Z 26

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Z 26
1936 A model
1936 A model
Ship data
flag German EmpireGerman Empire (Reichskriegsflagge) German Empire
Ship type destroyer
class Destroyer 1936A
Shipyard Deschimag Weser , Bremen
Keel laying April 1, 1939
Launch April 2, 1940
Commissioning January 9, 1941
Whereabouts Sunk on March 29, 1942
Ship dimensions and crew
length
127 m ( Lüa )
120.0 m ( KWL )
width 12.0 m
Draft Max. 4.43 m
displacement 2543 ts standard
3543 ts max.
 
crew 332 men
Machine system
machine 6 × water tube boiler
2 × geared turbine
Machine
performance 		70,000 PS (51,485 kW)
Top
speed 		36 kn (67 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

4 × 1 ship cannon 15 cm / L46 model 36
2 × 2 flak 3.7 cm / L80 model 30
5 × 1 flak 2.0 cm / L65 model 38
2 × 4 torpedo tube Ø 53.3 cm (16 torpedoes)
60 sea ​​mines

Z 26 was a 1936A destroyer ofthe German Navy .

Building history

The destroyer Z 26 was the fourth boat of the 1936A type ordered in May 1938. All eight boats of the class originated in the work of the Weser the Deschimag . The keel of Z 26 was laid on April 1, 1939 and the launch took place on April 2, 1940.

The two front 15 cm guns were to be set up in a twin turret. The production of these towers was delayed considerably. So a single gun was set up in its place.

Use in the Baltic Sea

Z 26 put into service on January 9, 1941 and was ready for war by autumn 1941. At the end of September 1941, the destroyer was assigned to the northern group of the "Baltenflotte" under Vice Admiral Ciliax , which on September 23rd with the battleship Tirpitz , the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer , the light cruisers Nuremberg and Cologne , the sister boats Z 25 and Z 27 , the torpedo boats T 2 , T 5 , T 7 , T 8 , T 11 as well as a few speedboats as far as the Åland Sea to fight possible Soviet naval forces there. After the successful attacks by Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 on the ships of the Soviet Baltic Fleet , the two heavy units ran back again. The destroyers stayed with Ciliax's new flagship Nuremberg for protection at the exit of the Finnbus until they too were ordered back to Gotenhafen on October 1st .

Use in the North Sea

In November 1941, Z 26 moved to Northern Norway. On December 16, 1941, Z 26 as a flotilla of the 8th destroyer flotilla with Z 23 , Z 24 , Z 25 and Z 27 pushed forward from Kirkenes towards the Kola coast . When the Z 26 failed due to an engine failure, the flotilla chief switched to the Z 25 and the Z 26 went back to Kirkenes, from where the destroyer returned to Germany on January 5, 1942 together with the Z 27 for repairs. On January 10th, Z 26 arrived in Kiel for shipyard work.

On March 19, 1942, the Z 26 drove from Brunsbüttel to Trondheim in Norway in association with the destroyers Theodor Riedel , Z 24 , Z 30 , three torpedo boats and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper . From Trondheim, the Z 26 with the Z 24 and Z 25 continued to Kirkenes, from where on March 28, 1942 the 8th destroyer flotilla with the Z 24 , Z 25 and Z 26 was deployed against the convoy PQ 13 . PQ 13 was on March 27th from a BV 138 of the 2. / K.Fl.Gr. 406 , which had lost its cohesion in a storm. The convoy was secured by the cruiser Trinidad , the destroyers Eclipse , Fury , the escort destroyer Lamerton as well as two anti- submarine trawlers and three former Norwegian whaling boats , one of which had sunk in the previous storm. From Murmansk the British destroyer Oribi and the Soviet destroyers Gremyashchi and Sokrushitelny joined the reorganizing convoy. On their search, the German destroyers first encountered the dispersed freighter Bateau (4687 GRT), which Z 26 sank. When visibility was poor and the snow flurry, the German destroyers came across the cruiser Trinidad and the destroyer Fury , which was in front of the convoy . The Trinidad shot Z 26 incapable of maneuvering. Z 24 and Z 25 were able to save 88 men from the sinking Z 26 . The German submarine U 378 was able to take over eight survivors of the Z 26 from a lifeboat. 240 men were killed on line 26 .

commander

From January 9, 1941 to March 29, 1942, Corvette Captain Ritter Georg von Berger was the commandant of the Z 26 .

literature

  • Ulrich Elfrath: German destroyers 1934–1945 - development deployment, whereabouts Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg / H. without year.
  • Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung [arr.]: The ships of the German Navy and Air Force 1939–1945 and their whereabouts. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 2000 (9th, revised and expanded edition), ISBN 978-3763762156 .
  • Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships: Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford.
  • Wolfgang Harnack: Destroyers under the German flag: 1934 to 1945. Koehler, Hamburg 1997 (3rd, revised edition), ISBN 3-7822-0698-3 .
  • Gerhard Koop / Klaus-Peter Schmolke: The German Destroyers 1935-1945 , Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1995.
  • Volkmar Kühn: Torpedo boats and destroyers in action 1939–1945. The fight and destruction of a weapon. Flechsig, Würzburg 2006 (6th, ext. A. special edition), ISBN 978-3881896375 .
  • Anthony Preston: Superdestroyers - the German Narvik type 1936. Warship special 2, Conway maritime press, Greenwich (1978), ISBN 0-85177-131-9 .
  • Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the naval war 1939-1945. Manfred Pawlak Verlags GmbH (Herrsching 1968), ISBN 3-88199-0097 .
  • Mike J. Whitley: Destroyers in World War II: Technique - Class - Types. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 978-3613014268 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Preston: Superdestroyers , p. 72.
  2. ^ Preston, p. 67
  3. ↑ Hildebrand et al .: The German warships. Volume 5, p. 24.