4 × depth charge throwers and 6 × individual racks for 32–64 depth charges
Z11 Bernd von Arnim was a
scuttled
after she exhausted her ammunition.
Design and description
Bernd von Arnim had an
ballast low in the ship.[2] The effective range proved to be only 1,530 nmi (2,830 km; 1,760 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[3]
Bernd von Arnim carried five
2 cm C/30 guns in single mounts. The ship carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. A pair of reload torpedoes were provided for each mount.[1][4] Four depth charge throwers were mounted on the sides of the rear deckhouse and they were supplemented by six racks for individual depth charges on the sides of the stern. Enough depth charges were carried for either two or four patterns of 16 charges each.[5] Mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines.[1] 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passive hydrophones were fitted to detect submarines.[6]
Career
The ship was ordered on 4 August 1934 and
Gross Register Tons (GRT) were sunk by this minefield.[12] Four days later, she was one of the destroyers escorting the battleshipsGneisenau and Scharnhorst through the North Sea to break out into the North Atlantic.[8] Together with her sisters Hans Lody and Erich Giese, Bernd von Arnim was to lay a minefield off Cromer during the night of 6/7 December, but she had trouble with two of her boilers and had to shut them down. The ship was ordered to return to port while the other two destroyers continued their mission.[13]
Bernd von Arnim was allocated to Group 1 for the Norwegian portion of
Curt Rechel, captain of von Arnim, turned his ship to the north-east, closer to the heavy cruiserAdmiral Hipper. The ships exchanged fire without effect for an hour until Hipper came within range and sank Glowworm shortly afterward.[15]
The German destroyers reached the
capsized and sank. None of the Norwegian shells hit either of the two German destroyers due to the darkness and falling snow, despite the short range. Von Arnim lowered boats to rescue the surviving Norwegian sailors and was able to pick up 96 men together with boats from the merchantmen in harbor.[17]
Von Arnim and Thiele were the first to refuel from the single tanker that had made it safely to Narvik[18] and later moved to the Ballangenfjord, a southern arm of the Ofotfjord, closer to the entrance.[19] Shortly before dawn on 10 April, the five destroyers of the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla surprised the five German destroyers in Narvik harbor. They torpedoed two destroyers and badly damaged the other three while suffering only minor damage themselves. As they were beginning to withdraw they encountered the three destroyers of the 4th Flotilla which had been alerted in the Herjansfjord when the British began their attack. The Germans opened fire first, but the gunnery for both sides was not effective due to the mist and the smoke screen laid by the British as they retreated down the Ofotfjord. The German ships had to turn away to avoid a salvo of three torpedoes fired by one of the destroyers in Narvik, but von Arnim and Thiele had also been alerted and were coming up to engage the British.[20]
The two German destroyers
beach herself lest she sink, and the German ships switched their fire to HMS Havock, the next ship in line. Their fire was relatively ineffective and both sides fired torpedoes without scoring any hits. Havock pulled out and dropped to the rear to fight off any pursuit by the ships of the 4th Flotilla. This placed HMS Hunter in the lead and she was quickly set on fire by the German ships. Thiele probably also hit her with a torpedo and she was rammed from behind by HMS Hotspur when the latter ship lost steering control. Hotspur was able to disengage, but Hunter capsized shortly afterward. The three remaining British ships were able to escape from the Germans under the cover of a smoke screen.[21]Von Arnim had been hit by five British shells, which had knocked out one boiler. This was repaired by the morning of 13 April and she received six torpedoes from the badly damaged destroyers.[22]
Hervieux, Pierre (1980). "German Destroyer Minelaying Operations Off the English Coast (1940–1941)". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship. Vol. IV. Greenwich, England: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 110–116.