That was changed to a Type 1936B on 17 February 1941. She was laid down as yard number W1006 on 15 September at Deschimag's Bremen shipyard, launched on 15 May 1943 and commissioned on 19 February 1944, under the command of "Korvettenkapitän" (Lieutenant Commander) Fredric von Hausen. After working up "Z36" was assigned to the "6. Zerstörerflotille" (6th Destroyer Flotilla) in mid-1944. In preparation for Operation "Tanne West", the occupation of the Åland Islands in case of Finnish surrender, the flotilla escorted the heavy cruiser "Lützow" to the island of Utö on 28 June, but the operation was canceled and the ships returned to port. On 30 July and 1 August "Z36" and three other destroyers of the flotilla sailed into the Gulf of Riga to bombard Soviet positions inland. On 5 August, they escorted the heavy cruiser as she engaged targets on the island of Ösel, Estonia, and in Latvia on 19–20 August. "Z36" and the destroyer escorted the troopship MV "Monte Rosa", laden with refugees, from Baltischport, Estonia, to Gotenhafen, Germany, on 16 September. That month, the flotilla also covered the convoys evacuating Finland and then Reval. From 10 to 15 October the flotilla escorted "Lützow" and "Prinz Eugen" as they resumed their shore bombardment missions and bombarded targets themselves, attacking Soviet positions at Memel and Libau. The following month, the flotilla and the heavy cruisers and "Prinz Eugen" shelled Soviet positions during the evacuation of Sworbe, on Ösel, between 20 and 24 November. In mid-December, the "6. Zerstörerflotille", which now consisted of "Z36", her sister ships and , and the large torpedo boats and , was tasked to lay a new minefield between the Estonian coast and an existing minefield slightly further out to sea. "T23" was to escort the other ships and the destroyers were laden with 68 mines each. The mission was postponed to the night of 11/12 December because of bad weather and the flotilla sailed on the morning of the 11th. The weather gradually worsened over the course of the day and the spray and rain made navigation difficult.