Warships. Destroyers. Knights of Narvik
The Type 1936 destroyers, also known as the Z.17 class, were a group of six destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. All six sister ships were named after German sailors who died in World War I. They spent most of their time between their construction and the outbreak of war using training exercises, although some participated in the occupation of Memel, Lithuania, in early 1939.
When war began in September 1939, the destroyers laid minefields in the German Bight and then, in late 1939 and early 1940, on the British coast. All but one of them participated in Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway in April, and all were sunk by the enemy or scuttled by their crews during the naval battles off Narvik, with the exception of Z-20 Karl Galster, which was undergoing repairs at the time.
These six ships were improved and enlarged versions of the Type 1934 and Type 1934A destroyers. Although they were designed before the previous ships were completed, the stability issue was partially resolved by reducing their freeboard, which finally allowed them to utilize their full fuel supply rather than use it as ballast.
The turning radius was slightly reduced, and the bow shape was modified to reduce the amount of water blowing over the bow in head seas. These changes improved their seakeeping compared to previous destroyer types. The destroyers still featured the complex and finicky boilers from earlier ship models.
The first three ships built had an overall length of 123,4 meters, while the next three were modified during construction and given a clipper bow, increasing their overall length to 125,1 meters.
All six ships had the same waterline length of 120 meters. Their beam was 11,75 meters, and their maximum draft was 4,5 meters.
The Type 1936 had a displacement of 2411 long tons (2450 t) at standard load and 3415 long tons (3470 t) at full load.
The ships' hulls were divided into 15 watertight compartments, of which the seven middle ones housed the propulsion and auxiliary machinery, protected by a double bottom. Initially, the ships were equipped with active stabilizers to reduce roll, but these proved ineffective, and by April 1940, they were replaced by keeled hulls on all destroyers except Z-20 Karl Galster.
The crew consisted of 10 officers and 313 sailors, plus an additional 4 officers and 19 sailors if the ship served as the flagship of a flotilla.
The Type 1936 ships were powered by two Wagner geared steam turbines, each driving a single three-bladed 3,25-metre (11 ft) propeller with steam generated by six Wagner high-pressure water-tube boilers with superheaters operating at 70 atmospheres (7093 kPa; 1029 psi) and 450 °C (842 °F).
Turbines rated at 70,000 metric horsepower (51,000 kW) were designed to give the ships a speed of 36 knots. The first four ships were able to conduct full speed trials before the war began, and they significantly exceeded their designed speed, reaching 39-41,5 knots from a recorded turbine output of 72,100-76,500 hp.
The destroyers were equipped with a pair of 200-kilowatt (270 hp) turbo generators plus two 80-kilowatt (110 hp) and one 40-kilowatt (54 hp) diesel generators for electrical supply.
The ships carried a maximum of 739 tons of fuel oil, which provided a range of 2050 nautical miles (3800 km) at a speed of 19 knots.
The Type 1936 ships were armed with five 127mm SK C/34 guns in single mounts with armor shields providing protection from splinters. One pair of guns was located forward and aft of the superstructure, one above the other, and the fifth mount was located aft of the superstructure.
The maximum firing range of these guns was 17,4 kilometers, and the barrels could be elevated to 30° and depressed to -10°. Ammunition capacity consisted of 600 rounds.
The destroyers' anti-aircraft armament consisted of four 37-mm SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns with 8000 rounds of ammunition and six 20-mm C/30 anti-aircraft guns in single mounts with 12,000 rounds of ammunition.
Mine and torpedo armament. The ships were armed with eight above-water 533-mm torpedo tubes in two electro-hydraulic mounts.
Four bomb launchers were mounted on each side of the aft deckhouse, along with six depth charge racks along the sides. There was ample space on board for two or four sets of sixteen bombs each.
Mine rails were installed at the stern, the maximum capacity of which was sixty mines.
Anti-submarine equipment included passive hydrophones "GHG" (Gruppenhorchgerät) for detecting submarines, and by the end of 1939, an active sonar system was installed on each ship.
The Z-20 "Karl Galster" was equipped with a FuMO 21 search radar in 1942, and its anti-aircraft armament was upgraded several times during the war. By the end of the war, it consisted of six 37mm and fifteen 20mm guns.
Overall, the work carried out had a positive effect on the destroyers' performance, especially their range, which increased significantly due to the fact that they no longer had to keep almost a third of their fuel as ballast.
High hopes were truly placed on this series of ships. It's no surprise that the destroyers in this class have been working at full capacity since their commissioning.
Z-17 "Dieter von Roeder" and Z-19 "Hermann Künne" were two destroyers that accompanied Adolf Hitler when Germany occupied Memel in March 1939. When the war began in September, Z-21 "Wilhelm Heidkamp" and Z-22 "Anton Schmitt" were still being fitted out, so only Z-17 "Dieter von Roeder," Z-18 "Hans Lüdemann," Z-19 "Hermann Künne," and Z-20 "Karl Galster" were sent to lay minefields off the German coast. They were soon transferred to the Skagerrak, where they inspected neutral shipping for contraband. By the end of the month, Z-21 "Wilhelm Heidkamp" joined them.
