:German torpedo boat T30

The Type 39 torpedo boat was conceived as a general-purpose design, much larger than preceding German torpedo boats.Whitley 1991, p. 52 The boats had an overall length of {{convert|102.5|m|ftin|sp=us}} and were {{convert|97|m|ftin|sp=us}} long at the waterline. They had a beam of {{convert|10|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a draft of {{convert|3.22|m|ftin|sp=us}} at deep load and displaced {{convert|1294|MT|LT|lk=on}} at standard load and {{convert|1754|MT|LT}} at deep load.Gröner, p. 195 Their crew numbered 206 officers and sailors.Sieche, p. 239 The Type 39s were fitted with a pair of geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller, using steam from four high-pressure water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce {{convert|32000|shp|lk=on}} which was intended give the ships a maximum speed of {{convert|33.5|kn|lk=on}}. They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of {{convert|2400|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|19|kn}}.Whitley 1991, pp. 54, 203

As built, the Type 39 ships mounted four 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun guns in single mounts protected by gun shields; one forward of the superstructure, one between the funnels, and two aft, one superfiring over the other. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by four 3.7 cm SK C/30 AA guns in two twin-gun mounts on platforms abaft the rear funnel, six 2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling guns in one quadruple mount on the aft superstructure and a pair of single mounts on the bridge wings. They carried six above-water {{cvt|533|mm|in|0}} torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships and could also carry 30 mines; the full complement of 60 mines made the ships top-heavy which could be dangerous in bad weather. For anti-submarine work the boats were fitted with a S-Gerät sonar and four depth charge launchers. The Type 39s were equipped with a FuMO 21{{refn|{{lang|de|Funkmess-Ortung}} (Radio-direction finder, active ranging)|group=Note}} radar and various FumB{{refn|{{lang|de|Funkmess-Beobachtung}} (Passive radar detector).|group=Note}} radar detectors were installed late in the war.Friedman, p. 205; Whitley 1991, pp. 52–55; Whitley 2000, p. 73

Originally ordered as a Type 37 torpedo boat on 30 March 1939, T30 was reordered on 10 November 1939 from Schichau, laid down on 10 April 1942 at their Elbing, East Prussia, shipyard as yard number 1489, launched on 13 March 1943 and commissioned on 24 October 1943. After working up, the boat was attached to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla and helped to lay minefields in Narva Bay in mid-April 1944. T30 and her sister {{ship|German torpedo boat|T31||2}} were tasked to support Finnish forces in Vyborg Bay and Koivisto Sound during the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. On 20 June they engaged Soviet motor torpedo boats and claimed 3–5 boats sunk, but T31 was sunk by a torpedo. Afterwards, she was assigned to the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla and participated in a failed attempt to recapture the island of Narvi on 27/28 June together with the torpedo boats {{ship|German torpedo boat|T8||2}}, {{ship|German torpedo boat|T10||2}} and Finnish forces. The three torpedo boats damaged a Soviet patrol boat off Narva, Estonia, on 16 July. By August T30 had been transferred to the 6th Torpedo Boat Flotilla. The flotilla, consisting of T30 and her sisters {{ship|German torpedo boat|T32||2}} and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T22||2}}, was tasked to lay a minefield in Narva Bay on the night of 17/18 August. Reinforced by their sister {{ship|German torpedo boat|T23||2}} from the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, the boats each loaded 54 mines in Helsinki, Finland, and departed on the evening of the 17th. Shortly after midnight, they started to lay their mines, but had only just begun when T30 struck a pair of mines about 00:25 which knocked out her power and gave her a list to port. About a minute after that T32 also struck a pair of mines that blew her bow off and disabled her engines. At 00:30 T30 exploded and broke in half, probably after hitting another mine. She sank at {{Coord|59|43|N|27|17|E|display=inline,title}} with the loss of 137 crewmen.Gröner, p. 195; Hervieux, p. 101; Rohwer, pp. 318, 336, 338, 343; Whitley 1991, pp. 168, 173, 175, 212

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=Naval Radar|year=1981|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-238-2|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
• {{Cite book |last=Gröner|first=Erich|title=German Warships 1815–1945|year=1990 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|volume=1: Major Surface Warships|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-87021-790-9|author-link=Erich Gröner}}
• {{cite book|editor=Lambert, Andrew|title=Warship X|year=1986|publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London|isbn=978-0-85177-449-7|chapter=The Elbing Class Torpedo Boats at War |last=Hervieux |first=Pierre|pages=95–102}}
• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005 |edition=Third Revised |isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
• {{cite book|author1-last=Sieche|author1-first=Erwin|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|year=1980|publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=0-85177-146-7|name-list-style=amp|chapter=Germany}}
• {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
• {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=German Destroyers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=1991|isbn=1-55750-302-8 |location=Annapolis, Maryland}}

• [http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/torpedoboats/flottentorpedoboot1939/t30/index.html T30 at german navy.de]

{{Type 39 torpedo boat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:T30}}

Category:Type 39 torpedo boats

Category:1943 ships

Category:Ships built by Schichau

Category:Ships built in Elbing

Category:Maritime incidents in August 1944