Type 1934 destroyers

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Class overview
NameType 1934 destroyer
BuildersDeutsche Werke
Operators Kriegsmarine
Succeeded by
Type 1934A destroyer
Cost54,749,000 marks
Built1934–1937
In service1937–1947
Completed4
Lost3
Scrapped1
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
  • 2,223 long tons (2,259 t) (
    Standard load
    )
  • 3,156 long tons (3,207 t) (
    Full load
    )
Length
  • 114 m (374 ft) (
    p.p.
    )
  • 116.25 m (381 ft 5 in) (at waterline)
  • 119 m (390 ft 5 in) (overall)
Beam11.31 m (37 ft 1 in)
Draft4.23 m (13 ft 11 in) (
full load
)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts, 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range1,530 nmi (2,830 km; 1,760 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried
Complement10 officers, 315 enlisted
Armament

The Type 1934 destroyers, also known as the Z1 class or Leberecht Maass class after the lead ship, were a group of four destroyers built for the German Navy (initially called the Reichsmarine and then renamed the Kriegsmarine in 1935) during the mid-1930s, shortly before the beginning of World War II. The ships were engaged in training for most of the period between their commissioning and the outbreak of war, although they did participate in the occupation of Memel in Lithuania, in early 1939. Z3 Max Schultz collided with and sank a German torpedo boat shortly before the war began on 1 September 1939. All four ships were named after German officers who had been killed in World War I.[1]

minefields in the German Bight before they began patrolling the Skagerrak to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods. Z3 Max Schultz joined them in early October. Z4 Richard Beitzen laid multiple minefields off the British coast in late 1939 and early 1940; she was joined by Max Schultz during one mission off Harwich
in 1940.

In February 1940, while en route to attack British fishing boats as part of Operation Wikinger, Z1 Leberecht Maass, Z3 Max Schultz and Z4 Richard Beitzen were accidentally attacked by a Luftwaffe bomber. Z1 Leberecht Maass was struck by one bomb and sank with the loss of most of her crew. While attempting to assist her sister, Z3 Max Schultz struck a mine and sank with the loss of all hands.

Z2 Georg Thiele helped transfer troops to seize Narvik during the invasion of Norway in April and participated in both Battles of Narvik. She was forced to beach herself after she was severely damaged by British destroyers during the second battle. Z4 Richard Beitzen was the only one of the four sisters to survive the war despite several engagements with British destroyers in the English Channel in 1941 and her participation in the Battle of the Barents Sea in late 1942. She spent most of the rest of the war escorting convoys to and from Norway before the end of the war in 1945. Richard Beitzen was turned over to the Royal Navy and scrapped four years later.

Background

Design work on the Type 34-class destroyers began in 1932, despite the 800-long-ton (810 t) limit imposed by the

bow compromised the ships' seakeeping ability[2] and their stability was inadequate.[4] The only real innovative part of the design, the high-pressure boilers, were an over-complicated design that received almost no shipboard testing before being installed in the Type 34s and frequently broke down throughout the life of the ships.[5] By the time the ships were complete, Germany had already signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement which essentially overturned the naval clauses of the Versailles Treaty and rendered their displacement legal.[6]

General characteristics

Right profile and plan drawings of the Type 34

The Type 1934 destroyers were 114 metres (374 ft) long

double bottom over 48% of the ships' length.[8] Active stabilizers were fitted to reduce roll. They had a complement of 10 officers and 315 enlisted men, plus an additional 4 officers and 19 enlisted men if serving as a flotilla flagship, and carried two motor pinnaces and a torpedo cutter.[4]

The Type 1934-class destroyers were propelled by a pair of Wagner geared

turbogenerators, one in each engine room, and three diesel generators, two of 60 kW (80 hp) and one of 30 kW (40 hp),[9] in a compartment between the two rear boiler rooms.[8]

The ships were armed with five

marks.[4]

The Type 34s were equipped with a C/34Z analog

abaft the rear funnel and the other just behind the director. It transmitted the bearing and elevation data to the gun crews and then fired the guns simultaneously. A 1.25-meter (4 ft 1 in) rangefinder provided data to the 3.7 cm AA guns while the 2 cm guns used a hand-held 0.7-meter (2 ft 4 in) rangefinder.[14][15]

