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General Ship Modeling
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German S-boat questions
MrMox
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Aarhus, Denmark
Joined: July 18, 2003
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 03:31 AM UTC
Aye mates, it aint often I take a trip by the sea, but iv had a commision from one of my good friends who is a diver.

South of a small town on the danish isle of Als lies a wreck of the german s-103 - its on 32 meters debth and is fairly wellpreserved.

I have been asked to model it like it was shortly before being sunk on the 04. may 1945 with the loss of 20 men.

As far as I have been able to find out, it was transferred to 2. snellbotflotilla on 15.01.1942 and remained in that unit until its destruction due to allied airattack.

That unit used playingcard symbols, but I have no photos of 103 and no indication of any markings painted on its sides.

One thing is funny about this boat, at one point it recieved new propellers in Finland, these were made from stainless steel and remained on the wreck until a few years ago, where somebody stole them from the wreck.

Questions:

Anybody got some referance showing if 103 had any markings ? or if the unit used markings painted on the hullsides.

The S103 is a type 38, how does the armament correspond with the Rewell kit ? - it looks as if it would carry a 2 cm in front, a dual 2 cm. midships and a 3.7 aft.

Anyone got pictures and measurement on the depthcharges - they are not included in the kit ?


skipper
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Lisboa, Portugal
Joined: February 28, 2002
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 05:09 AM UTC
Hello Jan

I am not at home (where my books are) but I think you may find what you need here:
http://www.prinzeugen.com/SBOATIND.htm

Anyway I'll check my references for S103 and it's markings/symbols - I let you know what I have found!

Welcome to the Dark Side

Skipper
MrMox
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Aarhus, Denmark
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 05:17 AM UTC
Thanks mate - isnt that the "wet side" :-)
allycat
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 06:11 AM UTC
Jan,
According to German Coastal Forces of WW2: M. J. Whitley 1992, S103 was sunk by RAF 2nd TAFTyphoon aircraft off Murmansk in Russia, which is no-where near Denmark.
I'll keep searching but I can also find no reference to a 'type 38' Schnellboot.
Good Luck and Good Hunting
Tom
MrMox
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Aarhus, Denmark
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 06:27 AM UTC
Hi, on this page you find something about type s38 and the fate of s103 - it was sunk 2 miles out of MOMMARK (a small costal town in Denmark)

http://www.schnellboot.net/de/km/s38/vorlage/index.html

There allso exist an interview with the boats captain dating bach to the ´70ties who strongly supports this.

My guess is that somebody said "hey, I newer heard about a town called Mommark, that must be bad spelling for Murmansk ... " :-)

The Thypoon is correct, and consider - what would a RAF thypoon do around Murmansk ?

I will try to find a translation of the interview.



MrMox
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Aarhus, Denmark
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 06:36 AM UTC
Heres the interview in danish, I dont no anything about online translators, but if You do, you can translate it yourself.

"Den 2. maj 1945 overtog jeg kommandoen over Schnellboot S 103, der lå i Svendborg. Jeg var velkendt med tjenesten, da jeg i et par år havde været chef og divisionschef ved en torpedobådsflotille i Middelhavet. S 103 var - med undtagelse af enkelte krigserfarne - bemandet med unge uden fronterfaring. Uden mulighed for at give dem en grundig uddannelse fik jeg 2 dage efter min ankomst ordre til som den eneste krigsvante skibschef i den i Svendborg liggende Schnellboot-skoleflotille at sejle til Flensborg for at undersøge, om de engelske styrker allerede var trængt så langt frem. Man vidste kun med sikkerhed, at de var stødt frem over Eider.

Den 4. maj omkring kl. 1400 løb vi ud i overskyet, delvis regnfuldt vejr. Om bord befandt sig 32 mennesker, hvoraf adskillige, der ikke hørte til besætningen, men som skulle befordres til Flensborg. Luftrummet over Danmark og Nordtyskland var bestandig fyldt med fjendtlige luftfartøjer.

Ca. 1 time efter afgangen blev båden ramt af en eksplosion og flere nedslag.

Gennem et hul i skyerne havde en jagerbomber opdaget os. Den angreb først med raketter, der blev en fuldtræffer, og næsten samtidig fik vi flere træffere fra flyets kanoner. Uheldigvis var bådens 4 cm kanon og hele dens besætning sat ud af spillet af raketten. Også vore øvrige våben blev sat ud af spillet, så vi var ganske forsvarsløse. Også bådens motorer blev ødelagt, og selvom den midterste motor endnu gik langsomt frem, kunne vi ikke mere manøvrere.

I den følgende halve time blev vi angrebet uafbrudt af 6 bombere - 2 to-motors og 4 en-motors - indtil båden sank. Da vor redningsbåd var fuldstændig gennemhullet, havde vi kun en kapokflåde til rådighed. Det lykkedes at anbringe enkelte hårdtsårede i flåden. 6 lettere sårede eller uskadte besætningsmedlemmer, hvortil jeg selv hørte, måtte klare sig svømmende med blot et tag i flåden.

Efter tre kvarters forløb blev vi samlet op af en lille fiskerbåd fra Mommark, som bragte os i land. Af de 32 ombordværende overlevede kun 12. Jeg erfarede fra chefen for en opankret minestryger, at der ville blive våben stilstand den næste morgen kl. 0800.

Netop da vi var kommet i land i Mommark, så vi ude i Lille Bælt en undervandsbåb, der blev angrebet og beskudt af et kobbel på ca. 30 jagerfly, indtil den sank. Den nøjagtige position for sænkningen kender jeg ikke", slutter Oberleutnant Heckel sin beretning. "


allycat
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England - North East, United Kingdom
Joined: October 03, 2004
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 10:46 AM UTC
I must admit to thinking "WHY was a schnellboot off Murmansk in 1945" and "HOW did a Typhoon fighter bomber get there" when I was posting that thread.
_Admiral_Fil
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Lisboa, Portugal
Joined: August 16, 2005
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Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 11:26 AM UTC
S-boots were commonly used in Norway many times but I guess not that North to be off Murmansk! The Typhoon feature also puzzled me instantly! How could such fighter could flow that long unless they were using soviet air bases like the 617 Squadron did to bomb Tirpitz...but I doubt that. Also, playing cards symbols were very used in smaller ships of the Kriegsmarine. I saw sometime ago something of a green ace of spades on the funnel of torpedo boat T-2 but that's a large torpedo boat and not an S-boot.
Halfyank
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 01, 2003
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Posted: Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 12:07 PM UTC
Every time Hobby Lobby has their 1/2 off sale the S-boat, or what continue to think of as an "E boat" calls to me. I finally saw two of them built at a IMPS model show last month and now I've got to get one. Just have to figure out what can be done with the kit.

blaster76
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Texas, United States
Joined: September 15, 2002
KitMaker: 8,985 posts
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Posted: Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 05:53 PM UTC
You can't go wrong for $10 That's how I go mine. Maybe next year we can do a PT boat, or a boat build so Treadhead can do one of his Riverine kits
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