 Richard Beitzen , named after Lieutenant ( Kapitänleutnant ) Richard Beitzen who commanded the 14th Torpedo Boat Flotilla in World War I and was killed in action in March 1918 , was ordered on 7 July 1934 and laid down at Deutsche Werke , Kiel , on 7 January 1935 as yard number K245 . The ship was launched on 30 November 1935 and completed on 13 May 1937 . Her first captain was Lieutenant Commander ( Fregattenkapitän ) Hans @-@ Joachim Gadow . She made a port visit to Ulvik , Norway in April 1938 , together with her sisters Z2 Georg Thiele and Z3 Max Schultz . Upon her return she was taken in hand by Deutsche Werke to have her bow rebuilt to reduce the amount of water that came over the bow in head seas . This increased her length by .3 meters ( 1 ft 0 in ) . The ship participated in the August Fleet Review and the following fleet exercise . On 26 October , she was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla ( 1 . Zerstörer @-@ Flottille ) . In December , Richard Beitzen , together with her sisters Z1 Leberecht Maass , Georg Thiele , and Max Schultz , sailed to the area of Iceland to evaluate their seaworthiness in a North Atlantic winter with their new bows . On 23 – 24 March 1939 , the ship was one of the destroyers that escorted Adolf Hitler aboard the pocket battleship Deutschland to occupy Memel . She participated in the fleet exercise the next month in the western Mediterranean and made several visits to Spanish and Moroccan ports in April and May . Upon her return , Richard Beitzen was accidentally rammed in the stern by the escort ship F9 . 
