Z33 was a Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II.

Completed in 1943, the ship was damaged during the raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September and spent all of 1944 in Norwegian waters.

Z33 escorted troop convoys from northern Norway when the Germans began evacuating the area beginning in October.

[1] The Type 1936A (Mob) destroyers carried enough fuel oil to give a range of 2,239 nautical miles (4,147 km; 2,577 mi) at a speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

When the destroyer was ordered to the German Bight later that month, they were replaced by weapons taken from the wreck of the heavy cruiser Lützow.

She took part in Operation Zitronella, the German raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September where she was hit by coastal artillery 33 times, killing 3 crewmen and wounding 25.

[9] Z33 was one of the escorts for the battleship 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.

On 17 July 1944 Z33 was strafed by Vought F4U Corsair fighters of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during Operation Mascot, an attack on the battleship Tirpitz, but only suffered superficial damage.

[9] While under tow to Trondheim she was attacked by Allied Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bombers two days later while anchored in Førde Fjord.

The destroyer was further damaged during the attack, but she and her escorts shot down seven Beaufighters, which later became known by the squadrons involved as the "Black Friday" airstrike for the heavy casualties that they suffered.

Before Z33 departed Swinemünde on 27 April to be decommissioned at Cuxhaven, her anti-aircraft weapons were replaced by guns taken from the wreck of Lützow.