View source for German torpedo boat Jaguar

{|{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=nodab}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Jaguar (Schiff, 1928) in See.jpg
|Ship caption=''Jaguar'' at sea, 1934–1935
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[Germany]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Weimar Republic|naval}} {{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}}
|Ship name=''Jaguar''
|Ship namesake=[[Jaguar]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= [[Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=113
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=4 May 1927
|Ship launched=15 March 1928
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed= 
|Ship commissioned=15 August 1929
|Ship fate=Bombed, 14 June 1944
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= (as built)
|Ship class= [[Type 24 torpedo boat|Type 24]] [[torpedo boat]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|932|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|1319|LT|t}} ([[deep load]])
|Ship length={{convert|92.6|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[Length overall|o/a]])
|Ship beam= {{convert|8.65|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|3.52|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × shafts
*2 × geared [[steam turbine]] sets
|Ship speed= {{convert|34|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{cvt|1997|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|17|kn}}
|Ship power=*3 × [[water-tube boilers]]
*{{cvt|23000|shp|lk=on}}
|Ship complement=129
|Ship armament= *3 × single [[10.5 cm SK C/28 naval gun|{{convert|10.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}]] guns
*2 × triple {{convert|500|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*30 [[naval mine|mines]]
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox service record
|is_ship=yes
|partof=
|commanders=
*[[Karl Smidt]]
*[[Klaus Scholtz]]
*[[Werner Hartenstein]]
|operations=
|victories=
}}
|}
'''''Jaguar''''' was the sixth and last [[Type 24 torpedo boat]] built for the German Navy (initially called the ''[[Reichsmarine]]'' and then renamed as the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' in 1935) during the 1920s. The boat made multiple [[Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War|non-intervention patrol]]s during the [[German involvement in the Spanish Civil War|Spanish Civil War]] in the late 1930s. During [[World War II]], she played a minor role in the [[Norwegian Campaign]] of 1940. ''Jaguar'' spent the next several months escorting [[minelayer]]s as they laid [[minefield]]s and damaged heavy ships back to Germany before she was transferred to France around September. She started laying minefields herself that month and continued to do so for the rest of the war. After a refit in early 1941, the boat was transferred to the [[Skaggerak]] where she was assigned escort duties. ''Jaguar'' returned to France in 1942 and was one of the escorts for the [[capital ship]]s sailing from France to Germany through the [[English Channel]] in the [[Channel Dash]]. She helped to escort [[blockade runner]]s, [[commerce raider]]s and submarines through the Channel and the [[Bay of Biscay]], as well as Norwegian waters, for the next several years. The boat attacked [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ships during the [[Invasion of Normandy]] in June 1944, but was sunk by British bombers that same month.

==Design and armament==
Derived from the preceding [[Type 23 torpedo boat]], the Type 24 was slightly larger and faster, but had a similar armament.<ref name=g1>Gröner, p. 191</ref> The boats had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|92.6|m|ftin|sp=us}} and were {{convert|89|m|ft|sp=us|0}} [[Length at the waterline|long at the waterline]].<ref name="conways06 p237"/> They had a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|8.65|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a mean [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|3.52|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The Type 24s displaced {{convert|932|LT|t|lk=on}} at [[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard load]] and {{convert|1319|LT|t}} at [[deep load]]. ''Wolf''{{'}}s pair of [[Brown, Boveri & Cie|Brown-Boveri]] geared [[steam turbine]] sets, each driving one propeller, were designed to produce {{convert|23000|PS|kW shp|lk=on}} using steam from three [[water-tube boiler]]s which would propel the ship at {{convert|34|kn|lk=on}}.<ref name="whit2000 p57">Whitley 2000, p. 58</ref> The boats carried enough [[fuel oil]] to give them a range of {{convert|1997|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|17|kn}}. Their crew numbered 129 officers and sailors.<ref name=w2>Whitley 1991, p. 202</ref>

