Destroyer Z14 Friedrich Ihn

History

30 May 35: Laid down at Blohm und Voss, Hamburg

05 Nov 36: Launched

06 Apr 38: Completed

01 Sep 39: Attached to the Reconnaissance Force (Viceadmiral Densch).(light cruisers Nurnberg (FS) Leipzig, Koln, destroyers (KonteradmiralLutjens) Z1 (FS) Z2, Z4, Z8, Z9, Z10, Z11, Z14, Z15, Z16, 6xS-Boats,21xMS, 5xEscorts and 10xUB). Excessive for the task of containing thePolish naval units in home waters (destroyer Wicher, ML Gryf and 5xSSwith smaller auxiliaries.) this force was broken up and assigned othermissions after the war’s first day.

03-20 Sep 39: Z14 deployed to the North Sea with forces collected to laythe West Wall mine barrage. Ships involved in one or more operationsincluded Nurnberg, Leipzig, Koln, Konigsbeg and Emden; the 1st DD FLOT(Z2, Z4, Z14, Z15, Z16) 2nd DD FLOT (Z1, Z6, Z7, Z8), 4th DD FLOT (Z10,Z11, Z12) 5th DD DIV (Z17, Z18, Z19 and Z20, 5th TB FLOT (Greif, Mowe,Albatros, Kondor, Falke) and the 6th TB FLOT (Leopard, Seeadler, Ilis,Wolf and Luchs) along with 3xML Z14 with 2xML laid two barrages with348 and 404 mines on 08 Sep.

28-30 Sep 39: Z14 with Z10, Z15 and 4xTB conducted mercantile warfare inthe Skagerrak and Kattegat, stopping and inspecting 45 vessels

07-10 Oct 39: Z14 participated in a major sortie off the southern coastof Norway designed to entice the British fleet into anaircraft/submarine trap and to relive pressure on the two”pocket-battleships” raiding in the Atlantic. The squadron includedGneisenau (FS Admiral Boehm), Koln and twelve destroyers (Z3, Z4, Z6,Z11, Z12, Z14, Z15, Z16, Z17, Z19, Z20, Z21). They sailed from theBlight and were not sighted until 1320 (London Time) on the 8th offLister Light, fifty miles west of Kristiansand. In response, threemajor British squadrons, the battlecruiser force, (2xBC, 2xCL and 4xDD)the light cruiser force 3xCL) and the Home Fleet 2xBB, 1xCV, 1xCL and8xDD) sailed to intercept and prevent the Germans from breaking out intothe Atlantic (which the British assumed was the German intention). TheGermans continued north until night when they reversed course. NeitherBomber Command nor any of the British warships managed to make contactwith the Germans; however, large scale German air attacks by 127 He111sand 21 Ju88s were also without results. The German squadron returned toKiel early on the 10th.

22-24 Oct 39: Z14 with Z3, Z10, Z11, Z12 and Z15, conducted ananti-shipping patrol in the Skaggerak.

27-29 Oct 39: Z14 with Z3, Z10, Z11, Z15 and Z20 attempted ananti-shipping patrol in the Skaggerak, but the mission was canceled dueto bad weather. Some of the units involved suffered weather damage.

13-15 Nov 39: Z14 with Z8, Z15, and Z16 conducted an anti-shippingpatrol in the Skagerrak.

24-25 Nov 39: Z14 conducted mercantile warfare in the Skagerrak withLutzow (FS Commander Reconnaissance Forces Vice-Adm Densch), Koln,Leipzig, Z8, Z11, Z15, Z20, and the TBs Leopard, Seeadler, Iltis andWolf.

27-28 Nov 39: Z14 conducted an anti-mercantile sweep off the southerncoast of Norway with Z3, Z10, Z11, Z15 and. Z20. Heavy weather forcedabortion of the operation and Z3 suffered serious damage while returningto port.

12-13 Dec 39: Z14 with Z19 (FS Commodore Bonte) Z15, Z4 and Z8 laid amine barrage off Newcastle sinking 11 ships of 18,979 tons. Nurnberg,Leipzig and Koln sortied to meet this force upon its return and suffereda submarine attack that severely damaged Nurnberg and Leipzig. Thedestroyer force was attacked in error by German aircraft shortly beforenoon, when they were still approximately 200 km away from the cruisers.They received word of the attack 40 minutes later and were ordered tothe scene; however Z14 and Z15 had to return to Wilhelmshaven insteadbecause of machinery breakdowns and fuel contamination problems.