From mid-October until February 1940, the Kriegsmarine began using its destroyers to lay minefields off the British coast on dark nights with little moonlight. The ships participated in five of the eleven minelaying operations, and their mines helped sink a British destroyer and merchant ships with a combined tonnage of 121,348 gross register tons.
The Norwegian campaign became the Rubicon for this series of German ships.
Z-17 "Dieter von Roeder"
Z-17 "Dieter von Raeder" was named after Kapitänleutnant Dieter von Raeder, who commanded the 13th Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla during World War I and was killed in action on June 11, 1918.
The ship was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She was laid down at the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen under the yard number W919 on 9 September, launched on 19 August 1937, and commissioned on 29 August 1938.
From March 23 to 24, 1939, the ship was part of Adolf Hitler's escort aboard the heavy cruiser Deutschland, accompanying him during the occupation of Memel. The following month, she participated in exercises. fleet in the western Mediterranean, and in April and May made several visits to ports in Spain and Morocco. In July, the Z-17 "Dieter von Raeder," along with her sister ships Z-18 "Hans Lüdemann" and Z-19 "Hermann Künne," called at ports in Norway.
When World War II began in September, the ship was initially deployed to the German Bight, where it laid defensive minefields. The Dieter von Raeder then patrolled the Skagerrak, inspecting neutral shipping for contraband. On the night of October 17–18, Rear Admiral Günther Lütjens, aboard his flagship, the Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, commanded Z-16, Z-17, Z-18, Z-19, and Z-20, which were laying a minefield in the mouth of the Humber River. The British, unaware of the minefield's existence, lost seven ships with a total tonnage of 25,825 GRT.
The Dieter von Raeder was then assigned to the 1st Group to participate in the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's mission was to transport the 139th Mountain Regiment and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division to capture Narvik.
The ships began loading troops on April 6 and set out to sea the following day. When they approached Ofotfjord on the morning of April 9, the ship remained at the mouth of the fjord while the other destroyers continued deeper into the fjord to disembark the troops. The Diether von Raeder was assigned to serve as a guard ship and warn of any British attempts to interfere with the landing. The Diether von Raeder disembarked the troops later that day but returned to her mission the following night. Z-17's commander, Lieutenant Commander Erich Holtorf, decided that his orders had expired at dawn and returned to Narvik harbor.
Unbeknownst to the Germans, five British ships of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla—Hardy, Havoc, Hunter, Hotspur, and Hero—were following them, invisible in the darkness and snowy blanket. They torpedoed two German destroyers and seriously damaged two more, while Diether von Raeder blindly fired all her torpedoes at the harbor entrance and attempted to fire on the British ships with her guns despite the snowstorm. All the torpedoes missed their targets, possibly because their running depth was set too deep and their guns were ineffective.
Visibility improved as the leading British ships completed their attack on the harbor, and several of them engaged the Z-17 Dieter von Raeder. It was hit by at least five 120mm shells, which disabled gun No. 3, damaged the rudder system, the center and aft boiler rooms, putting all systems out of action, and set fire to the fuel tank. танкBritish shells killed nine of the ship's crew. Most of the surviving sailors were sent to help secure the city of Narvik. The destroyer's powerful radios were brought ashore and used to improve communications with other German units in Norway.
Z-17 Diether von Roeder (in front) in Narvik, the destroyer behind is Z-9 Wolfgang Zenker. The smaller vessels are captured Norwegian patrol boats.
Over the next few days, the ship's damage was assessed, and the Germans concluded that it would take at least a week to restore her to combat readiness. Meanwhile, the ship's light armament (anti-aircraft guns) was removed, and her stern was moored to the harbor pier, with her bow facing the harbor entrance. This meant that only the two forward guns could fire at targets.
On the night of 12-13 April, Fregattenkapitän Erich Bey, the senior surviving German officer, received a message that an attack by British capital ships, accompanied by a large number of destroyers and supported by deck aviationThe battleship Warspite and nine destroyers did indeed appear on April 13, although earlier than Bey expected, and caught the Germans by surprise.
When the British destroyers Punjab and Bedouin appeared at the harbor mouth and engaged the Z-12 Erich Giese, the 25 gunners remaining aboard the Dieter von Raeder opened fire on all visible British ships, including the Warspite. One of the Dieter von Raeder's shells struck the battleship's bridge, but caused only minor damage.
At first the British thought that in the smoke and confusion they were being fired upon by coastal artillery, but a report from Swordfish, an aircraft from the aircraft carrier HMS Warspite, located the German ship. The destroyer HMS Cossack, scrambling through the rubble of sunken cargo ships to conduct reconnaissance, opened fire on the Diether von Raeder from a range of 2500 meters. The second salvo hit the target and set the German ship's stern ablaze, but Z-17 returned fire, which was remarkably accurate.
