Z23 (Destroyer)

The German destroyer **Z23** was the lead ship of Type 1936A class of “convoy destroyers”. She was not well noticed by history, however she played key roles in preludes of major events, notably escorting larger warships such as battleships and heavy cruisers in Norwegian and French waters and the Bay of Biscay. She would eventually fight one major battle, the Battle of the Bay of Biscay, where she was lost afterwards.

## Z23

A Type 1936A destroyer (either Z23 or her sisters), with Kapitän zur See Pönitz in the foreground.

## Service Record

### Wars

World War II* Battle of the Bay of Biscay

### Status

Scuttled, 21 August 1944
Scrapped, 1951

## General characteristics

### Displacement

2,645 tons (standard)
3,663 tons (deep load)

### Propulsion

6 water-tube boilers
2 shafts
2 geared steam turbine sets
69,000 shp

### Armament and equipment

1940:
4 x 1 150mm guns
2 x 4 533mm torpedo tubes
2 x 2 37mm AA guns
5 x 1 20mm AA guns
4 x depth charge launchers
60 mines

1942:
3 x 1 150mm guns
1 x 2 150mm guns
2 x 4 533mm torpedo tubes
2 x 2 37mm AA guns
5 x 1 20mm AA guns
2 x 4 20mm AA guns
4 x depth charge launchers
60 mines

## Performance

### Operational range

2,500 nmi (4,600km) at 19 knots (35 km/h)

## Design

The Type 1936A destroyers had similar hull and structural designs to their predecessors, the Type 1936 (Z17 class, which included Z20 Karl Galster), but slightly larger and had heavier armament. The “Z23 class” was most notable for their guns, having unusual caliber of 150mm- usually only found on light cruisers (the previous two classes had 12.7mm guns).

## History

Between March and June 1941, Z23 escorted key warships of the Kriegsmarine between the Baltic Sea and southern Norway. Among the known “schiffes” escorted were the battleship Bismarck, heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. On 12-13th June, Z23 was one of the destroyers which escorted the pocket battleship Lützow (previously Deutschland) which was about to break into the Atlantic, though the cruiser was torpedoed by aircraft while underway and had to return to Germany for repairs.

On 13th January 1942, Z23 and Z24 lays minefield while escorted by Z25 in the western channel of the White Sea, and a week later, on 20th January, Z23 accidentally rammed Z24 in heavy fog. Z24 returned to Wesermünde and Z23 sailed to Trondheim for repairs and a refit till August. On 23-24 October, Z23 escorted Tirpitz and Admiral Scheer before returning to Altafjord with light cruiser Nürnberg. Z23’s engine problems prevented her from taking part in Operation Regenbogen at the end of the year.

### The Battle of the Bay of Biscay

On 27th December 1943, the “8th Zerflo” and 6 torpedo boats of the 4th Torpedobootflottile set sail to rendezvous with blockade runner MV Alsterufer, which was already sunk by a British bomber. Later the Allies conducted Operation Stonewall to intercept German blockade runners and their escorts. There Z23 and the other German ships encountered British light cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise in The Battle of the Bay of Biscay. At the end of the confusion, the German fleet lost torpedo boats T26, T25 and destroyer Z27.

On 30th January 1944, Z23 carried out exercises in the south of the Bay of Biscay and towed Z32 to port when Z32 collided with Z37. Later in the year, she escorted U-boats throughout the bay. On 12th August, she was docked at La Pallice when 14 Lancaster bombers attacked her and heavily damaged her. She was deemed a constructive total loss, and on the 20th, she was decommissioned and scuttled the following day.

The French refloated the ship in 1945 to use her for spares. Z23 was ultimately scrapped in 1951.

## Trivia

* The ship was made famous by her appearance as a shipgirl in the anime mobile game Azur Lane, where Z23 was one of the starter ships in English and Chinese servers.
	+ The character was Suyukaz's oshi in the game and the real ship was his most favorite historical destroyers for this reason. He has done multiple fanarts of Azur Lane's Z23 since 2020.
* Z23 appears in World of Warships, albeit with inaccurate armament comprising of 128mm guns replacing her 150mm guns since the introduction of newer German destroyers in the game.