18 Dec 39: The 1st DD FLOT (Z7, Z14 and Z16) attempted a minelayingoperation off the Thames Estuary, but the mission was aborted becausethe British had extinguished all navigational lights and the Germanswere not able to fix their position with sufficient accuracy to laymines.

06-07 Jan 40: Z14 with Z16 (FS Cdr. Berger) and Z15, supported by Z4, Z7and Z20 laid 170 magnetic mines off the Thames Estuary. This barragesank the destroyer Grenville and 6 merchant ships of 21,617 tons.

10-11 Jan 40: Z14 with Z21 (FS Commodore Bonte) Z4, Z16, Z20 and Z22laid a mine barrage off Newcastle that sank one trawler of 251 tons.Z14 sukffered machinery problems that reduced her speed to 27kts. Shewas detached from the force with Z4 as escort and sent home early.

Feb-May 40: Z14 was assigned to dock for refit.

May 40: Z14 completed refit and began extensive work-ups inthe Baltic, despite the shortage of destroyers pertaining in the KMS.

Jul 40: Z14 deployed from the Baltic to Trondheim.

25-28 Jul 40: Gneisenau had sortied on 20 Jul to cover the damagedScharnhorst’s return to Germany. On 20 Jul Gneisenau was torpedoed inher turn. After temporary repairs, she sailed from Trondheim escortedby with Nurnberg (FS Read Adm Schmunmdt), Z5, Z10, Z14, Z20 and the TBsLuchs, Iltis, Kondor, Jagukar and T5. The force arrived in Kiel on 28Jul, although Luchs was sunk in passage by the British submarineSwordfish.

09 Sep 40: Z14 with Z10 (FS, Kapitan zur See Bey), Z6, and Z20 departedWilhelmshaven to provide escort for a large group of minelayers beingdeployed to French ports in anticipation of the invasion of England.All arrived safely in Cherbourg on 11 Sep after undergoing an attack byRAF Blenheims on the morning of the 11th.

18 Sep 40: Z14 and the other ships of her flotilla experienced a largeRAF raid on Cherbourg.

19-20 Sep 40: Bey’s force with flagship Z10 , Z6, Z14, Z16 and Z20sortied from Cherbourg on an offensive patrol into the English Channel,but poor weather caused him to abort the mission. The flotilla thentransferred to Brest.

28/29 Sep 40: The Channel destroyer forces conducted an offensive miningoperation in Falmouth Bay. Z6 and Z16 escorted the destroyers carryingmines: Z5, Z10 (FS), Z14, Z15 and Z20. This field accounted for fivesmall ships of 2,037 tons.

17 Oct 40: Bey sortied from Brest with Z10 (FS), Z6, Z14, Z15 and Z20on an offensive sweep into the SW approaches of the English Channel.He was surprised at 1700, 40 miles south, southwest of the Scillies byBritish cruisers Newcastle and Emerald with destroyers Jackal, Jupiter,Kashmir, Kelvin, and Kipling. The first notice of the British presencewas five shells, fired at extreme range, splashing astern of Z10. TheGermans turned toward Brest while the British gave chase. The rangeclosed from 30,000m to 16,000m by 1800: and 6″ shells were bracketingthe German ships. The British were able to close range so effectivelybecause Z15 was experiencing boiler problems and the need to takeevasive action prevented the German destroyers from steering a straightcourse. To force the British to do some defensive maneuveringthemselves, Z10 and Z20 each fired three torpedoes dead astern while Z15turned to port and fired four more from 14,500m. The Newcastle’sspotter aircraft advised her ship of the torpedoes and at 1841 thecruiser turned to comb them. At 1901 Newcastle was bombed by a Do 17.The splashes from the bombs and the smoke from the antiaircraft fire ledthe Germans to believe they had hit Newcastle with a torpedo. Thisattack did succeed in opening the range and by 1921 the British hadabandoned the chase.

Oct 40: Z14 suffered the lost of both her gunnery and torpedo officersto drafts for the U-Boat service and was left also most non-operationalas a result.

05-08 Nov 40: Z14 with Z5, Z6, Z15 and Z16 transferred from Brest toWilhelmshaven. Z14 enters dock at Oderwerke, Stettin, for refit andrepairs.

Late Jan 41: Z14 completed refit. However, icing caused by severewinter weather prevented her from leaving Swinemunde.

Feb 41: Z14 was stationed in Danzig where she was fittedwith and thentested the S-Gerat submarine detecting apparatus.

05 Apr 41: Z15 (FS KapZ See Berger) Z8 and Z14 sailed from Germanythrough the English Channel for the Bay of Biscay. Z14 suffered twonear misses from a British air attack on 06 Apr while in passage throughthe channel.

