German World War II destroyer
|
History
|
Nazi Germany
|
Name
| Z25
|
Ordered
| 23 April 1938
|
Builder
| AG Weser
(
Deschimag
),
Bremen
|
Yard number
| W959
|
Laid down
| 15 February 1939
|
Launched
| 16 March 1940
|
Completed
| 30 November 1940
|
Captured
| 6 May 1945
|
France
|
Name
| Hoche
|
Namesake
| General
Lazare Hoche
|
Acquired
| 2 February 1946
|
Decommissioned
| 20 August 1956
|
In service
| August 1946
|
Renamed
| Q102
, 2 January 1958
|
Stricken
| 2 January 1958
|
Fate
| Scrapped
, 1961
|
General characteristics (as built)
|
Class and type
| Type 1936A destroyer
|
Displacement
| |
Length
| 127 m (416 ft 8 in) (
o/a
)
|
Beam
| 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
|
Draft
| 4.43 m (14 ft 6 in)
|
Installed power
| |
Propulsion
| 2 × shafts; 2 × geared
steam turbine
sets
|
Speed
| 36
knots
(67 km/h; 41 mph)
|
Range
| 2,500
nmi
(4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
|
Complement
| 332
|
Armament
| |
Service record
|
Commanders:
|
Carl-Heinz Birnbacher
|
Z25
was one of fifteen
Type 1936A destroyers
built for the
Kriegsmarine
(German Navy) during
World War II
. Completed in 1940, the ship spent most of the war in
Norwegian waters
, escorting German ships and laying
minefields
, despite venturing to France in early 1942 for the
Channel Dash
, escorting two
battleships
and a
heavy cruiser
home through the
English Channel
. She was active in attacking the
Arctic convoys
ferrying war materials to the
Soviet Union
in 1941?1942 but only helped to sink one Allied ship.
Engine problems in 1943 severely restricted her activities and she was transferred to the
Baltic
in early 1944 after repairs were completed.
Z25
spent most of the rest of the war escorting ships during the German
Evacuation of East Prussia
and bombarding Soviet forces. The ship was captured by the Allies in May 1945 and spent the rest of the year under British control as the Allies decided how to dispose of the captured German ships.
She was ultimately allotted to France in early 1946 and renamed
Hoche
. She became operational later that year and cruised to French colonies in Africa during 1947. The ship was placed in
reserve
in early 1949 before beginning a reconstruction from 1950 to 1953 that converted her into a fast
destroyer escort
. Worn out by 1956,
Hoche
was deemed too expensive to repair and
decommissioned
later that year. The ship was condemned in 1958 and
scrapped
in 1961.
Design and description
[
edit
]
The Type 1936A destroyers were slightly larger than the preceding Type 1936
class
and had a heavier armament. They had an
overall length
of 127 meters (416 ft 8 in) and were 121.90 meters (399 ft 11 in)
long at the waterline
. The ships had a
beam
of 12 meters (39 ft 4 in), and a maximum
draft
of 4.43 meters (14 ft 6 in). They displaced 2,543 long tons (2,584 t) at
standard load
and 3,543 long tons (3,600 t) at
deep load
. The two Wagner geared
steam turbine
sets, each driving one
propeller shaft
, were designed to produce 70,000
PS
(51,000
kW
; 69,000
shp
) using steam provided by six Wagner
water-tube boilers
for a designed speed of 36
knots
(67
km/h
; 41
mph
).
Z25
carried a maximum of 791 metric tons (779 long tons) of
fuel oil
which gave a range of 2,500
nautical miles
(4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Her crew consisted of 11 officers and 321 sailors.
[1]
The ship carried four
15-centimeter (5.9 in) TbtsK C/36 guns
in single mounts with
gun shields
, one forward of the
superstructure
and three aft. They were designated No. 1 to 4 from front to rear. Her
anti-aircraft
armament consisted of four
3.7-centimeter (1.5 in) C/30
guns in two twin mounts abreast the rear
funnel
and five
2-centimeter (0.8 in) C/30
guns in single mounts.
Z25
carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21 in)
torpedo tubes
in two power-operated mounts.
