The Type 1934 Destroyer was the first German destroyer class built since World War I, laid down between October 1934 and January 1935. They were not very good ships. Built rapidly, they were too wet in heavy seas, which could make their forward guns unusable, there were structural weaknesses and machinery problems. The engines were newly designed high pressure turbines that promised much but disappointed once installed: maintenance was difficult and they caused excessive vibration. In addition, the class' range was limited (less than half of equivalent British ships) and they had limited magazine capacities (again half of the British equivalents). Only one ship survived the war. The ships were named after German navy personnel killed in World War I.
Specifications[]
- Type: Destroyer
- Service Period: 1937-1947
- Characteristics:
- Length: 390 feet 5 inches (119 meters)
- Beam: 37 feet 1 inch (11.3 meters)
- Draft: 13 feet 11 inches (4.24 meters)
- Displacement: 3,534 tons (Full Load)
- Crew: 325
- Propulsion: 2 × Wagner geared turbines, 2 x shafts, 70,000 shp
- Range: 1,900 nautical miles (3,520 kilometers) at 19 knots (35.19 km/h)
- Speed: 36 knots (66.67 km/h)
- Armament:
- 5 x 5"/45-caliber SK C/34 dual purpose naval guns
- 4 x 37mm/L83 SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns
- 6 x 20mm/L65 C/38 anti-aircraft guns
- 8 x 21" torpedo tubes
- 60 x mines
Unit Run[]
- KMS Z1 Leberecht Maass
- KMS Z2 Georg Thiele
- KMS Z3 Max Schultz
- KMS Z4 Richard Beitzen