Z29 was one of fifteen Type 1936A destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Completed in 1941, she took part in the Channel Dash in early 1942 as flagship of the escort force. Despite this venture to France, the ship spent most of the war in Norwegian waters, escorting German ships and laying minefields. Z29 participated in the indecisive Battle of the Barents Sea at the end of the year, during which she helped to sink a British minesweeper. The ship was damaged during the raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September 1943. Z29 was damaged by British aircraft attacking the battleship Tirpitz in July 1944. The ship escorted troop convoys from northern Norway when the Germans began evacuating the area beginning in October until she began an extensive refit in December.

The war ended before the refit was completed and the ship was surrendered to the Allies in Germany. She was allocated to the United States when they divided up the surviving ships of the Kriegsmarine in late 1945. Still not fully seaworthy, Z29 was scuttled by the Americans in late 1946.

The Type 1936A destroyers were slightly larger than the preceding Type 1936 class and had a heavier armament. They had an overall length of 127 meters (416 ft 8 in) and were 121.9 meters (399 ft 11 in) long at the waterline. The ships had a beam of 12 meters (39 ft 4 in), and a maximum draft of 4.62 meters (15 ft 2 in). They displaced 2,657 long tons (2,700 t) at standard load and 3,691 long tons (3,750 t) at deep load. The two Wagner geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller shaft, were designed to produce 70,000 PS (51,000 kW; 69,000 shp) using steam provided by six Wagner water-tube boilers for a designed speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Z29 carried enough fuel oil to give her a range of 2,950 nautical miles (5,460 km; 3,390 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Her crew consisted of 11 officers and 321 sailors.

The ship carried four 15-centimeter (5.9 in) TbtsK C/36 guns in single mounts with gun shields, one forward of the superstructure and three aft. They were designated No. 1 to 4 from front to rear. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted of four 3.7-centimeter (1.5 in) C/30 guns in two twin mounts abreast the rear funnel and seven 2-centimeter (0.8 in) C/30 guns in single mounts. Z29 carried eight above-water 53.3-centimeter (21 in) torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. Two reloads were provided for each mount. She had four depth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 60 mines. 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passive hydrophones were fitted to detect submarines and an S-Gerät sonar was also probably fitted. The ship was equipped with a FuMO 24/25 radar set above the bridge.

A FuMO 63 Hohentwiel radar was installed in 1944–1945 in lieu of the aft searchlight. During her 1944–1945 refit, Z29 exchanged her single forward 15 cm gun for a 15 cm LC/38 twin-gun turret as used in her sister ships. This exacerbated the Type 36A's tendency to take water over the bow and reduced their speed to 32.8 knots (60.7 km/h; 37.7 mph). No. 3 gun was also removed to make room for additional AA guns under the Barbara program. By the end of the war, her anti-aircraft suite consisted of two experimental 5.5-centimeter (2.2 in) Gerät 58 guns (probably), nine 3.7 cm guns in single and twin mounts and twenty 2 cm weapons in single, twin, and quadruple mounts. Most, if not all, of the 3.7 cm guns were to be the faster-firing Flak M42 model.

Z29 was ordered from AG Weser (Deschimag) on 23 April 1938. The ship was laid down at Deschimag's Bremen shipyard as yard number W963 on 21 March 1940 and launched on 15 October. The ship commissioned on 25 June 1941 under the command of Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Curt Rechel.

After working up, Z29 was one of the escorts for Tirpitz from the Jade Estuary to Trondheim, Norway and returned to Kiel, Germany from 14 to 17 January 1942. The ship sailed on 27 January for Brest, France, as part of the preparations for the Channel Dash. The German ships departed Brest on 11 February, surprising the British, with Z29 leading the formation as the flagship of the Führer der Zerstörer (Commander of the Destroyer Force), Kapitän zur See (Captain) Erich Bey, who commanded the escorts. British attacks on the German ships were generally ineffective until the battleship Scharnhorst struck a mine off the mouth of the Scheldt Estuary at 15:30. Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Otto Ciliax, overall commander of the German force, summoned Z29 to take him aboard from the immobilized battleship. While the destroyer was attempting to close, she accidentally collided with the battleship's stern, damaging her forecastle, but managed to take off Ciliax. Later that day, a 15 cm shell exploded in one of the aft guns, killing one man, severing oil lines, and knocking out the port turbine. Ciliax transferred to the destroyer Z7 Hermann Schoemann at 18:25 and Z29 proceeded to Wesermünde for repairs.

After they were completed, she was part of the screen for the heavy cruiser Lützow from 15 to 26 May as she moved from Germany to Bogen Bay, Norway and laid a minefield in the Skagerrak en route. On 5–8 September Z29, her sister Z30, and the destroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen laid a minefield in the Kara Strait between the island of Novaya Zemlya and Vaygach Island. Later that month, she participated in Operation Zarin, a minelaying mission off the coast of Novaya Zemlya from 24 to 28 September, together with Admiral Hipper, and her sisters Z23, Z28, and Z30. On 23–24 October, the ship escorted Tirpitz and the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer from Bogen Bay to Trondheim and continued to Copenhagen, Denmark, with Admiral Scheer, before returning to the Altafjord with the light cruiser Nürnberg.