Z43
Country | Germany |
Ship Class | 1936B-class Destroyer |
Builder | Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG |
Yard Number | 1029 |
Slip/Drydock Number | II |
Ordered | 17 Feb 1942 |
Laid Down | 1 May 1942 |
Launched | 22 Sep 1943 |
Commissioned | 24 Mar 1944 |
Displacement | 2,559 tons standard; 3,599 tons full |
Length | 417 feet |
Beam | 39 feet |
Draft | 14 feet |
Machinery | Six Wagner water-tube boilers, two Wagner geared steam turbine sets, two propellers |
Bunkerage | 835t fuel oil |
Power Output | 69,000 shaft horsepower |
Speed | 36 knots |
Range | 2,600nm at 19 knots |
Crew | 336 |
Armament | 5x12.7cm 45cal SK C/34 guns, 2x2x3.7cm 80cal SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns, 3x4x2cm 65cal C/30 guns, 3x1x2cm 65cal C/30 guns, 2x4x53.3cm torpedo tubes, 4x depth charge launchers, 74 mines |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseDestroyer Z43 was built by the DeSchiMAG shipyard in Bremen, Germany. Completed in Apr 1944, she was commissioned into service in the following month under the command of Fregattenkapitän Carl Heinrich Lampe. In Oct 1944, she was assigned to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. Between 20 and 24 Nov 1944, Z43 and the flotilla accompanied heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen to shell Soviet positions during the evacuation of the Sõrve (German: Sworbe) peninsula on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (German: Ösel). In mid-Dec 1944, she and the flotilla laid mines off the Estonian coast; during this action, she lost her sister ships Z35 and Z36 as they accidentally ventured into a German minefield 2.5 miles to the north. In Jan and early Feb 1945, Z43 escorted convoys between Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland) and Liepāja (German: Libau), Latvia. Later in that month, Z43 provided gunfire support for a German counterattack launched near Peyse and Groß-Heydekrug near Königsberg, Germany (now in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). In late Feb, she escorted ocean liner SS Hamburg to Sassnitz on the Jasmund peninsula on Rügen Island, Germany. In early Mar, she escorted heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Lützow from Danzig Bay to Swinemünde, Germany. Between 11 and 18 Mar 1945, she shelled Soviet positions near Kolberg, Germany (now Kołobrzeg, Poland) as German forces evacuated the city. Between 27 Mar and Apr 7 1945, she joined Lützow and other ships in the shelling of Soviet positions on the coast of Danzig Bay. On 10 Apr 1945, she struck a mine, which blew a 15-meter by 4-meter hole in her hull and broke her keel, flooding the center and aft boiler rooms. Torpedo boat T33 towed her some distance before emergency repairs restored enough power for her to sail to Rostock, Germany for repairs. On 2 May, she parted with her anti-aircraft weaponry and some of her sailors in the Warnemünde area to bolster local defenses. On the following day, 3 May 1945, she was scuttled at Kiel, Germany to prevent Allied capture.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Dec 2020
Destroyer Z43 Interactive Map
Z43 Operational Timeline
17 Feb 1941 | The order for destroyer Z43 was issued. |
1 May 1942 | The keel of Z43 was laid down by the DeSchiMAG shipyard in Bremen, Germany. |
22 Sep 1943 | Z43 was launched by the DeSchiMAG shipyard in Bremen, Germany. |
24 May 1944 | Z43 was commissioned into service with Fregattenkapitän Carl Heinrich Lampe in command. |
20 Nov 1944 | Admiral Scheer, Prinz Eugen, Z35, Z36, and Z43 began shelling Soviet positions during the evacuation of the Sõrve (German: Sworbe) peninsula on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (German: Ösel). |
24 Nov 1944 | Admiral Scheer, Prinz Eugen, Z35, Z36, and Z43 completed shelling Soviet positions during the evacuation of the Sõrve (German: Sworbe) peninsula on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (German: Ösel). |
11 Dec 1944 | After sundown, German destroyers Z35, Z36, and Z43 and torpedo boat T28 began laying a new minefield off the Estonian coast, planning to deploy 68 mines each. Torpedo boat T23 provided escort for the group. |
27 Feb 1945 | Z43 escorted ocean liner SS Hamburg to Sassnitz on the Jasmund peninsula on Rügen Island, Germany. |
7 Mar 1945 | Z43 escorted heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Lützow from Danzig Bay to Swinemünde, Germany (now Świnoujście, Poland). |
11 Mar 1945 | Z43 began shelling Soviet positions near Kolberg, Germany (now Kołobrzeg, Poland). |
18 Mar 1945 | Z43 completed the shelling Soviet positions near Kolberg, Germany (now Kołobrzeg, Poland) as German forces completed the city's evacuation. |
27 Mar 1945 | Heavy cruiser Lützow, destroyer Z43, and other German ships began shelling Soviet positions on the coast of the Danzig Bay. |
7 Apr 1945 | Heavy cruiser Lützow, destroyer Z43, and other German ships completed the shelling Soviet positions on the coast of the Danzig Bay. |
9 Apr 1945 | Z43 was struck by a Soviet bomb, but it failed to detonate. |
10 Apr 1945 | Z43 struck a mine, which blew a 15-meter by 4-meter hole in her hull and broke her keel, flooding the center and aft boiler rooms. Torpedo boat T33 towed her some distance before emergency repairs restored enough power for her to sail to Rostock, Germany for repairs. |
2 May 1945 | Z43 provided gunfire support in the Warnemünde area of Rostock, Germany, while unloading her anti-aircraft weaponry to local troops. Before departing for Kiel, Germany, she also provided some of her sailors to act as naval infantry. |
3 May 1945 | Z43 was scuttled at Kiel, Germany to prevent Allied capture. |
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General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte, 17 Oct 1944
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