What Germany’s Navy lacked in numbers they made up in groundbreaking engineering. Their fearsome
submersible U-boats wreaked havoc across the Atlantic and brought the much larger
British Navy to its knees. Still, the U-boat fleet could not have managed such risky feats
if it wasn’t for another little-known piece of German engineering; the mighty S-Boot.
At first glance, S-Boot, short for Schnellboot or fast boat,
seemed like a rather unremarkable vessel, but a medium-sized boat made from wood
when such ships were already obsolete was easy to overlook.
However, the deception was part of the S-boat’s ingenuity. In reality,
by the dawn of World War 2, the Schnellboot was the fastest combat ship in the world,
and it possessed unmatched maneuverability and firepower.
Armed with two giant torpedo cannons, the small wooden ship could sink any vessel in the ocean
and be able to escape swiftly, staying well beyond the reach of any retaliating ships.
The unique S-Boot acted as the ultimate glass cannon,
and it played a crucial role in Germany’s early victories.
In fact, the unassuming boat took part in one of the most lethal surprise attacks against
the American Navy, an assault so embarrassing that they would do anything to cover it up...
Wooden Ships
After World War 1, Germany was forced to accept the crippling conditions of the
Treaty of Versailles. One of its most crushing limitations was placed upon the country’s Navy,
severely restricting the number of ships and sailors it could employ.
The treaty was specific in barring the production and operation of large combat ships;
smaller vessels, expressly wooden boats,
were not prohibited as they were not considered any sort of threat.
Resourceful as ever, German engineers quickly identified a loophole in the treaty’s conditions
and began designing and manufacturing small yet powerful wooden boats.
The strategy would help them grow their Navy without arousing suspicion.
The first company to mass-produce ships similar to the subsequent S-boats was Lürssen. They designed
a uniquely-shaped lower hull especially tailored to attain unparalleled speeds while traversing
the Atlantic Ocean. German shipbuilders then devised an unprecedented construction method
joining ancient wood shipbuilding techniques with modern aluminum frame constructions.
The aluminum frame gave the vessel stability and strength,
while the wooden hull reduced production costs while keeping the vessel light and nimble.
Their first working prototype was the Oheka II, a quick, robust, and seaworthy vessel.
In 1929, Lürssen’s endeavors attracted the interest of the Reichsmarine,
who quickly ordered the addition of two torpedo tubes to the design of the wooden boat.
The outcome turned out to be the S-1, the foundation for all following S-boots.
Following rigorous experimentation with the S-1, the Germans implemented strategic
modifications to the original design. A pair of small rudders were added on each side of
the main rudder allowing the boat to retain outstanding speeds even when turning tightly.
The innovative mechanism slightly drew in an air pouch behind the three propellers,
dramatically boosting their effectiveness, lowering the rear wave size,
and keeping the stern section’s pitch elevated.
Achieving such lift in the horizontal attitude of the stern was a historic alteration;
not only did it grant unprecedented speeds, but it increased evasiveness and secrecy due to the
drastic reduction of the stern wave, making the S-boat harder to see, especially at night.
The vessel carried three large diesel engines capable of reaching up to 750
nautical miles or 2,500 horsepower. At the time, no other motorboat had such a
complete setup, allowing the S-boot to reach speeds of up to 45 knots.
To put it into perspective, one of the fastest ships at the time,
the French destroyer Le Fantasque, could only achieve 37 knots.
The swift wooden ship was a fantastic product of its time and circumstances; while limited in
size and constrained to a wooden hull, it still became the fastest warship in the world, capable
of fulfilling lightning-fast strike operations while remaining inconspicuous and undetected.
In addition, the S-boat became even more effective in furtive operations when paired
with the formidable U-boat. A small unit of two submarines and an S-boat could strike undetected,
sink up to five ships, and escape unharmed.
Naval warfare had changed forever.
Reigning Supreme
In 1939, war erupted across Europe for the second time in less than 30 years, and Germany was ready
to use an aggressive revolutionary strategy of airstrikes and overwhelming tank offensives.
Of its three military branches, the German Navy was the weakest of them all.
