Z31 was a German Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer, which was completed in 1942 and served with the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. She was constructed in Germany as part of Plan Z, and commissioned April 11th, 1942. She spent much of the war in Arctic and Norwegian waters, taking part in the Battle of the Barents Sea on December 31st, 1942. She survived the war, and was passed on to the French Navy as a war prize, serving under the name Marceau until 1958.

On June 28th, 1939, orders for nine destroyers (Z31-Z39) of the new Type 1938B class were placed by Germany, with a further three destroyers of the class being ordered in July. They were ordered as a part of Plan Z, which was a German naval rearmament plan, involving building ten battleships, four aircraft carriers, twelve battlecruisers, three pocket battleships, five heavy cruisers, forty-four light cruisers, sixty-eight destroyers, and 249 submarines. These ships were to be split into two battle fleets: a "Home Fleet", to tie down the British war fleet in the North Sea, and a "Raiding Fleet", to wage war upon British convoys. The Type 1938B were relatively small destroyers compared with the preceding Type 1936 and 1936A ships, to be armed with four 127mm (5 in) guns in two twin turrets, and designed for long range. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, however, orders for the Type 1938B destroyers were cancelled, with a reversion to a slightly modified version of the previous Type 1936A class, the Type 1936A (Mob) class. On September 19th, 1939, four destroyers (Z31-Z34) were re-ordered from the Deschimag consortium to be built at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen on that day, with a further three ships (Z37-Z39) ordered from the Germaniawerft yard. Z31 was laid down on 1 September 1940 (with the yard number 1001), launched on May 15th, 1941, and commissioned on April 11th, 1942.

Z31 was 127 metres (416 ft 8 in) long overall and 121.9 metres (399 ft 11 in) at the waterline, with a beam of 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) and a draught of 3.92-4.62 metres (12 ft 10 in-15 ft 2 in) depending on displacement. Displacement was 2,645 tonnes (2,603 long tons) standard and 3,655 tonnes (3,597 long tons) full load. The ship's machinery consisted of six Wagner boilers feeding high-pressure superheated steam (at 70 atm (1,029 psi; 7,093 kPa) to two sets of Wagner geared steam turbines. The ship's rated power was 70,000 shaft horsepower (52,000 kW), giving a speed of 38.5 knots (71.3 km/h; 44.3 mph), while its range was 2,239 nautical miles (4,147 km; 2,577 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). The ship had a complement of 321 officers and ratings.

The design main armament for the Type 1936A (Mob) class was, like the Type 1936A class on which it was based, five 15 cm (5.9in) TbtsK C/36 naval guns, with one twin turret forward and three single mounts aft. Development of the twin turret was slow however, and Z31 (like all the Type 1936A class), was completed with an additional single 15 cm gun replacing the unavailable twin turret, giving a total of four 15 cm guns. The forward gun was replaced by the intended twin turret in 1944, but the twin turret was replaced by a single 10.5 cm (4.1in) SK L/45 naval gun after the twin turret was wrecked in battle in January 1945. The ship's anti-aircraft armament consisted of two twin 3.7 cm SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns (later replaced by automatic Flak M42 guns) and nine 2 cm cannon in one quadruple and five single mounts. A second quadruple 20 mm mount was fitted forward of the ship's bridge in 1943, replacing one of the single mounts, while additional 3.7 cm guns were fitted in 1945, giving a final anti-aircraft armament in German service of fourteen 3.7 cm and twelve 2 cm guns. Eight 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes in two quadruple mounts were fitted, and up to 60 mines could be carried.

Shown here is a 1:1250 scale replica of the famed German Type 1936A destroyer Z31 . Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Length: 7-1/2-inches

Release Date: December 2020