The Wagner geared steam turbines were designed to produce 70,000 metric horsepower (51,000 kW; 69,000 shp) which would propel the ship at 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).

Erich Giese carried a maximum of 752 metric tons (740 long tons) of fuel oil which was intended to give a range of 4,400 nautical miles (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), but the ship proved top-heavy in service and 30% of the fuel had to be retained as ballast low in the ship.

[9] When World War II began, Erich Giese was assigned to the German Bight where she joined her sisters in laying defensive minefields.

The latter ship had severe boiler problems and was ordered to return to port in the late afternoon while the other two continued their mission.

She fell further behind when Lieutenant Commander (Korvettenkapitän) Karl Smidt turned the ship about to recover a soldier who had been washed overboard by the high seas.

The Germans opened fire first, but the gunnery for both sides was not effective due to the mist and the smoke screen laid by the British as they retreated down the Ofotfjord.

Three other destroyers refuelled and completed their repairs on 11 April, but Bey decided against another breakout attempt despite the fog and poor visibility that night.

Bey made no attempt to break out during the night of 12/13 April, possibly because two of the destroyers had been damaged earlier in the day when they ran aground.

[19] That night he received word to expect an attack the following day by British capital ships escorted by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier aircraft.

The battleship HMS Warspite and nine destroyers duly appeared on 13 April, although earlier than Commander Bey had expected, and caught the Germans out of position.

The five operable destroyers, not including Giese, charged out of Narvik harbor and engaged the British ships.

In the meantime, Giese had managed to repair her engine after ten minutes of work and limped forward at her maximum speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) to engage the remaining British destroyers.

Bedouin closed to point-blank range and had her forward gun turret knocked out by Giese, but the latter was hit at least 20 times and reduced to a blazing wreck that finally sank shortly before midnight.

Eighty-three of her crew were killed outright during the battle, but the destroyer HMS Foxhound did rescue 11 men, two of whom subsequently died of their wounds.

[22][Note 1] In 2011, a 150 kilograms (330 lb) bronze Reichsadler was salvaged from the wreck of Giese, in order to be displayed at the War Museum in Narvik.

The ship's bell from Giese was removed by looters in the 1960s, as were the Reichsadler from the nine other German destroyers sunk at Narvik.