Ron van Maanen
The German torpedo boat S 42 proved with success that a warship which was salvaged after being sunk still could be useful for war purposes. She sunk in 1902 with her commanding officer and a part of the crew in the entrance of the Elbe and was after a year salvaged with the expectation that she wasn’t much worth anymore. During the last manoeuvres she performed excellent while used for recovering mines. Eight torpedo boats belonging to the so-called mine recovery division were recently decommissioned except for the S 42 which will be used as a torpedo training vessel. She was built in 1890.(1)
Note
1. The same newspaper dated 25 June 1902 published a item dated Kiel 24 June according to which she was sunk due to a collision with a British steamboat n the mouth of the Elbe. Her commanding officer and 3 men were missing. Two days later published the same newspaper more details. The British steamboat was called Firsby and the accident happened in the middle of the night near Cuxhaven. The S 42 sunk immediately taken with her captain lieutenant Von Rhoeneck and 4 sailors. The Firsby rescued 14 sailors while a life-boat picked up naval engineer Burley and 4 British which were on board because of the sailing contest Dover-Helgoland. The S 42 was sunk in 10 metres deep water and probably not to be salvaged. The Firsby was temporarily held at Cuxhaven. On 4 July reported the newspaper that the search for bodies was stopped because the vessel was crushed on these places were probably bodies could be find and which were unreachable for the divers. Again 3 days later was the bode of her commanding officer now called Rozenstock von Rhöneck found at the beach off Belum. Apparently was she after being salvaged called T 42. Conways All the Worlds’s Fighting Ships 1860-1905 mentioned a first class torpedo boat S 42 built in 1889 at Schichau with a displacement of 151 tons and ad dimensions 145’1’x 16’5” x 8’6” with triple expansion engine supplying 1,570ihp allowing a speed of 21½ knots. Her crew numbered 20 men and the armament consisted of 2 Hotchkiss guns and 3-35cm torpedo tubes.
