Preceded by Type 1934 class Built 1935–1936 | Succeeded by Type 1936 class In commission 1937–1958 | |
Builders AG Weser, Bremen
Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel
Blohm & Voß, Hamburg Operators Kriegsmarine
French Navy
Soviet Navy
Royal Navy | ||
The Type 1934A-class destroyer consisted of a dozen ships laid down between July and November 1935. They were only slightly modified from the design of the preceding 1934 class and continued their predecessors' limited endurance and magazine capacity - factors which contributed to the heavy German losses at the Second Battle of Narvik. Five survived the war.
Design and description
The Type 1934A had an overall length of 119 meters (390 ft 5 in) and were 114 meters (374 ft) long at the waterline. They had a beam of 11.3 meters (37 ft 1 in), and a maximum draft of 4.23 meters (13 ft 11 in). They displaced 2,171–2,270 long tons (2,206–2,306 t) at standard load and 3,110–3,190 long tons (3,160–3,240 t) at deep load. The Wagner geared steam turbines were designed to produce 70,000 metric horsepower (51,485 kW; 69,042 shp) which would propel the ship at 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam was provided to the turbines by six Wagner or Benson boilers with superheaters. The Wagner boilers had a pressure of 70 kg/cm2 (6,865 kPa; 996 psi) and a working temperature of 460 °C (860 °F) while the Benson boilers used 110 kg/cm2 (10,787 kPa; 1,565 psi) at 510 °C (950 °F). The Type 1934A carried a maximum of 752 metric tons (740 long tons) of fuel oil which was intended to give a range of 4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), but the ships proved top-heavy in service and 30% of the fuel had to be retained as ballast low in the ship. The effective range proved to be only 1,825 nmi (3,380 km; 2,100 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
The Type 1934A-class ships carried five 12.7 cm SK C/34 guns in single mounts, protected by large gun shields, two each superimposed, fore and aft. The fifth gun was carried on top of the rear deckhouse. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of four 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns in two twin mounts abreast the rear funnel and six 2 cm C/30 guns in single mounts. The ships carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21 in) torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. Four depth charge throwers were mounted on the sides of the rear deckhouse and they were supplemented by six racks for individual depth charges on the sides of the stern. Enough depth charges were carried for either two-four patterns of 16 charges each. Mine rails were fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines.