Originally 16 of these ships were retained by the Germanic States Navy. The letter assigned to the ships denoted the shipyard the ships had been built at, so G85 was built by the Germania shipyard at Kiel. The 4-5 different classes were all built to the same specifications from 1915 onward. The Germanic States Navy had been allowed to keep a spread of the ships of these classes from the earliest ships of 1915 through to 4 of the S131 type that they were allowed to complete postwar. The earliest 1915 types were either discarded by the start of the war or reduced to ancillary duties (such as torpedo recovery vessels).
The remaining vessels were refitted over time where the forward single torpedo tubes were removed and the space decked in to provide extra accommodation. The original single/open 4.1" guns were removed and replaced with two dual purpose 88mm/L56 guns. 37mm and 20mm AA guns were also added. The ships retained the two sets of twin 19.7" torpedoes up to the start of the war when the ships lost either one or both over time (and if they survived) for more light AA guns and/or ASW equipment.
The drawing above is of the ships in their 1940 configuration, radar and other electronics have not reached this far down the fleet list.
