The R boats (''Räumboote'' in German, literally "clearing boats", meaning minesweepers) were a group of small naval vessels built as

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

for the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' (German navy) before and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. They were used for several purposes during the war, and were also used post-war by the

German Mine Sweeping Administration The German Mine Sweeping Administration (GMSA) () was an organisation formed by the Allies from former crews and vessels of the Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' for the purpose of mine sweeping after the Second World War, predominantly in the North ...

for clearing naval mines. Twenty-four boats were transferred back to the post-war German Navy (the ''

Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

'') in 1956 and remained in service until the late 1960s. In 1954, the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...

ordered 10 ships of a modified R-boat design (the ''Pulau Rau''-class) from Abeking & Rasmussen in West Germany.

Design and construction

The R boats were nine classes of motor minesweepers built for the Nazi German Navy (the ''Kriegsmarine'') from 1929 to the end of World War II. They had standard displacements ranging from 60 to 160 tons and were from 37 to 41 meters in length. Originally armed with one to two 20mm guns they were up-gunned during the conflict, typically to carry six 20mm guns. The classes from R-41 onwards carried an additional 37mm cannon. The R301 group were also armed with two torpedo tubes and re-designated escort minesweepers. Two groups of R-boat, the R-17 and the R-130 classes, were equipped with

Voith Schneider Propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneousl ...

s for increased maneuverability. Some 424 R-boats were built, by specialist shipbuilders

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradin ...

, of

Bremen-Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of Bremen, the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Freie Hansestadt Bremen). Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river Lesum, b ...

;

Abeking & Rasmussen Abeking & Rasmussen (A&R) is a shipyard situated in Lemwerder, near Bremen in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. The shipyard is on the left bank of the Weser, River Weser, and currently comprises five production halls with associated work ...

, of

Lemwerder Lemwerder () is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the left bank of the Weser, approximately east of Oldenburg, and northwest of the centre of Bremen. Since April 2021, Lemwerder has been governed ...

; and Schlichting ( de), of

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

Operational use

World War II

A total of 424 boats were built for the ''

'' before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The German Navy used them in every theatre including the Baltic, Mediterranean, the Arctic and the Black Sea. In addition to its designed use as minesweepers, these boats were used for convoy escort, coastal patrol, minelaying and

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

Post-war

About 140 R boats survived the war and these were distributed amongst the Allies. Some were used by the

(GMSA) to clear western Europe of

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

s. Twenty-four boats were transferred back to the post-war German Navy, the ''

'', in 1956 and were used until the late 1960s. An unusual feature of these ships is the use of

s on approximately one quarter of the boats for extra maneuverability.

In ''Kriegsmarine'' service

R boat classes

Foreign R-boats in Kriegsmarine service

Additionally, a number of captured vessels were used by the Kriegsmarine and designated "Foreign R-boats" (''R-boote Ausland''). These were: * Six ex-Dutch boats, numbered RA 51 to RA56 * Two ex-British (RA9, RA10) * Eight ex-French (RA1-8) * Over sixty ex-Italian (RA251-268 and RD101-149).Conway p. 251 The Germans also had a number of vessels constructed at shipyards in occupied territories; four boats of 70t (RA101-105) and six of 80t (RA106-112) at Dutch yards, and four boats of 75t (RA201-204) at Norwegian yards. A further 8 coastal motor fishing boats were designated as auxiliary R-boats and named R111-R118 in the 11th R-boat flotilla.

R boat units

In the inter-war years and during the Second World War, a total of twenty ''Räumboots-Flottille'' (German for "Minesweeper Flotillas") were created. While most were dissolved late in the war or after the German surrender, a few were kept for use by the

(GMSA) and dissolved post-war. An additional flotilla was created in the immediate post-war, also for use by the GMSA.

In ''Bundesmarine'' service

In 1956 twenty-four vessels were re-fitted and returned to the newly-formed West German Navy, the ''Bundesmarine''. These were the ''Aldebaran'' group, nine vessels of the R-41 class, the ''Capella'' group, thirteen vessels of the R-130 class, and the ''UW-6'' group, four vessels of late-war construction.Gardiner, Chumbley, p.

''Aldebaran'' group

The ''Aldebaran'' group were nine vessels of the R-41 class. These were 38.7 meters in length, had a standard displacement of 125 tons, and were armed with one or two 20mm anti-aircraft guns.

''Capella'' group

The ''Capella'' group were thirteen vessels of the R-130 class. These were 41.1 meters in length, had a standard displacement of 150 tons, and were equipped with 2 x Voight-Schnieder propellers. They were armed with one or two 20mm anti-aircraft guns.

''UW-6'' group

The ''UW-6'' group were four vessels of the R-218 and R-401 classes. They were 39.7 meters in length, and had a standard displacement of 140 tons.

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-1562-23, Frankreich, R-Boote.jpg, File:WWII German R boats (mineweepers) in 1939 (26787005191).jpg, File:Räumboote-1938-N37.jpg,

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Gardiner, Chesneau (eds), ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Conway Maritime Press (1980) * * Hervieux, Pierre "German Motor Minesweepers at War 1939–1945" in ''Warship'' 2002–2003, Conway's Maritime Press * Lenton, H. T. ''German Warships of the Second World War''. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1975. .

Online sources

R Boat at German Navy.de
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