German destroyer Z28

Z28, September 1941
History
Nazi Germany
NameZ28
Ordered23 April 1938
BuilderAG Weser (Deschimag), Bremen
Yard numberW962
Laid down30 November 1939
Launched20 August 1940
Completed9 August 1941
FateSunk by air attack, 6 March 1945
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeType 1936A destroyer
Displacement
Length127 m (416 ft 8 in) (o/a)
Beam12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Draft4.65 m (15 ft 3 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbine sets
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement332
Armament
Service record
Commanders:

Z28 was one of fifteen Type 1936A destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine (Germany Navy) during World War II. Built as a flotilla leader with fewer guns than her sister ships, she was completed in 1941. The ship spent most of the first few years of her service in Norwegian waters, escorting convoys and laying minefields. Z28 ran aground in early 1943 and spent the rest of the year under repair. The ship briefly returned to Norway at the beginning of 1944, but was transferred to the Baltic shortly afterwards to support minelaying operations in the Gulf of Finland. That was her primary focus through July and then she began escorting German cruisers as they bombarded Soviet troops ashore in addition to German convoys evacuating people from Finland and the Baltic States.

Z28 also bombarded Soviet positions herself on multiple occasions until she was damaged by bombs during one such mission in October. Her repairs took until February 1945 and, not long afterwards, she was sunk in port by British bombers on 6 March with heavy loss of life.