Type 1934-class destroyer

The Type 1934-class destroyers were a class of German destroyers, built shortly before the World War II. The class was made up of four ships: Z1 Leberecht Maass, Z2 Georg Thiele, Z3 Max Schultz, and Z4 Richard Beitzen. All four ships were ordered on 7 April 1934. The first two, Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z2 Georg Thiele, were laid down in 1934, the other two, Z3 Max Schultz and Z4 Richard Beitzen, were laid down in 1935. All four ships were launched in 1935, and commissioned in 1937.

Z1 Leberecht Maass took part in attacks against Polish ships during the Invasion of Poland, and later helped lay minefields in the North Sea. She was sunk while attacking British fishing vessels, losing 280 of her crew. Z2 Georg Thiele took part in blockading Poland, and minelaying in the German Bight. She helped transfer troops to seize Narvik during Operation Weserübung. She was forced to beach herself after destroyers of the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla attacked her. Z3 Max Schultz patrolled the Skagerrak and laid mines off of Harwich. She was sunk alongside Z1 Leberecht Maass, losing all her crew. Z4 Richard Beitzen helped blockade Poland, and patrolled the Skagerrak. She later laid mines off the British coast. She was captured on 14 May 1945 by the British Navy.

General characteristics
The Type 1934-class destroyers were 114 m long between perpendiculars, 116.25 m at waterline, and 119 m long overall. They had a breadth of 11.31 m, a depth of 6.4 m, and a draught of 3.82 m at design load, and 4.23 m at full load. They had a metacentric height of 0.79 m at full load, and 0.6 m at half load. They displaced 2,223 t at standard load, 2,619 t at design load, and 3,156 t at full load. They had a complement of 10 officers and 315 enlisted men. They carried two motor pinnaces and a torpedo cutter.

The Type 1934-class destroyers were armed with five 12.7 cm naval guns in single mounts with gun shields, two each superimposed, fore and aft. The fifth gun was carried on top of the aft superstructure. They carried 600 rounds of ammunition for these guns, which had a maximum range of 17.4 km, and could be raised to 30° and depressed to -10°. Their anti-aircraft armament was made up of four 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns, with 8,000 rounds of ammunition, and six 2 cm anti-aircraft guns, with 12,000 rounds of ammunition. They also had eight 53.3 cm torpedo tubes in two quadruple mounts, with 16 rounds of ammunition. They had four depth charge launchers mounted on the sides of their rear deckhouse, which was supplemented by six racks for individual depth charges on the sides of the stern, with either 32 or 64 charges carried. Mine rails were fitted on the rear deck, with a maximum capacity of 60 mines. They carried a system of passive hydrophones, designated as 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät), to allow them to detect submarines.

The Type 1934-class destroyers were propelled by six Wagner boilers feeding high-pressure superheated steam (at 70 atm and 450 C) to two sets of Wagner geared steam turbines. They had two 3-bladed propellers, which were 3.25 m in diameter, which had 427 revolutions per minute at design speed, and 350 rpms at full speed. They had three electricity plants, which had two 200 kW turbo-generators and two 60 kW and 30 kW diesel generators. This gave a total output of 70,000 shp, and a weight of 13.8 kg/shp. They had a maximum speed of 38.7 kn and a design speed of 36 kn. They carried 715 t of fuel, giving them a range of 1,825 nmi at their cruising speed of 19 kn.

Modifications
After the trials, several changes were made. The four ships were given a retractable bow spar in 1938–1939, which changed their lengths, from 114 m to 114.4 m between perpendiculars, and 119 m to 119.3 m overall. All four ships were initially fitted with a staukeil, a short keel that had a shallow wedge shaped cross section, under their transoms, in order to improve their turning circles. These were removed in 1940–1942. Although they initially all had forecastle sheer strakes on each side, in 1938 this was changed to a narrow spray deflector on their undersides, between their forwardmost 12.7 cm gun, and their anchor hawse. During this time, their sterns were also changed, being raised by 0.5 m and extended by 0.3 m. Between 1937 and 1938, Z2 Georg Thiele's spray deflector was wider on its foreship, but after this it was the same as the other three ships of its class. The four ships had their original upper bridge with a half-round front face removed in 1938, which was replaced with a new bridge, which was vaguely pentagonal in shape. In mid-1941, Z4 Richard Beitzen was fitted with a FuMO 24/25 and a FuMO 63 Hohentwiel.

