Z30 was ordered from
AG Weser (
Deschimag) on 23 April 1938. The ship was
laid down at Deschimag's
Bremen shipyard as yard number W964 on 14 January 1940,
launched on 12 August, and
commissioned on 15 November 1941. While
working up she accidentally collided with the on 14 January 1942. Beginning on 18 March, she escorted the
heavy cruiser from
Brunsbüttel, Germany, to
Trondheim, Norway, and then accompanied the heavy cruiser from Trondheim to
Narvik.
Z30 took part in the preliminaries of
Operation Rösselsprung, an attempt to intercept
Convoy PQ 17 in July.
Admiral Scheer and her sister
Lützow formed one group in Narvik with
Z30 and four of her sisters while the battleship and
Admiral Hipper composed another. While en route to the rendezvous at the
Altafjord,
Lützow and three destroyers of
Tirpitzs escort
ran aground, forcing the entire group to abandon the operation. On 5–8 September
Z30, her sister , and the destroyer laid a minefield in the
Kara Strait between the island of
Novaya Zemlya and
Vaygach Island. Later that month, she participated in
Operation Zarin, a minelaying mission off the coast of Novaya Zemlya from 24 to 28 September, together with
Admiral Hipper, and her sisters , , and
Z29. On 13–15 October,
Z30, her sister ,
Z4 Richard Beitzen and the destroyer laid a minefield off the
Kanin Peninsula at the mouth of the
White Sea that sank the . Three weeks later, the same four destroyers escorted
Admiral Hipper as she attempted to intercept Allied merchant ships proceeding independently to Soviet ports in early November. They intercepted and sank the westbound Soviet
oil tanker Donbass and the
submarine chaser BO-78 on the 7th. On 30 December,
Lützow and
Admiral Hipper, escorted by six destroyers, including
Z30, left Narvik for
Operation Regenbogen, an attack on
Convoy JW 51B, which was reported by German intelligence to be lightly escorted.
Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral)
Oskar Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take
Admiral Hipper and three destroyers north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts.
Lützow,
Z30 and the destroyers and would then attack the undefended convoy from the south. The Germans failed to press home their attack, only briefly engaging the convoy and damaging one merchantman.
Z30 was one of the escorts for the
light cruiser and the damaged
Admiral Hipper on 24 January 1943 as they began their voyage to
Kiel, Germany, where the destroyer began a refit. She returned to Norwegian waters after her refit and conducted several minelaying missions between 19 and 28 June together with
Z27. The ship took part in
Operation Zitronella, the German raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September where she was hit by
coastal artillery and slightly damaged.
Z30 was one of the escorts for the battleship during
Operation Ostfront on 25 December, an attempt to intercept the British
Convoy JW 55B that was bound for the
Soviet Union. All of the battleship's escorts were detached the following day to increase the likelihood of intercepting the convoy and did not participate in the ensuing
Battle of North Cape. The ship was transferred to southern Norway in 1944 and escorted convoys and laid minefields from 8 May. She began a refit at
Swinemünde, Germany, on 31 August and conducted operations in the western
Baltic and
Skaggerak when it was completed. While escorting a convoy on 20 October,
Z30 struck a mine off
Oslofjord that crippled her. The explosion destroyed her stern compartment, knocked out the port turbine, jammed the starboard propeller shaft and caused extensive shock damage throughout the ship. Towed to
Oslo, Norway, for repairs, they were not yet complete when Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945 and she was
decommissioned six days later.
Z30 was turned over to the
Royal Norwegian Navy for maintenance purposes on 15 July while the Allies decided how to divide the surviving ships of the
Kriegsmarine amongst themselves as
war reparations. The ship was allotted to the British in late 1945 and was towed to
Rosyth,
Scotland, on 6 February 1946. She was effectively unusable without extensive – and expensive – repairs so she was condemned to be used for evaluating the effects of underwater explosions on her hull.
Z30 was towed to
Loch Striven where the tests were conducted between May and September 1948. Three charges of
torpex were detonated below her hull at various depths. Despite some damage to her
hull plating, her welded hull was not significantly damaged during the tests. The ship was sold for scrap on 9 September and towed to their facility at
Dalmuir to be demolished. ==Notes==