SMS G38

History
German Empire
Ordered	1914 Peacetime order
Builder	Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany
Launched	23 December 1914
Commissioned	30 July 1915
Fate	Interned at Scapa Flow 22 November 1918 Scuttled at Scapa Flow 21 June 1919
General characteristics
Class and type	V25-class torpedo boat
Displacement	1,051 tonnes
Length	79.5 m (260 ft 10 in)
Beam	8.33 m (27 ft 4 in)
Draft	3.74 m (12 ft 3 in) (fwd) 3.45 m (11 ft 4 in) (aft)
Speed	34.5 knots (63.9 km/h)
Range	1,100 nautical miles at 20 knots   (2,040 km at 37 km/h)
Complement	83 officers and sailors
Armament	3 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns 6 × 500 mm torpedo tubes 24 mines

SMS G38 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat (Großes Torpedoboot) of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I, and the 14th ship of her class.

Service

Built by Germaniawerft in Kiel, Germany, she was launched in December 1914.

G38 was assigned to the First Torpedo Boat Flotilla of the High Seas Fleet of the Kaiserliche Marine. When she participated in the Battle of Jutland she was assigned to escort the battlecruiser SMS Lützow. In this action, Lützow was severely damaged such that she was unable to return to German waters. After assisting SMS G37, G40 and V45 in the evacuation of survivors, G38 was ordered to scuttle Lützow by launching two torpedoes into her.

After the end of hostilities, G38 was interned at Scapa Flow in November 1918 and scuttled along with most of the fleet on 21 June 1919. She was salvaged for scrap by Ernest Cox in 1924.

References

• Emmerich "Großes Torpedoboot 1913 technical data" (2003) German-navy.de