Leberecht Maass (Z-1)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leberecht Maass (Z-1) was a Type 1934 destroyer in the German Kriegsmarine, named after Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass who commanded the German forces in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914. She was launched on 18 August 1935 at Deutsche Werke in Kiel and placed into service on 14 January 1937. The ship displaced 3,156 tons, had a length of 119.3 m and a beam of 11.3 m, and could steam at 38.2 knots. The armament comprised five 12.7 cm guns in single turrets, four 3.7 cm AA guns, six 2 cm AA guns, and eight 53.3 cm torpedo tubes. The crew numbered about 325.

On 3 September 1939, Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z9 Wolfgang Zenker took part in an attack on the Polish ships ORP Gryf and ORP Wicher in Gdynia harbour, and Leberecht Maass was hit in a gun shield and suffered her first four war deaths (the Germans ships caused only minor damage to Gryf). It is not clear if Leberecht Maass was hit by Gryf or the Polish 152 mm coastal battery at Hel.

In early 1940, the ship was part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in the North Sea. On 22 February 1940, Leberecht Maass and five other destroyers sailed for the Dogger Bank to intercept the British fishing vessels (Operation Wikinger). En route, the flotilla was erroneously attacked by a Luftwaffe bomber. Leberecht Maass was hit by one bomb, lost steering and strayed into a British minefield. The ship hit a mine and broke in half, sinking with the loss of 282 of her crew. Only 60 were saved. During the rescue effort, Z3 Max Schultz also hit a mine and sank with her entire crew.