Flottenbegeleiter

FLOTTENBEGELEITER
German ("Fleet Escorts") used by the Kriegsmarine between 1935 and 1939 during World War II. Ten of these escort vessels were built, named F1-F10.

History
This class of ship was designed to be small, fast, and multifunctional. Duties of these fast fleet escort or convoy escorts were to include minesweeping, submarine hunting , and testing new high pressure steam engines. These smaller multipurpose vessels were generally weighted down enough to keep them from being very fast. The ships had narrow beams (overall width), sharp bows (front), and untested engines that proved an inefficient combination, making them unreliable. Engine problems often needed repairs, so they were mostly nonoperational, especially during the final years of WW2.[1] Only one of the these ships, F9, was sunk by two torpedoes fired from British submarine HMS Ursula, Dec. 14, 1939. The rest were all sunk or scrapped between 1945-1958.[2]

Specifications
Crew: 117

Weight: 700-1,000 tons

Dimensions

 * Length: 75.94 meters / 249.15 feet
 * Beam: 8.8 meters / 28.87 feet
 * Draft: 3.24 meters / 10.69 feet (from water line to bottom of hull )

Performance

 * Surface Speed: 28 knots (32 mph)
 * Range: 1,965 sq. miles at 13 knots

Armaments

 * 2 x 105mm Cannons
 * 4 x 37mm Anti-Aircraft guns (semi-automatic)
 * 2 x 20mm Anti-Aircraft Flak guns (fully-automatic)
 * 2 x Depth Charge launchers

Engine

 * 2 x Steam Geared Turbines
 * 2 x Propellers/Shafts
 * 16,993 Shaft horsepower (power delivered to propeller shaft)