German destroyer Z30

File:Narvik-class destroyer.jpg

The Type 1936A destroyers were slightly larger than the preceding Type 1936 class and had a heavier armament. They had an overall length of {{convert|127|m|ftin|sp=us}} and were {{convert|121.9|m|ftin|sp=us}} long at the waterline. The ships had a beam of {{convert|12|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a maximum draft of {{convert|4.62|m|ftin|sp=us}}. They displaced {{convert|2657|LT|t|sp=us|lk=on}} at standard load and {{convert|3691|LT|t|sp=us}} at deep load. The two Wagner geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller shaft, were designed to produce {{convert|70000|PS|kW shp|lk=on|abbr=on}} using steam provided by six Wagner water-tube boilers for a designed speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=on}}. Z30 carried enough fuel oil to give her a range of {{convert|2950|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|19|kn}}. Her crew consisted of 11 officers and 321 sailors.Gröner, pp. 203–04

The ship carried four 15 cm TbtsK C/36 naval gun in single mounts with gun shields, one forward of the superstructure and three aft. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted of four 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns in two twin mounts abreast the rear funnel and five 2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling guns in single mounts. Z30 carried eight above-water {{convert|53.3|cm|in|adj=on|sp=us|0}} torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. Two reloads were provided for each mount. She had four depth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines. 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passive hydrophones were fitted to detect submarines and an S-Gerät sonar was also probably fitted. The ship was equipped with a FuMO 24/25 radar set above the bridge.Whitley, pp. 68, 71–72

During 1942–1943, Z30{{'}}s anti-aircraft armament was increased to ten each 3.7 cm and 2 cm guns. A FuMO 63 Hohentwiel radar was installed in 1944–1945 in lieu of the aft searchlight. By the end of the war, her anti-aircraft suite consisted of seven 3.7 cm and fourteen 2 cm weapons.Gröner, p. 203; Koop & Schmolke, p. 34

Z30 was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 23 April 1938. The ship was laid down at Deschimag's Bremen shipyard as yard number W964 on 14 January 1940, launched on 12 August, and commissioned on 15 November 1941. While working up she accidentally collided with the {{GS|U-216}} on 14 January 1942.Koop & Schmolke, pp. 24, 111

Beginning on 18 March, she escorted the heavy cruiser {{Ship|German cruiser|Admiral Hipper||2}} from Brunsbüttel, Germany, to Trondheim, Norway, and then accompanied the heavy cruiser {{Ship|German cruiser|Admiral Scheer||2}} from Trondheim to Narvik.Koop & Schmolke, p. 111; Rohwer, p. 152 Z30 took part in the preliminaries of Operation Rösselsprung, an attempt to intercept Convoy PQ 17 in July. Admiral Scheer and her sister Lützow formed one group in Narvik with Z30 and four of her sisters while the battleship {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}} and Admiral Hipper composed another. While en route to the rendezvous at the Altafjord, Lützow and three destroyers of Tirpitz{{'}}s escort ran aground, forcing the entire group to abandon the operation.Whitley, p. 141 On 5–8 September Z30, her sister {{ship|German destroyer|Z29||2}}, and the destroyer {{ship|German destroyer|Z4 Richard Beitzen||2}} laid a minefield in the Kara Strait between the island of Novaya Zemlya and Vaygach Island. Later that month, she participated in Operation Zarin, a minelaying mission off the coast of Novaya Zemlya from 24 to 28 September, together with Admiral Hipper, and her sisters {{ship|German destroyer|Z23||2}}, {{ship|German destroyer|Z28||2}}, and Z29. On 13–15 October, Z30, her sister {{ship|German destroyer|Z27||2}}, Z4 Richard Beitzen and the destroyer {{ship|German destroyer|Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt||2}} laid a minefield off the Kanin Peninsula at the mouth of the White Sea that sank the {{ship|Soviet icebreaker|Mikoyan}}. Three weeks later, the same four destroyers escorted Admiral Hipper as she attempted to intercept Allied merchant ships proceeding independently to Soviet ports in early November. They intercepted and sank the westbound Soviet oil tanker Donbass and the submarine chaser BO-78 on the 7th.Rohwer, pp. 202, 207; Whitley, p. 142

On 30 December, Lützow and Admiral Hipper, escorted by six destroyers, including Z30, left Narvik for Operation Regenbogen, an attack on Convoy JW 51B, which was reported by German intelligence to be lightly escorted. Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Oskar Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take Admiral Hipper and three destroyers north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts. Lützow, Z30 and the destroyers {{ship|German destroyer|Z6 Theodor Riedel||2}} and {{ship|German destroyer|Z31||2}} would then attack the undefended convoy from the south. The Germans failed to press home their attack, only briefly engaging the convoy and damaging one merchantman.Whitley, pp. 142–43 Z30 was one of the escorts for the light cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Köln||2}} and the damaged Admiral Hipper on 24 January 1943 as they began their voyage to Kiel, Germany, where the destroyer began a refit.Koop & Schmolke, pp. 111–12

She returned to Norwegian waters after her refit and conducted several minelaying missions between 19 and 28 June together with Z27. The ship took part in Operation Zitronella, the German raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September where she was hit by coastal artillery and slightly damaged. Z30 was one of the escorts for the battleship {{Ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} during Operation Ostfront on 25 December, an attempt to intercept the British Convoy JW 55B that was bound for the Soviet Union. All of the battleship's escorts were detached the following day to increase the likelihood of intercepting the convoy and did not participate in the ensuing Battle of North Cape.Whitley, pp. 167, 172 The ship was transferred to southern Norway in 1944 and escorted convoys and laid minefields from 8 May. She began a refit at Swinemünde, Germany, on 31 August and conducted operations in the western Baltic and Skaggerak when it was completed. While escorting a convoy on 20 October, Z30 struck a mine off Oslofjord that crippled her. The explosion destroyed her stern compartment, knocked out the port turbine, jammed the starboard propeller shaft and caused extensive shock damage throughout the ship. Towed to Oslo, Norway, for repairs, they were not yet complete when Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945 and she was decommissioned six days later.Koop & Schmolke, p. 112; Whitley, pp. 170–71

Z30 was turned over to the Royal Norwegian Navy for maintenance purposes on 15 July while the Allies decided how to divide the surviving ships of the Kriegsmarine amongst themselves as war reparations. The ship was allotted to the British in late 1945 and was towed to Rosyth, Scotland, on 6 February 1946. She was effectively unusable without extensive – and expensive – repairs so she was condemned to be used for evaluating the effects of underwater explosions on her hull. Z30 was towed to Loch Striven where the tests were conducted between May and September 1948. Three {{convert|500|kg|adj=on}} charges of torpex were detonated below her hull at various depths. Despite some damage to her hull plating, her welded hull was not significantly damaged during the tests. The ship was sold for scrap on 9 September and towed to their facility at Dalmuir to be demolished.Whitley, pp. 191–93

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book |last=Gröner|first=Erich|title=German Warships 1815–1945|year=1990 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|volume=1: Major Surface Warships|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-87021-790-9|author-link=Erich Gröner}}
• {{cite book |last1=Koop |first1=Gerhard|last2=Schmolke |first2=Klaus-Peter|title=German Destroyers of World War II |year=2003 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-307-1|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005 |edition=Third Revised |isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
• {{cite book |last=Whitley|first=M. J. |title=German Destroyers of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1991 |isbn=978-1-55750-302-2|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

• [http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/destroyer/index.html Kriegsmarine destroyers]

{{Type 1936 destroyers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Z30}}

Category:1940 ships

Category:Ships built in Bremen (state)

Category:Type 1936A-class destroyers