SMS G102

SMS G102 was a G101-class torpedo boat large torpedo boat (Großes Torpedoboot) operated by Imperial German Navy during the First World War. The ship was ordered for the Argentine Navy from the German shipyard Germaniawerft as the San Luis, but was still under construction at the start of the war and was seized by Germany.

Entering service in April 1915, G102 served with the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea and English Channel, taking part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Despite being mined twice, the ship survived to the end of the war. G102 was interned at Scapa Flow after the war, and was present at the Scuttling of the German fleet on 21 June 1919, but did not sink, and was allocated to the United States under the Treaty of Versailles. The ship was sunk as a target by United States Army Air Service aircraft on 13 July 1921.

Design
In 1912, the Argentine Navy ordered four large destroyers, (Santiago, San Luis, Santa Fé and Tucuman) from the German shipyard Germaniawerft as a replacement for British-built ships that had been built for Argentina but had been sold to Greece before completion (as the Aetos-class).

The four new ships were 95.3 m long overall and 94.0 m between perpendiculars, with a beam of 9.47 m and a draught of 3.84 m. They displaced 1116 t normal and 1734 t full load. Three boilers fed steam to two sets of steam turbines rated at 28000 shp to give a speed of 33.5 kn. It was originally planned to fit the ships with two cruising diesel engines rated at 1800 PS, but these ended up not being fitted. The ships had three funnels. 500 t of oil was carried, giving a range of 2420 nmi at 20 kn. The Argentines planned to arm the ships with four 4 in guns supplied by the American Bethlehem Steel and 21 in torpedo tubes, but they were completed with four 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns in four single mounts. Six 50 cm torpedo tubes were fitted, and 24 mines could be carried. During the summer of 1916, they were rearmed with four 10.5 cm guns. These ships had a crew of 104 officers and ratings.

Construction
The four ships were still under construction at Germaniawerft's Kiel shipyard on the outbreak of World War I, and the four ships were seized by Germany on 6 August 1914, with the class becoming the G101 torpedo boat class and San Luis renamed G102. G102 was launched on 16 September 1914 and completed on 8 April 1915.

World War I career
On completion, G102 entered service with the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla, together with her sister ships SMS G101, SMS G103 and SMS G104 and the eight large torpedo boats of the B 97-class destroyer. The G101 and B97-classes were both significantly larger than contemporary German torpedo boats and so were often known as destroyers (Zerstörer) rather than torpedo boats. As G101-class torpedo boats were slower than those of the B97-class, ships of the two classes often operated as independent groups despite being part of the same flotilla, although German torpedo boats never operated singly.

On 16 August 1915, the 2nd Torpedo Flotilla was ordered to carry out a patrol off Horns Rev to search for a reported British submarine and armed trawlers. G102, together with G101 and SMS B97, had to be sent back to port owing to mechanical problems. On the night of 16/17 August, the remaining five ships of the flotilla encountered a British minelaying force, with SMS B98 torpedoing and badly damaging the British destroyer HMS Mentor (1914). From 16 to 18 November 1915, G102 was one of 18 torpedo boats that carried out a sweep in the Skagerrak against merchant shipping carrying cargoes for Britain. On 10 February 1916, G102 took part in a sortie by 25 torpedo boats of the 2nd, 6th and 9th Torpedo-boat Flotillas into the North Sea. The sortie led to an encounter between several German torpedo boats and British minesweepers off the Dogger Bank, which resulted in the British minesweeper HMS Arabis (1915) being torpedoed and sunk by ships of the 2nd Flotilla.

G102, together with the rest of the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla, was present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, operating in support of the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group. G102, together with G101, G103 and G104, operated with the light cruiser SMS Regensburg, initially operating at the starboard end of the torpedo boat screen ahead of the battlecruisers. Shortly after 19:00 CET (i.e. 18:00 GMT), G102 took part in a torpedo attack against battlecruisers of the British 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron, following on from attacks from the 6th and 12th Torpedo Boat Flotillas, but the ships of the first two flotillas blocked off G102's attack, preventing any torpedoes from being launched - only G104 of the G101-class ships managed to fire a torpedo, which missed its target. In the night of 31 May/1 June, the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla was ordered to search for the British battle line to the north-east of the German force, but an encounter with British light cruisers caused them to divert from their course, and they passed well astern of the British battle fleet.

The 2nd Flotilla, including G102 was sent to reinforce the German naval forces based in Flanders, in early June 1916, arriving at Zeebrugge on 8 June. The primary duty of the flotilla was to protect the small A-class torpedo boats as they swept channels through British minefields to allow Flanders-based submarines to enter and exit port, while other duties included raids against merchant ships travelling between Britain and the Netherlands. On 12 July, G102 struck a mine, damaging her stern, and had to be towed back to port by SMS B112. The torpedo boat was under repair for several months. On 14 February 1918, the 2nd Flotilla, including G102, set out from Germany to attack the Dover Barrage, an anti-submarine barrier consisting of a minefield patrolled by trawlers and other small craft. In order to avoid alerting the British defences, the German force would attack without stopping at Flanders, refuelling on the return journey. The eight torpedo boats divided into two groups when they reached the Sandettie Bank early on 15 February, with one group, the fourth half-flotilla, to attack patrols on the north side of the Channel and the second, the third half-flotilla, consisting of SMS V100, G101, G102 and G103, attacking from the south. On the approach to the barrage, the third half-flotilla encountered two French torpedo boats, but the French ships, did not react, and the German force passed onwards. Both forces attacked the barrage successfully, claiming between 15 and 25 ships sunk, with actual British losses of one trawler and seven drifters sunk and one trawler, five drifters and the minesweeper HMS Newbury (1916) badly damaged. The third half-flotilla encountered four patrolling British destroyers on its return journey, and was spotted and challenged by HMS Amazon (1908). Despite receiving no response to the challenge, Amazon's commanding officer thought that the German ships were friendly, and again the German force were allowed to escape. On the approaches to Zeebrugge, G102 struck a mine, killing six of her crew, but was not badly damaged, and managed to reach port under her own power. After repair at Zeebrugge, G102 returned to Germany, rejoining the High Seas Fleet on 19 February. G102 remained part of the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla at the end of the war in November 1918.

Scuttling Attempt At Scapa Flow And End
Following the end of the First World War, G102, along with much of Germany's remaining fleet, was interned at Scapa Flow in accordance with the terms of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. On 21 June 1919, the German fleet interned at Scapa scuttled itself, but several of the ships, including G102 did not sink, either being beached by British forces or drifting ashore when mooring cables were cut. Of the 74 interned vessels at Scapa Flow, 52 managed to scuttle themselves.

G102 was refloated and allocated to the United States under the Treaty of Versailles as a "Propaganda ship", which could be used for a short period of time for experimental purposes or as a target. The Americans ended up using G102 as a target for aircraft of the United States Army Air Service on 13 July 1921. G102 was anchored off Cape Henry, Virginia, and was first attacked at low level by S.E.5 fighters, dropping 25 lb bombs (25 of which hit the torpedo boat) and simulating strafing runs, and then by larger Martin Bombers, armed with 300 lb bombs, with G102 sinking after being hit by seven bombs.