German torpedo boat T18

Sister ship T21 at sea, 2 July 1946, en route to be scuttled with her load of poison gas
History
Nazi Germany
Name	T18
Ordered	18 September 1937
Builder	Schichau, Elbing, East Prussia
Yard number	1406
Laid down	27 July 1939
Launched	1 June 1940
Completed	22 November 1941
Fate	Sunk by aircraft, 13 September 1944
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Type 37 torpedo boat
Displacement	888 t (874 long tons) (standard) 1,139 t (1,121 long tons) (deep load)
Length	85.2 m (279 ft 6 in) o/a
Beam	8.82 m (28 ft 11 in)
Draft	2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Installed power	4 × water-tube boilers 31,000 shp (23,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbine sets
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	1,600 nmi (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	119
Armament	1 × single 10.5 cm (4.1 in) gun 1 × single 3.7 cm (1.5 in) AA gun 2 × single 2 cm (0.8 in) AA guns 2 × triple 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 30–60 mines

The German torpedo boat T18 was one of nine Type 37 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Completed in mid-1941, she was later assigned to the Baltic Sea for convoy escort duties. The boat briefly became a training ship in 1942 before she was transferred to France where she laid minefields and escorted Axis blockade runners and U-boats through the Bay of Biscay into the Atlantic Ocean. T18 returned to Germany in mid-1943 and became a training ship again for the Torpedo School and U-boat Flotillas. The boat returned to active duty in mid-1944 and assigned to the Baltic where she was sunk by Soviet aircraft in September.