RN Rhine Flotilla HMML (P6009, P6010, P6011, P6012, P6013 and P6034)

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         RN Rhine Flotilla HMML (P6009, P6010, P6011, P6012, P6013 and P6034)

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Design and Service history:

After the end of the Second World War, a large amount of intact and usable German equipment would end up in the hands of the Allied powers. This equipment would include anything from ammunition and food to battleships, which would be seized for war reparations. One such group of captured vessels would be allocated to the British component of the Rhine flotilla. Numerous ex-german vessels would be assigned to this flotilla including Herman Goering’s personal yacht and a few S-boats. Those are suggestions for another day though, as this one will focus on the more obscure use the British had for a group of 7 500 series 90ft Flugbetriebsboote that were captured after the end of the war.

The Flugbetriebsboote was an evolving class of vessels, similar in function to the RAF ASR launches. They were intended to coordinate with Luftwaffe air groups and rescue pilots who had ditched their aircraft and performed other roles related to Air-sea rescue. The 5000 series also known as the B V series was a more common variant being built between 1940 and 1945 with a series of small revisions. This production run was also referred to the Seeteuful class, along with a few similar vessels, before being surpassed by the later B VI class. These more ocean-going Flugbetriebsboote were larger and heavier than previous vessels and were equipped with towing gear, with a specification allowing them to operate up to sea state 6.

The B V class possessed an all-wooden hull and was powered by a pair of 1200hp MB 500 L engines. This quirk of their design shared similar elements to the German R-boat minesweepers and allowed them to possess a second life after the conclusion of the Second World War. Due to the secondary role the Flugbetriebsbootes played in the conflict, quite a few survived the war, and 6 found themselves under the oversight of the RN Rhine Flotilla in 1945. The purpose of the Rhine Flotilla was to patrol and control the waterways that fell under the British zone of control, and included immediate post-war mine sweeping (A role the wooden-hulled Flugbetriebsboote were suited for), and training in order to exert the British presence in the Rhine valley, where they were based from Rhinehaven.

Due to their reallocation as British vessels, the former Flugbetriebsboote were redesignated to Motor Launches, and received P pennants, in line with other British Post war small craft. The pennants assigned were mainly bird themed being P6009 HMML “ALBATROS”, P6010 HMML “SWIFT”, P6011 HMML “KITTYHAWK”, P6012 HMML “ALBACORE”, P6013 HMML “SWALLOW”, P6014 HMML “KESTREL” and P6034 HMML “Hurricane”. In order to fulfill their new role in the Royal Navy, the ship’s previous armament of MG 151’s was replaced by a pair of 20mm Oerlikon cannons, with one mounted forward of the bridge, and the second on the stern of the vessel in a standard configuration for all the ships. In their later service, these guns would be gradually removed from the vessels, though it is known that in 1953 both cannons were present on at least 4 of the 7 vessels.

In this configuration, the ships would serve in the royal navy between 1945 to 1957-8, when the duties of waterway policing were taken over by the West German government, at which case it can be presumed that the vessels were scrapped as they are not present among extant Flugbetriebsboote in museums surviving today.

Vehicle specification:

Length: 27.59m (90ft)

Width: 5.14m

Depth: 1.45m

Side Height: 2.66m

Displacement: 65t

Power plant: 2 x MB 500 L (1200 hp) engines each driving a separate propeller giving 2400 horsepower total

top speed: 31kts (58kph, 35.6mph)

crew: 10 (1 officer, 9 men)

armament: 2 x 20mm Oerlikon cannons

additional photos:
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sources:

1 Like
2

+1, would be a good event or Battle pass Vehicle for the British Coastal Tree

Although out of curiosity, Im assuming this image is of them in German service, because the armament looks different from the others?

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+1

4

Aye, that is how they were armed initially, and how they were when handed over to British forces. They were modified from there to the less well armed but standard service build that the suggestion is asking for.

1 Like
5

for italy yes +1