The British destroyer was hit at least seven times, severing a steam pipe leading to the forward boiler room, damaging the central boiler room, starting a fire, and disabling the ship's steering, causing it to run aground. The German shells killed nine men and wounded 21.
The destroyer Kimberley and the battleship Warspite returned fire, the latter even scoring a hit on Z-17. The Dieter von Raeder was nearly sunk, but the gunners abandoned ship when they ran out of ammunition, and by the time the destroyer Foxhind approached, only a three-man demolition team remained on board. They lit the fuses and fled ashore, and the depth charges installed inside the ship detonated when the British ship was less than 50 meters away, with the boarding party ready.
Z-18 "Hans Ludemann"
Z-18 "Hans Ludemann" was named after Engineer-Major Hans Ludemann, who saved the lives of the people in the engine room of the torpedo boat S-13 after a high-pressure cylinder exploded on May 14, 1913.
The ship was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She was laid down at the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen under the yard number W920 on 9 September, launched on 1 December 1937, and commissioned on 8 October 1938. In July 1939, Z-18 "Hans Lüdemann" together with her sister ships Z-17 "Dieter von Raeder" and Z-19 "Hermann Künne" called at ports in Norway.
When World War II began in September 1939, the ship was initially deployed to the German Bight, where she laid defensive minefields. The destroyer then patrolled the Skagerrak Strait, inspecting neutral shipping for contraband. On the night of October 17–18, she and Rear Admiral Günther Lütjens' destroyer group laid a minefield at the mouth of the Humber River. The British, unaware of the minefield's existence, lost seven ships with a total tonnage of 25,825 GRT.
On the night of November 12–13, Z-18 Hans Ludemann, as part of a group of ships, laid 288 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary. Once again unaware of the minefield's existence, the British lost the destroyer Blanche and thirteen merchant ships with a total displacement of 48,728 GRT.
Z-18 Hans Ludemann was then assigned to the 1st Group to participate in the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's mission was to transport the 139th Mountain Regiment and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division to capture Narvik. The ships began loading troops on April 6 and set out to sea the following day.
On the morning of April 9, as they approached Ofotfjord, Z-18 "Hans Lüdemann" and Z-22 "Anton Schmitt" landed troops in the Ramnes area to attack coastal artillery positions that the Germans mistakenly believed controlled the mouth of the fjord. Z-17 "Dieter von Raeder" remained at sea to provide support if necessary and to serve as a guard ship in case the British attempted to interfere with the operation. Around 11:00, the troops were ordered to return to the destroyers, which were heading for Narvik. Shortly after midnight, Z-18 "Hans Lüdemann" received orders to begin refueling from the whaler/tanker SS "Jan Wellem."
Shortly after dawn on April 10, the ship was still moored alongside the Jan Wellem when five destroyers of the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla appeared: HMS Hardy, HMS Havoc, HMS Hunter, HMS Hotspur, and HMS Hero. As soon as the German destroyer pulled away from the tanker, it opened fire on the HMS Havoc, but in the darkness and snowy haze, it missed all targets. The British ship returned fire, disabling one of the Z-18's guns, damaging the rudder, and starting a fire that flooded one of the magazines.
At 05:15 AM, the ship radioed other destroyers anchored in Herjangsfjord and near Ballangen. Fifteen minutes later, the British decided to attack Narvik again, and during this time, the crew managed to make some repairs. The ship launched four torpedoes at the attacking British ship, but all missed, possibly because the depth control was set too deep.
During the second attack, Z-18 Hans Ludemann hit the destroyer Hostile once with a 127mm shell, but caused only minor damage.
On the night of April 12–13, a message arrived that an attack by British capital ships, accompanied by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier-based aircraft, was expected the following day. The battleship Warspite and nine destroyers did indeed appear on April 13, although earlier than the Germans expected.
Z-19 Hermann Künne, leading Z-13 Erich Köllner west to take up position at the fjord entrance, was the first to spot the approaching British ships and alerted the others. Five capable destroyers, including Z-18 Hans Lüdemann, left Narvik harbor and engaged the British ships at long range, using smoke as cover. No hits were scored, but several destroyers sustained shrapnel damage. Running low on ammunition, the German ships retreated to Rombaksfjord (the easternmost branch of Ofotfjord), east of Narvik, where they could attempt to ambush the pursuing British destroyers.
Z-18 "Hans Lüdemann" still had ammunition and torpedoes in reserve and took up position at the mouth of the Straumen together with Z-2 "Georg Thiele" to give the two remaining destroyers time to take up positions further into the fjord.
The pursuing British destroyers first engaged the Z-18 Hans Ludemann, which opened fire from a range of approximately 5 kilometers, with little effect. The four remaining torpedoes were fired blindly, one of which passed under the destroyer Forester, though the other three also missed their target. Soon after, the Eskimo scored two hits on the German destroyer, destroying guns No. 4 and No. 5 and damaging gun No. 3—in effect, disabling all guns capable of firing at the British ships.
