World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseDestroyer Z43 was built by the DeSchiMAG shipyard in Bremen, Germany. Completed in Apr 1944, she was commissioned into service in the following month under the command of Fregattenkapitän Carl Heinrich Lampe. In Oct 1944, she was assigned to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. Between 20 and 24 Nov 1944, Z43 and the flotilla accompanied heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen to shell Soviet positions during the evacuation of the Sõrve (German: Sworbe) peninsula on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (German: Ösel). In mid-Dec 1944, she and the flotilla laid mines off the Estonian coast; during this action, she lost her sister ships Z35 and Z36 as they accidentally ventured into a German minefield 2.5 miles to the north. In Jan and early Feb 1945, Z43 escorted convoys between Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland) and Liepāja (German: Libau), Latvia. Later in that month, Z43 provided gunfire support for a German counterattack launched near Peyse and Groß-Heydekrug near Königsberg, Germany (now in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). In late Feb, she escorted ocean liner SS Hamburg to Sassnitz on the Jasmund peninsula on Rügen Island, Germany. In early Mar, she escorted heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Lützow from Danzig Bay to Swinemünde, Germany. Between 11 and 18 Mar 1945, she shelled Soviet positions near Kolberg, Germany (now Kołobrzeg, Poland) as German forces evacuated the city. Between 27 Mar and Apr 7 1945, she joined Lützow and other ships in the shelling of Soviet positions on the coast of Danzig Bay. On 10 Apr 1945, she struck a mine, which blew a 15-meter by 4-meter hole in her hull and broke her keel, flooding the center and aft boiler rooms. Torpedo boat T33 towed her some distance before emergency repairs restored enough power for her to sail to Rostock, Germany for repairs. On 2 May, she parted with her anti-aircraft weaponry and some of her sailors in the Warnemünde area to bolster local defenses. On the following day, 3 May 1945, she was scuttled at Kiel, Germany to prevent Allied capture.

Destroyer Z43 Interactive Map

Z43 Operational Timeline