Supertest: German Tier V Battleship Derfflinger
4 min readHistorical background
The Derfflinger-class was a class of three battlecruisers (Derfflinger, Lützow and Hindenburg) of the Imperial German Navy.
Compared to the usual way of building a class of ship simultaneously or at least, at close intervals between each unit, there is a 2 years gap between the time Derfflinger and Hindenburg were launched (July 1913 for Derfflinger and August 1915 for Hindenburg). This difference is even more noticeable when it comes to their commissioning with 2 years and a half between the time the two ships entered service (September 1914 for Derfflinger and May 1917 for Hindenburg).
Compared to the previous battlecruisers, the Derfflinger-class were larger, armed with 305 mm guns and were more heavily armored. However, as a result of the increased displacement, the Derfllinger-class was also slower than the previous ships.
During World War I, Derfflinger took part in numerous operations including the famous Battle of Jutland during which she helped to sink the battlecruisers HMS Queen Mary and HMS Invincible. Due to the damage she sustained during the engagement, she was out of action until the end of 1916.
The rest of the war turned out to be fairly quiet with the German Navy focusing more on its U-boat campaign. Derfflinger, alongside the rest of the German Navy, was interned in Scapa Flow at the end of the war and was scuttled in June 1919.
If you want to learn more about the Derfflinger-class, here is a video from Drachinifel covering it:
In World of Warships, we are getting Derfflinger as she was in 1916 as she is missing the tripod mast she received later on during the war.
Just like the rest of the new line, Derfflinger features battlecruiser dispersion and the same dispersion as Massachusetts and co. for her secondaries.
Ship’s preview
For the classic reminder, this is a ship in testing, anything can change so don’t look at her like she would already be released.
Modules
Hull | Engine | Gun Fire Control System | Main battery |
Derfflinger | 76 634 HP | FKS Typ 5 Mod. 1 | ![]() 305 mm/50 SK C/08 on a Drh LC/1912 mount |
FKS Typ 5 Mod. 2 |
Stock and Fully Upgraded Ship
General Characteristics
Tier | V |
Health | 47 600 HP |
Torpedo Damage Reduction | 16 % |
Displacement | 31 200 tons |
Dimensions | |
Overall length | 210.0 m |
Beam | 29.0 m |
Overall height (keel to the highest point on the ship) | 20.3 m |
Freeboard | 3.2 m |
Main Armament | |
Maximum Firing Range | 14.840 km (stock) 16.324 km (upgraded) |
305 mm/50 SK C/08 on a Drh LC/1912 mount | 4 x 2 305 mm |
Secondary Armament | |
Maximum Firing Range | 4.960 km |
150 mm/45 SK C/09 on an MPL C/06 mount 88 mm/45 Flak on an MPL C/13 mount | 12 x 1 150 mm 8 x 1 88 mm |
Maximum speed | 26.5 knots |
Turning Circle Radius | 740 m |
Rudder Shift Time | 13.3 s |
Surface Detectability | 11.96 km |
Air Detectability | 9.65 km |
Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke | 9.15 km |
Main Battery
4 x 2 305 mm/50 SK C/08 on a Drh LC/1912 mount | |
Maximum Firing Range | 14.840 km (stock) 16.324 km (upgraded) |
Reloading Time | 24.0 s |
180 Degree Turn Time | 45 s |
Optimal firing angles at the front | 28° |
Optimal firing angles at the rear | 30° |
Sigma | 1.60 sigma |
Maximum Dispersion | 172 m (stock) 185 m (upgraded) |
Shells | |
Type of Projectile | HE – 305 mm Spr.Gr. L/3.8 Bdz.![]() |
Alpha Damage | 3 400 |
Damage | 2 520 |
Penetration capacity | 76 mm |
Explosion size | 1.56 |
Fire chance | 22 % |
Projectile Speed | 850 m/s |
Air Drag | 0.414 |
Projectile Mass | 406 kg |
Type of Projectile | AP – 305 mm P.Spr.Gr. L/3.4![]() |
Alpha Damage | 8 300 |
Projectile Speed | 855 m/s |
Air Drag | 0.419 |
Projectile Mass | 405 kg |
Projectile Krupp | 2 311 |
Projectile Detonator | 0.01 s |
Detonator threshold | 51 mm |
Ricochet Angles | 45° – 60° |
Secondary battery
12 x 1 150 mm/45 SK C/09 on an MPL C/06 mount | |
Maximum Firing Range | 4.960 km |
Reloading Time | 8.57 s |
Sigma | 1.0 sigma |
Shells | |
Type of Projectile | HE – 150 mm HE K Gr 18![]() |
Alpha Damage | 1 800 |
Damage | 760 |
HE penetration | 38 mm |
Explosion Size | 0.57 |
Chance to Cause Fire | 10 % |
Projectile Speed | 835 m/s |
Air Drag | 0.407 |
Projectile Mass | 45.3 kg |
8 x 1 88 mm/45 Flak on an MPL C/13 mount | |
Maximum Firing Range | 4.960 km |
Reloading Time | 4.0 s |
Sigma | 1.0 sigma |
Shells | |
Type of Projectile | HE – 88 mm Spr.Gr.![]() |
Alpha Damage | 1 000 |
Damage | 240 |
HE penetration | 15 mm |
Explosion Size | 0.24 |
Chance to Cause Fire | 4 % |
Projectile Speed | 890 m/s |
Air Drag | 0.446 |
Projectile Mass | 9 kg |
Anti-air Armament
8 x 1 88 mm/45 Flak on an MPL C/13 mount | |
Sector range | 0.1 km – 4.6 km |
Hit chance | 75 % |
Sector’s damage | 9 |
Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
Sector’s damage per second | 32 |
Flak clouds number | 1 |
Flak cloud damage | 770 |
15 x 1 7.92 mm MG 08 machine gun | |
Sector range | 0.1 km – 1.5 km |
Hit chance | 70 % |
Sector’s damage | 28 |
Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
Sector’s damage per second | 98 |
Consumables
Slot 1 | Slot 2 |
Fast Damage Control Team ![]() Number of charges: 4 Work time: 10 s Cooldown: 40 s | Repair Party ![]() Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration: 0.5%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 10% |
The Armor
External armor protection:
Front and rear armor protection of the middle section:
Turtleback:
Citadel armor protection:
Turrets armor protection:
Hidden armor protection inside the bow and stern:
Personal Opinion
Overall, Derfflinger looks a bit meh compared to the rest of the tier V battleships. At this tier, the speed advantage is getting less relevant, especially with Kongo that can reach 30 knots for example. The firepower, even with the battlecruiser dispersion is definitely on the lower end of the spectrum because of the low number of guns and low caliber and it’s not with the secondaries that it will change much.
If there is one department where Derfflinger beats everyone, it’s the concealment with an amazing 11.96 km spotting range by sea while the closest being Agincourt with 12.24 km.
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Basically mega-sized cruiser that good at tanking but suck doing damage, but am sure historical nerds enjoy it.
According to the files, the ship is in 1915, not 1916 condition.
wow new bb line?
i hate the bismarck line
not my style
gneisenau was gud tho
I want to see he in her 1917 config with the m***ive tripod mast
According to wowsft, only Tier VI and above get Casemate/M***a secondaries dispersion.
Is it a bug like the 10.8 German 406 accidental nerf or design?
Yuzorah could you have a look into this?
Can’t believe Wargrinding didn’t fictionalize her with a WW2 refit like they usually do for other ships in the game. I can’t find any info that Derfflinger ever carried MG 08s, but that’s a minor inaccuracy.