[1]
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' (
Gruppenhorchgerat
) passive
hydrophones
were fitted to detect
submarines
and an
S-Gerat
sonar
was also probably fitted. The ship was equipped with a
FuMO
24/25
radar
set above the
bridge
.
[1]
[2]
Modifications
[
edit
]
Z25
'
s single forward 15 cm gun was exchanged for a 15 cm LC/38 twin-
gun turret
during her mid-1942 refit. This exacerbated the Type 36A's tendency to take water over the bow and reduced their speed to 32.8 knots (60.7 km/h; 37.7 mph).
[3]
No. 3 gun was later removed to make room for additional AA guns under the 1944 Barbara program. By the end of the war, her anti-aircraft suite consisted of ten 3.7 cm guns in single and twin mounts and sixteen 2 cm weapons in twin and quadruple mounts. Most, if not all, of the 3.7 cm guns were to be the faster-firing
Flak M42
model.
[4]
[Note 1]
A
FuMO
21 radar replaced the
FuMO
24/25 in 1944 and
FuMB 1 Metox
,
FuMB 3 Bali
, and
FuMB 6 Palau
radar detectors
were added that same year. A
FuMO 63 Hohentwiel
radar was installed in 1944?1945 in lieu of the aft
searchlight
.
[7]
Service history
[
edit
]
Z25
was ordered from
AG Weser
(
Deschimag
) on 23 April 1938. The ship was
laid down
at Deschimag's
Bremen
shipyard as yard number W959 on 15 February 1939,
launched
on 16 March 1940, and
commissioned
on 30 November. She finished
working up
on 26 June 1941 and sailed for Norway, but
ran aground
off
Haugesund
, damaging both
propellers
, and had to return to Bremen for repairs.
Z25
was assigned to escort the Baltic Fleet, a temporary formation built around the
battleship
Tirpitz
, as it
sortied
into the
Sea of Aland
on 23?29 September to forestall any attempt by the Soviet
Red Banner Baltic Fleet
to breakout from the
Gulf of Finland
.
[8]
Two months later
Z25
accompanied her sister ships,
Z23
and
Z27
from Germany to Norway and arrived in Tromsø on 6 December where she was assigned to the
8. Zerstorerflottile
(8th Destroyer Flotilla). After arriving in
Kirkenes
, the ship replaced
Z26
as the flagship of
Kapitan zur See
(Captain)
Hans Erdmenger
, commander of the
flotilla
, as the latter destroyer had engine problems and had to return to Germany for repairs. She led her sisters
Z23
,
Z24
and
Z27
out into the
Barents Sea
on 16 December 1941, searching for
Allied
ships off the coast of the
Kola Peninsula
. The following day,
Z25
'
s radar spotted two ships in heavy fog at a range of 37.5 kilometers (23.3 mi). The Germans thought that they were Soviet destroyers, but they were actually two British
minesweepers
,
Hazard
and
Speedy
, sailing to rendezvous with
Convoy QP 6
. The Germans intercepted them, but the heavy fog and icing precluded accurate gunfire. The British ships were able to escape despite four hits on
Speedy
and the heavy expenditure of ammunition;
Z25
and
Z27
attempted to fire 11 torpedoes between them, but were only able to launch one each. On 13 January 1942,
Z25
escorted
Z23
and
Z24
as they laid a
minefield
in the western channel of the
White Sea
.
[9]
On the 29th,
Z25
sailed from Kirkenes to rendezvous with the destroyer
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
at
Vlissingen
, the
Netherlands
, before continuing onward together to
Brest
,
France
, where they arrived on 7 February as part of the preparations for the
Channel Dash
. The German ships departed Brest on 11 February, totally surprising the British. During the sporadic attacks by the British,
Z25
is not known to have engaged any British ships or aircraft, not was she damaged in any way. Shortly afterwards, the ship joined four other destroyers in escorting the heavy cruisers
Prinz Eugen
and
Admiral Scheer
to
Trondheim
. Heavy weather forced three of the destroyers to return to port before reaching their destination and
Prinz Eugen
was badly damaged by a British submarine after their separation.
