Yard number 317 Commissioned 30 July 1918 Launched 3 July 1918 Builder Tecklenborg | Laid down 1917 Construction started 1917 Draft 2.15 m Operation Battle of Danzig Bay | |
Name M 107
Von der Groeben
M 507 Fate Sunk 15 June 1944 at Boulogne Class and type M 1916-class minesweeper | ||
German minesweeper M 107 was a mine-warfare vessel built for the Imperial German Navy during World War I, which served in the Reichsmarine and later the Kriegsmarine of World War II.
Laid down in 1917, M 107 was launched on 3 July 1918 and commissioned on 30 July of the same year. After active service in 1918, the ship was retained by the Reichsmarine, which was renamed Kriegsmarine in 1935. On 15 April 1939, M 107 was re-classified as a Räumbootbegleitschiff for the newly established 3. Räumbootflottille and renamed Von der Groeben.
During the Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Von der Groeben participated in the Battle of the Danzig Bay and supported the attacks on the Polish fortifications in the Battle of Westerplatte.
In 1940, Von der Groeben was transferred to the 4. Räumbootflottille and participated in the Operation Weserübung, the occupation of Denmark and Norway, as part of Kriegsschiffgruppe 11. On 9 April 1940, Von der Groeben with the rest of 4. Räumbootflottille occupied Thyborøn on the coast of Jutland during the German invasion of Denmark.
Later that year, Von der Groeben served as escort on the Belgian coast until she hit a mine off Dunkirk on 18 August 1940. The seriously damaged ship was beached and later salvaged. After repairs were completed, she was re-commissioned as M 507 on 1 October 1940.
M 507 remained on the English Channel coast until spring 1943, when she transferred to the Mediterranean for service on inland waterways. On 15 June 1944, M 507 was sunk in Boulogne-sur-Mer by Royal Air Force aircraft.