Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer, ZH 1 (1942)

Suggestions Naval
1
Would you like to see ZH 1 ingame?
  • Yes.
  • No.
0 voters
In what refit would you like to see ZH 1 ingame?
  • As launched / 1942 (5 x 120mm, 4 x 37mm, 4 x 20mm, 8 x torpedoes)
  • As commisioned / 1943 (5 x 120mm, 4 x 37mm, 10 x 20mm, 8 x torpedoes, depth charges and mines)
  • 1944 refit (5 x 120mm, 16 x 20mm, 8 x torpedoes, depth charges and mines)
  • I said “No” in the first question.
0 voters

Today I’m going to suggest a destroyer of the Dutch Gerard Callenburgh-class, which was then captured and modified by the Germans and put into their service.

This is the ZH 1 (1942)

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An illustration of ZH 1 and 2 destroyers
Source: “Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815 - 1945, Band 2” book, by Erich Gröner

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Ignore the red boxes that have been drawn on, this is the highest quality photo I could find of ZH 1 from this angle, all other versions of this photo are very low quality
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WarshipPorn/comments/1cb8r5t/german_destroyer_in_drydock_ca_1936_typ_z1934/

History

Spoiler

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HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh getting raised by the Germans on the 14th of July 1940
Source: Foto's

The story of the ZH 1 starts in the Netherlands. Here from 1938 till 1940 four new destroyers were under construction for the Netherlands Navy. These were of the new Gerard Callenburgh-class, and the two ships of this class that are important to us here is the HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh and HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes.

On the 10th of May 1940 Germany would invade the Netherlands, and HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh and HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes were not finished yet. HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh did have her main guns fitted, but they were not able to be operated yet.

Not wanting the Germans to capture the ships, the Dutch crews working on the destroyers decided to scuttle them. This was done on the 15th of May.

By the time the Germans had taken over the Netherlands they decided to raise HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh and HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes. The Germans planned to repair the ships and put them in service as the ZH 1 and ZH 2, ZH meaning Zerstörer Holland (Destroyer Holland). HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh was raised on the 14th of July 1940. However when they raised the HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes in June 1942 the damage done to the ship was considered way to much for repair, and so she was scrapped.

HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh would be towed back to her original dockyard where she was being constructed for the Dutch Navy, but now ofcourse under German command. After inspecting the ship the Germans actually found that she was better then most German destroyers in service. The state of the ship was good enough for repairs to be made.

However due to mismanagement and last minute changes the repair of the ship did not go very smoothly. The design for the ship was changed slightly, the biggest change was the redesigned bridge, masts and smoke funnels. When these redesigns were finally submitted and repairs and rebuilding could begin, the German command also demanded that the ship be ready on the 31st of August 1942. This was a very strict deadline so the workers were forced to work very long days to get it done.

The deadline was not reached, instead a month later on the 5th of October the ship was given to the German command and now had the name ZH 1. After some initial tests the ship was send over to the Blohm & Voss shipyard for some final changes.

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Two photos of what is most likely ZH 1 in dry dock at Blohm & Voss, 1942
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WarshipPorn/comments/1cb8r5t/german_destroyer_in_drydock_ca_1936_typ_z1934/

In June of 1943 the ship was put into service and became a part of the Zerstörerflottille (Destroyer Flotilla). The other destroyers in her squadron were the Z 23, Z24, Z27, Z32 and Z 37. She would continue to have quite an uneventfull carreer during 1943 and early 1944. But when the Allied landings at Normandy happends on the 6th of June ZH 1 together with Z 24, Z 32 and the torpedo boat T 24, would be send to Brest, France, to begin operations against the allied invasion fleet.

Once the four ships set out from Brest to Cherbourg on the night of 8/9th of June, the four ships were intercepted by eight Allied destroyers of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla. ZH 1 would be fired upon by the British destroyer HMS Ashanti and HMS Tartar. The shots fired by the allied destroyers managed to severly hurt the ZH 1, and she would lose all her power in the process.

