The boat was then assigned escort duties in the Skaggerak around the beginning of 1945, which included covering minelaying missions.

They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

[5] Early-war modifications to the Type 37s were limited to the conversion of the foremast into a tripod mast, installation of a FuM 28[Note 1] radar with fixed antennas angled 45° to each side.

[2] T17 was ordered on 18 September 1937 from Schichau, laid down at their Elbing, East Prussia, shipyard[7] as yard number 1405,[2] launched and commissioned on 28 August 1941; construction was delayed by shortages of skilled labor and of raw materials.

The following month, T17, T15, and T16 were transferred to Norway where they formed part of the escort of the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper to Trondheim on 19–21 March.

In February 1944, the boat was transferred to the Torpedo School and began a machinery overhaul at the Oderwerke shipyard in Stettin in June.

T17 was reassigned to active duty in August and escorted the last evacuation convoy from Tallinn, Estonia, to Germany on 23 September with T13, T19 and T20.

On 5 May, she helped to ferry 45,000 refugees from East Prussia to Copenhagen, Denmark, and returned to transport 20,000 more to Glücksburg, Germany, on the 9th.

The boat was withdrawn from combat duty on 25 June 1949 and reclassified as a target control ship, before being renamed UTS-6 on 7 September.