World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseZ35 was the lead ship of the Type 1938B destroyers. She was built by the DeSchiMAG shipyard in Bremen, Germany. She was commissioned into service in Sep 1943 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Niels Bätge. She was assigned to the German 6th Destroyer Flotilla in Feb 1944. In Mar, she laid her first minefield in Narva Bay, Estonia, while shelling Soviet positions on the eastern shore of the bay. Through Jul 1944, she continued to reinforce minefields in the Gulf of Finland, although in late Jun she performed as an escort for heavy cruiser Lützow as the cruiser sailed for Utö, Finland; the sortie would soon be canceled, however. On 30 Jul and 1 Aug 1944, she and other destroyers of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla bombarded Soviet positions in Latvia from the Gulf of Riga. On 5 Aug, the flotilla escorted heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen off the island of Saaremaa (German: Ösel) in Estonia. Between 19 and 20 Aug, the flotilla once again escorted Prinz Eugen, this time off the Latvian coast; on 20 Aug, Z35 damaged one of her propellers on a rock, leading to her being out of commission for a few days as she received repairs at Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland). In Sep 1944, Z35 and the flotilla covered the convoys evacuating Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. Between 10 and 15 Oct, the flotilla escorted heavy cruisers Lützow and Prinz Eugen as the cruiser shelled Soviet targets in the areas of Klaipėda (German: Memel) and Liepāja (German: Libau), Latvia. On 23 Oct 1944, a shell exploded in the barrel of No. 3 gun, wounding one man and blowing the barrel and breech overboard. On the following day, she was struck by splinters during a Soviet air attack. Between 20 and 24 Nov 1944, the flotilla and heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen shelling Soviet positions during the evacuation of the Sõrve (German: Sworbe) peninsula on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (German: Ösel). In early Dec 1944, she was made the flagship of 6th Destroyer Flotilla commanding officer Kapitän zur See Friedrich Kothe. On 11 Dec 1944, she departed with sister ships Z36 and Z43 and torpedo boats T28 to deploy a new minefield off the Estonian coast. At about 0200 hours on the following date, she and Z36 accidentally ventured into a German minefield 2.5 miles to the north and struck a mine on the port side. The port turbine was knocked out, and flood waters entered one compartment. The damage control team kept the ship afloat initially, but a resulting explosion amidships quickly led to Z35's demise. Due to the darkness and her position being in a minefield, the German decided against sending any craft to rescue survivors. 70 survivors from Z35 were picked up by the Soviets, while all hands aboard Z36 were lost. Her wreck, at the depth of 50 meters, was discovered and surveyed by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment in 1994.

Destroyer Z35 Interactive Map

Z35 Operational Timeline