- Yes
- No
TL;DR
Coastal Vessel, S 38 but with a goofy radar.
Overview:
In 1942, Germany was conducting experiments on mounting radar warning receivers and radars on their S-boat fleet. In June of that year, the first experimental radar installation was developed, using the FuG 202 Lichtenstein radar from their night fighters. It was installed on S 112, a standard S-38 type boat (it’s stated that S 100 and later had an armoured “skullcap” installed, but S 112 either did not or had it removed). The installation, on a fixed assembly facing forwards above the bridge, was deemed inadequate as it only had a range of 2km in a 70 degree forward cone. In order to rotate it, the crew had to remove the radar and turn the installation. With this installation, S 112 led a squadron to raid a northern convoy, only to have been immediately detected by British radar detection devices, but luckily the British naval units believed this meant that German aircraft were coming to support the S-boats and did not attack.
Later on, the fixed installation was replaced with a rotatable one on a stand. Performance was considerably better, but it was found the stand massively increased the boat’s radar signature, and it would always be detected and attacked first, earning the nickname “enemy shell collecting box”. Later radar installations were developed in 1944, but they were hampered by the primitiveness of German radar screens at the time preventing useful readouts for S-boat squadrons, and it was only in 1945 after reverse engineering British radar screens could an effective radar be deployed for S-boats. These later devices would not be mounted on S 112, which was scuttled in 1945 with the German Surrender.
Specifications:
Armament:
1x1 20 mm C/38
1x1 20 mm C/30
1x2 7.92mm MG34
2x 533mm Torpedoes
6 Depth Charges
6 MinesDisplacement:
92.5 tons standard
115 tons fullLength: 34.9m
Beam: 7.28m
Draft: 1.67m
Propulsion: 3 Daimler-Benz MB501 diesel engines, 6000 hp, driving 3 shafts
Speed: 38.5 knots (71.3 km/h)
Range: 700nmi (at 35 kts)
Crew: 30
Systems:
FuMG Lichtenstein radar (initially fixed installation, later rotatable tower)
Images:
Sources
Frank, Hans. German S-Boats in Action in the Second World War. Seaforth Publishing, 17 Jan. 2007, pp. 136–139.
http://www.s-boot.net/englisch/sboats-kriegsmarine-types.html
http://www.s-boot.net/englisch/sboats-kriegsmarine-armament.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20190629155211/http://www.navypedia.org/ships/germany/ger_mb_s38.htm