Z38 was send to Norway in October 1943, the ship was part of the 4th destroyer division and escorted the battlecruiser Scharnhorst on its final mission. In January 1945 the complete division was ordered to return to Germany. During this transfer, the ship was attacked by the British CL Diadem and Mauritius near the Sogne-Fjord but escaped undamaged. Z38 was then used in the final battles in the Baltic Sea and decommissioned on 10.05.1945. Taken over by the British, renamed as Nonsuch . Used for trials and broken down in 1949-1950.