The 24 torpedo boats of the Grosses Torpedoboot 1911 were almost identical to their predecessors, the Grosses Torpedoboot 1906 class. In difference to those, the new class of boats had an increased number of torpedo tubes, giving them a larger offensive potential.

Their major disadvantage was their very bad seagoing capability, while their predecessors were no good seagoing ships already, the Grosses Torpedoboot 1911 was even worse.

A high number of these boats were lost during World War I, most of them because of mine hits, but several sunk after collisions with other ships.  Of the few surviving ships, some were even used as auxiliary vessels during World War II.