FL-boat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The FL-boat (Fernlenkboote, literally "remote controlled boat") was a weapon used by the Imperial German Navy during World War One. It was a remote-controlled motorboat, 17 m long, carrying 700 kg of explosives, which was intended to be steered directly at its targets - initially the Royal Navy monitors operating off the coast of Flanders.
FL-boats were driven by internal combustion engines, and controlled remotely from a shore station through several miles of wire wound on a spool on the boat. An aircraft was used to signal directions to the shore station. They could attain speeds of 30 knots. They were constructed by Siemens-Schuckertwerke.
On 1917-03-01 an FL-boat made a hit on the Nieuwpoort mole and on 1917-10-28 one hit the Royal Navy monitor HMS Erebus.
[edit] References
- Karau, Mark D. (2003), Wielding the Dagger: The Marinekorps Flandern and the German War, Praeger/Greenwood, pp. 91, ISBN 0313324751
- Lightoller, C.H. (1935), Titanic and other ships, I. Nicholson and Watson, <http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301011h.html>
- Williamson, Gordon (2002), German E-Boats 1939-45, Osprey Publishing, pp. 3, ISBN 1841764450
