Armament centered on 5 x 5" turreted primary guns in single-gunned mountings with two over the forecastle and the remaining three set towards the stern. These guns were new to the German Navy and not of Dual-Purpose (DP) nature as the proven 4.1" models may have been - but they put the warships on par with French offerings. 2 x 37mm guns in twin-gunned mountings and 6 x 20mm guns in single-gunned mountings provided Anti-Aircraft (AA) defense. The warship was outfitted with a pair of 21" quadruple torpedo launchers and could carry up to sixty naval mines and up to sixty-four depth charges (the latter launched through four throwers or six racks).
The arrival of the class marked a resurgence in German naval capabilities during the interwar period. However, the lull in design and construction of such ships meant that ship engineers lacked familiarity with practical modern methods and so the class was one of mixed technologies and practices, some of them largely untested in naval warfare. One of the issues with the design of this slim, long warship was its propensity to take on water at the bow, making for poor sea-keeping in rough sea states.
The first four of the group were completed to the Type 34 standard and the next sixteen were completed to the Type 34A standard with slight differences between. The related Type 36 ships were nearly 20 feet longer than the original models and this served to help resolve the poor sea-keeping trait of the earlier vessels - however this also reduced endurance some.
Leberecht Maass was one of the ships called by the Navy to shell Polish targets at Gdynia during the opening rounds of World War 2 (September 1939). Maass took a hit to her superstructure from coastal artillery during this entanglement and was forced to sail away for repairs the following day. She was not readied until September 10th and, from there, she was used to mine the North Sea in the hopes of containing the British Fleet. Before the end of the month, the warship was recalled for a refit.
On February 22nd, 1940, the vessel, and other accompanying German ships, was mistakenly attacked by German bombers resulting in Maass losing control of her steering facilities and ultimately sinking with 280 aboard. Other sources state, based on more recent evidence, that the warship may have fallen victim to British naval mines before the end.
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