German destroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen The German destroyer Z4 " Richard Beitzen " was a Type 1934 destroyer in the German " Kriegsmarine " , named after Richard Beitzen who commanded the 14th Torpedo boat flotilla in World War I and was killed in action in March 1918 . She was launched on 30 November 1935 at " Deutsche Werke " in Kiel and entered service on 13 May 1937 . The ship displaced 3 , 156 tons , had a length of and a beam of , and could steam at 38 . 2 knots . The armament comprised five 12 . 7 cm guns in single turrets , four 3 . 7 cm anti - aircraft guns , six 2 cm anti - aircraft guns , and eight 53 . 3 cm torpedo tube s . The crew numbered about 325 . The ship was the last in a class of four , the others were , and . Of those , only Z4 survived the war . Z3 was sunk alongside Z1 on 22 February 1940 while Z2 was scuttled on 13 April 1940 at Narvik . Service history . The destroyer " Leberecht Maass " was the first destroyer to be built in Germany since the First World War . " Richard Beitzen " was laid down two and a half months after Z1 and commissioned 28 months later . The ships of this type suffered from a number of problems . They took on large amounts of water during high seas , making the forward guns unusable , had structural weaknesses , and severe vibration caused by the engines . A new turbine system installed in the ships initially proved promising but soon disappointed and caused them to be limited to a short range , this being one of the two decisive factors against the ships during the battles of Narvik , the other being the ships ' limited ammunition storage capacity . At the outbreak of war in September 1939 , the ship carried out operations in Danzig Bay , along with the cruisers , , and . In December 1939 , the ship was part of a mine laying operation against Newcastle upon Tyne , again accompanying these three cruisers , during which " Nürnberg " and " Köln " were hit by torpedoes from the British submarine . The destroyer continued to participate in mine laying operations against the British coast . In early 1940 , the ship was part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla in the North Sea . On 22 February 1940 , " Richard Beitzen " and five other destroyers , Z3 " Max Schultz " , Z1 " Leberecht Maass " , , and , sailed for the Dogger Bank to intercept British fishing vessels in " Operation Wikinger " . En route , the flotilla was erroneously attacked by a " Luftwaffe " bomber from the " X . Fliegerkorps " . " Leberecht Maass " was hit by one bomb , lost steering and strayed into a British minefield where she hit a mine and broke in half , sinking with the loss of 282 of her crew . During the rescue effort , Z3 " Max Schultz " also hit a mine and sank with her entire crew . On 13 April 1940 , " Richard Beitzen " became the last remaining ship of her class of four when " Georg Thiele " was scuttled at Rombaksbotten , Narvik , after running aground and out of fuel and ammunition . After spending the first year of the war in the Baltic and the North Sea , " Richard Beitzen " was transferred to Brest , France , in October 1940 . During January 1941 , the ship was temporarily transferred to Rotterdam . Upon return to Brest , she took part in escorting the heavy cruiser on leaving and returning to port . Returning briefly to Germany in March 1941 she was then sent to Bergen , Norway in July 1941 . Transferred to Kirkenes after the outbreak of the war with the Soviet Union , the ship , as part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla , took part in operations against Soviet shipping . In August 1941 she suffered some damage from coastal artillery when operating in the area of the Kola Peninsula . In January 1942 , she served as an escort for the battleship on her way to the Trondheimsfjord . Shortly after , the ship was transferred to Germany again and then on to Le Havre . Based in France again , " Richard Beitzen " took part in " Operation Cerberus " , escorting , and from Brest to Germany . The ship returned to Norway once more to take part in the Battle of the Barents Sea on 31 December 1942 . After this , the ship was used for escort duties and patrols . On convoy duty , " Richard Beitzen " was damaged in a night air raid in March 1945 . The ship was captured by the British at Oslo , Norway , on 14 May 1945 . She was then transferred to Rosyth in February 1946 . The ship ' s last journey took her to Gateshead in January 1947 and she was scrapped in 1949 . Name and number . The destroyer , named after Richard Beitzen , carried the number Z4 , the Z standing for " Zerstörer " ( ) . All German destroyers from Z1 to carried names and numbers . From onwards , destroyers only carried numbers , no names . Commanding officers . Active Service