German destroyer Z31

On 28 June 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 19 September 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 15 May 1941 and commissioned on 11 April 1942. Z31 was long overall and at the waterline, with a beam of and a draught of depending on displacement. Displacement was standard and full load. The ship's machinery consisted of six Wagner boilers feeding high-pressure superheated steam (at and ) to two sets of Wagner geared steam turbines. The ship's rated power was , giving a speed of , while its range was at . The ship had a complement of 321 officers and ratings. The forward gun was replaced by the intended twin turret in 1944, 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. ==German service==

After commissioning, the ship underwent a lengthy work up process, which was common for German destroyers during the Second World War. Following Z31 being damaged in a collision with a schooner on 6 November 1941, she was transferred to an operational flotilla in Norwegian waters in December 1942. On 30 December 1942, Z31 left the Altafjord in northern Norway along with the heavy cruisers and Lützow and the destroyers Friedrich Eckoldt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, and on Operation Regenbogen, an attempt to attack the Arctic convoy JW 51B. The German force encountered the convoy on the morning of 31 December, and in poor visibility, engaged the convoy's escort in the Battle of the Barents Sea. Hipper sank the British destroyer and the minesweeper and damaged the destroyers and , while Lützow damaged the destroyer , but broke off the engagement after the British cruiser covering force of and damaged Hipper and sank Richard Beitzen. None of the 15 merchant ships in the convoy were damaged. On 5–6 February 1943, Z31, Theodor Riedel and the minelayer laid a minefield off Kildin Island, while on 10–11 March the two destroyers escorted Lützow from Kaafjord to Narvik. On 6 September 1943, Z31 set out from the Altafjord as part of a fleet consisting of the battleships and and nine destroyers on Operation Zitronella, a raid on Allied-controlled Spitzbergen. Z31 was hit eight times by shells from coastal artillery off Barentsburg on 8 September, with one man killed and a second wounded. In November, Z31 transferred to southern Norway, where she carried out patrol operations before laying defensive minefields in the entrance to the Skagerrak from 4–7 December. After that operation, Z31 began a refit at Wesermünde, which continued until August 1944, when she returned to Norway. She was damaged by strafing from British carrier-based fighters during an attack on Tirpitz in the Altafjord on 29 August. The destroyer continued escort and patrol duties for the rest of the year, On 25 January 1945, the German 4th Destroyer Flotilla, consisting of Z31, and set out from Tromsø for the Baltic. On 28 January, the three destroyers were intercepted by the British cruisers and in the Sognefjorden, north of Bergen. Z31 was hit seven times by the British ships, with her forward turret being wrecked and 55 men killed and a further 24 wounded. Z34 was also damaged. After escaping, Z31 put into Bergen for temporary repairs, with further work being carried out at Horten and Oslo before the ship reached the Baltic. From 22 March, Z31, working with Z34 and Lützow, shelled advancing Soviet troops near Gotenhafen in West Prussia (now Gdynia in Poland), while on 23 March she towed the hulk of the battleship to the entrance of Gotenhafen harbour, ready to be sunk as a blockship. (Gneisenau was scuttled on 27 March). On 27 March, a 15 cm shell accidentally exploded in one of Z31s guns, killing four and wounding 18. Nevertheless, Z31 continued to support evacuation of German troops and civilians from Gotenhafen and Hela, until the ship was damaged by Soviet bombs, and withdrew westwards with and Lützow on 8 April. Z31 was docked at Swinemünde (now Świnoujście) for repair on 10 April, and was damaged again by Soviet air attack when on passage to Kiel on 27 April. She reached Brunsbüttel on 30 April, and remained there until the end of the war on 8 May. ==French service==

Following the end of the war, Z31 was transferred to Great Britain. She was to be given to France as part of Germany's war reparations, thus, following testing in August 1945, she was passed on to France, being transferred to the French Navy at Cherbourg on 2 February 1946, and commissioned as Marceau on 1 April. She was stationed in Toulon, and served out of it for several years. She visited Oran, Dakar and Bizerte regularly during exercises with the French fleet. She went into reserve in 1953, and on 1 February 1954 was laid up as a hulk (Q103). She was stricken on 2 January 1958 and sold for scrap later that year, being broken up in the early 1960s. ==References==