z15 "erich steinbrinck" was a built for nazi germany's "kriegsmarine" in the mid-1930s. the ship was named after the first world war german naval officer erich steinbrinck. at the beginning of world war ii on 1 september 1939, the ship was initially deployed to blockade the polish coast, but she was quickly transferred to the north sea to lay defensive minefields. in late 1939 and 1940 the ship laid multiple offensive minefields off the english coast that claimed 24 merchant ships and a destroyer. "steinbrinck" was under repair for most of the norwegian campaign of early 1940 and was transferred to france later that year.