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My other boats
Luftwaffe Flugbetriebsboot Fl.B. 5505
Fairly unknown even to WW2 enthusiasts, the German Luftwaffe operated
various motor craft as crash and patrol launches. Among them had been „Seeteufel
V“-boats, originally built by the well reknown Kröger-yards at Warnemuende
(which did build crash launches for South Africa and the Royal Navy in the
1960s).
From my point of view, the “Seeteufel V”-type is a type of its own. Built
in two versions (early and late series), these crash launches have yacht
like appearance, are of a sturdy design and combine speed with unmatched
reliance. The model depicts one of these boats, Flugbetriebsboot Fl. B.
5505 of the second (“late”) series.
The service history of the twin prop powered Fl.B. 5505 includes the
following milestones:
April 25, 1945 - “Sondereinsatz Ostsee”
May XX, 1945 - Boat becomes a war prize and enters RN
service as “RN 155“
June 26, 1946 - Royal Navy transfers the boat to US Navy,
which put the boat into service as “PATROL XXV”
Jan. 1, 1947 - USN transfers boat to police forces of
Bremen, Germany, which use the boat as patrol craft on the river Weser and
rename it “WASSERSCHUTZ 30”
Feb. 20, 1947 - Bremen police renames boat to „WS 30“
Oct. 1, 1948 - Boat renamed “BREMEN 2”
May 3, 1954 - Boat is legally transferred to Bremen police
who now own the boat, which was previously on “lease status” from US
XXX XX,1974 - Service time ends when boat is decommissioned
and shortly afterwards sold off for scrap
The model has a plastic hull, while all superstructures, details and
weapons had been scratch built from wood and plastic as well. Especially
difficult to scratch build had been the Mauser Maschinengewehr MG 151/15,
a converted Luftwaffe machine gun usually to be found mounted in aircraft.
Luckily some aviation archaeology chaps had plans of this weapon in their
archives. Etched brass and white metal parts largely contribute to the
overall appearance of the boat. Any questions? Mail me at
Chris.Koenig@gmx.at.
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