Lieutenant Commander Herbert Friedrichs, the ship's captain, decided to retreat, as the Hans Ludemann was no longer capable of resisting the British ships, and ran it aground at the mouth of the fjord. Friedrichs ordered the ship prepared for demolition and ordered the crew to abandon ship, while the Z-2 Georg Thiele continued to fight. Several hours later, after the Thiele had been destroyed, the British destroyers Hero and Ikar approached and discovered that the Hans Ludemann was intact and the demolition charges had failed to detonate. Hero sent a boarding party aboard, but the German destroyer was completely abandoned. Therefore, following orders to destroy all German destroyers, the British torpedoed the Hans Ludemann, sending it to the bottom of the fjord.
Z-19 "Hermann Künne"
Z-19 "Hermann Künne" was named after a sailor from the torpedo boat S-53 who was killed in hand-to-hand combat on the Zeebrugge breakwater during the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918.
The ship was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She was laid down at the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen under the yard number W921 on 5 October, launched on 22 December 1937, and commissioned on 12 January 1939.
From March 23 to 24, the ship was one of the destroyers that escorted Adolf Hitler aboard the heavy cruiser Deutschland during the occupation of Memel. In June, the Z-19 Hermann Künne and her sister ship, the Z-18 Hans Lüdemann, visited Norwegian ports. The Hermann Künne "distinguished itself" by ramming a pier in Moldefjord, allegedly due to a broken rudder.
When World War II began in September, the Z-19 Hermann Künne was initially deployed to the German Bight, where it laid defensive minefields. The ship then patrolled the Skagerrak Strait, inspecting neutral shipping for contraband.
On the night of October 17–18, he laid a minefield at the mouth of the Humber River. The British, unaware of the minefield's existence, lost seven ships with a total displacement of 25,825 gross register tons.
Z-19 Hermann Künne did not participate in minelaying operations on the nights of November 8–9 and 10–11 due to seawater contamination of its fuel. On the night of November 12–13, Hermann Künne, along with other ships, participated in laying 288 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary, which resulted in the loss of the destroyer Blanche and thirteen merchant ships with a total displacement of 48,728 GRT.
On the night of November 17–18, Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, Z-19 Hermann Künne, and Z-11 Bernd von Arnim laid another 180 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary. The mines sank the destroyer Gipsy, a fishing trawler, and seven ships with a total displacement of 27,565 GRT.
On the night of December 12–13, the German destroyers Z-19 Hermann Künne, Z-4 Richard Beitzen, Z-8 Bruno Heinemann, Z-14 Friedrich Inn, and Z-15 Erich Steinbrink put to sea to lay minefields off the British coast. They laid 240 mines near the mouth of the River Tyne, where navigation lights were still burning. The British lost eleven ships, totaling 18,979 GRT, in this minefield. On their way home, the destroyers were ordered to escort the damaged light cruisers Leipzig and Nürnberg, which had been torpedoed by the submarine HMS Salmon while covering the destroyers' retreat.
Z-19 "Hermann Künne" was supposed to take part in another minelaying on December 17, but due to boiler contamination she was unable to go to sea and was under repair in Stettin until March 14, 1940.
Norwegian Campaign
Z-19 Hermann Künne was assigned to the 1st Group to participate in the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's mission was to transport the 139th Mountain Regiment and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division to capture Narvik. The ships began loading troops on April 6 and set sail the following day.
On the morning of April 9, as they approached Ofotfjord, the Z-19 Hermann Künne landed troops at the mouth of Herjangsfjord and helped capture the Norwegian army barracks at Elvegårdsmoen. Later that day, the Hermann Künne received fuel from the whaler/tanker SS Jan Wellem and then carried out patrol duty until midnight, after which it returned to the Jan Wellem to continue refueling.
Shortly after dawn on 10 April, while the ship was still moored to the Jan Wellem, five destroyers of the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla appeared: Hardy, Havoc, Hunter, Hero and Hotspur.
The Hardy, Hunter, and Havoc, escorted by the two remaining destroyers, launched an attack on Narvik harbor. The Z-19 Hermann Künne engaged in an ineffective exchange of fire with the Hunter while preparing to withdraw from the whaling vessel. Eventually, the German ship, dropping its hoses and mooring lines, headed toward the British destroyers.
When the British destroyer torpedoed and sank the Z-22 Anton Schmitt, the Z-19 was only 40 meters away, and the shock wave from the Z-22's ammunition detonation disabled its turbines. Left without power, the Hermann Künne slammed into the sinking Anton Schmitt. Some crew members panicked and jumped overboard, but few managed to escape. After about an hour, the ship was able to restore power and free itself from the Anton Schmitt. Ultimately, the Z-19 Hermann Künne suffered shrapnel damage, killing nine crew members, but otherwise suffered minor damage. Later that day, the Z-19 Hermann Künne departed for the wreck of the Hardy, where it had run aground, and inspected it.
Z-19 "Hermann Künne" burns on April 13, 1940.