[10]
Anti-convoy operations
[
edit
]
On 6 March,
Tirpitz
, escorted by
Z25
and three other destroyers, sortied to attack the returning
Convoy QP 8
and the Russia-bound
PQ 12
as part of
Operation Sportpalast
(Sports Palace). The following morning, Admiral
Otto Ciliax
, commanding the operation, ordered the destroyers to search independently for Allied ships and they stumbled across the 2,815-
gross register ton
(GRT) Soviet freighter
SS
Ijora
, a straggler from QP 8, later that afternoon and sank her.
Tirpitz
rejoined them shortly afterwards and Ciliax ordered the destroyers back to Trondheim on the 8th after failing to refuel them the previous night due to heavy seas and icing.
[11]
On 28 March,
Z26
and her sisters
Z24
and
Z25
departed the
Varangerfjord
in an attempt to intercept
Convoy PQ 13
. Later that night they rescued 61 survivors of the sunken
freighter
SS
Empire Ranger
then sank the straggling 4,687 GRT freighter
SS
Bateau
. They rescued 7 survivors before resuming the search for the convoy. The light cruiser
HMS
Trinidad
, escorted by the destroyer
HMS
Fury
, spotted the German ships with her radar at 08:49 on the 29th and was spotted herself around that same time. Both sides opened fire at the
point-blank range
of 3,200 yards (2,900 m) in a snowstorm.
Trinidad
engaged the leading German destroyer,
Z26
, badly damaging her, and then switched to
Z25
without making any hits. Between them the destroyers fired 19 torpedoes at the cruiser, all of which missed after
Trinidad
turned away, and hit her twice with their 15 cm guns, inflicting only minor damage. The British ships maneuvered to avoid torpedoes, which forced them to disengage, and
Z26
accidentally became separated from her sisters.
[12]
After
Fury
turned away to render assistance to the cruiser, the destroyer
HMS
Eclipse
took up the pursuit, crippling
Z26
by 10:20.
Eclipse
was maneuvering to give the German destroyer the
coup de grace
with a torpedo when the snowstorm ended and visibility increased, revealing
Z24
and
Z25
approaching. They promptly opened fire at
Eclipse
, hitting her twice and wounding nine men, before she could find cover in a squall at 10:35. The German ships did not purse
Eclipse
, preferring to heave to and take off 88 survivors from
Z26
.
[13]
The two destroyers, now reinforced by
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
and assigned to
Zerstorergruppe Arktis
(Destroyer Group Arctic), commanded by
Kapitan zur See
Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs
, searched unsuccessfully for
Convoys PQ 14
and
QP 10
on 11 April.
[14]
On 30 April
German submarine
U-456
torpedoed and crippled the light cruiser
Edinburgh
, part of the close escort for
Convoy QP 11
. Later that day, the trio of destroyers were ordered to intercept her. The following afternoon they encountered the main body of the convoy and attacked in limited visibility. Over the next four hours, they made five attempts to close with the convoy, but the four escorting British destroyers were able to keep themselves between the Germans and the convoy. After being rebuffed, Schulze-Hinrichs decided to break off the attack and search for his original objective. The German ships were only able to sink the 2,847 GRT
freighter
,
SS
Tsiolkovsky
, with torpedoes from
Z24
and
Z25
, and badly damage the
escort destroyer
Amazon
with gunfire. The British ships did not make any hits on the German destroyers.
[15]
Later that day,
Edinburgh
'
s original escort of two destroyers was augmented by four British minesweepers and a small Russian
tugboat
. The cruiser was steaming under her own power at a speed of about 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) by the morning of 2 May with steering provided by the tugboat. She was spotted by the Germans and
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
exchanged fire with the minesweeper
Harrier
at about 06:27.
Edinburgh
then cast off her tow and increased speed to her maximum of about 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph), steering in a circle. While
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
maneuvered to obtain a good position from which to fire torpedoes, the cruiser opened fire at 06:36, almost immediately severing the main steam line, which disabled the engines.
