After being rearmed in late 1942, Z24 was transferred to France, where she spent 1943 escorting
Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, she was one of the few remaining destroyers in French waters and was badly damaged during the Battle of Ushant several days later. After repairs had been completed in early August, the ship was damaged by Allied fighter-bombers
in mid-August. Another attack later in the month by fighter-bombers sank Z24.
Design and description
Wartime Allied recognition manual drawing of the Type 36A destroyer
The Type 1936A destroyers were slightly larger than the preceding Type 1936
kW; 69,000 shp) using steam provided by six Wagner water-tube boilers for a designed speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Z24 carried a maximum of 791 metric tons (779 long tons) of fuel oil which gave a range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Her crew consisted of 11 officers and 321 sailors.[1]
The ship carried four
2-centimeter (0.8 in) C/30 guns in single mounts. Z24 carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21 in) torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts.[1] Two reloads were provided for each mount. She had four depth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines. 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passive hydrophones were fitted to detect submarines and an S-Gerätsonar was also probably fitted. The ship was equipped with a FuMO 21 radar set above the bridge.[1][2]
Modifications
Z24's single forward 15 cm gun was exchanged for a 15 cm LC/38 twin-
Atlantic. Several Bristol Beaufort aircraft spotted Lützow and her escorts off the Norwegian coast and one managed to surprise them and torpedo the cruiser early on the morning of 13 June, forcing her to return to Germany for repairs. Z24 was transferred to Brest on the 16th, together with her sister Z23, and they helped to escort the battleship Scharnhorst through the Bay of Biscay on 20–24 July and covered the passage of the merchant raiderOrion through the bay on 21–28 August. They were ordered to northern Norway on 23 October.[4]
After they were completed, the ship escorted the heavy cruiser
freighter SS Empire Ranger then sank the straggling 4,687-gross register ton (GRT) freighter SS Bateau. They rescued 7 survivors before resuming the search for the convoy. The light cruiser HMS Trinidad, escorted by the destroyer HMS Fury, spotted the German ships with her radar at 08:49 on the 29th and was spotted herself around the same time. Both sides opened fire at the point-blank range of 3,200 yards (2,900 m) in a snowstorm. Trinidad engaged the leading German destroyer, Z26, badly damaging her, and then switched to Z25 without making any hits. Between them the destroyers fired 19 torpedoes at the cruiser, all of which missed after Trinidad turned away, and hit her twice with their 15 cm guns, inflicting only minor damage. The British ships maneuvered to avoid torpedoes, which forced them to disengage, and Z26 accidentally became separated from her sisters. Trinidad and Fury pursued Z26 and further damaged her before Trinidad was crippled by one of her own torpedoes.[6]
The destroyer
listing to port with her stern awash. Eclipse was maneuvering to give the German destroyer the coup de grâce with a torpedo when the snowstorm ended and visibility increased, revealing Z24 and Z25 approaching. They promptly opened fire at Eclipse, hitting her twice and wounding nine men, before she could find cover in a squall at 10:35. The German ships did not purse Eclipse, preferring to heave to and take off 88 survivors from Z26.[7]
The two destroyers, now reinforced by Z7 Hermann Schoemann and assigned to Zerstörergruppe Arktis (Destroyer Group Arctic), commanded by
freighter, SS Tsiolkovsky, with torpedoes from Z24 and Z25, and badly damage the escort destroyerAmazon with gunfire. The British ships did not make any hits on the German destroyers.[9]
Later that day, Edinburgh's original escort of two destroyers was augmented by four British minesweepers and a small Russian tugboat. The cruiser was steaming under her own power at a speed of about 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) by the morning of 2 May with steering provided by the tugboat. She was spotted by the Germans and Z7 Hermann Schoemann exchanged fire with the minesweeper Harrier at about 06:27. Edinburgh then cast off her tow and increased speed to her maximum of about 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph), steering in a circle. Z7 Hermann Schoemann maneuvered at 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) to obtain a good position from which to fire torpedoes once the range closed to 2,800 meters (3,100 yd). At 06:36, the