 Sister shipZ21 Wilhelm Heidkamp underway, about 1939 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | Hermann Künne |
| Namesake | Hermann Künne |
| Ordered | 6 January 1936 |
| Builder | AG Weser (Deschimag),Bremen |
| Yard number | W921 |
| Laid down | 5 October 1936 |
| Launched | 22 December 1937 |
| Commissioned | 12 January 1939 |
| Fate | Scuttled, 13 April 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type 1936 destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 125.1 m (410 ft 5 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 2,050 nmi (3,800 km; 2,360 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 323 |
| Armament |
|
Z19 Hermann Künne was one of sixType 1936 destroyers built for theKriegsmarine (German Navy) in the late 1930s. Completed at the beginning of 1939, the ship spent most of her time training although she did participate in theoccupation of Memel a few months later. At the beginning ofWorld War II in September, she was initially deployed to layminefields off the German coast, but was soon transferred to theSkagerrak where she inspected neutral shipping for contraband goods. In late 1939,Z18 Hans Lüdemann helped to laid four offensiveminefields off the English coast that claimed two British destroyers and thirty-eight merchant ships.
Duringthe German invasion of Norway in April 1940, she was tasked to attackNarvik and participated in both theFirst andSecond Naval Battles of Narvik.Z19 Hermann Künne was disabled during the first battle, but was repaired in time to fight in the second battle until she had exhausted her ammunition. Afterwards the ship had to bescuttled to prevent her capture.
Z19 Hermann Künne had anoverall length of 125.1 meters (410 ft 5 in) and was 120 meters (393 ft 8 in)long at the waterline. The ship had abeam of 11.8 meters (38 ft 9 in), and a maximumdraft of 4.5 meters (14 ft 9 in). She displaced 2,411 long tons (2,450 t) atstandard load and 3,415 long tons (3,470 t) atdeep load. The two Wagner gearedsteam turbine sets, each driving onepropeller shaft, were designed to produce 70,000 PS (51,000 kW; 69,000 shp) using steam provided by six Wagnerboilers for a designed speed of 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[1] DuringZ19 Hermann Künne'ssea trials on 21–22 March 1939, she reached 39 knots (72.2 km/h; 44.9 mph) from 72,100 PS (53,000 kW; 71,100 shp).[2] The ship carried a maximum of 739 metric tons (727 long tons) offuel oil which gave a range of 2,050nautical miles (3,800 km; 2,360 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Her crew consisted of 10 officers and 313 sailors.[1]
The ship carried five12.7-centimeter (5 in) SK C/34 guns in single mounts withgun shields, two eachsuperimposed, fore and aft of thesuperstructure. The fifth mount was positioned on top of the rear deckhouse. The guns were numbered from 1 to 5 from front to rear. Heranti-aircraft armament consisted of four3.7-centimeter (1.5 in) SK C/30 guns in two twin mounts abreast the rearfunnel and six2-centimeter (0.8 in) C/30 guns in single mounts. The ship carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in)torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts.[1] Two reloads were provided for each mount. She had fourdepth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60mines.[3] 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passivehydrophones were fitted to detectsubmarines and an activesonar system was installed by the end of 1939.[4]
Z19 Hermann Künne was named after a sailor from thetorpedo boatS-53 who was killed in hand-to-hand combat on the mole of Zeebrugge during theZeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918.
The ship was ordered fromAG Weser (Deschimag) on 6 January 1936. She waslaid down at Deschimag'sBremen shipyard asyard number W921 on 5 October,launched on 22 December 1937, andcommissioned on 12 January 1939. From 23 to 24 March, the ship was one of the destroyers that escortedAdolf Hitler aboard theheavy cruiserDeutschland to occupy Memel. On 30 June,Z19 Hermann Künne and her sisterZ18 Hans Lüdemann were making port visits in Norway when the former accidentally rammed thepier atMoldefjord after herrudder failed. She returned toSwinemünde on 20 July and participated in torpedo training the following month.[5]
When World War II began in September,Z19 Hermann Künne was initially deployed in theGerman Bight where she laid defensive minefields. The ship then patrolled the Skagerrak to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods.[6] On the night of 17/18 October,Rear Admiral (Konteradmiral)Günther Lütjens, aboard hisflagshipZ21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, ledZ16 Friedrich Eckoldt,Z17 Diether von Roeder,Z18 Hans Lüdemann,Z19 Hermann Künne, andZ20 Karl Galster as they laid aminefield off the mouth of theRiver Humber. The British were unaware of the minefield's existence and lost seven ships totaling 25,825 gross register tons (GRT). Missions on the nights of 8/9 and 10/11 November had to be aborted because of seawater contamination inZ19 Hermann Künne's fuel. On the night of 12/13 NovemberZ21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, now the flagship of the Commander of Destroyers (Führer der Zerstörer),Kapitän zur See (Captain)Friedrich Bonte, escortedZ18 Hans Lüdemann,Z19 Hermann Künne, andZ20 Karl Galster as they laid 288magnetic mines in theThames estuary. Once again unaware of the minefield's existence, the British lost the destroyerBlanche and thirteen merchant ships of 48,728 GRT.[7]
