SMS V46 was a 1913 Type Large Torpedo Boat (Großes Torpedoboot) of the Imperial German Navy during World War I. She was built by AG Vulcan at their Stettin shipyard, being launched on 23 December 1914 and completing in October 1915.
V46 was part of the German High Seas Fleet during the war, and took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. In 1917, she, along with the rest of her flotilla, was deployed to Flanders, taking part in raids against allied shipping and the Dover Barrage, before returning the Germany. In October 1917, V46 took part in Operation Albion, the German landings on the West Estonian archipelago. V46 was interned at Scapa Flow after the end on the fighting, and after attempts to scuttle her in 21 June 1919 failed, was transferred to France in 1920 and scrapped in 1924.
Construction
Ordered from AG Vulcan on 22 April 1914 as part of the 1914 construction programme of high-seas torpedo-boats (with a half-flotilla of 6 ordered from Germaniawerft and a second half-flotilla from Vulcan), she was launched from AG Vulcan's Stettin, (now Szczecin in Poland) on 23 December 1914 and commissioned on 31 October 1915. The "V" in V46 denoted the shipbuilder who constructed her.
V46 was long overall and at the waterline, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was normal and deep load. Three oil-fired water-tube boilers fed steam to 2 sets of AEG-Vulcan steam turbines rated at , driving two propeller shafts via Föttinger hydraulic couplings giving a speed of . of fuel oil was carried, giving a range of at and at .
Armament originally consisted of three 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns in single mounts, together with six 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes with two fixed single tubes forward and 2 twin mounts aft. Up to 24 mines could be carried. The ship had a complement of 87 officers and men.
Service
V46 was assigned to the Sixth Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Twelfth Half-Flotilla, of the High Seas Fleet of the Imperial German Navy when she participated in the Battle of Jutland. The 12th Half Flotilla attempted a torpedo attack against the battlecruisers of the British 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron at about 19:00 CET (i.e. 18:00 GMT), but while fired two torpedoes and and both fired a single torpedo, V46 did not fire any torpedoes in this engagement, as she was avoiding two torpedoes from the British destroyer and one from S50 which was running in circles. None of the torpedoes from this attack, or one immediately afterwards from the 9th Flotilla, hit their targets. Later that evening, the 12th Half Flotilla was sent to the rear of the retiring German fleet, in order to carry out night torpedo attacks on the British fleet. They were fired on by the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron at about 21:52 CET and turned away, with S50 being damaged by a British shell. V46 and V69 later returned to their search for the British battleships, but although they spotted flashes of the night battles, they encountered no British ships.