Narvik class destroyer
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The Zerstörer 1936A class destroyers, or Narvik class destroyers as they were known to the Allies, were a class of German destroyers of the Second World War.
In terms of armament they were closer to light cruisers than the typical destroyer. The use of 5.9 inch (150 mm) guns was atypical of destroyers which tended to have guns around 4.7 to 5 inch (120 - 127 mm) in calibre. They were intended to carry their forward guns in a twin turret, but as the twin turrets were not ready in time they initially carried single mounted guns.
Despite being powerful the ships were not without their flaws. There were problems with the reliability of the high pressure steam engines and seakeeping in rough seas due to the newly designed bow and heavy forward artillery.
The eight ships of the Zerstörer 1936A class (Z23 to Z30) were all laid down between 1938 and 1940. The seven destroyers numbered from Z31 to Z39 were classed as Zerstörer 1936A (Mob); they were laid down in 1940 and 1941 and were slightly larger and had some internal modifications (including engines that caused less trouble than with their predecessors) from the original design to shorten construction times.
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[edit] Zerstörer 1936A Specifications
- Displacement
- Standard: 2,600 tons
- Maximum: 3,605 tons
- Length: 127 m
- Beam: 12 m
- Draught: 4.65 m
- Machinery: 2 shafts, geared turbines 6 boilers, 70,000 hp
- Speed: 37.5 knots
- Range: 2,150 miles at 19 knots
- Armament:
- Five 150 mm guns.
- Four 37 mm guns. (later 10)
- Eight 20 mm guns. (later 20)
- Eight 533 mm torpedo tubes.
- 60 mines.
- Four depth charge launchers.
[edit] Zerstörer 1936A (Mob) Specifications
- Displacement: 3,700 tons
- Length: 127 m
- Beam: 12 m
- Draught: 4.65 m
- Machinery: 2 shafts, geared turbines 6 boilers, 70,000 hp
- Speed: 37.5 knots
- Range: 2,240 miles at 19 knots
- Armament:
- Five 150 mm guns.
- Four 37 mm guns. (later 14)
- Twelve 20 mm guns. (later 18)
- Eight 533 mm torpedo tubes.
- 60 mines.
- Four depth charge launchers.
[edit] Ships
The class, including the 36A (Mob), consisted of 15 ships. All were built by Deschimag (Bremen) apart from Z37, Z38 and Z39 which were built by Germania (Kiel).
| Ship | Laid down | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z23 | 15 November 1938 | 15 September 1940 | Badly damaged by bomb hit on 12 August 1944 and decommissioned on 21 August. Taken over by France after the war and renamed as Leopard. Scrapped in 1951. |
| Z24 | 2 January 1939 | 26 October 1940 | Sunk on 25 August 1944 near Le Verdon by British bombers. |
| Z25 | 15 February 1939 | 30 November 1940 | Taken over by France after the war and renamed as Hoche. Scrapped in 1958. |
| Z26 | 1 April 1939 | 11 January 1940 | Sunk in battle by the British cruiser Trinidad and destroyer Eclipse on 29 March 1942 in Barents Sea while attacking Convoy PQ-13. |
| Z27 | 27 December 1939 | 26 February 1941 | Sunk in battle with British cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise on 28 December 1943 in Bay of Biscay. |
| Z28 | 30 October 1939 | 9 August 1941 | Sunk by British bombers on March 3, 1945 near Saßnitz in Baltic Sea. |
| Z29 | 21 March 1940 | 25 June 1941 | Taken over by Britain after the war and given to USA. Scuttled because of bad condition by United States Navy on 16 December 1946 near Jutland. |
| Z30 | 15 April 1940 | 15 November 1941 | Taken over by Norway after the war and given to Britain. Used as target ship and scrapped in 1949. |
| Z31 | 1 September 1940 | 11 April 1942 | Taken over by France after the war and renamed as Marceau. Scrapped in 1958. |
| Z32 | 1 November 1940 | 15 September 1942 | Damaged in battle with Canadian destroyers Haida and Huron on 9 June 1944 near Ile de Batz off Brittany and beached. Later destroyed by air attacks. |
| Z33 | 22 December 1940 | 6 February 1943 | Taken over by Soviet Union after the war and renamed as Provorniy. Scrapped in 1961. |
| Z34 | 15 January 1941 | 5 June 1943 | Taken over by USA after the war. Scuttled because of bad condition by United States Navy on 26 March 1946 near Jutland. |
| Z37 | 1940 | 16 July 1942 | Collided with destroyer Z32 on 1 January 1944 and badly damaged. Decommissioned on 24 August and scuttled the same day in Bordeaux. Scrapped in 1949 |
| Z38 | 1940 | 20 March 1943 | Taken over by Britain after the war and renamed as Nonsuch. Used as test ship and scrapped between 1949 and 1950. |
| Z39 | 1940 | 21 August 1943 | Taken over by Britain after the war and given to USA. Renamed as DD-939 and used for testing. Given to France in 1947 and used as spare part supply for other German vessels in service. Scrapped in 1964. |
[edit] Reference
M.H Whitley, Destroyers of World War 2, 1988 Cassell Publishing ISBN 1-85409-521-8
[edit] See also
German World War II destroyers
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|---|---|
| Battleships | Battlecruisers |
| Bismarck | Gneisenau |
| pre-dreadnought battleships | Aircraft carrier |
| Deutschland | Graf Zeppelin |
| Light cruisers | Heavy cruisers |
| Emden | K | Leipzig | Deutschland | Admiral Hipper |
| Destroyers | |
| Type: 1934 | 1934A | 1936 | 1936A / 1936A (Mob) / Narvik | 1936B | |
| Torpedo boats | |
| Type: 1923 (Raubvogel) | 1924 {Raubtier) | 1935 | 1937 | 1939 (Elbing) | |
| U-boats (submarines) | |
| Type: I | II | VII | IX | X | XIV | XXI | XXII | XXIII | |
| Other | |
| Auxiliary cruisers | |
