Z 18 Hans Lüdemann

Z 18 Hans Lüdemann

Ship data flag  German Empire Ship type destroyer class Destroyer 1936 Shipyard AG Weser ( Deschimag ), Bremen Keel laying September 9, 1936 Launch December 1, 1937 Commissioning October 8, 1938 Whereabouts Sunk on April 13, 1940

Ship dimensions and crew length 123 m ( Lüa ) 120 m ( KWL ) width 11.8 m Draft Max. 3.77 m displacement 2411 ts standard 3415 ts max.   crew 323 men

Machine system machine 6 Wagner-Deschimag steam boiler 2 sets of Wagner-Deschimag steam turbines Machine performance 70,000 PS (51,485 kW) Top speed 38.5 kn (71 km / h) propeller 2

Armament 5 × Sk 12.7 cm L / 45 C / 34 (single mounts) 4 × Flak 3.7 cm L / 83 C / 30 (double mounts) 4 × Flak 2.0 cm L / 65 C / 30 (single mounts) 8 × torpedo tube Ø 53.3 cm in two sets of four up to 60 sea ​​mines

Z 18 Hans Lüdemann was one of six ships of the “ Destroyer 1936 ” class of the Kriegsmarine . The ship was put into service on October 8, 1938, was used in World War II and was self-scuttled by its crew on April 13, 1940.

The name was given in memory of the marine engineer aspirant Hans Heinrich Adolf Lüdemann, who died on the torpedo boat S 148 on May 14, 1913 when an accident occurred in the engine room during a maneuver in the North Sea and he unselected the boat Use saved from ruin.

history

Construction and commissioning

Like the others in its class, the destroyer was put into construction at Deschimag on January 6, 1936 . The keel was laid on September 9, 1936, the launch on December 1, 1937. The commissioning took place on October 8, 1938, as the second ship of its class. The Hans Lüdemann belonged to the 3rd destroyer flotilla. Corvette Captain Herbert Friedrichs was in command during the entire service life of the ship .

Second World War

With the 5th Destroyer Division under Commander Hans Hartmann was the Hans Lüdemann with the boats Diether von Roeder , Hermann Künne and Karl Galster at the laying of the still in August 1939 West Wall - minefields in the North Sea involved. From 28 to 30 September drove Hans Lüdemann along with the destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp , Bernd von Arnim , Erich Giese , Diether von Roeder , Hermann Künne and Karl Galster trade war in the Skagerrak , with 58 merchant ships searched and nine with a prize crew to Kiel were sent.

On 17./18. October 1939 the Hans Lüdemann took part in a mining operation of the leader of the torpedo boats (F. d. T.), Rear Admiral Lütjens , against the mouth of the Humber . The destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp , Hermann Künne , Diether von Roeder , Friedrich Eckoldt and Karl Galster were there . On 12./13. November the Hans Lüdemann carried out a mining operation against the Thames estuary with the destroyers Karl Galster , Wilhelm Heidkamp and Hermann Künne .

In April 1940 the destroyer Hans Lüdemann was assigned to Warship Group 1 under Commodore Friedrich Bonte at the Weser Exercise Company . This should land in Narvik mountain troops. On April 7, 1940, the Hans Lüdemann left Bremerhaven together with nine other destroyers . In the early morning of April 9th, the troops were disembarked in Narvik. Then the destroyers should take over fuel and start the journey home immediately. Since only one tanker was available, the supply dragged on until the next day. On the morning of April 10th, the German ships were attacked by five Royal Navy destroyers . In this first British attack on Narvik, the Hans Lüdemann was damaged, two other destroyers of the group were sunk and Commodore Bonte fell.

On April 13, a British naval formation under Vice Admiral Whitworth, with the battleship HMS Warspite and nine destroyers, attacked Narvik for the second time . The other eight German destroyers of the Narvik group were lost. The Hans Lüdemann as well as the destroyers Wolfgang Zenker and Bernd von Arnim had withdrawn in the Rombaksbotten (rear part of the Rombaksfjord ) after their fuel oil and ammunition stocks were exhausted . There they were sunk by their crews themselves. The Hans Lüdemann had already received artillery hits in the stern. The British destroyer Hero also torpedoed the rear section of the Hans Lüdemann .

Individual evidence

• Website: Chronicle of Naval Warfare

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Seekrieg 1939, August , viewed on August 8, 2008
2. ↑ Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Seekrieg 1939, November , accessed on August 8, 2008
3. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Rohwer, Gerhard Hümmelchen: Seekrieg 1940, April , accessed on August 8, 2008

• Bibliography:

1. ↑ MJWhitley: Destroyer in World War II . Motorbuch Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-613-01426-2 (Original: Destroyers of World War Two . Arms & Armours Press, London), p. 34.
2. ↑ Harald Fock: Z-before! International development and war missions of destroyers and torpedo boats. Vol. 2. During World War II: 1940-1945. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0762-9 , p. 71.
3. ↑ Harald Fock: Z-before! International development and war missions of destroyers and torpedo boats. Vol. 2. During World War II: 1940–1945. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0762-9 , p. 75.