On the night of April 12–13, a message arrived that an attack by British capital ships, accompanied by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier-based aircraft, was expected the following day. The battleship Warspite and nine destroyers indeed appeared early on the morning of April 13, catching the Germans by surprise.
At that moment, Z-19 Hermann Künne and Z-13 Erich Köllner were heading west to take up position at the entrance to the fjord. Künne was the first to spot the approaching British ships and alerted the German naval command. The remaining combat-ready destroyers joined Z-19 Hermann Künne as it retreated and engaged the British ships at long range, under cover of a smokescreen.
Nine Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers attacked the German destroyers, but lost two aircraft without scoring hits. By midday, the Germans had expended most of their ammunition, and Commander Bey ordered his ships to retreat to Rombaksfjord (the easternmost arm of Ofotfjord), east of Narvik, where they could attempt to ambush the pursuing British destroyers.
Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Kothe, captain of the Z-19 Hermann Künne, misinterpreted the signal and headed north to Herjangsfjord, where he ran the ship aground in Trollvik, near Bjerkvik. The ship expended all ammunition, including training and flare shells. Depth charges were pre-detonated and detonated after the crew abandoned ship. The destroyers Eskimo and Forester followed the German ship into Herjangsfjord and observed the explosion of the Z-19. To be sure, Eskimo fired a torpedo at Hermann Künne, ripping off its stern.
Here we will skip a bit over the numbers in our story and leave the Z-20 for dessert. story was much longer and more interesting.
Z-21 "Wilhelm Heidkamp"
Z-21 "Wilhelm Heidkamp" was named after Engineer's Mate Wilhelm Heidkamp. He was in charge of the pumps on the battlecruiser Seydlitz during the Battle of Dogger Bank on January 24, 1915. After a British shell caused a massive fire in the ship's aft gun turrets, Heidkamp saved the ship by single-handedly flooding the aft powder magazines, preventing an explosion. Heidkamp's hands were burned to the bone, which ultimately led to his death in 1931.
The ship was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She was laid down at the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen under the yard number W923 on 14 December 1937, launched on 20 August 1938, and commissioned on 20 June 1939. After completion, Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp became the flagship of the destroyer commander, Rear Admiral Günther Lütjens, and in late September patrolled the Skagerrak, checking neutral shipping for contraband.
On the night of October 17-18, Wilhelm Heidkamp and the five destroyers of the 1936 series that it commanded laid a minefield at the mouth of the Humber River, during which the British lost seven ships with a total displacement of 25,825 gross register tons.
On the night of November 12–13, the Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp and three other destroyers laid 288 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary. The British lost the destroyer Blanche and thirteen merchant ships with a total displacement of 48,728 GRT to this minefield.
Less than a week later, on the night of November 17–18, Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, Z-19 Hermann Künne, and Z-11 Bernd von Arnim laid 180 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary. The mines exploded, sinking the destroyer Gipsy, a fishing trawler, and seven ships with a total displacement of 27,565 GRT.
On the night of January 10–11, 1940, Wilhelm Heidkamp, along with three other sister ships, made a sortie to the Newcastle area, where they laid another 120 mines. Only one fishing trawler, a 251 GRT vessel, was destroyed in this minefield.
From 18 to 20 February, Wilhelm Heidkamp, together with Karl Galster, escorted the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, during their voyage to sea.
Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp was the flagship of the 1st Group, commanded by Commodore Bonte, which participated in the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's mission was to transport the 139th Mountain Regiment and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division to capture Narvik. The ships began loading troops on April 6 and set sail the following day.
On April 9, the Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp sank the old coastal defense ship Eidsvold with torpedoes after an unsuccessful attempt to force its captain to surrender. He then landed troops in Narvik without resistance and refilled fuel supplies from the whaling tanker Jan Wellem.
Commodore Bonte wanted his flagship to patrol the fjord overnight, but Major General Eduard Dietl, commander of the 3rd Mountain Division, requested that Z-21 remain in harbor to facilitate coordination between the Wehrmacht and the Kriegsmarine and ensure communications with his command.
Shortly after dawn on 10 April, the ship was anchored at the stern of the Jan Wellem in Narvik harbour when five destroyers of the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla appeared.
The Z-21 "Wilhelm Heidkamp" was hit in the stern by a torpedo from the "Hardy" during the first salvo, causing the aft magazine to explode. The explosion sent the aft guns flying and killed 81 men, including Commodore Bonte.
Although the Z-21's stern was already underwater, the Wilhelm Heidkamp's captain, Korvettenkapitän Hans Erdmenger, managed to moor the sinking ship to a nearby Swedish freighter. The following day, the Wilhelm Heidkamp capsized and sank, but only after its torpedoes were transferred to the surviving destroyers. The surviving sailors joined sailors from other ships on shore in a makeshift naval infantry unit.
Z-22 "Anton Schmitt"
Z-22 Anton Schmitt was named after Boatswain's Mate Anton Schmitt, who was the last man standing at the last working gun of the sinking light cruiser Frauenlob during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916 and went down with his ship.
