The German destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maass was the lead ship of her class of four destroyers built for the German Navy during the mid-1930s. She was the first destroyer to be built in Germany since World War I. Completed in 1937, two years before the start of World War II, the ship served as a flagship and spent most of her time training, although she did participate in the occupation of Memel in early 1939.

In mid-February 1940, while proceeding into the North Sea to attack British fishing trawlers (Operation Wikinger), the ship was bombed by a patrolling German bomber that damaged her steering. Following the attack, Z1 Leberecht Maass broke in half and sank with the loss of most of her crew. A court of inquiry convened during the war determined that she and a sister ship were hit by bombs, but a post-war investigation determined that she had drifted into a newly laid British minefield.