cruiser opened fire, with the first salvo only missing by about 100 meters (110 yd). The destroyer immediately turned away, increased speed to 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), and started making smoke, but to no avail as the second salvo set her on fire and severed the main steam line, which disabled the engines. Z25 initially engaged the destroyer Forester, hitting her three times at about 06:50, which disabled two guns and knocked out her power with a hit in her forward boiler room. Her sister Foresight passed in front of Forester a few minutes later to draw the attention of Z24 and Z25, which succeeded all too well as she was hit four times by 07:24, disabling the engines and leaving her with only a single gun operable. In the meantime, the cruiser had been hit once more by a torpedo at 07:02, although it only knocked out her engines and gave her a list to port. Rather than sink any of the three disabled British ships or the lightly armed minesweepers, Z24 and Z25 concentrated on rescuing the crew of the drifting Z7 Hermann Schoemann despite occasional British shells. The former made multiple attempts to come alongside to take off about 210 survivors while the latter laid a smoke screen. Z7 Hermann Schoemann was then scuttled using her own depth charges. Z24 was unscathed during the battle, but Z25 was hit once.[10]
The ship took part in the preliminaries of Operation Rösselsprung, an attempt to intercept Convoy PQ 17 in early July. Lützow and her sister Admiral Scheer formed one group in Narvik with Z24 and four of her sisters while Admiral Hipper and the battleshipTirpitz composed another. While en route to the rendezvous at the Altafjord, Lützow and three destroyers of Tirpitz's escort ran aground, forcing the entire group to abandon the operation. On 12 July Z24 escorted one of the damaged destroyers to Kiel and then began a lengthy refit at Wesermünde that lasted until January 1943.[11]
Operations in France
On 5 March 1943, the 8. Zerstörerflottile (Z23, Z24,
Straits of Dover unscathed, but Z37 ran aground at Le Havre en route. The flotilla provided distant cover for an attempt by the Italian blockade runner Himalaya to sail for the Far East on 28 March, but the ship had to return to Bordeaux after it was spotted by a British reconnaissance aircraft. Two days later, the flotilla escorted the Italian blockade runner Pietro Orseolo through the Bay of Biscay despite the ship being torpedoed by an American submarine and under heavy attack by Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bombers and Beaufort torpedo bombers; the German destroyers shot down five of the attacking aircraft. Himalaya made another attempt to break out on 9 April, but the ships were spotted by a Short Sunderlandflying boat. After reversing course, they were attacked by Vickers Wellington bombers and Handley Page Hampden torpedo bombers. Five of the attackers were shot down. On 14 June Z24 and Z32 sortied into the Bay of Biscay to take off the survivors of the sunken German submarine U-564 which had been rescued by U-185. The flotilla escorted submarines through the bay for the rest of the summer. On 24–26 December, the ship was one of the escorts for the 6,951 GRT blockade runner MV Osorno through the Bay of Biscay.[12]
Another blockade runner, the 2,729 GRT
No. 311 Squadron RAF sank Alsterufer later that afternoon. At about midday on 28 December, the British cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise, on patrol in the Bay of Biscay to intercept blockade runners, intercepted the German destroyers and torpedo boats, resulting in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay. Heavy seas prevented the German force from using its theoretical advantage in speed and firepower, with the destroyer Z27 and the torpedo boats T25 and T27 sunk. Z24 was neither engaged by the British cruisers nor fired its weapons and suffered engine problems during the battle.[13]
The ship began a refit at
amidships quadruple 2 cm gun mounts. Two Canadian destroyers pursued Z24 and T24 until the German ships passed over a minefield and they reached Brest later in that evening.[14]
The ship was under repair at Bordeaux from 13 July to 5 August, but was attacked by Allied fighter-bombers on the 14th off
capsized and sank. Her crew was incorporated into the defender of Festung Gironde (Fortress Gironde) that held out until the surrender of Germany in May 1945.[15]
^Koop & Schmolke, p. 105; Rohwer, p. 347; Whitley, pp. 162–63
References
Admiralty Historical Section (2007). The Royal Navy and the Arctic Convoys. Naval Staff Histories. Abingdon, UK: Whitehall History in association with Routledge.
Nazi Germany
French Navy
Soviet Navy
Royal Navy
United States Navy
