Z 39
August 1945 off Boston
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Z 39 was a 1936A (mob) destroyer ofthe German Navy .
Navy
The destroyer was in on 15 August 1940 Germaniawerft to put Kiel , was launched on December 2, 1941 from the pile and could with some delay on 21 August 1943 the command of Lieutenant Commander Konrad Loerke put into service are.
After the test and training runs, the Z 39 was initially used for a mining company in the Skagerrak in early 1944 and then moved via Gotenhafen to the Gulf of Finland . The destroyer then carried out several missions from Reval and Baltischport . On June 23, 1944, the Z 39 in the port of Baltischport was damaged by a Russian bomb attack and had to be repaired first in a Kiel shipyard and then in a Swinemünde shipyard.
The repairs were finished on February 16, 1945, but the Z 39 was only partially operational without training for the crew. After a magnetic survey in Copenhagen , exercises and training trips took place from Sassnitz . On April 1, 1945, the Z 39 was fully operational again.
At the beginning of April, the Z 39 , together with other units, was used to fire on land in the Bay of Danzig . After a successfully averted air attack, Z 39 moved to Swinoujscie and was attacked several times from the air. On May 2, 1945 there was again a bombardment of Russian tanks and troops. The next day, the Silesia was covered when it was deployed in the Greifswalder Bay and, after a mine hit, it was dragged to the roadstead of Swinoujscie. On May 4, 1945 there was another fire on land and then a port stay in Copenhagen. On May 7, 1945, Hela was called to take up troops and refugees. Two days later Kiel was reached and the crew were taken prisoner there on May 10, 1945.
post war period
On May 29, 1945 the technical staff was embarked again under British guard. The next day, Z 39 moved to Wilhelmshaven, from where it was transferred to the United States on July 6, 1945 . In August 1945 it was handed over to the United States Navy in Boston , which mainly used the destroyer as DD-939 for tests.
In 1947 the destroyer was handed over to the French Navy and served as a spare parts donor for the former German destroyers still in service until 1953. In 1964 the remains of the ship were scrapped .
literature
- 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.
Web links
- Germany 15 cm / 48 (5.9 ") Tbts KC / 36 and KC / 36T at navweaps.com (English, accessed October 9, 2015)
- Germany 3.7 cm / L83 (1.5 ") SK C / 30 on navweaps.com (accessed April 29, 2014)
- Germany 2 cm / 65 (0.79 ") C / 30 and C / 38 on navweaps.com (English, accessed April 29, 2014)
- "1936A (Mob)" type destroyers 1942/43 (English, accessed October 24, 2015)