The Type 1934 destroyers, also known as the Z1 class or Leberecht Maass class after the lead ship, were a group of four destroyers built for the German Navy during the mid-1930s, shortly before the beginning of World War II. The ships were engaged in training for most of the period between their commissioning and the outbreak of war, although they did participate in the occupation of Memel in Lithuania, in early 1939. Z3 Max Schultz collided with and sank a German torpedo boat shortly before the war began on 1 September 1939. All four ships were named after German officers who had been killed in World War I.
Z4 Richard Beitzen, 1937
German destroyer Z3 Max Schultz
Z3 Max Schultz was one of four Type 1934 destroyers built for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during the mid-1930s. Completed in 1937, two years before the start of World War II, the ship spent most of her time training although she did participate in the occupation of Memel in early 1939. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, the ship accidentally rammed and sank a German torpedo boat. Z3 Max Schultz spent the following month under repair. In mid-February 1940, while proceeding into the North Sea to search for British fishing trawlers, one of her sisters, Z1 Leberecht Maass, was bombed and sunk by a patrolling German bomber, with loss of 280 of her crew. While trying to rescue survivors, Z3 Max Schultz was either bombed by a patrolling German bomber, or struck a British mine and sunk, with the loss of all 308 of her crew. A contemporary German court of inquiry stated that Z3 Max Schultz was damaged by the German bomber, however postwar research revealed that Z3 Max Schultz may have hit a mine instead.
Z3 Max Schultz in port