| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1914 Peacetime order |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany |
| Launched: | 23 December 1914 |
| Commissioned: | 30 July 1915 |
| Fate: | • Interned at Scapa Flow 22 November 1918 • Scuttled at Scapa Flow 21 January 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,051 tonnes |
| Length: | 79.5 meters |
| Beam: | 8.33 m |
| Draft: | 3.74 m (fwd); 3.45 meters (aft) |
| Speed: | 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h) |
| Range: | 1,100 nautical miles at 20 knots (2,040 km at 37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 83 officers and sailors |
| Armament: | • 3 × 3.4 in (88 mm) guns • 6 × 500 mm torpedo tubes • 24 mines |
SMS G38 was a Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class torpedo boat of the Deutschen Kaiserliche Marine during World War I, and the 14th ship of her class.
Built by Germaniawerft in Kiel, Germany, she was launched in December 1914.
G38 was assigned to the First Torpedo Boat Flotilla of the High Seas Fleet of the Kaiserliche Marine. When she participated in the Battle of Jutland she was assigned to escort the battlecruiser SMS Lützow. In this action, Lützow was severely damaged such that she was unable to return to German waters. After assisting SMS G37, G40 and V45 in the evacuation of survivors, G38 was ordered to scuttle Lützow by launching two torpedos into her.
After the end of hostilities, G38 was interned at Scapa Flow and scuttled. She was salvaged for scrap by Ernest Cox in 1924.