Also known as the Elbing class (From where they were built). The ships were rated as Fleet Torpedo Boats in the German Navy while they were in reality full destroyers when compared to the earlier classes. Armed with two of the new twin 5" dual purpose turrets, these gave the ships a very good anti-aircraft performance. Light anti-aircraft armaments grew during the war with space being found or made for ever more weapons.
With two sets of 21" torpedo tubes the complete package was a very successful destroyer type that was not changed in production as more of them were ordered year by year. There had been talk of a 4.1"-105mm/L70 version but the Admiralty left that gun to the Z-60 class. An export version had been built for Argentina (see ARA Cervantes) and other countries.
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The first eight units completed in 1936-37 had two triple 21" sets of torpedo tubes and the manual 37mm guns. The rest of the class had quadruple 21" torpedo tubes fitted and the manual 37mm were replaced with the new twin Bofors 37mm. From 1939 the proliferation of electronics sprouted all over the masts. Gunnery control radar assistance began being fitted in 1940 for both the 5" and 37mm, along with air search radar and sea search radar.
