Z 5-class torpedoboats

Design history

Class of torpedoboats constructed during World War 1. The designator "Z" reportedly stood for "Zeer Groot" (very large) or Zeegaand (seagoing). This class was a continuation of the Z 1 to Z 4, but slightly smaller with different machinery (triple expansion engines instead of turbines. They also differed in appearance, having three stacks instead of two. Their value as a warship was at the time of their completion already doubtful, since foreign navies were completing destroyers that were bigger, faster and more heavily armed than these torpedo boats. During the interbellum, they served well, often showing the flag during visits to ports in Europe. Z 5 was reconstructed extensively between 1930-1932 for service in the Netherlands West Indies. Her foremost stack and one boiler was removed, and the remaining boilers were converted for oil-use only. Also, her torpedo tubes were removed and her forecastle was lengthened, presumably in anticipation of crossing the Atlantic. Her service in the Dutch West indies however never materialized. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, these torpedoboats weren't well suited for combat duty anymore, but they remained in service. Z 5 gave especially good service during May, 1940. She engaged German paratroopers in Rotterdam, bombarding German shore positions and vehicles, and destroying several floatplanes. All escaped to the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy only saw value in these ships in a variety of secondary, local duties. They served as escort and target vessel for submarines, and as local patrol vessel. They had a hard time coping with sea conditions in Britain's coastal waters, and their condition required frequent repairs. Z 5 appears to have been in the best condition. They were all transferred to the Royal Navy to allow their crews to man more modern warships, and none of them returned to the Netherlands postwar.

Z 5 as completed, date and place unknown (Collection Jan Klootwijk).

Construction details [1]
Name	Z 5	Z 6	Z 7	Z 8
Dockyard	Koninklijke Maatschappij "de Schelde", Vlissingen [2]	Koninklijke Maatschappij "de Schelde", Vlissingen [2]	Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord, Rotterdam	Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord, Rotterdam
Dockyard number	157	158
Laid down	February 18, 1914	February 18, 1914	May 12, 1914	May 12, 1914
Launched	April 1, 1915	April 15, 1915	May 10, 1915	June 23, 1915
Commissioned	February 8, 1917	February 8, 1917	September 8, 1916	September 22, 1916
Pennant	Z 5 H.97 (WW2)	Z 6	Z 7 H.93 (WW2)	Z 8 H.71 (WW2)
[1]: Information taken from [MAR] unless noted otherwise. Confirmed by sources listed below unless noted otherwise. [2]: From [KMS].

Specifications [1]
	Z 5[2]	Z 6 - 8
Displacement	427 tons standard.[7]	263 tons standard 310 tons full load[3]
Crew	34	48
Dimensions	58,5 (over all) x 6 x 2,08 m (maximum draught [7]	58,5 (over all) x 6,06 x 1,60 m (maximum draught)
Armament	2 x 75 mm No. 4[4] 2 x 12.7 mm machinegun (1x2) No.3
Torpedoes	-	4 x 450 mm torpedo tubes (1x2, 2x1)[5] built by N.V. Werkspoor, Amsterdam[6] 4 type II45 torpedoes.[6]
Anti-submarine weapons	2 depth charge rails with 8 depth charges[7]	2 depth charge rails[7]
Other
[1]: Information taken from [MAR]. Information confirmed by other sources unless noted otherwise. [2]: Details are after 1930-1932 reconstruction. This may be the reason why her characteristics are different in [GB110]. [3]: From [WBC] and [MB13]. [GB110] says 357 tons full load. [4]: 1 x 75 mm removed from Z 6 and Z 8 and replaced by 1x2 12.7 mm machinegun summer 1940. [5]: Removed from Z 5 after reconstruction in 1931. [6]: From [MOH]. [7]: From [GB110].

Propulsion details [1]
	Z 5[2]	Z 6 - 8
Boilers	2 Yarrow cylindrical boilers[3]	3 Yarrow cylindrical boilers[3]
Machinery	2 triple expansion engines
Performance	3000 ihp	5500 ihp[4]
Shafts	2	2
Range	?	2300 nm @ 10 knots, 425 nm @ 20 knots[5][6]
Bunkerage	100 tons oil[5]	80-83 tons coal and 8 tons oil[6]
Max Speed	22 knots	27 knots
[1]: Information taken from [MAR]. Information confirmed by other sources unless noted otherwise. [1]: All ships were engined by their builders. [2]: Details are after 1930-1932 reconstruction. [3]: From [WBC]. [4]: Z 7 produced 5616 ihp, Z 8 produced 5723 ihp on trials [MB13]. [5]: From [VML]. [6]: From [MB30].