Construction
The ships of the Type 1934-class had their longitudinal frame and stringer built with Steel 51, but much of their superstructure, along with their sixteen watertight compartments, and 47% of their double bottom was made with a lighter alloy. The four ships, Z1 Leberecht Maass, Z2 Georg Thiele, Z3 Max Schultz, Z4 Richard Beitzen, were built for a total cost of 54,749,000 marks. All four ships were ordered on 7 April 1934, from Deutsche Werke. Two ships, Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z2 Georg Thiele, were laid down in 1934, on 10 November and 25 November, respectively. The other two, Z3 Max Schultz and Z4 Richard Beitzen, were laid down in 1935, on 2 January and 7 January, respectively. All of the ships were laid down in Kiel, with yard numbers #242–245. All four of the ships were launched down in 1935, on 18 August for Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z2 Georg Thiele, and 30 November for Z3 Max Schultz and Z4 Richard Beitzen. All four ships were commissioned in 1937, on 14 January, 27 February, 8 April, and 13 May, respectively.

Z1 Leberecht Maass
On 3 September 1939, Leberecht Maass and GERMAN DESTROYER Z9 Wolfgang Zenker took part in an attack against the Polish destroyer ORP Wicher and minelayer ORP Gryf in Gdynia harbour. During this battle, she was damaged and sailed to Swinemünde to get repaired. After this, she helped to lay defensive minefields in the North Sea. On 22 February 1940, she was erroneously attacked by a Heinkel He 111 bomber. She was hit by at least one bomb, and broke in half, sinking with the loss of 280 of her crew. The Kriegsmarine had failed to notify its destroyers that the Luftwaffe was making anti-shipping patrols at that time and had also failed to inform the Luftwaffe that its destroyers would be at sea.

Z2 Georg Thiele
When World War II began, Georg Thiele was initially deployed in the Baltic to operate against the Polish Navy and to enforce a blockade of Poland, but she was soon transferred to the German Bight where she joined her sisters in laying defensive minefields. She helped to transport troops to Narvik during Operation Weserübung in April 1940. On 10 April, five British destroyers, of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, surprised them. She and her fellow German destroyers managed to sink two destroyers and damage the other three. As they began to withdraw they encountered three destroyers of the 4th Flotilla. She was hit seven times, which knocked out her forward gun and her fire-control equipment, and flooded one of her magazines. On 13 April, she was attacked by the battleship HMS Warspite (03) and nine destroyers, and was damaged severely that her captain ordered the crew to run her aground, to allow her crew to abandon ship safely. She later broke in two and capsized.

Z3 Max Schultz
Days before the outbreak of World War II, on 27 August 1939, Max Schultz accidentally collided with and sank the torpedo boat Tiger near Bornholm. She was towed to Swinemünde for repairs. She was under repair until late September and thus did not participate in the Polish Campaign. She patrolled the Skagerrak to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods during October. She and her fellow German destroyers laid 110 magnetic mines in the Shipwash area, off Harwich, on 9/10 February 1940. On 22 February, Max Schultz took part in "Operation Wikinger". During the operation, Max Schultz hit a mine and sank with the loss of her entire crew of 308.

Z4 Richard Beitzen
When World War II began in September 1939, Richard Beitzen was initially deployed in the western Baltic to enforce a blockade of Poland, but she was soon transferred to the Kattegat where she inspected neutral shipping for contraband goods beginning in mid-September. On the night of 12/13 December, she laid 240 mines off the mouth of the River Tyne. On 9/10 February 1940, she laid 110 magnetic mines in the Shipwash area, off Harwich. On 22 February 1940, Richard Beitzen took part in "Operation Wikinger". Richard Beitzen was captured by the British on 14 May 1945 and broken up in 1949.