German destroyer Z29

A FuMO 63 Hohentwiel radar was installed in 1944–1945 in lieu of the aft searchlight. During her 1944–1945 refit, Z29 exchanged her single forward 15 cm gun for a 15 cm LC/38 twin-gun turret as used in her sister ships. This exacerbated the Type 36A's tendency to take water over the bow and reduced their speed to 32.8 knots (60.7 km/h; 37.7 mph).[1] No. 3 gun was also removed to make room for additional AA guns under the Barbara program. By the end of the war, her anti-aircraft suite consisted of two experimental 5.5-centimeter (2.2 in) Gerät 58 guns (probably), nine 3.7 cm guns in single and twin mounts and twenty 2 cm weapons in single, twin, and quadruple mounts. Most, if not all, of the 3.7 cm guns were to be the faster-firing Flak M42 model.[3][Note 1]

On 30 December, Lützow and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, escorted by six destroyers, including Z29, left Narvik for Operation Regenbogen, an attack on Convoy JW 51B, which was reported by German intelligence to be lightly escorted. Vizeadmiral Oskar Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take Admiral Hipper, Z4 Richard Beitzen, Z29 and the destroyer Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts. Lützow and three destroyers would then attack the undefended convoy from the south.[10] The three destroyers separated from Admiral Hipper to search for the convoy, which they found on the morning of 31 December. The destroyer HMS Obdurate spotted them in turn and closed to investigate when the German ships opened fire at a range of 8,000 meters (8,700 yd).[11]

Obdurate turned away to rejoin the convoy without sustaining any damage and the German ships did not pursue as they had been ordered to rejoin Hipper. The Germans found the minesweeper HMS Bramble, which had been detached earlier from the convoy to search for stragglers, as they maneuvered to close with the convoy and the destroyers were ordered to sink her, while Hipper engaged the convoy escorts. This took some time in the poor visibility and Hipper was surprised in the meantime by the British covering force of the light cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica. After sinking Bramble, the German destroyers attempted to rejoin Hipper but had no idea that British cruisers were in the area. About this time Z29 lost contact with the other destroyers. The other two destroyers confused Sheffield with Hipper when they spotted each other at 4,000 meters (4,400 yd) range and were surprised when Sheffield opened fire on Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt with every gun she possessed, sinking her with the loss of all hands.[12] Z29 was one of the escorts for the light cruiser Köln and the damaged Admiral Hipper on 24 January 1943 as they began their voyage to Kiel. The destroyer then began a refit at Wesermünde.[7]

The ship completed working up in July and sailed to Norway on the 22nd, accompanied by the destroyer Z33. The two ships, with the addition of Z31 were assigned to the 4. Zerstörerflotille (4th Destroyer Flotilla) upon their arrival. During Operation Zitronella, the German raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September, they were tasked with fire support for the troops ashore. During the mission Z29 was hit four times by coastal artillery, killing three crewmen and wounding three others.[7] The ship was one of the escorts for Scharnhorst during Operation Ostfront on 25 December, an attempt to intercept the British Convoy JW 55B that was bound for the Soviet Union. All of the battleship's escorts were detached the following day to increase the likelihood of intercepting the convoy and did not participate in the ensuing Battle of North Cape.[13]

Z29 had her boilers repaired at the beginning of 1944 and remained in Norwegian waters through the rest of the year. On 17 July the ship was strafed by aircraft fighters of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during Operation Mascot, an attack on the battleship Tirpitz, but only suffered superficial damage. Beginning in October, she escorted convoys during Operation Nordlicht, the evacuation of northern Norway.[7] On 16 December Z29 and Z31 laid a minefield off Honningsvaag.[14] A week later, she sailed from Laafjord for Wesermünde to begin a refit that replaced her forward gun with the twin-gun turret and greatly augmented her anti-aircraft armament. The war ended in May 1945, before her refit was completed, and the ship was decommissioned on the 7th.[15]

Z29 was allocated to the United States when the Allies divided the surviving ships of the Kriegsmarine amongst themselves in late 1945. Due to her poor state of repair, the United States Navy declined to make use of the ship and she was scuttled at the entrance to the Skagerrak on 10 June 1946 with a load of chemical munitions aboard.[16]