Type 401 Rhein class tenders - Much more than a torpedo boat tender

de_Radio_Demon · April 16, 2024, 12:55am

Type 401 Rhein class tenders - Much more than a torpedo boat tender

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Background and History

The Type 401 or Rhein class tenders were a class of 8 ships which were built for the Bundesmarine or West German navy starting in 1959 and into the 1960’s, these ships were one of 3 classes actually which made up what was known as the Rhein class tenders which were a series of tender ships with different designs and roles as the Type 401 was the main class while the Type 402 and Type 403 were a subclasses. What these ships all had in common was the same hull and each design was aimed towards particular roles as the Type 401 class was the torpedo boat squadron tenders, the Type 402 was the minesweeper tenders, and the Type 403 was the submarine tenders.

The Type 401 and Type 402 in design are the most similar to the other as they only featured one change externally which was that the Type 402 design had two cranes rather than one as on the Type 401, both ships also shared an exact armament however the Type 403 was noticeably different as it was less well armed than the 401 or 402. What makes these three classes interesting is that despite being tender ships they were designed and were indeed capable of much more as the Type 401 and 402 class had been armed with 2 100mm rapid fire gun mounts as well as an AA armament of 4 40mm Breda Bofors in single mounts, the Type 403 was armed with however only there 4 40mm guns in twin mountings. These ships also were designed with the ability of carrying further weapons as they could all carry as much as 70 naval mines and as 10 depth charges split between two small depth charge racks at the rear.

The reason these ships carried such a substantial armament for their size and role was due to the fact that the Germans had designed a ship which could not only fill the necessary tender roles of the fleet but in times of war if they did not have enough ships due to a lack of or loss of they could push these ships into another role such as a frigate (less so for the Type 403) or a minelayer, and the Type 402 design also came with the bonus of making them suited for use as a training vessel if needed. The class itself would be in service for quite some time as despite two being decommissioned in the 1970’s most were in service until the 1980’s or 1990’s with the last ship leaving service in 1994, of the 13 ships (this is counting all 3 classes) 4 were sold to foreign navies with 3 being sold at different points to Turkey and 1 to Greece. The class itself would be replaced in its role in the 1990’s more or less with the Type 404 Elbe class replenishment ships which are more conventional in design which were not built with the idea that they may be forced into roles which fall out of the normal scope of their main role. In terms of armament these ships were armed with 2 French 100 mm/55 MLE Model 1953 gun turrets for the main battery, the AA battery consisted of 4 40mm/70 MEL 58 AA gun mounts, the ships also had access to the originally mentioned capacity of mines of 70 naval mines as well as 2 depth charge racks with 5 each for a total of 10.

Specifications
Displacement
2,370 tons standard
3,000 tons fully loaded

Length
98.2 m (322.2 ft) (Overall)

Width
11.83 m (38.8 ft)

Draft
3.9 m (12.7 ft) to 5.2 m (17.2 ft) (Varies by source)

Propulsion
6 x Maybach 16-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines
2 Propeller shafts
14,400 hp

Speed
20.5 Knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph)

Complement
163 to 114 (Not including additional crew capacity due to tender role allowing further crew capacity) (Varies by ships to ship)

Sensors and systems
1 x DA-02 Air and surface search radar
2 x WM-45 fire control radars
1 x Kelvin Hughes 14/9 navigation radar
1 x Hull sonar (sonar is not specified)

Armament
Primary armament
2 x 100 mm/55 MLE Model 1953 cannons (2 x 1)

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