She was very active in attacking the Arctic convoys ferrying war materials to the Soviet Union in 1941–1942, but only helped to sink one Allied ship herself.

After the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, she was one of the few remaining destroyers in French waters and was badly damaged during the Battle of Ushant several days later.

The ship was laid down at Deschimag's Bremen shipyard as yard number W958 on 2 January 1939, launched on 7 March 1940, and commissioned on 23 October.

Several Bristol Beaufort aircraft spotted Lützow and her escorts off the Norwegian coast and one managed to surprise them and torpedo the cruiser early on the morning of 13 June, forcing her to return to Germany for repairs.

The Germans thought that they were Soviet destroyers, but they were actually two British minesweepers, Hazard and Speedy, sailing to rendezvous with Convoy QP 6.

Between them the destroyers fired 19 torpedoes at the cruiser, all of which missed after Trinidad turned away, and hit her twice with their 15 cm guns, inflicting only minor damage.

After the sixth hit made by the British destroyer, Z26 lost power at 10:20 and was listing to port with her stern awash.

Eclipse was maneuvering to give the German destroyer the coup de grâce with a torpedo when the snowstorm ended and visibility increased, revealing Z24 and Z25 approaching.

[8] On 30 April the German submarine U-456 torpedoed and crippled the light cruiser Edinburgh, part of the close escort for Convoy QP 11.

The German ships were only able to sink the 2,847 GRT freighter, SS Tsiolkovsky, with torpedoes from Z24 and Z25, and badly damage the escort destroyer Amazon with gunfire.

[9] Later that day, Edinburgh's original escort of two destroyers was augmented by four British minesweepers and a small Russian tugboat.

Z7 Hermann Schoemann maneuvered at 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) to obtain a good position from which to fire torpedoes once the range closed to 2,800 meters (3,100 yd).

The destroyer immediately turned away, increased speed to 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), and started making smoke, but to no avail as the second salvo set her on fire and severed the main steam line, which disabled the engines.

Her sister Foresight passed in front of Forester a few minutes later to draw the attention of Z24 and Z25, which succeeded all too well as she was hit four times by 07:24, disabling the engines and leaving her with only a single gun operable.

While en route to the rendezvous at the Altafjord, Lützow and three destroyers of Tirpitz's escort ran aground, forcing the entire group to abandon the operation.

Despite attacks by British coastal artillery and motor torpedo boats, the flotilla managed to pass through the Straits of Dover unscathed, but Z37 ran aground at Le Havre en route.

The flotilla provided distant cover for an attempt by the Italian blockade runner Himalaya to sail for the Far East on 28 March, but the ship had to return to Bordeaux after it was spotted by a British reconnaissance aircraft.

Two days later, the flotilla escorted the Italian blockade runner Pietro Orseolo through the Bay of Biscay despite the ship being torpedoed by an American submarine and under heavy attack by Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bombers and Beaufort torpedo bombers; the German destroyers shot down five of the attacking aircraft.

[12] Another blockade runner, the 2,729 GRT refrigerated cargo ship MV Alsterufer, trailed Osorno by several days and four destroyers, including Z24, of the 8.

The Allies were aware of these blockade runners through their Ultra code-breaking efforts and positioned cruisers and aircraft in the Western Atlantic to intercept them in Operation Stonewall.

Heavy seas prevented the German force from using its theoretical advantage in speed and firepower, with the destroyer Z27 and the torpedo boats T25 and T27 sunk.

After word of the Allied landings at Normandy on 6 June was received by Kapitan zur See Theodor von Bechtolsheim, commander of the 8.

Zerstörerflottile, ordered his three remaining destroyers, Z24, Z32, ZH1, and the torpedo boat T24, to sail for Brest to begin operations against the invasion fleet.

Other shells hit the forward engine room, set the aft funnel and some ready-use ammunition on fire and destroyed one of the amidships quadruple 2 cm gun mounts.