Z-39

History

Design

The destroyers of the Zerstörer 1936A class were the last class of destroyers designed by Germany before the outbreak of World War II. They were slightly larger than the preceding 1936 class, and were designed to be more stable in the seas. The hull was reinforced, and a bulge was installed at the bow to improve seaworthiness. The latter was eventually removed, however, as it proved to have negative side effects on the bow. A double rudder allowed better maneuverability than on the 1934 or 1936 classes.

The result was a 127 meter long and 12 meter wide hull with a draft of up to 4.65m. The displacement ranged between 2,600 and 3,700 tons depending on the loadout, and her engines — with a combined 70,000 shaft horsepower — would allow for a speed of 36 knots (during speed trials, speeds up to 38.5 knots were achieved). The fuel capacity gave these ships a cruising range of up to 2,500 nautical miles. The crew for a single vessel consisted of 11 officers and 320 men.

What made the 1936A class stand out from other destroyers of the era was their main battery armament. The 15cm L/48 was gun was unique to Germany, and the largest main battery rifle to be mounted on a destroyer to date. They were initially tested on the 1934-class destroyer Z-8 Bruno Heinemann, these guns were meant to counter new French and British destroyers, as well as allowing the 1936A class ships to serve as scout units and to compensate for the continual shortage of light cruisers and scouting units. There were two mountings available on the 1934A class, a single mount and a twin turret. Other than the number of guns in these mountings, they also differed in terms of gun elevations: the single mounting allowed for 30° elevations, whereas the twin turret could elevate up to 65°. Each ship of the Z-23 class was slated to receive one twin-barreled mount on the bow and three single-barreled mounts at the stern of the ship, with the sternmost two being superfiring and the central turret facing forward. The only exception for this layout was Z-28, which was used as a fleet command vessel and instead mounted four single mounts in two superfiring pairs, one at the bow and one at the aft. The Torpedo armament did not change from the 1934 series destroyers, with two quadruple 533mm torpedo tubes, and the initial anti-aircraft armament consisted of two twin 37mm Flakzwilling 30's and five single barreled 20mm FlaK 38's.

Availability issues with the 15cm twin turret meant that the first few vessels built only received four 15cm guns in single mountings. However, even the lighter armament showed that the bow was insufficiently designed and that the ships took a tremendous amount of water over the bow in the commonly rough seas of the northern Atlantic. When the twin turret was eventually installed in 1942 the issues with these guns became more noticeable. With the twin turret weighting more than four times that of a single mount, the fore ship was even more prone to being wet. As the turret was not properly designed to be waterproof the electrical systems within would often fail in heavy seas and the fixed ammunition meant that a lot of physical effort was required by the gun crews to reload the gun, which would hamper the ability to maintain a high rate of fire during combat.

With the threat from aircraft rising throughout the war, it was deemed as necessary to increase the anti-air-armament of all destroyers, resulting in the so-called “Barbara-program” which added additional AA guns for almost all ships in 1944. The proposed changes for the 1936A class ships were the removal of a 15cm single mount, and a completely new AA armament of twelve 37mm M42 and eighteen 20mm FlaK 38 guns, with the addition of 8.6cm AA rockets in four single launchers.

Service

Z-39 was a Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer built for Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down in August 1940 and completed three years later. Her anti-aircraft armament was increased extensively during the war. She served with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla her entire German career, which she spent escorting transports in the Baltic Sea, laying mines, and bombarding land forces. She served with a total of three different countries: from 1943 to 1945 with the Kriegsmarine as Z-39, from 1945 to 1947 with the US Navy as DD-939, and from 1948 to 1964 with the French Navy as Q-128.

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  A view over the entire ship, taken after the war with the ship sailing under the US flag

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  Z-39 sailing with high speed

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  Z-39 during her early career, still lacking the additional AA that was mounted in 1944

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  The forward 15cm twin turret on Z-39

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  The rear section of Z-39, taken after the war. One of the main guns being clearly damaged

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  A picture taken from directly behind Z-39

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  This picture shows Z-39 full length from the side, giving a good impression of her profile and her armament. This picture was also taken after the war

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  A detail shot of the second funnel. Clearly visible is the 37mm Flakzwilling 30 and the 37mm M42 single mount