As built, the Type 24s mounted three [[10.5 cm SK C/28 naval gun|{{cvt|10.5|cm|in}} SK C/28]]{{refn|In ''Kriegsmarine'' gun nomenclature, SK stands for ''Schiffskanone'' (ship's gun), C/30 stands for ''Constructionjahr'' (construction year) 1930.<ref>Campbell, p. 219</ref>|group=Note}} guns, one forward and two aft of the [[superstructure]], numbered one through three from bow to stern. They carried six above-water 50&nbsp;cm (19.7&nbsp;in) [[torpedo tube]]s in two triple mounts [[amidships]]<ref name="conways06 p237">Sieche, p. 237</ref> and could also carry up to 30 [[naval mine|mines]]. After 1931, the torpedo tubes were replaced by {{cvt|533|mm|in|0}} tubes<ref name=g1/> and a pair of [[2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling|{{cvt|2|cm|1}} C/30]] [[anti-aircraft gun]]s were added. During the war a quadruple 2&nbsp;cm mount was added just forward of No. 2 gun, three 2&nbsp;cm guns were positioned around the aft [[funnel (ship)|funnel]], another pair were mounted on the [[bridge wing]]s, and a gun was added in front of the [[bridge (nautical)|bridge]], all in single mounts. Around 1944 a FuMB 4 ''Sumatra'' [[radar detector]] was installed as was [[radar]].<ref>Whitley 1991, pp. 47, 202; Whitley 2000, pp. 57–58</ref>

==Construction and career==
[[File:Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-63-36, Torpedoboot "Jaguar".jpg|thumb|''Jaguar'' underway, 1934]]
''Jaguar'' was [[laid down]] at the ''[[Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven]]'' (Navy Yard) on 4 May 1927<ref name="whit2000 p57"/> as [[yard number]] 113,<ref>Gröner, p. 192</ref> [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 15 March 1928 and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 15 August 1929.<ref name="whit2000 p57"/> The boat was initially assigned to the 3rd Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla and by the end of 1936 she was assigned to the 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotilla. She made several deployments to Spain during the Spanish Civil War.<ref>Whitley 1991, p. 77</ref>

===Second World War===
Together with the torpedo boat {{ship|German torpedo boat|Falke||2}}, ''Jaguar'' impounded six ships in the Skaggerak during an anti-[[contraband]] patrol in 14–16 December.<ref>Rohwer, p. 11</ref> She began a refit later that month at [[Wesermünde]] that lasted until March 1940.<ref>Whitley 1991, p. 208</ref> During the Norwegian Campaign, ''Jaguar'' and ''Falke'', among other ships, briefly rendered assistance to the torpedoed heavy cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Lützow|1940|2}} before continuing onwards to [[Kristiansand]] on 11 April with reinforcements.<ref>Haarr 2009, pp. 215, 382</ref> On 4–5 June ''Falke'' and ''Jaguar'' provided the anti-submarine screen from [[Kiel]], Germany, to the Skaggerak for an unsuccessful attempt to intercept the Allied convoys evacuating Northern Norway by the [[battleship]]s {{Ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and the [[heavy cruiser]] {{Ship|German cruiser|Admiral Hipper||2}}. From 21–23 June, ''Jaguar'' was one of the escorts for the badly damaged ''Scharnhorst'' from Norway to Kiel. Now assigned to the 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, ''Jaguar'', and the torpedo boats {{ship|German torpedo boat|Kondor||2}}, ''Falke'', {{ship|German torpedo boat|T2||2}}, {{ship|German torpedo boat|T7||2}} and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T8||2}} escorted minelayers as they laid a minefield in the southwestern North Sea on 7–8 August. The flotilla escorted other minelaying missions in the same area on 14–15 August, 31 August – 2 September and 6–7 September. Reinforced by her sister {{ship|German torpedo boat|Wolf||2}}, the flotilla made an unsuccessful [[sortie]] off the [[Isle of Wight]] on 8–9 October. ''Jaguar'' and her sister {{ship|German torpedo boat|Iltis||2}} laid a minefield off [[Dover]] on 29–30 October and then again on 2–3 December.<ref>Haarr 2010, pp. 352, 359; Rohwer, pp. 29, 35–36, 38–39, 43, 47, 51</ref>