Less than a week later,Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp,Z19 Hermann Künne, andZ11 Bernd von Arnim laid 180 magnetic mines in the Thames Estuary on the night of 17/18 November. The mines sank the destroyerGipsy, afishing trawler, and seven ships of 27,565 GRT. On the night of 12/13 December, German destroyerssortied to lay minefields off the British coast. Under the command of Commodore (Kommodore) Bonte in his flagshipZ19 Hermann Künne,Z4 Richard Beitzen,Z8 Bruno Heinemann,Z14 Friedrich Ihn andZ15 Erich Steinbrinck laid 240 mines off the mouth of theRiver Tyne, where the navigation lights were still lit. The British lost eleven ships totaling 18,979 GRT. En route home, the destroyers were ordered to escort the crippledlight cruisersLeipzig andNürnberg which had been torpedoed by the submarineHMS Salmon while covering the destroyers' withdrawal.Z19 Hermann Künne was scheduled for another minelaying mission on 17 December, but boiler contamination prevented her participation and she was refitting inStettin until 14 March 1940[8]
Z19 Hermann Künne was allocated to Group 1 for the Norwegian portion ofOperation Weserübung in April 1940. The group's task was to transport the 139th Mountain Infantry Regiment (139. Gebirgsjäger Regiment) and the headquarters of the3rd Mountain Division (3. Gebirgs-Division) to seizeNarvik. The ships began loading troops on 6 April and set sail the next day.[9] When they arrived off theOfotfjord on the morning of 9 April,Z19 Hermann Künne landed her troops at the head of theHerjangsfjord and helped to capture theNorwegian Armybarracks atElvegårdsmoen. Later that day she briefly refuelled from the whalefactory shipSS Jan Wellem and then stoodpicket duty until midnight when she returned toJan Wellem to top off her fuel tanks.[10]
Shortly after dawn on 10 April, the ship was still tied up toJan Wellem when the five destroyers of the British2nd Destroyer Flotilla,Hardy,Havock,Hunter,Hotspur, andHero appeared.Hardy,Hunter andHavock made the first attack on Narvik harbor while the other two acted asrearguards.Z19 Hermann Künne exchanged fire withHunter to no effect while preparing to back away from the whaler. By the timeHavock opened fire, the German ship was underway, having cast off hoses and mooring lines. When the British destroyer hit and sankZ22 Anton Schmitt with a torpedo,Z19 Hermann Künne was only 40 meters (44 yd) away and the shock from the detonation knocked out her turbines. Without power, the ship drifted into the wreck and became entangled with it. Some of her crew panicked and jumped overboard, but only a few were rescued. After about an hour, she was able to restore power and disentangle herself fromZ22 Anton Schmitt's wreck.Z19 Hermann Künne had suffered from splinter damage that killed nine crewmen. Later that afternoon she sailed to the wreck of Hardy where it hadrun aground and searched it.[11]
On the night of 12/13 April,Commander (Fregattenkapitän)Erich Bey, the senior surviving German officer, received word to expect an attack the following day by Britishcapital ships escorted by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier aircraft. ThebattleshipWarspite and nine destroyers duly appeared on 13 April, although earlier than Bey had expected, and caught the Germans out of position.Z19 Hermann Künne, leadingZ13 Erich Koellner westwards to take up her position flanking the entrance to the fjord, was the first ship to spot the approaching British ships and alerted Bey. The other operable destroyers joinedZ19 Hermann Künne as she fell back and engaged the British ships at long range from behind asmoke screen. Nine Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers attacked the German destroyers, near-missingZ19 Hermann Künne and another ship, but lost two aircraft shot down during the attack. By the early afternoon, the Germans had exhausted most of their ammunition and Bey ordered his ships to retreat to theRombaksfjorden (the easternmost branch of the Ofotfjord), east of Narvik, where they might attempt to ambush any pursuing British destroyers.Lieutenant Commander (Korvettenkapitän) Friedrich Kothe,captain of the ship, misunderstood the signal and headed north into the Herjangsfjord where he run the ship aground in Trollvika nearBjerkvik. She had fired off all of her ammunition, including practice andstar shells; her depth charges were rigged for demolition and they were set off once the crew had abandoned ship. The destroyersEskimo andForester followed the German ship into the Herjangsfjord and the former put a torpedo into the wreck for good measure, breaking off her stern.[12]
The ship was partially scrapped and the remains further demolished after World War II. It rests on its starboard side between 0 m (0 ft) and 37 m (121 ft) depth. In a 1999 survey, the wreck was found to contain no remainingoil.[13] The wreck location is relatively easy to access, and wreck diving is permitted.
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1940 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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68°31′25″N17°25′25″E / 68.52361°N 17.42361°E /68.52361; 17.42361
