MTB 345

History
Norway
Name	MTB 345
Builder	John I. Thornycroft & Company in Southampton, England
Launched	1941
Acquired	from the Royal Navy 16 March 1943
Commissioned	5 May 1943
Captured	by 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:	Temporary Sub-lieutenant D. Mortimer (RNVR) (January 1942–?) Lieutenant Alv Haldor Andresen (16 March 1943 – 28 July 1943)
Operations:	Two operations against the coast of occupied Norway
Victories:	One Blohm & Voss BV 138 flying boat damaged
Nazi Germany
Name	SA 12
Acquired	28 July 1943
Fate	Still exist on 12 December 1943, fate unknown
General characteristics
Class and type	Experimental Thornycroft motor torpedo boat
Displacement	16.05 tons
Length	55 feet (16.76 m)
Beam	11 feet (3.35 m)
Propulsion	2 × Thornycroft RY/12 petrol engines with a total of 1,326 brake horsepower
Speed	41 knots (75.93 km/h; 47.18 mph)
Complement	7 officers and men
Armament	1 × twin 0.303 Lewis machine guns 2 × 18 inch torpedo tubes 2 × depth charges

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.