Name T-36 Laid down 1942 Fate Sunk, 5 May 1945 Construction started 1942 Builders Schichau, Schichau-Werke | Ordered 23 April 1938 Commissioned 9 December 1944 Class and type Type 1939 torpedo boat Launched 5 February 1944 | |
German torpedo-boat T-36 was a torpedo boat built for the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. Built by Schichau of Elbing, T-36 was the last of fifteen Type 39 torpedo boats, sometimes referred to as the Elbing-class. She was laid down in 1942, launched on 5 February 1944 and commissioned on 9 December 1944. T-36 was assigned to general escort duties and stationed in the Baltic.
In January 1945 T-36 was involved in the aftermath of the Wilhelm Gustloff disaster. Wilhelm Gustloff was a passenger liner pressed into service as a transport for Operation Hannibal, the evacuation of East Prussia before the advancing Red Army. As she was fleeing Gotenhafen, on the night of 30 January, crowded with German Navy personnel, servicemen and civilian refugees, Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine S-13. A number of ships attended, including T-36, in order to search for survivors. T-36 was able to pick up 564 survivors from the disaster, which claimed over 9,000 lives.
T-36 was mined off Swinemunde on 4 May 1945 and disabled. She was sunk the following day by a Soviet air attack.