Torpedo fishing boat
Torpedo catch boats are naval auxiliary ships whose task it is to recover fired exercise torpedoes .
Use and equipment
Exercise torpedoes, which are used in torpedo training, float up at the end of their run. After each shot, they are recovered and recharged to be used again. For this it is necessary to fish them after surfacing and take them on board a suitable vehicle. For this task, torpedo fishing boats are usually equipped with cranes or towing and winches at the stern. Modern fishing boats also have underwater tracking devices and diving equipment to be able to rescue sunken torpedoes from the bottom. Torpedo capture boats also serve to secure the target areas and are used as target ships.
Torpedo fishing boats were built in the second half of the 19th century. Initially, it was often converted civilian boat types or old torpedo boats . The first special torpedo fishing boats were put into service in Germany in 1928, but even after that, most of the fishing boats were converted old minesweepers and escort boats.
Most torpedo fishing boats are unarmed and have a civilian crew. In contrast to this, the German Navy put five “torpedo fishing boats, large A” into service in the early 1960s, which were also referred to as the Thetis class (class 420) . Since these boats were primarily intended to work with destroyers, they were suitable for the oceans and, at 520 t, were exceptionally large for this function. However, they did not prove themselves as fishing boats and were soon redesignated as fleet service boats. After the torpedo top devices were removed, they were designated as submarines from 1974 .
literature
- Jürgen Gebauer, Egon Krenz: Marine Encyclopedia from A-Z . License issue. Tosa Verlag, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85492-757-6 .
