The S90 class of torpedo boats was a group of large torpedo boats built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the early 20th century. They were Hochsee-Torpedoboot ("High seas torpedo boat") built to varying designs by Schichau at Elbing (36 vessels) and Germaniawerft at Kiel (12 vessels). German torpedo boats were designated by shipbuilder, with the first letter of their designation reflecting their builder.Gardiner and Gray, p. 164

Design

General characteristics and machinery

These 48 vessels were built to ten different designs over the period 1898 to 1907. Thus they varied in dimensions, and they gradually increased in size as more vessels were built. The boats were long at the waterline and long overall. They had beam (nautical) of and a draft of .Gröner, p. 170 The hull for each boat was divided into eleven watertight compartments, though after , a twelfth compartment was added. They had a crew of two officers and fifty-five enlisted men, though some of the boats had larger crews; had four more sailors, while G132 had twelve more men, and had a crew of three officers and 78 enlisted. When serving as half-flotilla flagships, the boats would have a flotilla leader's staff of four officers and eleven enlisted men in addition to the standard crew. The vessels carried a yawl and a dinghy apiece.Gröner, p. 169

The S90-class boats were propelled by a pair of vertical, 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engines that drove a pair of three-bladed screw propellers. Steam was provided by three coal-fired water-tube boilers. Two boats, and , were fitted with Parsons steam turbines instead of the older reciprocating engines; G137 also received an additional boiler. The reciprocating engine-powered boats were rated at from . Meanwhile, S125 and G137 were rated at and , and and , respectively. The boats had storage capacity for of coal. As a result, cruising radius varied significantly, from at . Each vessel was equipped with one or two 110-Volt generators for electrical power. Steering was controlled with a pair of rudders, one at the stern and the other in the bow.Gröner, pp. 169–170

Armament Most of the ships of the class were armed with a main battery of three SK L/40Regarding German naval gun nomenclature, SK stands for "Schnelladekanone" (quick-loading gun) and L refers to the "Länge" (length) of the gun in terms of calibers. In the case of these guns, they were 40 calibers in length, or 40 times long as they were in diameter. guns in single pivot mounts. They were supplied with a total of 252 shells that weighed . The guns had a muzzle velocity of and a maximum range of at their highest elevation of 20 degrees. G132, , , and were equipped with four SK L/55 guns in single gun mounts. These guns fired a similar 1.75 kg shell at a muzzle velocity of . The guns could elevate up to 20 degrees, at a maximum range of . was equipped with two of the 5.2 cm guns and one gun, while had three 5.2 cm guns and one 8.8 cm gun. The 8.8 cm gun fired a shell weighing at a muzzle velocity of . The gun could be elevated to 25 degrees, for a maximum range of . Many of the boats were rearmed throughout their time in service, trading their 5 cm or 5.2 cm guns for the more powerful 8.8 cm guns. All ships of the class carried three deck-mounted single torpedo tubes with five torpedoes.Gardiner and Gray, p. 140

Ships in class

+BoatErich Groner, German Warships 1815–1945, (Conway Maritime, 1990) Vol.1, pp.169Original initial letter (which identifies builder) is shown; this was changed on 4 September 1914 from 'S' to 'T' for Nos. 90 to 113, and on 27 September 1916 from 'S' (or 'G') to 'T' for subsequent Nos. 113 to 137.Laid downLaunchedCommissionedFate26 July 189924 October 1899Scuttled 17 October 191425 September 189924 April 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap15 May 190027 June 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap24 March 190014 July 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap23 April 190027 July 1900Stricken 26 October 1920;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap20 February 190029 August 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap31 January 190027 September 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap16 December 189928 May 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap28 July 19004 November 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap4 September 190013 December 1900Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap13 November 190018 April 1901Sunk in collision in the Baltic with ferry Preussen on 15 October 191522 December 190030 May 1901Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap18 April 190118 July 1901Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap15 May 190117 September 1901Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap22 June 19017 October 1901Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap7 August 190117 November 1901Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap7 September 19019 December 1901Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 26 May 1921 for scrap17 October 190127 January 1902Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap7 September 190126 March 1902Stricken 22 March 1921;broken up at Hamburg9 November 190119 June 1902Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap9 September 190221 January 1903Stricken 22 March 1921;broken up at Hamburg2 April 190221 July 1902Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 13 June 1921 for scrap19 June 19026 September 1902Stricken 22 March 1920;sold 13 June 1921 for scrap9 August 190216 October 1902Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 8 June 1921 for scrap9 August 190225 October 1902Stricken 9 November 1920;sold 7 July 1921 for scrap10 September 190222 February 1903Sunk by gunfire from HMS Undaunted and four destroyers in the Battle off Texel on 17 October 191414 October 190228 March 1903Sunk by torpedo from HM submarine E.9 in North Sea on 6 October 19144 February 190321 May 1903Sunk by gunfire from HMS Undaunted and four destroyers in the Battle off Texel on 17 October 191421 March 19039 July 1903Sunk by gunfire from HMS Undaunted and four destroyers in the Battle off Texel on 17 October 19148 July 19036 September 1903Sunk by gunfire from HMS Undaunted and four destroyers in the Battle off Texel on 17 October 191410 February 19047 May 1904Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 28 May 1921 for scrap3 March 190417 June 1904Stricken 22 March 1920;sold 13 June 1921 for scrap23 April 19045 August 1904Sunk by mine in the North Sea on 5 October 191825 June 190423 August 1904Sunk by mine in the North Sea on 1 May 19163 August 19048 October 1904Sunk in the Baltic by collision with Danish ss Anglodane on 30 November 191419 May 19044 April 1905Stricken 26 October 1920;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap26 November 190430 April 1905StrickenS126 had previously been cut in two and sunk by collision with cruiser Undine in the Baltic Sea on 17 November 1905; however the two halves were raised in May 1906, the ship was repaired in 1908 and restored to service. 22 March 1920;sold 13 June 1921 for scrap12 January 19057 June 1905Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 28 May 1921 for scrap25 February 19058 July 1905Stricken 22 March 1920;sold 13 June 1921 for scrap4 March 190510 August 1905Wrecked in the North Sea on 5 November 191527 April 190517 September 1905Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 28 May 1921 for scrap25 May 19056 October 1905Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 28 May 1921 for scrap12 May 190622 August 1906Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 28 May 1921 for scrap30 June 190610 December 1906Stricken 22 March 1921;sold 28 May 1921 for scrap23 July 19066 March 1907Stricken 9 November 1920;sold 13 May 1921 for scrap7 September 190624 January 1907Stricken 25 May 1921;10 October 1921 for scrap25 August 190616 March 1907Stricken 21 July 1921;20 August 1921 for scrap24 January 190724 July 1907Stricken 22 March 1921,sold 28 May 1921 for scrap

Service history

Most of the ships served into World War I. S90 sank the on 17 October 1914, and was scuttled at Tsingtao later that day. Four of these boats took part in the Battle off Texel on the exact same day, in which a British light cruiser and four destroyers destroyed the Seventh Half-Flotilla consisting of S119, S115, S117 and S118.

Footnotes

References