Type 1936A Destroyer Summary

This is a 3D printed sculpt of the Type 1936A destroyer by EBard Models. 

The Type 1936A destroyer class, also known as the Z23 class, were a group of fifteen destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine from 1938 to 1943. They were known to the Allies as the Narvik class. The class was unnamed, known only by their hull numbers – Z23 to Z39.

In terms of armament, they were closer to light cruisers than the typical destroyer. The use of 15 cm (5.9 in) guns was atypical of destroyers which tended to have guns around 120–127 mm (4.7–5.0 in) in calibre. They were intended to carry two forward guns in a twin turret, plus torpedoes. The twin turrets were not ready in time so early ships carried a single mounted gun forward.

Despite being powerful the ships were not without their flaws. There were problems with the reliability of the high pressure steam engines and seakeeping in rough seas due to the newly designed bow and heavy forward artillery.

The eight ships of the Type 1936A design (Z23 to Z30) were all laid down between 1938 and 1940. The seven destroyers numbered from Z31 to Z39 were classed as Zerstörer 1936A (Mob); they were laid down in 1940 and 1941 and were slightly larger and had some internal modifications (including engines that caused less trouble than with their predecessors) from the original design to shorten construction times.

Ships of Class

• Z23 - Badly damaged by bomb hit in August 1944 and decommissioned. Used by France after the war and renamed Leopard. 
• Z24 - Sunk on 25 August 1944 near Le Verdon by British bombers.
• Z25 - Captured. Used by France after the war and renamed Hoche.
• Z26  - Sunk in battle in March 1942 by the British cruiser Trinidad and destroyer Eclipse in the Barents Sea while attacking Convoy PQ 13.
• Z27 - Sunk in battle with British light cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise in December 1943 in the Bay of Biscay.
• Z28 - Sunk by British bombers in March 1945 near Saßnitz in the Baltic Sea.
• Z29 - Captured. Used by Britain after the war and given to the United States, however, scuttled because of her poor condition by the US Navy in 1946.
• Z30 - Captured. Used by Norway after the war and given to Britain. 
• Z31 - Captured. Used by France after the war and renamed Marceau.
• Z32 - Damaged in battle with Canadian destroyers Haida and Huron in June 1944 during the Battle of Ushant and beached. Later destroyed by air attacks.
• Z33 - Captured. Used by the Soviet Union after the war and renamed Provorniy (Проворный). 
• Z34 - Taken by US after the war. Scuttled because of her poor condition by the US Navy in March 1946.
• Z37 - Collided with destroyer Z32 in January 1944 and badly damaged. Scuttled in Bordeaux. 
• Z38 - Captured. Used by Britain after the war and renamed Nonsuch. 
• Z39 - Captured. Used by Britain after the war and given to US. Renamed DD-939 and used for testing. Then given to France in 1947.

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