The ship was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She was laid down at the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen under the yard number W924 on 3 January 1938, launched on 20 September, and commissioned on 24 September 1939.
After preparations, Z-22 Anton Schmitt, along with other destroyers of the series, laid a minefield in the Newcastle area, in which only one fishing trawler was blown up.
Z-22 Anton Schmitt was assigned to the 1st Group to participate in the Norwegian part of Operation Weserübung in April 1940, the capture of Narvik.
On the morning of April 9, as the ships approached Ofotfjord, Z-22 Anton Schmitt and Z-18 Hans Ludemann landed troops in the Ramnes area to locate and neutralize coastal artillery positions that the Germans mistakenly believed controlled the mouth of the fjord.
Z-17 "Dieter von Raeder" remained at sea to provide support if needed and serve as a guard ship in case the British attempted to interfere with the operation. Around 11:00 AM, the troops were ordered to return to the destroyers, which were headed for Narvik. "Anton Schmitt" performed patrol duty the following night and then entered Narvik harbor.
Shortly after dawn on April 10, five destroyers from the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla appeared and, taking advantage of the surprise, attacked the Germans. The British destroyer HMS Hunter hit the Z-22 Anton Schmitt with a 120mm shell, then a torpedo hit the engine room. A second torpedo, from the destroyer HMS Havoc, ripped the Z-22 in half, killing or wounding more than 50 crew members. The survivors joined other sailors ashore in a makeshift marine unit.
A small preliminary result
If we ignore the obvious miscalculations of the German commanders, who simply gave the enemy a chance to destroy their destroyers with minimal losses—and the British are not the kind of enemy that can be given such a chance—in general, it is clear that they have been working on their mistakes.
Of course, the entire Norwegian campaign cost the Kriegsmarine so many ships. Let's remember that the Kriegsmarine lost the heavy cruiser Blücher, the light cruisers Karlsruhe and Königsberg, 10 destroyers, the minelayer Brummer, eight submarines, a torpedo boat, 11 transports, and more than 10 smaller ships. Plus, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the heavy cruiser Lützow, the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, the light cruiser Emden, and the minelayer Bremse were sent for repairs at the end of the campaign.
In fact, it was precisely such large losses that forced the German General Staff (OKN) and Hitler personally to consider the advisability of conducting the landing operation "Sea Lion" against Great Britain.
The German navy was clearly unprepared for such a complex operation, both in terms of crew training and ship strength. If the landings in Britain had begun in the same way as the Norwegian landings, the Kriegsmarine would have been wiped out before the landing ships reached the British shore.
So, the effectiveness of the 1936-series destroyers can only be assessed by the last representative, which not only managed to survive in the Norwegian fjords, but also lived a rather long life.
Z-20 "Karl Galster"
Z-20 "Karl Galster" was named after Kapitänleutnant Karl Galster, who commanded the torpedo boat S22 and was killed in action on 21 March 1916.
The ship was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She was laid down at the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen under the yard number W922 on 14 September 1937, launched on 15 June 1938, and commissioned on 21 March 1939. In July, she visited Åndalsnes in Norway and the following month took part in torpedo training exercises.
Upgrades
In fact, Karl Galster was the only destroyer in the class to undergo improvements. The others simply faded into history too quickly.
In 1942, the ship was equipped with a FuMO 24/25 radar above the bridge, as well as two FuMO 63 Hohentwiel radars, one of which replaced the stern searchlight. That same year, a FuMB 1 Metox radar detector was installed, capable of detecting enemy radar emissions.
Details of the changes made to the destroyer's anti-aircraft armament are not well documented, but photographs indicate a quadruple 20mm Flakzwilling mount was added by early 1944. By the end of the war, the ship's amidships 20mm guns were replaced by a pair of 37mm Flak M42 guns in single mounts, and four twin 20mm mounts were added to the forward superstructure.
When World War II began in September, the Z-20 Karl Galster was initially deployed to the German Bight, where it laid defensive minefields. The ship then patrolled the Skagerrak Strait, inspecting neutral shipping for contraband.
On the night of 17-18 October, together with other destroyers, Karl Galster laid a minefield at the mouth of the Humber River, in which the British lost seven ships with a total displacement of 25,825 gross register tons.
The Karl Galster did not participate in the operations from November 8 to 9 and from November 10 to 11, as it was escorting the disabled Z-19 Hermann Künne, which had seawater enter its fuel tanks.
On the night of November 12–13, Z-20 Karl Galster, along with other ships, laid 288 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary, which sank the destroyer Blanche and thirteen merchant ships with a total displacement of 48,728 GRT. The ship spent the rest of the year patrolling the German Bight.
On the night of January 10–11, 1940, a small company of Z-21, Z-16, Z-20, and Z-22 conducted a minelaying raid in the Newcastle area. Only one fishing trawler, a 251-ton vessel, was destroyed in the minefield.
