Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!"
Admiral Farragut sailing aboard his flagship Hartford while entering Mobile
Bay, Alabama, August 23, 1864
Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp was one of six Type 1936 destroyers built for the
Kriegsmarine (German Navy) in the late 1930s. Completed a few months before the
start of World War II in September 1939, the ship served as a flagship
throughout her career. She briefly patrolled the Skagerrak where she inspected
neutral shipping for contraband goods. Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp later helped to
laid four offensive minefields off the English coast that claimed two British
destroyers, two fishing trawlers, and twenty-seven merchant ships. During the
German invasion of Norway in April 1940, she sank a Norwegian coastal defense
ship off Narvik and was crippled with the opening shots of the First Naval
Battle of Narvik on April 10th, with the loss of 81 crewmen. The ship sank the
following day.
Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp had an overall length of 125.10 meters (410 ft 5 in) and
was 120 meters (393 ft 8 in) long at the waterline. The ship had a beam of
11.80 meters (38 ft 9 in), and a maximum draft of 4.50 meters (14 ft 9 in). She
displaced 2,411 long tons (2,450 t) at standard load and 3,415 long tons (3,470
t) at deep load. The two Wagner geared steam turbine sets, each driving one
propeller shaft, were designed to produce 70,000 PS (51,000 kW; 69,000 shp)
using steam provided by six Wagner boilers for a designed speed of 36 knots (67
km/h; 41 mph). During Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp's sea trials, she reached 37 knots
68.5 km/h; 42.6 mph) from 69,950 PS (51,450 kW; 68,990 shp), but a full-speed
test was never conducted. The ship carried a maximum of 739 metric tons (727
long tons) of fuel oil which gave a range of 2,050 nautical miles (3,800 km;
2,360 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Her crew consisted of 10 officers and
313 sailors.
The ship carried five 12.7-centimeter (5.0 in) SK C/34 guns in single mounts
with gun shields, two each superimposed, fore and aft of the superstructure.
The fifth mount was positioned on top of the rear deck house. The guns were
numbered from 1 to 5 from front to rear. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted
of four 3.7-centimeter (1.5 in) SK C/30 guns in two twin mounts abreast the
rear funnel and six 2-centimeter (0.79 in) C/30 guns in single mounts. The ship
carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in two
power-operated mounts. Two reloads were provided for each mount. She had four
depth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had
a maximum capacity of 60 mines. 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerat) passive hydrophones
were fitted to detect submarines and an active sonar system was installed by
the end of 1939.
Shown here is a 1:1250 scale replica of the famed German Kriegsmarine
Leberecht Maass destroyer, Wilhelm Heidkamp. #DAKS45
Dimensions:
Length: 7-inches
Width: 1-inch
Features:
Fully assembled
Fully painted
Ready to display
Comes with German language magazine describing the warship in detail
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