When facing the imposing British Armada, the Kriegsmarine had to rely on their
wits and engineering prowess to match the raw firepower of the Royal Navy.
Using the S-boat’s remarkable capabilities was an obvious choice for the Germans.
The overall mission the German Navy had during the war fitted the S-boat’s abilities like a glove.
The Kriegsmarine had to disrupt the flow of war supplies coming from America into Great Britain
at all costs. The Nazis applied an “anything goes” approach to attaining that goal, where
even using furtive hit-and-run tactics to destroy the allied convoys and spread panic was allowed.
At the beginning of the war, S-boats were deployed across the English Channel to destroy British
convoys. The small ships attacked in groups of six using a tactic known as Stichansatz.
They would approach an enemy convoy in a single line to hide their numbers
and remain undetected. Then, when the S-boats were 10 miles off their target’s path,
they would split into pairs in a horizontal formation.
As the convoy sailed past them, they would fire their torpedoes into the flanks of
the enemy ships. If their massive torpedoes hit their targets, a sinking was almost guaranteed;
unfortunately for the allies,
the S-boats were long gone by the time they attempted a retaliation.
The rapid destruction delivered by the S-boats can be clearly exemplified by a coordinated
strike that took place in late 1942 off the coast of Ediston in England, when two S-boats swiftly
ambushed a convoy of three merchant ships and an escorting armed trawler during the strike.
In less than three minutes, the S-boats sank the four British vessels and escaped unscathed.
For over 2 years, the S-boats reigned supreme in the English Channel.
An Embarrassing Defeat
One of the most successful operations against Allied forces where S-boats were involved
occurred on April 27, 1944, when a Nazi scout aircraft flying over the English Channel
spotted a massive arrangement of US forces assembled off Slapton Sands in Devon.
The gathering was a colossal American rehearsal to prepare their forces for the upcoming D-day.
Thousands of troops made themselves vulnerable during the event,
and Germany wasn't about to let that golden opportunity go to waste.
Two S-boat flotillas were immediately deployed to the location to execute a rapid surprise attack.
To make matters worse, a communication error caused the British destroyers patrolling the site
to move to a different location, leaving the rehearsal area almost defenseless.
At 1:00am, covered by total darkness, the S-boat fleet overwhelmed the military exercise site,
attacking several landing ships jam-packed with US troops.
The incoming Nazi boats were so swift and quiet that the American forces fell into total disarray.
In their confusion, the US soldiers started attacking each other,
as they couldn’t pinpoint what was hitting them or from where.
The friendly fire added to the enormous damage American troops suffered that day.
In total, 749 American soldiers lost their lives, and several US Navy landing
ships were destroyed. The S-boats withdrew from the scene as quickly as they arrived,
showcasing their true nature as lethal maritime machines.
The attack was highly embarrassing for US troops and Allied commanders.
If the public were to learn about their mediocre response to the attack, morale among the soldiers
would plummet, and that was unacceptable before an offensive as important as D-Day.
Due to such reservations, the allies decided to implement a massive coverup.
The truth of what happened that night wouldn’t come to light for many years
when hidden military documents would finally be disclosed.
Legacy
After the war, all surviving S-boats were captured by Allied forces. Surprisingly,
the ships had impressed Britain and France so much during the conflict
that they decided to continue using them for their own operations.
The British Government also deployed several S-boats for covert operations against the
Soviet Union, especially for delivering secret service agents to Soviet-controlled areas.
Disguised as boats from the “British Baltic Fishery Protection Service,”
the British Secret Intelligence Service MI-6 was able to deploy spies and agents into Lithuania,
Latvia, Estonia, and Poland.
All S-boats sank or were eventually lost to time. Out of the hundreds of vessels
deployed by the Germans over several decades, only the S-130 has survived.
In 1945, she was taken as a British war prize and used in covert operations. Eventually,
in 1957, S-130 was returned to Germany’s newly formed Bundesmarine, where it continued to be
used for military service. After a peculiarly long career, the last surviving Schnellboot
was retired from service to eventually be sold back to England to be used for display purposes.
Several decades after their inception, these small wooden boats proved to be
so well designed that they managed to stay relevant even in the nuclear age.
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