page_title: German destroyer Z22 Anton Schmitt
section_title: Norwegian Campaign
hierarchical_section_title: German destroyer Z22 Anton Schmitt / Construction and career / Norwegian Campaign
caption_attribution_description: A map of the Ofotfjord.
context_page_description: Z22 Anton Schmitt was one of six Type 1936 destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s. Completed after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, she helped to lay an offensive minefield off the English coast that claimed one small ship. During the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the ship was tasked to attack Narvik and was sunk during the First Naval Battle of Narvik on 10 April.
context_section_description: Z22 Anton Schmitt was allocated to Group 1 for the Norwegian portion of Operation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's task was to transport the 139th Mountain Infantry Regiment (139. Gebirgsjäger Regiment) and the headquarters of the 3rd Mountain Division (3. Gebirgs-Division) to seize Narvik. The ships began loading troops on 6 April and set sail the next day. When they arrived off the Ofotfjord on the morning of 9 April, Z22 Anton Schmitt and her sister Z18 Hans Lüdemann landed their troops at the Ramnes narrows to search for the coastal artillery positions that the Germans mistakenly believed to command the mouth of the fjord. Z17 Diether von Roeder remained offshore to provide support if necessary and to serve as a picket ship in case the British intended to interfere with the operation. About 11:00 the troops were ordered to reboard their destroyers which proceeded to Narvik. Z22 Anton Schmitt had picket duty the following night and then sailed into Narvik harbor.
  Shortly after dawn on 10 April, the five destroyers of the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, Hardy, Havock, Hunter, Hotspur, and Hostile appeared, totally surprising the Germans. Hunter hit Z22 Anton Schmitt with a single 4.7-inch (120 mm) shell and with a torpedo in the forward engine room. And then Havock hit the listing ship with another torpedo that broke her in half, killing or wounding over 50 crewmen. The survivors joined the other survivors ashore in an ad-hoc naval infantry unit.
caption: A map of the Ofotfjord
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