No wanting to go down without a fight, ZH 1 continued to fight, now having to fire her guns in manual mode due to the lack of electricity onboard the ship. She would end up getting hit by a torpedo which destroyer her entire stern. Her situation now hopeless, it was ordered to abandon ship.

Three officers and thirty-six crewmen were killed during the battle, and the ship was blown up by charges set by the crew to sink the ship.

Design

Spoiler

ZH 1 was originally the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Gerard Callenburgh. She was 106,3 metres long, had a beam of 10,3 metres and a draft of 3,2 metres. The displacement of the ship after the Germans had rebuilt her was around 1.900 tons standard displacement, and somewhere around 2.500 tons at full. She was planned to have a crew of 180 men, but this number might be higher in German service. The ship was able to reach 36 knots on paper, but during a high speed tests the Germans did with ZH 1, they say that they reached an amazing speed of 42 knots.

The main weaponry of the ship was five 12cm guns. These gun were made in the Netherlands by “Wilton-Fijenoord”, and were already fitted to the ship when the Germans raised her out of the water for repairs. Four of these guns were mounted in two twin turrets, and the last gun was in a single gun turret. The layout of the guns was a single twin turret at the front and rear, and the final single gun turret superfiring over the rear twin turret.
The guns had a firerate of 10 rounds per minute.

The secondairy guns consisted of four 3,7 cm SK C/30 guns in two Dopp LC/30 twin turrets. One mount was put in a superfiring position over the front 12cm turret, and the other was put on a platform behind the rear smoke funnel.

Furthermore ZH 1 was armed with four 2 cm autocannons, most likely the C/38 onces. These were put in four single mounts. There were two next to the bridge and the other two were next to the rear smoke funnel.

The ship also had two quad 533mm torpedo tube launchers. These were mounted behind the smoke funnels, with the rear 3,7cm turret being placed in between the two launchers. The torpedoes used are most likely the German G7a torpedoes.

Finally sources say the ship had four depth charge throwers onboard, and mine rails with room for up to 24 mines.

When the ship went into proper service in 1943 her secondairy armaments had been changed. But here we run into a problem where sources say different things.

Here are the two possible options:
Going of from illustrations and models we see that the ship had been given two extra 3,7 cm SK C/30 guns in two Dopp LC/30 twin turrets, which now replaced the two 2 cm autocannons next to the smoke funnel. The illustration at the beginning of this suggestion shows us this.

Going of from books it is mentioned that the ship’s 2 cm weaponry had been expanded to ten autocannons. It’s not mentioned what exact mounts these were in, but my best quess is two quads and two singles. By again looking at the illustration at the beginning of this suggestion it’s likely that the two quad turrets were put next to the rear smoke funnel, and the two single 2 cm autocannons next to the bridge remained there.

In my opinion it’s best to stick to written source material, so in this case I believe the books are the more likely option.

Lastly we’ve got another mention of a refit in 1944 from Wikipedia. Here is what it says: “By this time (1944), ZH 1’s armament had already been increased to four quadruple 2 cm mounts.”

There is no other mention of secondairy weapons onboard of the ship. If this turns out to be true, and the ship did have just four quad 2 cm turrets onboard in 1944 then I think the 3,7 cm turrets must have been replaced with two quad 2 cm turrets by now.

Think about it, the 3,7 cm SK C/30 was a very outdated weapon by 1944, so it’s likely they were removed by now. Add on top of that that there is not a lot of room onboard ZH 1 for more quad turrets, I think it’s very likely that they have been replaced with quad turrets. As for the other two quad turrets I think this would be the same as the 1943 refit where these were next to the rear smoke funnel.

Ingame

Spoiler

ZH 1 would be a pretty cool premium destroyer in my opinion. The main guns on the ship are very similar to the German 12,8cm guns, and ZH 1 also has five main guns just like many other German destroyers.