====1941–1944====
''Jaguar'' and ''Iltis'' laid a minefield off [[Eastbourne]] on 25–26 February and then again on 5–6 March. The pair escorted ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' into [[Brest, France]] on 22 March after their [[North Atlantic]] raid. ''Jaguar'' began a refit the following month in [[Rotterdam]], [[Netherlands]], that lasted until May. She was transferred afterwards to the Skagerrak where she was on convoy escort duties until October. The ship rejoined the 5th Flotilla in France by February 1942. The flotilla joined the escort force for ''Scharnhorst'', ''Gneisenau'' and the heavy cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Prinz Eugen||2}} on 12 February off [[Cap Gris-Nez]] during the Channel Dash. From 12 March to 2 April, the flotilla escorted the commerce raider {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Michel||2}} through the Channel despite heavy British attacks, damaging the British destroyers {{HMS|Walpole|D41|6}} and {{HMS|Fernie|L11|2}}. In September and October, ''Jaguar'' was one of the escorts for German blockade runners sailing from ports in the [[Bay of Biscay]] en route to Japan.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 61–62, 64, 143, 151, 198; Whitley 1991, pp. 119, 208</ref>

On 11 March 1943, ''Jaguar'' and the torpedo boat {{ship|German torpedo boat|Greif||2}} were among the escorts for the battleships {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}} and ''Scharnhorst'' as they moved from [[Trondheim]], Norway, to [[Bogen, Evenes|Bogen Bay]], and continued onward to [[Altafjord]] with ''Lützow'' and the [[light cruiser]] {{ship|German cruiser|Nürnberg||2}} from 22 to 24 March. ''Jaguar'', ''Greif'', and the destroyer {{ship|German destroyer|Z4 Richard Beitzen||2}} screened ''Nürnberg'' from [[Harstad]] to Trondheim and then to Kiel between 27 April and 3 May. On 3–7 May, ''Jaguar'', ''Greif'', the torpedo boat {{ship|German torpedo boat|Möwe||2}} escorted minelayers in the North Sea as they laid new minefields. In June the boats returned to the Bay of Biscay to help escort [[U-boat]]s through the Bay and continued to do so into early August.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 198, 233, 236, 247, 249, 256; Whitley 1991, p. 165</ref>

The 4th and 5th Torpedo Boat Flotillas, consisting ''Jaguar'', ''Möwe'', ''Greif'', ''Kondor'', and the torpedo boats {{ship|German torpedo boat|T27||2}} and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T29||2}} laid minefields  off [[Le Havre]] and [[Fécamp]], France, on 21 and 22 March 1944. The flotilla was ordered to transfer from [[Cherbourg]] to Le Havre and departed on the night of 23/24 May. ''Jaguar'', ''Greif'', ''Falke'', ''Kondor'' and ''Möwe'' were attacked by Allied aircraft early the next day and ''Greif'' was struck by two bombs and later sank. As the Allies began landing in Normandy on 6 June, the 5th Flotilla, now consisting of ''Jaguar'', ''Falke'', ''Möwe'' and {{ship|German torpedo boat|T28||2}}, sortied multiple times from Le Havre over the next week in attempts to sink Allied shipping. Despite the expenditure of over 50 torpedoes and large quantities of ammunition, they were generally unsuccessful, only sinking the destroyer {{HNoMS|Svenner|G03|6}} on 6 June. During an [[Operation Astonia#June–August|air raid by heavy bombers of RAF Bomber Command]] on the night of 14/15 June against the harbour and the German warships there, ''Jaguar'' and ''Falke'' were sunk by bombs.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 312, 324, 331–332, 335; Whitley 1991, p. 158</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}} 

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|title=Naval Weapons of World War II|year=1985|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
*{{Cite book |last=Gröner|first=Erich|title=German Warships 1815&ndash;1945|year=1990 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|volume=1: Major Surface Warships|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-87021-790-9|author-link=Erich Gröner}}
* {{Cite book|last=Haarr |first=Geirr H. |title=The Battle for Norway – April–June 1940 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK | year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84832-057-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Haarr|first=Geirr H.|title=The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940|year=2009 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-59114-310-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/germaninvasionof00geir}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2 |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 |year=1980|publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London|isbn=0-85177-146-7|name-list-style=amp|chapter=Germany|author1-last=Sieche |author1-first=Erwin}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000|publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=German Destroyers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=1991|isbn=1-55750-302-8|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}

{{Type 24 torpedo boat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaguar, German torpedo boat}}
[[Category:Type 24 torpedo boats]]
[[Category:1928 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Wilhelmshaven]]