- Yes
- No
- Tech Tree
- Event/Gift
- Premium
- Squadron
- I don’t want to see it added
Z23
Z25, at sea, sometime after 1942. Sister ship of Z23, representative of what Z23 would look like, as both were modernized to similar standards in 1942.
Background
Z23 was the first Type 1936A destroyer built for the Kriegsmarine. She was laid down on the 15th of November, 1938, launched the 15th December, 1939, and commissioned into the Navy on the 15th of September, 1940. She was the first destroyer to be launched during the Second World War for the Kriegsmarine, and thus, was not given a name; only an identification number.
The Type 1936As had been designed as improvements on the previous Type 1936s. It had been felt that the previous destroyers were lacking in firepower to take on the British Royal Navy, and so the new destroyers were to be fitted with higher caliber weapons, to hopefully mitigate this deficiency. The Type 1936As were to be fitted with five 15cm cannons, with three single mounts and one twin mount. Due to difficulties encountered with the twin mounts, single mounts used on all Type 1936A ships until ~1942, where the fore single mount would be swapped for a twin. They carried two quadruple torpedo launchers, with eight G7a torpedoes total.
The ships were divided into 16 watertight compartments, and were fitted with a double-bottom that was about half the length of the ship. They had two propeller shafts, power by six superheated boilers, for a design speed up to 36kts (67kph; 41mph).
Service
Most of Z23’s service during 1941 was as an escort between the Baltic and Southern Norway, notably being an escort for Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. She was also an escort for the ships Admiral Scheer and Lützow (Lützow was formerly known as Deutschland, renamed in 1940), and she later would escort Scharnhorst through the Bay of Biscay. The sisters Z23 and Z24 were assigned to the 8. Zerstörerflottile (8th Destroyer Flotilla) in Norway and arrived on station by the end of November, 1941. The sisters, with the addition of Z25 and Z27 sortied into the Barents Sea on the 16th of December, engaging two British minesweepers on the 17th, with adverse weather precluding accurate fire and allowing the two minesweepers to escape unharmed. Around a month later, on the 20th of January, Z23 was involved in a collision with Z24, forcing both to return to port for repairs; Z23’s repair and refit would not be finished until August. During this refit, she would be equipped with the bow twin 15cm turret.
Following the repairs and refit, she participated in Operation Zarin, laying mines with Admiral Hipper, Z28, Z29, and Z30, later escorting Tirpitz and Admiral Scheer to Trondheim. She then went with Admiral Scheer to Copenhagen, before returning with Nürnberg. She did not participate in Operation Regenbogen, and the subsequent Battle of the Barents Sea, due to engine issues.
Z23 would take part in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay, on December 28th, 1943. Unaware of the blockade runner that was to be escorted having been sunk the previous day, Z23, Z24, Z25, Z32 and Z37, along with 6 torpedo boats (read; small destroyers) had continued to their rendezvous until being informed of the sinking of the blockade runner in the afternoon. Bad weather made the destroyers hard to use, as the twin turret was so heavy that it caused the ships to have terrible seakeeping. The British cruisers Glasglow and Enterprise opened fire at 19.6km (21,400yd), and Z23 launched 6 torpedoes once the range had reduced to 17km (19,000yd). A hit to Z27’s engine room caused her to slow, Z23 attempted to help before being ordered away.
On the 12th of August, 1944, while at anchor, Z23 was attacked by fourteen Lancasters; one bomb punched through the ship’s forward boiler room and detonated beneath the ship, and another was a near miss. She was unable to use her pumps and so took on a heavy list before eventually sinking at harbor. Deemed a “constructive total loss,” she was decommissioned on August 20th, 1944, being refloated by the French Navy in 1945 to be used as spare parts, until being scrapped in 1951.
Specifications
1944
| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 3,663 tons |
| Length | 127m (416ft 8in) |
| Beam | 12m (39ft 4in) |
| Draft | 4.65m (15ft 3in) |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h) |
| Complement | 332 officers and enlisted |
| Sensors | |
|---|---|
| FuMO 21 or FuMO 24 | Surface Search and Gunnery |
| FuMO 63 | Surface Search and Gunnery |
| FuMB 3 | Passive Radar Warning |
| FuMB 6 | Passive Radar Warning |
| Weapon | Turret/Mount |
|---|---|
| 5 × 15cm(5.9")TbtsK C/36 | 1 × Twin, 3 x Single |
| 4 - ? × 37mm FlaK 43 | 2 x Twin, ? x Single |
| 12 × 20mm/65 FlaK 38 | 2 x Quad, 4 x Twin |
| 8 x 21" (533mm) G7a Torpedo | 2 x Quadruple |
| ? x WBG Depth Charge | 4 x Depth Charge Launcher |
| 60 x Mines | Rear-Deck Mine Rails |
Conclusion
Z23 would bring a Type 1936A to the tree. While technically being covered under the Type 1936A (Mob), Z32, it doesn’t feel right to be missing a Type 1936A; the Mobs and non-Mobs are technically only half-sisters. As well as that, this ship is the first of the class, meaning that in that sense, she is special. There is also the presence of the Z25 premium already, which makes missing a Type 1936A seem odd.
As an aside, I am not sure on if Z23 was fitted with increased anti-air armament similar to Z25 in the space of her amidships turret. She might have been, but from what I was able to find, she was not. If she was, or maybe even if she wasn’t, I think that the four-gun version with a twin forward and two singles aft would be the better version to add, as more of a parallel to Z25, and to not overstep onto Z32’s place.
I personally would like to see this added to the tech tree, since Z23 marks the beginning of wartime destroyers for the Kriegsmarine. As well as that, since the Type 1936A (Mob) is already present in the tree, but the very-similar Type 1936A is not. I would much prefer her added with the twin mount forward, instead of the as-built single mount, to give parlance with the Z25 premium, Z23’s sister ship.
If a single mount forward Type 1936A is to be added, I suggest the Z28, which had two singles forward and two singles aft.
Sources
Wikipedia - Z23
Wikipedia - Type 1936A Destroyer
War Thunder Wiki - Z25 - To get an idea of Z23 in game, and as reference for anti-air armament
Wehrmacht-History - Z23
Bismarck-class - Z23
navweaps - German WW2 Naval Radar