 Sister ship Z29, 1945
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | Z23 |
| Ordered | 23 April 1938 |
| Builder | AG Weser (Deschimag), Bremen |
| Yard number | 957 |
| Laid down | 15 November 1938 |
| Launched | 15 December 1939 |
| Commissioned | 15 September 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 12 August 1944 |
| Fate | |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Type 1936A destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 127 m (416 ft 8 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 12 m (39 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 332 |
| Armament |
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Z23 was one of fifteen Type 1936A destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Completed in 1940, the ship spent the war in Norwegian and French waters, escorting German ships and occasionally engaging Allied warships. In early 1941 she escorted ships between the Baltic and southern Norway before spending four months protecting ships as they transited through the Bay of Biscay. A few months after the Operation Barbarossa began in June, Z23 was transferred to northern Norway where she attempted to intercept one of the Arctic convoys returning from the Soviet Union and helped to lay several minefields.
Transferred back to France in early 1943 where she resumed her former role of escorting ships through the Bay of Biscay, which were threatened by Allied aircraft and cruisers attempting to prevent Axis blockade runners from reaching port through the bay. One such mission resulted in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay at the end of the year, in which Z23 played a minor role. On 12 August, she was bombed by British heavy bombers and was declared a constructive total loss. The French salvaged her after the war and used her as a source of spare parts for the ex-German destroyers that they had in service. The ship was condemned in 1951 and later broken up.