Post
by EwenS » 28 Nov 2021 14:09
I've delved into the deeper recesses of my library. Z23-31 were all completed with a single 5.9" mount forward. Z32 was the first (completed Sept 1942) to get the twin followed by Z33,34,37,38 & Z39 in 1943. Then from the beginning of 1943 all the early completions, except Z26 which had been lost in March 1942, were refitted with the twin turret. Z31 was probably the earliest to undergo the refit from Jan 1943. But those refits took the rest of the war with Z29 only beginning her turret refit in Dec 1944 and was still incomplete in May 1945.
So the destroyer on the right can't be either Z33 or Z34. But the photo, which looks to have been taken in Norway, could have been taken at almost any time between from Spring 1943 to the end of 1944.