scaffolded.

The Hans Bürkner was initially used as a school boat for the naval underwater weapons school. In 1969 the boat was assigned to the test site 71 of the BWB and received a reduced civilian crew. The guns were expanded. Under the designation "Fleet Service Boat (BWB), large, Type B", it was used to test new underwater location systems until it was decommissioned in 1990.

Air traffic control boat (class 902)

Two air traffic control boats of class 902 were to be built in the 1960s as auxiliary ships for the naval aviation , which should correspond to the same design as class 420. This plan was not implemented.

units

Agon , ex- Theseus , in 2008 as a target ship for the Greek Navy

The five boats of class 420 were built at the Roland shipyard in Bremen and named after characters from Greek mythology. Thetis , Hermes, and Triton were identical; As a squadron ship, Najade had an annex on the forecastle, in which the ship's hospital was located. Theseus was 1.5 m shorter than the other boats due to an inaccuracy in the construction. Her home port was the Flensburg-Mürwik naval base . They formed the fleet service squadron belonging to the destroyer flotilla. All five boats were given to Greece after the decommissioning. There the submarine armament was expanded and the boats were used as large patrol boats. The last two boats were retired in 2010.

Identifier	Surname	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Identifier	Surname	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
P 6052	Thetis	July 1, 1961	September 6, 1991	P 62	Niki	September 6, 1991	April 2, 2009
P 6053	Hermes	December 16, 1961	September 7, 1992	P 65	Karteria	September 7, 1992	2004
P 6054	naiad	May 12, 1962	September 6, 1991	P 63	Doxa	September 6, 1991	April 22, 2010
P 6055	Triton	November 10, 1962	September 7, 1992	P 64	Eleftheria	September 7, 1992	April 22, 2010
P 6056	Theseus	15th August 1963	April 30, 1992	P 66	Agon	November 8, 1993	2004	2008 Target ship for AGM-119 Penguin missiles
A 1449	Hans Bürkner	May 18, 1963	October 21, 1990					Vebeg , broken up in Belgium

Support in an escape from the GDR in 1968

On the Easter weekend of 1968, the boats Triton and Najade were ordered to do a tactical close-up reconnaissance mission from Kiel . It was known that extending DDR - cruise ship Peoples' Friendship in the Baltic Sea on the way back from Cuba was with 499 passengers on board. A case of beer was offered to the crew for the discovery . The ship was discovered by the naiad around midnight . The West German warships signaled their presence by turning on their headlights. When a person jumped from the cruise ship, the naiad initiated an abrupt turning maneuver to rescue and accidentally rammed the friendship of the peoples , which switched off the light on board and continued slightly damaged. The passenger was rescued by the also damaged naiad, given medical attention and dropped off in Kiel. After the friendship between the peoples established in Warnemünde , the cabin of the missing passenger was searched by the state security and material was found that suggested a planned escape . The East German television commented on the incident by saying, "our peace-loving vacationers ship PEOPLES FRIENDSHIP was night from today revanchist deliberately rammed Marine West Germany."

literature

• Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop: The ships and vehicles of the German Federal Navy 1956-1976. Bernard and Graefe, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-7637-5155-6 .

Web links

Commons : Thetis class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berthold J. Sander-Nagashima: The Federal Navy: 1950 to 1972 - conception and construction . Oldenbourg, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-486-57972-7 . P. 49 ff.
2. ↑ Schifffahrtsmuseum Flensburg , exhibition 2nd floor
3. ↑ Jan Schröter: Jump into the Baltic Sea - spectacular GDR escape on a cruise. Spiegel.de, March 5, 2020, accessed on March 8, 2020 .