German destroyer Z3 Max Schultz The German destroyer Z3 " Max Schultz " was a Type 1934 destroyer built for the German " Kriegsmarine " in the mid - 1930s . She was named after Max Schultz who commanded the torpedo boat V69 and was killed in action in January 1917 . Shortly before the beginning of World War II , the ship accidentally rammed and sank a German torpedo boat . " Max Schultz " spent the following month under repair . In mid - February 1940 , while proceeding into the North Sea to search for British fishing trawlers , one of her sisters , Z1 " Leberecht Maass " , was bombed and sunk by a patrolling German bomber . While trying to rescue survivors , " Max Schultz " struck a British mine and sank with all hands . Design and description . " Max Schultz " had an overall length of and was long at the waterline . The ship had a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard load and at deep load . The Wagner geared steam turbines were designed to produce which would propel the ship at . Steam was provided to the turbines by six high - pressure Wagner boilers with superheater s . " Max Schultz " carried a maximum of of fuel oil which was intended to give a range of at , but the ship 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 at . The ship carried five 12 . 7 cm SK C / 34 guns in single mounts with gun shield s , two each superimposed , fore and aft . The fifth gun was carried on top of the rear deckhouse . Her 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 ship carried eight above - water torpedo tube s 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 or four patterns of 16 charges each . Mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines . A system of passive hydrophone s designated as ' GHG ' ( " Gruppenhorchgerät " ) was fitted to detect submarine s . The crew numbered 10 officers and 315 men , plus an additional four officers and 19 enlisted men if serving as a flotilla flagship . Service history . The ship was ordered on 7 July 1934 and laid down at Deutsche Werke , Kiel , on 2 January 1935 as yard number K244 . She was launched on 30 November 1935 and completed on 8 April 1937 . Korvettenkapitän Martin Balzer was appointed as her first captain . " Max Schultz " was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Division on 26 October 1937 and made a port visit to Ulvik , Norway in April 1938 , together with her sisters Z2 " Georg Thiele " and Z4 " Richard Beitzen " . Upon her return she was taken in hand by Deutsche Werke to have her bow rebuilt to reduce the amount of water that came over the bow in head seas . This increased her length by . The ship participated in the August Fleet Review and the following fleet exercise . In December , " Max Schultz " , together with her sisters " Leberecht Maass " , " Georg Thiele " , and " Richard Beitzen " , sailed to the area of Iceland to evaluate their seaworthiness in a North Atlantic winter with their new bows . On 23 – 24 March 1939 , the ship was one of the destroyers that escorted Adolf Hitler aboard the pocket battleship to occupy Memel . She participated in the Spring fleet exercise in the western Mediterranean , as the flagship of Rear Admiral Günther Lütjens , and made several visits to Spanish and Moroccan ports in April and May . Days before the outbreak of World War II , in the early morning hours of 27 August 1939 , the destroyer accidentally collided with and sank the torpedo boat " Tiger " near Bornholm . Two men were killed and six were wounded aboard the torpedo boat , while no one was injured aboard " Max Schultz " . The latter ' s bow was severely damaged and she had to be towed , stern - first , by Z2 " Georg Thiele " . Two tugboats arrived a half - hour later and took over the tow to Swinemünde at a speed of . " Max Schultz " was under repair until late September and did not participate in the Polish Campaign . She patrolled the Skagerrak to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods during October . While returning from one such patrol on 28 October , one of the ship ' s turbines exploded , causing boiler room No . 1 to flood and knocking out the ship ' s power . Attempts to tow her failed , but the ship eventually managed to restore power and she sailed to Kiel for repairs . " Max Schultz " , " Beitzen " and laid 110 magnetic mines in the Shipwash area , off Harwich , on 9 / 10 February 1940 that sank six ships of and damaged another . On 22 February , " Max Schultz " and five other destroyers , Z1 " Leberecht Maass " , Z4 " Richard Beitzen " , , and , sailed for the Dogger Bank to intercept British fishing vessels in " Operation Wikinger " . En route , the flotilla was erroneously attacked by a Heinkel He 111 bomber from Bomber Wing " ( Kampfgeschwader ) " 26 . " Leberecht Maass " was hit by at least one bomb , lost steering , and broke in half , sinking with the loss of 280 of her crew . During the rescue effort , " Max Schultz " hit a mine and sank with the loss of her entire crew of 308 . Hitler ordered a Court of Inquiry to be convened to investigate the cause of the losses and it concluded that both ships that been sunk by bombs from the He 111 . The Kriegsmarine had failed to notify its destroyers that the Luftwaffe was making anti - shipping patrols at that time and had also failed to inform the Luftwaffe that its destroyers would be at sea . Postwar evidence revealed that one or both ships struck a British minefield laid by the destroyers and .