1934-class Destroyer

1934-class Destroyer

Country	Germany
Builder	Deutsche Werke Shipyard, Kiel, Germany
Displacement	3,206 tons full
Length	390 feet
Beam	37 feet
Draft	14 feet
Machinery	Two Wagnergeared turbines, two shafts
Power Output	70,000 shaft horsepower
Speed	36 knots
Range	1,900nm at 19 knots
Crew	325
Armament	5x127mm guns, 4x37mm guns, 6x20mm guns, 8x533mm torpedo tubes, 60 mines

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

This article refers to the entire 1934-class; it is not about an individual vessel.

ww2dbaseThe 1934-class destroyers were the first destroyers Germany built since WW1. They were designed in a rush and built rapidly, thus they were not seaworthy ships. In fact, when traveling on the high seas, the forward half of the ship would become so wet that the forward batteries would become unusable. Four were built: Leberecht Maas, Georg Thiele, Max Schulz, and Richard Beitzen. All four were built by Deutsche Werke in Kiel, Germany. Only the fourth ship, Richard Beitzen, survived WW2.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Jul 2009

Photographs

German Zerstörer Z 4 Richard Beitzen underway, 1937

German destroyers Z5 Paul Jakobi and Z1 Leberecht Maass seen in Division of Naval Inteligence of US Navy Department A503 FM30-50 booklet for identification of ships

German 1934-class destroyer and other ships in port in Narvik, Norway, 1940

German destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim beached and scuttled in the fjord Rombaksbotn near Narvik, Norway, 1940

1934-class Destroyer Operational Timeline

27 Apr 1943	Jaguar, Greif, and Z4 Richard Beitzen escorted light cruiser Nürnberg out of Harstad, Norway toward Kiel, Germany.
3 May 1943	Light cruiser Nürnberg arrived at Kiel, Germany; Jaguar, Greif, and Z4 Richard Beitzen had escorted her to Kiel from Norway. Later that day, Jaguar, Greif, and Möwe escorted minelayers out of Kiel for the North Sea.

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1934-class Destroyer