22-24 Apr 41: The raider Thor was escorted from the Bay of Biscay toCherbourg by Z8, Z14, and Z15.

17-22 May 41: Supply Ship Nordland was escorted from the Bay of Biscayto Le Harve by Z8, Z14, and Z15.

Late May 41: The tanker Ermland was escorted into port from the Bay ofBiscay by Z8, Z14, and Z15.

Early Jun 41: Prinz Eugen was met by Z8, Z14 and Z15 and escorted intoBrest.

16 Jul 41: German destroyer forces France are augmented by the arrivalof Z23 and Z24. With Z8, Z14 and Z15 they provide the screen forScharnhorst.

27 Jul 41: Z14 departed Brest for German and refit. Five British MTBsattacked her while in transit through the Channel, but the British forcesuffered more from their own efforts via a near collision and a nearmiss from a friendly torpedo then did Z14, although Z14’s defensive firewas also without result.

Late Jul 41: Z14 entered the Oderwerke yard at Stettin for refit.

11 Feb 42: Participated in the Cerberus (Channel Dash) operation as partof the escort for Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Prinz Eugen. Total forcesinvolved included Z29 (FS Rear-Adm Bey) Z4, Z5, Z7, Z14 and Z25 fromBrest; the 2nd TB FLOT (T2, T4, T5, T11, T12 from Le Harve), the 3rd TBFLOT (T13, T15, T16, T17 from Dunkirk), the 5th TB FLOT (Seeadler,Falke, Kondor, Iltis and Jaguar from Cape Gris Nez)

12 Feb 42: Formed the rear guard of the German force (along with Z7).When the force was attacked by 5xMTBs and 2xMGBs from Dover, Z14followed by Z7 was tasked with driving them away. The British lightunits fired their torpedoes first; Z14 avoided one torpedo before shewas able to open fire at 1343 from about 6,000m. Her fire wasineffective, in part because of her maneuvering as she continued toevade British torpedoes. Moreover, British shore batteries opened fire,landing salvos within 400m of Z14. Z14 turned away only four minutesafter she had opened fire. Her failure to sink any of the British boatsduring this action was criticized by Berger, her Flotilla commander.Six British Swordfish attacked just as the MTB action ended. Z14 shotdown two of the attackers. 1443: Opened fire at another group of MTBs,again with Z7. The British were quickly driven off and Z14 was able tosuspend fire at 1449.

21 Feb 42: Z4, Z5, Z7, Z14 and Z25 sailed from the Elbe as escort forPrinz Eugen and Scheer during their transfer to Norway. Heavy seas andgale force winds made the passage difficult for the destroyers,particularly Z7 which suffered rolls of up to 35°. The force wasunsuccessfully bombed by two British planes on the morning of the22nd. During this day, as the weather deteriorated, Z4, Z5 and Z14lost contact with the cruisers and had to turn back to Bergen. On the23rd the British submarine Trident torpedoed Prinz Eugen, helped in thisattack by the reduction in the escorting force.

Feb 42: Arrived Trondheim. Stationed in Trondheim as a part of theescort for Tirpitz and Scheer along with Z4, Z5, Z7 and Z25.

06 Mar 42: Z5, Z7, Z14 Z25, T5 and T12 sortied with Tirpitz to attackthe Murmansk bound convoy PQ.12. Z5, T5 and T12 were detached andordered back to Narvik that evening. The remaining destroyers and thebattleship searched for PQ.12 the next morning as weather conditionsdeteriorated. Z14 experienced several problems during thisexpedition. On the 6th, problems in her #2 boiler temporally reducedher speed to 21knots. On the 7th she suffered storm damage thatprevented #1 gun from being trained. The three destroyers and Tirpitzsearched separately, but failed to locate the convoy that was their maintarget, probably fortunately (escort and covering force collectivelyconsisted of 2xBB, 1xBC, 1xCV, 1xCA, 1xCL, and 12xDD).

07 Mar 42: At 1615 hours Z25 sighted a Soviet freighter straggling fromPQ.8. Z14 intercepted and ordered her to heave to and maintain radiosilence. Instead, the Russian, Ijora 2,815grt, manned her single gunand radioed a distress call. Z14 replied with 43 rounds of 127mm and 82rounds of 37mm. Ijora was set on fire, but owing to her cargo oftimber, she did not sink. Both Z14 and Z7 fired torpedoes at theRussian and both missed; Z14’s torpedo, in fact, reversed course andjust missed her source by only ten meters. Finally, Z7 and Z14 teamedup to sink her with their main batteries. After this incident, Z14 wasshort of fuel. She was detached to Harstad where she topped off.

