Name T-26 Laid down 1941 Fate Sunk, 28 December 1943 Construction started 1941 Builder Schichau | Ordered 23 April 1938 Commissioned 27 February 1943 Class and type Type 1939 torpedo boat Launched 18 February 1942 | |
German torpedo-boat T-26 was a torpedo boat (a type of small destroyer popular in European navies) built for the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. Built by Schichau of Elbing, T-26 was one of fifteen Type 39 torpedo boats, sometimes referred to as the Elbing class. She was laid down in 1941, launched on 18 February 1942 and commissioned on 27 February 1943. T-26 was assigned to general escort duties and stationed in Occupied France on the Bay of Biscay.
In December 1943 T-26 sailed with her flotilla on Operation Bernau, a mission to escort two German blockade runners to safety. The operation was a failure for the German Navy and one of the blockade runners were sunk; in addition the convoy was intercepted on 28 December by a force of two Royal Navy cruisers, and in the confused action that followed T-26, together with her sister ship T-25, the destroyer Z27 were sunk.