Modifications

After the trials, several changes were made. A staukeil, a short

amidships hull plates to prevent cracking.[17] The staukeils were removed in 1940–1942. Around 1938–1939 the four ships had their bows rebuilt with more sheer and a retractable bow spar was installed, which increased their length to 114.4 m (375 ft) between perpendiculars and 119.3 m (391 ft) overall,[16] and the stabilizers were replaced by bilge keels. In addition the upper bridge with its rounded front face was rebuilt into a more squared off shape to increase the space available. To reduce topweight, Richard Beitzen had her funnels reduced in height in 1942.[18]

An active

search radar and later a FuMO 63 K Hohentwiel radar.[14]

Ships

List of Type 1934 destroyers
Ship Builder[4] Ordered[7]
Laid down[7]
 Launched[16] Commissioned[16] Fate[16]
Z1 Leberecht Maass Deutsche Werke, Kiel 7 April 1934 10 November 1934 18 August 1935 14 January 1937 Sunk by German bombs, 22 February 1940
Z2 Georg Thiele 25 November 1934 27 February 1937 Beached and destroyed during the Battles of Narvik, 13 April 1940
Z3 Max Schultz 2 January 1935 30 November 1935 8 April 1937 Sunk by mines, 22 February 1940
Z4 Richard Beitzen 7 January 1935 13 May 1937 Surrendered to the British, 14 May 1945; broken up, 1949

Service history

Z1 Leberecht Maass

On 3 September 1939, Z1 Leberecht Maass and her fellow destroyer

minefield.[21]

Z2 Georg Thiele

When

capsized.[27]

Z3 Max Schultz

On 27 August 1939, just days before the outbreak of World War II, Z3 Max Schultz accidentally collided with and sank the

magnetic mines in the Shipwash area, off Harwich, on 9/10 February 1940.[30] On 22 February, she took part in Operation Wikinger and attempted to go to the assistance of the disabled Leberecht Maass. In the process she hit a mine and sank with the loss of her entire crew.[21]

Z4 Richard Beitzen

When World War II began in September 1939, Z4 Richard Beitzen was initially deployed in the western Baltic to enforce a blockade of Poland,

Norwegian Campaign of early 1940 and was transferred to France later that year where she made several attacks on British shipping.[31][35]

The ship returned to Germany in early 1941 for a refit and was transferred to Norway in June 1941 as part of the preparations for

North Cape, Norway.[31][36]

Z4 Richard Beitzen spent much of 1943 escorting ships to and from Norway until she ran aground in November. Badly damaged, repairs lasted until August 1944, when she returned to Norway and resumed her former duties. The ship had another grounding incident in November and was under repair until February 1945. While escorting a convoy in April she was badly damaged by aircraft, and was still under repair when the war ended on 9 May. Z4 Richard Beitzen was eventually allocated to the British when the surviving German warships were divided between the Allies after the war. They made no use of the ship before scrapping her in 1949.[37][38]

Notes

  1. ^ Funkmess-Ortung (Radio-direction finder, active ranging)

Citations

  1. ^ Koop & Schmolke 2003, pp. 77–80.
  2. ^ a b Koop & Schmolke 2003, pp. 13–14.
  3. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz 1993, pp. 193–94.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Gröner 1990, p. 199.
  5. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 22–24.
  6. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz 1993, p. 194.
  7. ^ a b c d Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 26.
  8. ^ a b c Whitley 1991, p. 18.
  9. ^ Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 44.
  10. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 68.
  11. ^ Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 23.
  12. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 215.
  13. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 71–72.
  14. ^ a b Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 40.
  15. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 68, 71.
  16. ^ a b c d e Gröner 1990, p. 200.
  17. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 20.
  18. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 17, 20, 73.
  19. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 72–75.
  20. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 83–85.
  21. ^ a b Whitley 1991, pp. 93–94.
  22. ^ Rohwer 2005, p. 2.
  23. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 96.
  24. ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 339–43.
  25. ^ Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 59.
  26. ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 362, 366–68.
  27. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 103.
  28. ^ a b Whitley 1991, p. 82.
  29. ^ Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 79.
  30. ^ a b Hervieux 1980, pp. 113–14.
  31. ^ a b c Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 80.
  32. ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 52, 75.
  33. ^ Whitley 1991, p. 91.
  34. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 92–94.
  35. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 110–14.
  36. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 117–20, 124–27, 142–43.
  37. ^ Koop & Schmolke 2003, p. 81.
  38. ^ Whitley 1991, pp. 166–68, 171–72, 191–93.

References

Further reading
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