Z25
initially engaged the destroyer
Forester
, hitting her three times at about 06:50, which disabled two guns and knocked out her power with a hit in her forward
boiler room
. Her sister
Foresight
passed in front of
Forester
a few minutes later to draw the attention of
Z24
and
Z25
, which succeeded all too well as she was hit four times by 07:24, disabling the engines and leaving her with only a single gun operable. In the meantime, the cruiser had been hit once more by a torpedo at 07:02, although it only knocked out her engines and gave her a list to port. Rather than sink any of the three disabled British ships or the lightly armed minesweepers,
Z24
and
Z25
concentrated on rescuing the crew of the drifting
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
despite occasional British shells. The former made multiple attempts to come alongside to take off about 210 survivors while the latter laid a smoke screen.
Z7 Hermann Schoemann
was then
scuttled
using her own depth charges.
Z24
was unscathed during the battle, but
Z25
was hit in the radio room, killing four and wounding seven. In Operation Zauberflote (Magic Flute),
Z25
, the destroyer
Z5 Paul Jacobi
, and two
torpedo boats
escorted the badly damaged
Prinz Eugen
from Trondheim to
Kiel
from 16?18 May. Shortly after her arrival, the destroyer began a lengthy refit that lasted until November.
[16]
On 11 November, the ship escorted the light cruiser
Nurnberg
from
Swinemunde
to Trondheim. In February 1943, she sailed to Germany in preparation for continuing onward to France, but engine problems caused that plan to be cancelled on 5 March.
Z25
returned to Norwegian waters on April 22, but continuing engine problems kept her mostly inactive before her return to Germany for an overhaul in August. While running
sea trials
in
Danzig Bay
, the shock wave from a nearby mine explosion disabled her port turbine and required further repairs.
[17]
Baltic operations
[
edit
]
Now assigned to the
6. Zerstorerflotille
,
Z25
and the other three destroyers of the flotilla were transferred to the Gulf of Finland to support minelaying operations there,
Z25
arriving at
Reval
,
Estonia
, on 13 February 1944. The flotilla was initially tasked to escort convoys between
Libau
,
Latvia
, and Reval, but laid its first minefield in Narva Bay on 12 March while bombarding Soviet positions on the eastern shore of the bay. They were primarily tasked as minelayers through July.
[18]
In preparation for
Operation Tanne West
, the occupation of
Aland
in case of Finnish surrender, the flotilla escorted the heavy cruiser
Lutzow
to the island of
Uto
on 28 June, but the operation was canceled and the ships returned to port.
[19]
On 30 July and 1 August
Z25
and three other destroyers of the flotilla sailed into the Gulf of Riga to bombard Soviet positions inland. On 5 August, they escorted
Prinz Eugen
as she engaged targets on the island of
Oesel
, Estonia, and in Latvia on 19?20 August. Between 15 and 20 September, the ship helped to evacuate 23,172 people from Reval in the face of the advancing Soviets. On 21 August, the ship, together with the destroyer
Z28
, ferried 370 people from
Baltischport
, Estonia, to Libau. The following day, she escorted ships loaded with evacuees from the Sea of Aland to
Gotenhafen
, Germany. On 10 October,
Z25
ferried 200 reinforcements to
Memel
and evacuated 200 female naval auxiliaries the next day. Upon her return, the ship bombarded targets near Memel. She was then slightly damaged by a presumed near-miss from a torpedo and the vibrations from her own guns caused an oil leak on one of her fuel tanks.
[20]
On 4 November,
Z25
was transferred to the
8. Zerstorerflotille
and supported
Lutzow
and
Prinz Eugen
as they engaged Soviet positions in
Sworbe
, on the Estonian island of
Saaremaa
, between 19 and 24 November. She was refitted in December and then bombarded Soviet troops east and south of
Konigsberg
, together with
Prinz Eugen
and two torpedo boats on 29?30 January 1945 and again on 2?5 February to allow cut-off German Army units to break through into friendly territory. The ship then escorted many refugee ships carrying evacuees between Gotenhafen and
Sassnitz
before bombarding Soviet positions near the former city on the 20th. A month later,
Z25
and
Z5 Paul Jacobi
escorted the
ocean liner
Potsdam
, the
troopship
SS
Goya
and the
target ship
Canonier
as they ferried 22,000 refugees to Copenhagen, Denmark, on 26 March. The ship continued to escort refugee ships between
Hela
and friendly territory through April and into May. On the 5th, she helped to convey 45,000 refugees to Copenhagen and returned to ferry 20,000 more to
Glucksburg
, Germany, on the 9th. The following day,
Z25
was
decommissioned
.