Histories [1]
Z 3	Attached to IJsselmeer Flotilla April, 1940. On anti-invasion patrols on the IJsselmeer May, 1940. Beached on a dam and set ablaze on May 14, 1940. Refloated in 1941 and scrapped.
Z 5	Rebuilt at the naval yard in 1931 in order to make her suitable for patrol dutiess in the West Indies. Service in West Indies never materalized. Recommissioned after reconstruction July 13, 1932. In action against German paratroopers at Rotterdam May 10, 1940. Damaged by return fire, several crewmen wounded. Evacuated to the UK on May 14, 1940. Arrived Downs May 14, 1940. Arrived Portsmouth May 17, 1940. Under repair to repair damage received on May 10. Inspection by Queen Wilhelmina, May 18, 1940. Ready for action on June 16, 1940. Assigned to the 9th Submarine Flotilla in Dundee (Scotland), as an escort and target ship June, 1940 - April, 1941. Service with 3rd and 7th Submarine Flotillas in Rothesay May, 1941 - March 2, 1942. Transferred to the Royal Navy on March 2, 1942. Commissioned as HMS Z 5 and continued service with 7th Submarine Flotilla. Extensive service detail can be found at Uboat.net. Renamed HMS Blade May, 1943. Returned and stricken on April 9, 1945. Sold to West of Scotland Shipbreaking Company, Troon (Scotland). Arrived for scrapping October 23, 1945. Beached November 20, 1945. Scrapping completed December 20, 1945.[2]
Z 6	Stationed at Den Helder May 14, 1940. Escaped to the UK on May 14 1940, arrived Downs May 15, 1940. Arrived Portsmouth May 17, 1940. Inspection by Queen Wilhelmina, May 18, 1940. Assigned to 9th Submarine Flotilla Dundee (Scotland) and 7th Submarine Flotilla at Rothesay from June 16, 1940. Details of this periode can be found at Uboat.net. She was decommissioned on October 4, 1940 (defective machinery). Laid up at Dundee. Condition deteriorated due to lack of maintenance personnel. Stricken November 27, 1941.[3] Removal of armament, fittings and stores February, 1942. Sold for scrap March, 1942. Scrapped in Borrowstounness (UK) starting February, 1943.
Z 7	Stationed at Den Helder May 10, 1940. Attacked twice by German aircraft on May 14, 1940 whilst evacuating the UK. The two bombs detonated in the sea on the port side near the engineroom and did significant concussion damage to machinery. Enemy aircraft damaged. Arrived Downs May 15, 1940. Arrived Portsmouth May 18, 1940. Assigned to 9th Submarine Flotilla at Rothesay and Dundee (Scotland) June 16, 1940. Under rapair (propulsion) from June until September 19, 1940. Removal of 1 x 75 mm gun, addition from 1x2 12.7 mm machinegun from De Mok I May - June 1940. Service with 9th Submarine Flotilla cancelled. Ready for action on September 19 1940. Several weeks escort duties at Falmouth. Arrived Holyhead October 21, 1940. Escort and patrol duties at Holyhead. Beached near Holyhead late December 1940. Unknown damage. Laid up with skeleton crew at Holyhead. Request by C-in-C Western Approaches to use Z 7 for escort duties at Liverpool June 14, 1941. Repairs initiated but no crew available. Decommissioned July 16, 1941. Repaired July - August 1942. Transferred to Royal Navy at Grimsby October 1, 1942. In service at Rosyth.[4] Decommissioned from Royal Navy in 1943 and laid up. Returned to RNethN in January 1944. Stricken January 1944. Scrapped in Llanelly (UK) in 1947.
Z 8	Patrol duties off Terschelling and Vliestroom from May 10, 1940. Escaped to the UK on May 14 1940. Arrived Portsmouth May 17, 1940. Removal of 1 x 75 mm gun, addition from 1x2 12.7 mm machinegun from sloop Flores May - June 1940. Assigned to the 9th Submarine Flotilla in Dundee (Scotland) July - October 1940. Assigned to 7th Submarine Flotilla at Rothesay, October, 1940 - March 1941. Decommissioned March 24, 1941. Request by C-in-C Western Approaches to use Z 7 for escort duties at Liverpool June 14, 1941. Recommissioned June 16, 1941, under repair with only skeleton crew available and completion of repairs projected January 26, 1942. Decommissioned January 16, 1942. Repairs completed August 25, 1942. Transferred to Royal Navy on October 1 1942. Served with 1st Submarine Flotilla, later 7th Submarine Flotilla.[4] Decomissioned 1943. Returned to RNethN in January 1944. Stricken January, 1944. Scrapped in Newport (UK) starting August, 1944.
[1]: Details from [MAR],[MUN],[GB110],[BOS1]. [2]: Dates in relation to scrapping from Clyde Maritime Portal at http://www.clydemaritime.co.uk/blade. [3]: [VML] says stricken July, 1941. [BOS1] says September 27, 1941. I consider these to be incorrect, since [GB110] mentions this date specifically. [4]: From [COL].

Photos
	Z 5 at sea, date and place unknown. The photo was taken before her reconstruction in the early 1930s (Collection Jan Klootwijk).
	Z 5 at the quay in Den Helder. Photo was taken November 3, 1935 (Collection John Morrison).
	Z 5 sailing through drift ice, date and place unknown (Collection webmaster).
	Z 5 during the war, date and place unknown. Note the wartime modifications, such as the protection around the bridge and gunmounts (Collection webmaster).
	Z 7 at Den Helder, Netherlands. Date unknown (Collection Jan Klootwijk).

Sources
BOS1	Ph.M. Bosscher "De Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog", volume 1 (1984).
COL	H.T. Lenton/J.J. Colledge "Warships of World War II".
GB110	GB110 (Mededelingen van de Marinestaf), volume 2, chapter 3: "De verrichtingen van Hr.Ms. Colombia en van de Z- en G-boten". GB110 (Mededelingen van de Marinestaf), volume 1, chapter 2: "De algemene mobilisatie".
KMS	Koninklijke Mij 'de Schelde' "De schepen die wij bouwden 1875 - 1950" (1950).
LEN	H.T. Lenton "Navies of the Second World War - Royal Netherlands Navy" (1968).
MB13	Departement van Defensie, "Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Marine 1913-1914", published 1915.
MB30	Departement van Defensie, "Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Marine 1930-1931" (1932).
MB36	Departement van Defensie, "Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Marine 1936-1937" (1938).
MAR	Chris Mark "Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II" (1997).
MOH	J.M. Mohrmann "Marine torpedodienst 1875-2000" (2000).
MUN	L.L. von Münching "Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de tweede wereldoorlog" (1978)
VML	A.J. Vermeulen "De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1862-1962" (1962).
WBC	Warshipresearch.blogspot.com

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