MTB 345

History
Norway
NameMTB 345
BuilderJohn I. Thornycroft & Company in Southampton, England
Launched1941
Acquiredfrom the Royal Navy 16 March 1943
Commissioned5 May 1943
Capturedby the Germans 27 July 1943
Service record
Part of:
  • 12th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla (January 1942–?)
  • 30th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla
  • (5 May 1943 – 28 July 1943)
Commanders:
Operations: Two operations against the coast of occupied Norway
Victories: One Blohm & Voss BV 138 flying boat damaged
Nazi Germany
NameSA 12
Acquired28 July 1943
FateStill exist on 12 December 1943, fate unknown
General characteristics
Class and typeExperimental Thornycroft motor torpedo boat
Displacement16.05 tons
Length55 feet (16.76 m)
Beam11 feet (3.35 m)
Propulsion2 × Thornycroft RY/12 petrol engines with a total of 1,326 brake horsepower
Speed41 knots (75.93 km/h; 47.18 mph)
Complement7 officers and men
Armament

MTB 345 was an experimental motor torpedo boat constructed in 1941, which saw limited service with the Royal Navy before being transferred to the exiled Royal Norwegian Navy on 16 March 1943. She sailed with the Royal Norwegian Navy for three months in 1943, until captured by German forces on 28 July 1943, during her second mission to the coast of occupied Norway. Two days after their capture, the crew of MTB 345 were executed by the Germans based on Hitler's Commando Order. Following their capture of MTB 345, the Germans pressed the motor torpedo boat into Kriegsmarine service, renaming her SA 12. The fate of SA 12 since December 1943 is unknown.

After the end of the Second World War, the British Admiralty investigated the Commando Order killings in Norway, and sought out German officers suspected of involvement. In a war crimes trial, Generaloberst (Colonel General) Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was sentenced to death for his role in the Commando Order executions that occurred in Norway during the occupation, including the killing of MTB 345's crew. Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service, SD) commander Hans Wilhelm Blomberg was executed in January 1946 for his role in the killing, while Admiral Otto von Schrader committed suicide in Norwegian custody in July 1945 before he could be brought to trial.