Den tyske jageren Bruno Heinemann sank på trettito meters dyp utenfor byen Oostende etter å ha truffet to miner den 25. Januar 1942. Bruno Heinemann forsvant i dypet på kun få minutter, og 325 mann av besetningen omkom i denne ulykken. Bruno Heinemann gjorde tjeneste i Østersjøen under invasjonen av Polen i 1939, men ble i begynnelsen av 1940 overført til Nordsjøen og deltok i operasjon Weserübung, invasjonen av Norge, i april 1940. Senere tok Bruno Heinemann del i operasjoner under tyskernes invasjon av Sovjetunionen i 1941, men ble senere tatt ut av tjeneste og sendt til reparasjon i Tyskland. Året 1942 ble jageren øverført til 5. Zerstörerflotte i Frankrike, og under transit dit gikk jageren på to miner og sank. Vraket hviler idag på starbord side, og skriget er delt i to deler. Den mindre baugseksjonen kan lokaliseres ca. åtti meter fra resten av vraket, og også deler av broen er kollapset. Det er også mye ammunisjon og dybdebomber rundt vraket ...

The German destroyer Bruno Heinemann sank on thirty two meters depth outside the city of Oostende after having struck two mines on 25. January 1942. Bruno Heinemann disappeared in the deep in only a few minutes, and 325 men of the crew pershed in this accident. Bruno Heinemann did service in  the Baltic Sea under the invasion of Poland in 1939 but was in the beginning of 1940 transferred to the North Sea and participated in operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway, in April 1940. Later Bruno Heinemann took part in operations under the German invasion of Sovjet Union in 1941, but was later taken out of service and sent to do repairs in Germany. The year 1942 the destroyer was transferred to 5. Zerstörerflotte in France, and in transit there the destroyer hit two mines and sank. The wreck rest today on her starbord side, and whe hull is parted in two pieces. The smaller bowsection is located approx. eighty meters from the rest of the wreck, and also parts of the bridge has collapsed. There are also a lot of ammunition and depth charges around the wreck...

 

Name:
Former names:
 Material:
Dimensions:
Bruno Heinemann
  
Steel
119,0x 11,3x 4,23 m.
       
Brt \ Nrt: Built: Homeport: Cargo:
3110 \ Bremen ( D ) 1936 ( D )  

 

N 51 16,182 E 02 17,058
Picture: © Thanks to Pandora for the suplementary information and the picture.

 

History provided by German Kriegsmarine Encyclopedia;
The destroyer was named after Bruno Heineman, the first officer on the German battleship König who died defending the flag during the mutiny fleet mutiny at Scapa Flow in 1918. Bruno Heinemann was part of the 6st destroyer division at the outbreak of the war, operating in the Baltic Sea near Danzig and later transferred to the North Sea after the Polish campaign. The ship took part in two mining operations in British coastal waters. During in Operation Weserübung, invasion of Norway, Z8 Bruno Heinemann was part of the Kriegsschiffgruppe 2 heading for Trondheim.
After the German attack on the Soviet Union, the 6th destroyer division transferred to Arctic, stationed in Kirkenes until October 1941. After repairs in Germany, the destroyer was send to France as part of the 5th destroyer division to take part in Operation Cerberus in February of 1942. On transit to france, the ship sunk by a mine hit on 25.01.1942 west of Ostend.

The destroyers of the "Zerstörer 1934A" class were the first four destroyers build in Germany after World War I. Based on the same design principals as the torpedo boats, those ships showed some serious problems after completion, which was partly caused by the fast naval construction programs after 1933. They were very bad seagoing ships, like most other German vessels they took over a high amount of water during heavy seas, making their forward artillery unusable. Further they showed a structural weakness since the hull started to bend in heavy seas and were burdened with heavy vibrations produced by the engines. Their high pressure turbine engines caused many problems during operations, which were limited by the short range of those ships. The idea was to equip the ships with the newly designed high pressure turbines because this system seemed to have several advantages about normal turbine systems - at least on the paper. Test installations on land were very promising, but when installed on board on the destroyers, the engines rooms got very crowded making maintenance very difficult. Like all other German destroyers, they were all equipped for mine laying which was intensively used during the first months of the war. Most ships of this class did not survive the second year of the war, two of them were even sunk by own bombers, but in their few operational months, they did some successful mining operations near the British coast.

Laid down: Deschimag Bremen, 14.01.1936
Launched: 15.09.1936
Commissioned: 08.01.1938
Costs: 12,7 Mio Reichsmark

Shafts: 2
Turbines: 2
Type: Wagner Geared Turbines
Performance
Total Performance: 72100 shp
Speed: 36,4 knots.
Range: 2040 sm at 19 knots.

Weapons
12,7 cm L/45 C/34 (5"): 5
3,7 cm L/83 C/30: 4
2 cm MG L/65 C/30: 4
53,3 cm Torpedo tubes: 8
Mines: 60
Depth Charge launcher: 4
Engines
Shafts: 2
Turbines: 2
Type: Wagner (Deschimag build)
Performance
Total Performane: 70000 shp
Speed: 38,7 kn
Range: 1825 miles at 19 kn

Edited 29.06.2007