09 Mar 42: Z14 rejoined Tirpitz. By this time she was the only destroyerescorting the battleship in her continuingly fruitless search forBritish convoys. That morning the two ships were attacked by fivetorpedo armed Albacores. Z14 shot down one of the attackers. Both sheand Tirpitz were undamaged and had, by noon, returned to Vestfjord.

02 Jul 42: Z14 sailed from Trondheim with Tirpitz, Hipper, Z6 Z10, Z20,T7 and T15 to rendezvous at Altenfjord with forces coming from Narvik(Lutzow, Scheer, Z4, Z24, Z27, Z28, Z29, Z30) The ultimate objectivewas to launch an attack on British convoy PQ.17. However, Lutzow, Z10,Z20 and Z6 all ran around; although a powerful surface striking forceremained, and sailed on 05 Jul, aerial and submarine attacks renderedtheir contribution redundant. However, it was the threat of thisforce’s forces intervention which caused the British convoy to scatter -indirectly resulting in one of the greatest convoy disasters suffered bythe Allies during the war.

12 Jul 42: Z20 escorted by Z14 and Z24 departed Trondheim bound forKiel. The force arrived 14 Jul after an uneventful voyage.

Jul-Dec 42: Refit.

09-12 Jan 43: Z5, Z14 and Z24 escorted Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen fromthe Baltic. The objective was to transfer the heavy units to Norway,but Ultra intercepts provided the British with advance warning of themove. The German squadron turned back west of the Skagerrak. The largeships returned to the Baltic while the destroyers went to Aarhus.

15-19 Jan 43: Z5, Z14, Z20, Z24 and Z25 searched in the North Sea forNorwegian blockade runners. The mission was unsuccessful, as wereBritish efforts to intercept the squadron.06-12 Mar 43: Coming from the Baltic Scharnhorst escorted by Z28, metZ5, Z14 and Z15 with Greif, Jaguar, T16, T20 and T21 off SW Norway.The force proceeded north through severe gales which damaged most of theunits involved. Z14 and the torpedo boats were forced to port atBergen.

Apr 43: Z14 was stationed in the Arctic with Z10, Z5, Z6, Z15 and Z20.The force saw little action.

23 Sep 43: Lutzow departed Altafjord escorted by Z5, Z14, Z15, Z27 andlater, off SW Norway by Z38. She reached Gotenhafen without incident on01 Oct.

Nov 43: Z14 was ordered back to Germany for refit.

Jun 44: Z14 returned to service.

Aug 44: Z14 with Z4 assisted in the transfer of the Anti-SubmarineTraning School to Norway from the eastern Baltic, ferrying personnel andescorting U-Boats.

03-06 Aug 44: Z6, Z14 , Z20 with 2xML, 3xMS and 1xMDS laid two minebarrages in the Skagerrak.

19-20 Sep 44: Emden, ML Kaiser and Z4, Z6, Z14, Z20 laid Klaudius minebarrage in the Skagerrak.

01-02 Oct 44: Emden, ML Kaiser and Z4, Z6, Z14, Z20 laid Kaligula minebarrage in the Skagerrak.

05-06 Oct 44: Emden, ML Kaiser and Z4, Z14, Z20, Z30 laid Vespasianmine barrage in the Skagerrak.

20 Oct 44: Z14 attempted to tow Z30 after she struck a mine at theentrance to Oslofjord.

Nov 44: Z14 had her AA armament augmented during a brief refit atSwinemunde.

Dec 44: Z14, Z4, Z6 and Z20 were stationed at Horten in SouthernNorway. Only Z14 and Z20 were completely operational.

13-14 Jan 45: Nurnberg, ML Linz with Z6 and Z14, T19, T20 and 7xMTBslaid the mine barrage Titus I in the North Sea. Several British airattacks are repulsed. Z14 was near missed, but suffered no damage.

16-17 Feb 45: Z14, 3xML, T17 and T20 were assigned to lay the Titus IImine barrage, but the attempt was called off.

05 May 45: Z14 with a force including Z6, Z10, Z25, T17, T19, T23, T28,T35 and four smaller warships embarked 45,000 refugees from Hela.Soviet torpedo boat sortied from Kolberg against the German force, butthey are repelled. The force proceeded to Copenhagen where therefugees were disembarked.

After the war Z14 was awarded to the Soviet Union; because of boilerdefects, her transfer was slightly delayed. Her fate under Sovietcontrol is not clear. She was likely cannibalized for spares.

Commanders