SMS V47[a][b] was a V25-class Large Torpedo Boat (Großes Torpedoboot) of the Imperial German Navy that was built and served during the First World War.

338 tonnes (333 long tons) of fuel oil was carried, giving a range of 2,050 nautical miles (3,800 km; 2,360 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).

[6] Issues with manning the torpedo boats delayed their dispatch to Belgium, and they did not reach Zeebrugge until 3 March 1916, forming the Flanders Destroyer Half Flotilla.

A German seaplane spotted two of these destroyers off the West Hinder lighthouse at about 7:00 am, and the three torpedo boats of the Flanders Half Flotilla set out to attack them.

[8][9][10] On 24 May 1916, the British started laying a mine and net barrage off the Belgian coast to stop the activities of German minelaying submarines of the Flanders Flotilla, with the operations supported by destroyers of the Dover Patrol and Harwich Force, the monitors Prince Eugene and General Wolfe and a large force of drifters.

The three torpedo boats of the Flanders Half Flotilla sortied against the operation on the afternoon of 24 May, and clashed with the British destroyers Milne, Murray, Medea and Melpomene.

The hit on Melpomene flooded her engine room, disabling her, with Milne and Medea taking the stricken destroyer in tow, while under heavy fire from the shore batteries.

[21][22][d] Meanwhile the old British destroyer Flirt, patrolling in support of the drifters, stopped to rescue the crew of Waveney II and was caught by surprise by the torpedo boats of the 6th Half Flotilla and sunk by gunfire.

They carried out a raid into the southern part of the North Sea on the night of 26 November, sinking an armed trawler, the Narval, although the torpedo boats V30 and S34 collided and were badly damaged.

[28][29][30] On 25 February the German forces based in Flanders, which had been heavily reinforced during the previous month, launched a major raid against Allied defences and shipping in the Channel.

The attack on the Dover Barrage withdrew after a confrontation with the British destroyer Laverock, while the patrol off the Mass encountered no ships.

[34][35][36] The Flanders-based torpedo boat flotillas continued to launch sorties against the Channel, with the next encounter with the Royal Navy occurring on the night of April 20/21.