 The ship was ordered on 4 August 1934 and laid down at Germania , Kiel on 3 May 1935 as yard number G538 . She was launched on 12 March 1937 and completed on 4 March 1939 . Erich Giese was initially assigned to 8th Destroyer Division ( 8 . Zerstörrer @-@ Division ) part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla ( 4 . Zerstörrer @-@ Flottille ) under the command of Commander ( Fregattenkapitän ) Brocksien . Two months later , the ship escorted into Hamburg the convoy returning the German Condor Legion from Spain . When World War II began , Erich Giese was assigned to the German Bight where she joined her sisters in laying defensive minefields . The ship also patrolled the Skagerrak to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods . The ship attempted to lay a minefield off the British coast on the night of 12 / 13 November , but had to turn back to escort her consorts , Theodor Riedel and Hermann Schoemann , back to Germany when they suffered machinery breakdowns . Eight days later , she was one of the destroyers escorting the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst through the North Sea to breakout into the North Atlantic . 
