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E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: Schnellboot, or S-Boot, meaning "fast boat"; plural Schnellboote) of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; E-boat could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a large Torpedoboot. The name of E-boats was a British designation using the letter E for Enemy, The main wartime production boats, designated the S100 class, were very seaworthy, heavily armed and capable of sustaining , briefly accelerating to . These were armed with torpedoes and Flak guns; commonly one 37 mm at the stern, one 20 mm at the bow with a twin mount amidships, plus machine guns. Armament varied and some S100s substituted a 40mm Bofors or, less commonly, a 20mm flakvierling (quadruple mount) for the aft 37mm cannon. The S100 class boats were long and in beam. Their diesel engines provided a range of , substantially greater than the gasoline-fueled American PT boats and British motor torpedo boats (MTBs). As a result of early war experience of combat against the fast and powerful S-boats, the Royal Navy created its MGB force and later developed better-matched MTBs, using the Fairmile 'D' hull design. This design was chosen because the theatre of operations of such boats was expected to be the North Sea, English Channel and the Western Approaches. The requirement for good performance in rough seas dictated the use of a round-bottomed displacement hull rather than the flat-bottomed planing hull that was more usual for small, high-speed boats. The shipbuilding company Lürssen at Vegesack, Bremen, overcame many of the disadvantages of such a hull and, with the private motor yacht Oheka II in 1926, produced a craft that was fast, strong and seaworthy. It was also extremely seaworthy and very light, being constructed of wooden planking over alloy framesThis attracted the interest of the Reichsmarine, which in November 1929 ordered a similar boat but fitted with two torpedo tubes. This became the S1, and was the basis for all subsequent E-boats.

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Related concepts (15)

Motor torpedo boat

A motor torpedo boat is a fast torpedo boat, especially of the mid 20th century. The motor in the designation originally referred to their use of petrol engines, typically marinised aircraft engines or their derivatives, which distinguished them from other naval craft of the era, including other torpedo boats, that used steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines. Later, diesel-powered torpedo boats appeared, in turn or retroactively referred to as "motor torpedo boats" for their internal combustion engines, as distinct from steam powered reciprocating or turbine propulsion.

PT boat

A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the US Navy they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).

E-boat