The F-class escort ships were a class of fleet escorts () used by the German Navy ('' Kriegsmarine'') during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Ten ships were built in total to fulfil a multi-purpose role. They were the only ships of this type of built by the ''Kriegsmarine''. The ships were not given names, but were designated ''F1'' through ''F10''.

Construction

The ships were built by Germaniawerft (F 1 – F 6),

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

, Blohm & Voss (F 7, F 8) and Wilhelmshaven dockyard (F 9, F 10). They entered service between 1936 and 1939. Similar in size to the Type 35 and Type 37 torpedo-boats, the ships were originally conceived as fast fleet or convoy escort ships that could also perform anti-submarine and

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

work. They were also used as a testbed class for a new high-pressure steam power plant intended for use in future destroyers. As a class, they were overloaded and over-engined, which contributed to severe hull stress and very poor sea-keeping characteristics; these flaws were partially remedied by extensive rebuilds between 1938 and 1940. The power plants likewise proved to be prone to frequent breakdowns, and most of the ships were removed from operational service during the later years of the war after machinery failures meant the ships spent more time in repair than in use.

Use and administration

With the exception of fleet service and convoy duties between 1939 and 1941, they spent most of the war in use as tenders or

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

s. Between 1943 and 1945, the escort ships were grouped into five escort flotillas augmented by converted civilian craft as well as

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s of the ''

Torpedoboot Ausland The ''Torpedoboot Ausland'' ("foreign torpedo boats") were small destroyers or large torpedo boats captured by Nazi Germany and incorporated into the Kriegsmarine. They were assigned a number beginning with TA. Ex-French ships *Former French s, ...

'' program.

Ships

One ship, ''F 9'', was sunk in December 1939 after being torpedoed by . F 5 was damaged by a mine in the Baltic Sea and sank under tow 29 January 1945. F 3 was sunk by British aircraft 3 May 1945 and F 6 was sunk by US aircraft 30 March 1945. One is also believed to be the craft sunk in Tobruk Harbour by Native Military Corps Lance Corporal

Job Maseko Job Maseko was a South African soldier during World War II, serving in the Native Military Corps as part of the South African 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of many Allied troops captured by the Axis in the surrender of the port of Tobr ...

on July 21 1942, as a POW consigned to work as stevedore by the occupying Axis forces, for which he was eventually awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

. The others survived the war and were scrapped or sunk as target ships.

References

Bibliography

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External links

page from german-navy.de
{{Kriegsmarine World War II naval ships of Germany