In February 1940, the Z-20 Karl Galster and Z-21 Wilhelm Heidkamp escorted the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, during their sortie on February 18. Upon their return, the Karl Galster underwent repairs, which lasted until May 27.
Following the catastrophic losses of its destroyers at the Battle of Narvik in April 1940, the Kriegsmarine reorganized its surviving destroyers, and Z-20 Karl Galster became the flagship of the new destroyer flotilla. In June, the ship was assigned to lead the escort group for Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Admiral Hipper during Operation Juno, a planned attack on Harstad, Norway, to relieve pressure on the German garrison in Narvik.
The ships set out to sea on June 8 and sank the troop transport Orama, the oil tanker Pioneer, and the minesweeper Juniper. The Karl Galster rescued the Orama's crew. Due to bad weather, German commander Admiral Wilhelm Marschall then ordered the Admiral Hipper and four destroyers to proceed to Trondheim, where they arrived on the morning of June 9. The Karl Galster remained there until it had to cover the damaged Gneisenau, which was returning to Kiel on July 25. After brief repairs, the ship helped lay minefields in the North Sea from August 14 to September 7.
The Karl Galster, now flagship of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, was sent to France on September 9 in preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Great Britain. The ship, based in Brest, helped lay a minefield in Falmouth Sound on the night of September 28–29. Five ships with a total tonnage of 2037 GRT were sunk in this minefield.
On October 17, aboard his flagship, Z-10 Hans Lodi, destroyer flotilla commander Erich Bey led the Z-20 Karl Galster and three other destroyers on a sortie to the Southwest Passages. The German force was intercepted by a British force consisting of two light cruisers and five destroyers. The British opened fire from extreme range but were unsuccessful, and were forced to disengage under the onslaught of torpedo salvos from German destroyers and attacks by Luftwaffe bombers, failing to hit any of the German ships.
On the night of November 24–25, Z-20 Karl Galster, Z-4 Richard Beitzen, and Z-10 Hans Lodi departed Brest for Land's End. En route, they encountered several fishing vessels southwest of Wolf Rock and opened fire on them, but without effect. The German ships then spotted a small convoy, and Karl Galster sank one of the three merchantmen and damaged another. The muzzle flash attracted the attention of five destroyers of the British 5th Destroyer Flotilla, but they were unable to intercept the German destroyers.
Three nights later, the German ships returned to the same area. They discovered two tugboats and a barge, but sank only one of the tugboats and the barge, with a total displacement of 424 GRT.
The next time the destroyer squadron managed to intercept the enemy was around 06:30 AM on November 29. The Germans opened fire first: each destroyer launched four torpedoes, of which only two, from the Z-10 Hans Lodi, hit their target—the British destroyer HMS Javelin. The torpedoes struck the ship's bow and stern, but the British managed to tow the crippled ship back to base.
Karl Galster returned home on 5 December for a major turbine overhaul at Wesermünde, which lasted until 9 June 1941.
The destroyer was then sent north.
The Karl Galster escorted the heavy cruiser Lützow from Kiel to Norway as it attempted to break the British blockade. Several British torpedo bombers attacked the Lützow and its escorting ships and succeeded in torpedoing the cruiser early in the morning of June 13, forcing it to return to Germany for repairs.
The Karl Galster was sent to Kirkenes, Norway, where she arrived on July 11 and joined the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. The ship participated in a combat sortie on July 12-13, during which she sank two small Soviet ships, expending 80% of her ammunition.
During another sortie on July 22, Karl Galster served as temporary flagship for Kapitän zur See Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs, commander of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, when his regular flagship, Z-10, developed condenser problems. The destroyers sank a small survey ship and shot down a flying boat, after which they were repeatedly and unsuccessfully attacked by Soviet aircraft, which nevertheless forced the German detachment to return on July 24.
On July 29, the British aircraft carriers Victorious and Furious attacked Petsamo and Kirkenes. German destroyers were far to the east and were unable to intercept the British ships before they left the area. The Z-20 Karl Galster was assigned to escort convoys between Tromsø and Kirkenes.
During one such mission, the British submarine Trident sank two troop-laden transports, the Bahia Laura and Donau II, despite the presence of destroyers. The Karl Galster rescued over 500 survivors from these two ships.
When the Hans Lodi required repairs in late September, Schulze-Hinrichs transferred his flag to the Karl Galster until engine problems developed. On November 23, the Karl Galster departed for Germany for repairs, which lasted until May 5, 1942.
Karl Galster, now the flagship of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla, departed for Trondheim on June 11. She was one of four destroyers assigned to escort the battleship Tirpitz during Operation Knight's Move, the attack on Convoy PQ-17 bound for Russia.
The ships departed Trondheim on July 2 to participate in the first phase of the operation, though the result was disgraceful: three destroyers, including the Karl Galster, assigned to the Tirpitz escort, ran aground in darkness and thick fog and were forced to return to port for urgent repairs. The Karl Galster suffered damage to its port turbine and a bent port propeller shaft. Escorted by two other destroyers, the Karl Galster departed for Kiel on July 12, running on one turbine.
