SMS G37

Career (German Empire)
Ordered: 1914 Peacetime order
Builder: Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany
Launched: 17 December 1914
Commissioned: 29 June 1914
Fate: Sunk by a mine, 4 November 1917
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 (86 mm) guns
• 6 × 500 mm torpedo tubes
• 24 mines

SMS G37 was a Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class torpedo boat of the Deutschen Kaiserliche Marine during World War I, and the 13th ship of her class.

Construction

Built by Germaniawerft in Kiel, Germany, she was launched in December 1914. The Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class of vessels originally carried six torpedo tubes, but starting with G37 onward, the forward two tubes were removed to balance out the weight incurred when the larger 4.1-inch (100 mm) guns were added.

Service

G37 was assigned to the Sixth Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Twelfth Half-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. She assisted SMS G38, SMS G40 and SMS V45 in the evacuation of survivors.

On 4 November 1917 at 04:55 hours, G37 struck a mine in the southern North Sea off Walcheren Island, Netherlands (54°19′N 04°55′E / 54.317°N 4.917°ECoordinates: 54°19′N 04°55′E / 54.317°N 4.917°E) G37. Four sailors died in this incident.

References