If we believe that the German report that mentioned the top speed reached during testing is true, then ZH 1 can also be one of the fastest destroyers in the German techtree. That being 42 knots / 78 km/h / 48 mph!

The refit the ship should be added in should in my opinion be the 1943 one. It just adds more AA and would make the ship just that little bit more powerfull.

Specifications

Spoiler

Standard Displacement: ~1.900 tons
Full Displacement: ~2.500 tons
Length: 106,3 m
Beam: 10,3 m
Draft: 3,2 m
Installed powerplant: 2 x Werkspoor-Parsons steamturbines, 3 x Yarrow boilers (45.000 hp)
Propulsion: 2 x shafts, three bladed propellors
Maximum speed: 36 knots [1]
Crew: ~180 men

Armament: (As launched, 1942)
2 x 2 12 cm No. 8 guns
1 x 1 12 cm No. 6 guns
2 x 2 3,7 cm SK C/30 guns (In Dopp LC/30 twin mounts)
4 x 1 2 cm C/38 autocannons
2 x 4 533mm Torpedo tubes (G7a torpedoes) [2]

As commisioned, 1943:
2 x 2 12 cm No. 8 guns
1 x 1 12 cm No. 6 guns
2 x 2 3,7 cm SK C/30 guns (In Dopp LC/30 twin mounts)
10 x 2 cm C/38 autocannons [3] <------------------------------- Eight more then 1942
2 x 4 533mm Torpedo tubes (G7a torpedoes) [2]
4 x Depth charge throwers
24 x Naval mines

Possible 1944 refit: So far only seen it mentioned on Wikipedia [4]
2 x 2 12 cm No. 8 guns
1 x 1 12 cm No. 6 guns
3,7 cm SK C/30 guns most likely removed
4 x 4 2 cm C/38 autocannons <----------------------------------- Six more then 1943
2 x 4 533mm Torpedo tubes (G7a torpedoes) [2]
4 x Depth charge throwers
24 x Naval mines

[1]: According to German sources the ship achieved a top speed of 42 knots during a high speed test.
[2]: Specific torpedo models are not stated by sources, the G7a is simply the most likely option.
[3]: The books don’t specify the exact mounts, my best quess is two quad mounts next to the rear smoke funnel, and two single mounts next to the bridge.
[4]: As mentioned I’ve only seen this mentioned by Wikipedia, so I don’t have much to go with. Wikipedia only mentions that the guns had been increased to four quad 20mm turrets. Looking at the ships design there is not a lot of room for these, so I suspect that the older 3,7 cm SK C/30 guns have been replaced with 2 cm quad mounts, and that the other two quad mounts are next to the rear smoke funnel.

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ZH 1
Source: Foto's

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this amazing machine.

See you on the battlefield!

Sources

Spoiler

Main sources:

Secondairy sources:

2 Likes
2

All the configurations would be nice to flesh out the lineup +1

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ZH1 in the German tree, Sweers to France.
if we really want a Callenburgh flying a Dutch flag, we could always go with the (unfinished) Almonde as she was designed

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Given that the 1944 refit is essentially guesswork, the best choice IMO is the 1942 layout. A lot of people are quick to dismiss those single-shot 37mm guns, but they cover a nice mid-range gap in the air defenses and can make short work of torpedo boats, especially when in the dual mount, enhancing their rate of fire. +1

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5

I like Beuteschiffe, the more the better since the germans have way less ships then the other nations.
Where did you get your informations about the AA armament ? Especially the refit ones ? Cause with the Barbara project it the Kriegsmarine wanted more 37mm/40mm guns on their ships instead of the 20mm. That makes the 1944 refit seem odd cause it only has 20mm.

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Sources regarding those late war refits are pretty much non-existend, so it’s litterally just me trying to piece together what little information there is. The 1942 and 1943 refits are mentioned more commonly in books and what not, but the 1944 one has only popped up on wikipedia from what I could find.

I explained my way of thinking in the Design catergory:

1 Like