The overhaul was completed by mid-November, but the ship was not deployed until December 8th. On that date, Karl Galster served as one of the escort ships for the heavy cruiser Lützow during her voyage to Norway. However, due to damage sustained during a storm, the destroyer was forced to dock in Trondheim for repairs, which lasted until January 9th, 1943. Due to a damaged boiler, the ship returned to the shipyard and remained there until February 27th.
On 11 March, Z-20 Karl Galster covered Tirpitz en route to Bogen Bay and then continued to Altafjord together with Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lützow.
Several weeks later, the Z-20 "Karl Galster," along with the destroyers Z-5 "Paul Jacobi" and Z-6 "Theodor Riedel," departed for Jan Mayen Island on March 31 to rendezvous with the blockade runner, the MV "Regensburg." They searched for several days until increasingly severe weather forced them to return to port with damage sustained in a storm. Unbeknownst to the Germans, the "Regensburg" had been intercepted and sunk by a British cruiser on March 30.
Later, Z-20 "Karl Galster" took part in the raid on Spitsbergen Island from 6 to 9 September, during which it landed troops on the island.
Two months later, the ship went to Bremen for major repairs.
Problems with the starboard turbine after repairs were completed in April 1944 led to the Karl Galster returning to the shipyard for further work. Around August, she began escorting convoys in southern Norway and helping lay minefields in the Skagerrak Strait. The ship continued these duties until she underwent a brief refit in Oslo, Norway, from December 20 to January 13, 1945.
The Karl Galster helped lay a minefield in the North Sea on March 8. It was then transferred to the Baltic and assigned to escort and patrol duties.
In May, the ship was tasked with evacuating civilians and troops trapped in Baltic ports by the advancing Soviet forces. The survivors were transported to Copenhagen, Denmark. When German forces in Denmark surrendered on May 5, the Karl Galster ferried the survivors to smaller ships outside the harbor to avoid surrender.
There, the ship received an open radio message from Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, asking "all who can hold out until dawn on the 8th." Dönitz chose the word "hold out" to conceal the fact that he wanted the ships to embark on a rescue operation. The German captains knew that "Curry" was the nickname of their former naval academy instructor, Admiral August Thiele, commander of Hel on the Hel Peninsula.
Thus, the ship's final mission took her back to the peninsula, which on May 8 was one of the few remaining stretches of coastline under German control. At 22:00 PM, two hours before the surrender took effect, Z-20, Z-14, Z-25, and two destroyers, T-23 and T-28, each took on board between 1200 and 2000 troops.
All German ships east of Bornholm were required to return to a Soviet-controlled port by midnight, but the Karl Galster, using its superior speed, managed to evade pursuing Soviet ships and headed for Flensburg. From there, the ship was sent to Kiel, where it surrendered to the British and was decommissioned on May 10.
Post-war activities
After Germany's surrender, the Karl Galster sailed to Wilhelmshaven while the Allies decided how to divide the surviving Kriegsmarine ships among themselves as war reparations. In late 1945, the ship was transferred to the Soviet Union and handed over to Soviet authorities on February 6, 1946.
On November 5, it was renamed Prochny and transferred to the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Prochny was converted into a training ship in 1950, and on November 28, 1954, it was reclassified as a floating barracks under the name PKZ-99. The ship was decommissioned in 1958.
Overall, the Project 1936 destroyers had a very short lifespan, preventing a full assessment of their effectiveness. As noted above, work had been done to develop the German destroyers themselves, and it had been done very effectively.
Kriegsmarine destroyers were absolutely on par with British, French, or American ships. The issue was purely one of crew training. The defeat of the naval phase of the Norwegian campaign was due solely to the crews' lack of preparation. While there were virtually no complaints about the sailors (except for gunners), the ships' commanders bore responsibility for the frankly poor performance of their crews.
The fact that the British commanders at the Battle of Narvik were more competent and capable of fully exploiting their ships' capabilities predetermined the outcome of the battle. However, this does not mean that the "1936"-class destroyers were clearly inferior to the British ones.
In fact, the German destroyers were more powerful than the British H-class ships. They were faster (38 knots versus 35), had more powerful guns (5 x 127 mm versus 4 x 120 mm), and the anti-aircraft guns on the German destroyers were also stronger.
The only areas in which British ships were superior to German ones were seaworthiness and range.
German shipbuilders had clearly made a significant leap forward compared to the previous "1934" series, but the problem wasn't that the Germans had to catch up with the British in shipbuilding, but that they couldn't catch up in crew training. The British were better prepared operationally and tactically, and so they were able to outmaneuver the Germans in the fjords of Narvik, thereby casting doubt on the possibility of a successful landing in Great Britain.
But here, Germany was unable to counter. The war was already underway, and training naval officers as in peacetime was impossible. And the ships were entirely innocent of this, especially since the "1936" series was followed by a modernized and improved series of destroyers.
And the knights of Narvik, alas, have become history.
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