[21]
French service
[
edit
]
After the war
Z25
sailed to
Wilhelmshaven
and was overhauled to keep her
seaworthy
while the Allies decided how to divide the surviving ships of the
Kriegsmarine
amongst themselves as
war reparations
. The ship was allotted to Great Britain in late 1945 and arrived in
Rosyth
,
Scotland
, on 6 January 1946. Following protests by France over her exclusion, the British transferred four of the destroyers that they had been allotted and
Z25
arrived in
Cherbourg
on 2 February. Two days later, she was commissioned into the French Navy with the name of
Hoche
, after General
Lazare Hoche
. The ship was assigned to the 1st Division of Large Destroyers (
contre-torpilleurs
) and entered service in September when she conducted training with the
light carrier
Arromanches
. In March?June 1947, she formed part of the escort for the battleship
Richelieu
as the
President of France
,
Vincent Auriol
, visited
West
and
North Africa
.
Hoche
visited
Portsmouth
, England, in December 1948 before she was reduced to reserve on 1 January 1949. From 1950 to 1953, the ship was rebuilt into a
escorteur rapide
(fast escort destroyer) with new weapons and electronics and was based in
Toulon
for anti-submarine trials. A major refit was necessary by 1956, but it was not economical and she was placed in reserve on 20 August before being decommissioned on 1 September.
Hoche
was condemned and redesignated
Q102
on 2 January 1958; she was listed for sale on 30 June and scrapped in 1961.
[22]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Sources differ on the number of AA guns aboard the ship. Koop and Schmolke do not provide overall totals, but claim that the numbers given by Whitley were in addition to the original weapons.
[5]
Groner says that the ship mounted ten 3.7 cm and seventeen 2 cm guns at war's end.
[6]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Groner, pp. 203?04
- ^
Whitley, pp. 68, 71?72
- ^
Groner, p. 203; Koop & Schmolke, p. 105
- ^
Whitley, pp. 73?74
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, p. 34
- ^
Groner, p. 203
- ^
Groner, p. 204; Koop & Schmolke, p. 40
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, pp. 24, 105; Rohwer, p. 103
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, p. 105; Rohwer, pp. 127, 135; Whitley, pp. 131?32
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, p. 105; Rohwer, p. 143; Whitley, pp. 118?20, 132?33
- ^
Whitley, pp. 133?34
- ^
Admiralty Historical Section 2007, pp. 27?29; Whitley, pp. 135?36
- ^
Admiralty Historical Section 2007, pp. 29?30; Whitley, p. 136
- ^
Rohwer, p. 158; Whitley, pp. 136?37
- ^
Admiralty Historical Section 2007, pp. 37?39; Rohwer, p. 162; Whitley, pp. 136?38
- ^
Admiralty Historical Section 2007, pp. 40?42; Koop & Schmolke, p. 105; Whitley, pp. 138?40
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, pp. 105?06; Whitley, pp. 145?46
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, p. 106; Whitley, pp. 173?75
- ^
Rohwer, p. 339
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, p. 106
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, pp. 106?07; Rohwer, p. 414; Whitley, p. 180
- ^
Koop & Schmolke, p. 107; Whitley, pp. 196?97
References
[
edit
]
- Admiralty Historical Section (2007).
The Royal Navy and the Arctic Convoys
. Naval Staff Histories. Abingdon, UK: Whitehall History in association with Routledge.
ISBN
978-0-7146-5284-9
.
- Groner, Erich
(1990).
German Warships 1815?1945
. Vol. 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
0-87021-790-9
.
- Koop, Gerhard & Schmolke, Klaus-Peter (2003).
German Destroyers of World War II
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-59114-307-1
.
- Rohwer, Jurgen
(2005).
Chronology of the War at Sea 1939?1945: The Naval History of World War Two
(Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-59114-119-2
.
- Whitley, M. J.
(1991).
German Destroyers of World War Two
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-1-55750-302-2
.
External links
[
edit
]