The Zerstörer 1936A-class destroyers, or Narvik-class destroyers as they were known to the Allies, were a class of German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s of the Second World War. In common with other German destroyers launched after the start of World War II, the Narviks were unnamed, known only by their hull numbers - Z23 to Z39.

Design

In terms of armament, they were closer to light cruisers than the typical destroyer. The use of 15 cm (5.9 inch) guns was atypical of destroyers which tended to have guns around 120 - 127 mm (4.7 to 5 inch) in calibre. They were intended to carry two forward guns in a twin turret, but as the twin turrets were not ready in time, early class 1936As carried a single mounted gun forward.

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.

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

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for the Kaiserliche Marine in World War I and the Kriegsmarine in World War II.-History:The company was founded in 1867 by Lloyd Foster, as...

 (Kiel).

1936A

Ship	Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Z23 German destroyer Z23 Z23 was a built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s.-External links:*...	15 November 1938	15 September 1940	Badly damaged by bomb hit on 12 August 1944 and decommissioned on 21 August. Taken by France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...  after the war and renamed Leopard. Scrapped in 1951.
Z24 German destroyer Z24 Z24 was a built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s.-External links:*...	2 January 1939	26 October 1940	Sunk on 25 August 1944 near Le Verdon by British Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...  bombers.
Z25 German destroyer Z25 Z25 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...	15 February 1939	30 November 1940	Taken by France after the war and renamed Hoche. Scrapped in 1958.
Z26 German destroyer Z26 Z26 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...	1 April 1939	11 January 1941	Sunk in battle by the British cruiser Trinidad HMS Trinidad (C46) HMS Trinidad was a Royal Navy Crown Colony-class cruiser . She was lost while serving in the Arctic on convoy duty after being damaged escorting PQ-13 in 1942.-Early career:... and destroyer Eclipse HMS Eclipse (H08) HMS Eclipse was an E class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean theatres during World War II, until sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea on 24 October 1943.-Service history:... on 29 March 1942 in Barents Sea Barents Sea The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...  while attacking Convoy PQ-13 Convoy PQ-13 PQ-13 was a British Arctic convoy which delivered war supplies from the Western Allies to the USSR during World War II. The convoy was subject to attack by German air, U-boat and surface forces and suffered the loss of five ships, plus one escort vessel... .
Z27 German destroyer Z27 Z27 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...	27 December 1939	26 February 1941	Sunk in battle Operation Stonewall Operation Stonewall was a World War II operation to intercept blockade runners off the west coast of France. It was an effective example of inter-service and inter-national co-operation.-Background:...  with British cruisers Glasgow HMS Glasgow (C21) The seventh HMS Glasgow , built on the Clyde, was a Southampton-class light cruiser, a sub-class of the Town-class and commissioned in September 1937. She displaced 11,930 tons and had a top speed of 32 knots . She was part of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet; she escorted the...  and Enterprise HMS Enterprise (D52) HMS Enterprise was one of two Emerald-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd., with the keel being laid down on 28 June 1918. She was launched on 23 December 1919, and commissioned 7 April 1926...  on 28 December 1943 in Bay of Biscay Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish... .
Z28 German destroyer Z28 Z28 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...	30 October 1939	9 August 1941	Sunk by British bombers on 3 March 1945 near Saßnitz in Baltic Sea Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and... .
Z29 German destroyer Z29 Z29 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...	21 March 1940	25 June 1941	Taken by Britain after the war and given to USA. Scuttled because of her poor condition by US Navy on 16 December 1946 near Jutland Jutland Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German... .
Z30 German destroyer Z30 Z30 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...	15 April 1940	15 November 1941	Taken by Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...  after the war and given to Britain. Used as target ship and scrapped in 1949.

1936A (Mob)

Ship	Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Z31	1 September 1940	11 April 1942	Taken by France after the war and renamed Marceau. Scrapped in 1958.
Z32	1 November 1940	15 September 1942	Damaged in battle with Canadian destroyers Haida and Huron HMCS Huron (G24) HMCS Huron G24/216 was a Tribal class destroyer built by Vickers-Armstrongs on the River Tyne in England, and served in the Royal Canadian Navy. It was the first ship to bear this name...  on 9 June 1944 near Ile de Batz Île de Batz The Île de Batz is an island off Roscoff in Brittany, France. Administratively, it is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:...  off Brittany Brittany Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...  and beached Grounding Grounding or grounded may refer to:* Ground * Grounding , about the collapse of the airline Swissair* Grounding , restrictions placed on movement or privileges... . Later destroyed by air attacks.
Z33 German destroyer Z33 Z33 was a German that saw service during World War II. She was commissioned in the Kriegsmarine in February 1943 and served in Norwegian waters until March 1945. She was decommissioned from the Kriegsmarine in late April 1945 but was handed over to the Soviet Union in December that year...	22 December 1940	6 February 1943	Taken by Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....  after the war and renamed Provorniy (Проворный). Sunk as target ship in 1961.
Z34	15 January 1941	5 June 1943	Taken by USA after the war. Scuttled because of her poor condition by US Navy on 26 March 1946 near Jutland Jutland Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German... .
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 Bordeaux Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture... . Scrapped in 1949
Z38	1940	20 March 1943	Taken by Britain after the war and renamed Nonsuch. Used as test ship and scrapped between 1949 and 1950.
Z39	1940	21 August 1943	Taken by Britain after the war and given to USA. Renamed 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.

External links