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Supertest: German Tier VII Destroyer Z-31

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Ladies and gentlemen, opening the alternative branch of German destroyers/Spähkreuzers, here is the Z-31.

The Z-31 was the lead ship of the 1936A (Mob) class of destroyers from the Kriegsmarine. The ship was laid down in 1940, launched in May 1941 and commissioned in April 1942. Initially, the class was supposed to be armed with five 150 mm guns with a twin turret at the front and three single mounts with gun shields aft of the superstructure. However, due to the slow development of the twin turret, Z-31 was instead armed with four single mounts. The twin turret would be installed in 1944… just to get demolished in January 1945 and replaced by a single 105 mm turret.

Z-31 spent most of her career in Norwegian waters, taking part in various operations going from simple patrols, laying minefields, attacking convoys, etc.

In January 1945, while leaving Norway to reach the Baltic Sea alongside her sisterships Z-34 and Z-38, she was intercepted by the British cruisers Mauritius and Diadem. It’s during this engagement that her twin 150 mm turret was destroyed.
After repairs, the ship would help to slow down to advance of the Soviet army by providing artillery support and was also used to tow the hulk of the battleship Gneisenau to use it as a blockship at the entrance of Gotenhafen harbor. The ship was damaged multiple times by Soviet air attacks. She ended up reaching Brunsbüttel on the 30th of April where she would remain until the end of the war.

After the war, the ship was offered to France as war reparation and would be renamed Marceau. She would remain in active service until she was placed into reserves in 1953 and was sold for scrap in 1958.

In World of Warships… basically, we aren’t getting Z-31. The model is in fact a copy-paste of Z-39 with a few modifications to the anti-air armament.

Here is Wargaming’s explanation:

Modules

When creating the models of researchable ships, we can take several projects of the same type of ships into account. The resulting researchable ship is a collective image which may differ from any single historical prototype for balance reasons. She can have armament that doesn’t exactly match that of the lead ship or any other ship of the historical class. As a rule, each researchable ship is named after the lead ship of its class, even though it differs from her historical counterpart. That’s why, for example, researchable ships do not have side plates on the bow or stern with their names or historical identification numbers.

Z-31 is the lead destroyer of the 1936 Mob class. When creating her model, apart from the original blueprints, the blueprints of other projects of same-type ships were also used. We changed the artillery layout so that Z-31 is in a consistent progression with regards to the artillery development within the branch of German destroyers.

Currently, the concept of the alternative branch of German destroyers implies the following features:

  • Accurate 150 mm guns
  • Powerful AP shells with good damage, penetration capability, and improved ricochet angles. HE shells, on the contrary, deal moderate damage per minute.
  • Availability of the Hydroaccoustic Search and, starting from Tier VIII, the Defensive AA Fire consumable. However, the new destroyers do not have a Smoke Generator.
  • Great armor for the class.
  • Torpedoes with good reload time and decent speed, but average damage and range.

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.

WG_SPb_WoWs_WIP-icon_black

Modules
Hull
Engine
Gun Fire Control System
Main battery
Torpedoes

icon_module_Hull_installed

Z-31 (A Hull)

icon_module_Engine_installed

Propulsion: 70 000 hp

icon_module_Suo_installed

ZKS Typ 7 Mod. 1

icon_module_Artillery_installed

150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36 on a Tbts LC/36 mount

icon_module_Torpedoes_installed

G7 Steinbutt

icon_module_Hull_installed

Z-31 (B Hull)

icon_module_Suo_installed

ZKS Typ 7 Mod. 1

Stock Ship

General Characteristics

TierVII
Health15 400 HP
Torpedo Damage Reduction0 %
Displacement2 657 tons
Main Armament
Maximum Firing Range10.470 km
150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36 on a Tbts LC/36 mount
150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36T on an LDrh LC/38 mount
2 x 1 150 mm
1 x 2 150 mm
Torpedo Armament
Maximum Firing Range8.000 km
533 mm Vierling2 x 4 533 mm
Maximum speed36 knots
Turning Circle Radius670 m
Rudder Shift Time6.3 s
Surface Detectability7.2 km
Air Detectability3.51 km
Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke3.1 km

Main Battery

1 x 2 150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36 on a Tbts LC/36 mount
2 x 1 150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36T on an LDrh LC/38 mount
 Maximum Firing Range10.470 km
 Reloading Time7.5 s
180 Degree Turn Time22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front40°
Optimal firing angles at the rear35°
Sigma2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion52 m
Shells
Type of Projectile HE – 150 mm Spr.Gr. Ausf. B
Alpha Damage2 200 HP
Damage780 HP
Penetration capacity 38 mm
Explosion size0.57
Fire chance12 %
Projectile Speed835 m/s
Air Drag0.25
Projectile Mass51 kg
Type of ProjectileAP – 150 mm P.Spr.Gr. Ausf. B
Alpha Damage3 700 HP
Projectile Speed835 m/s
Projectile Mass51
Projectile Krupp1 933
Projectile Detonator0.025s
Detonator Threshold25 mm
Ricochet Angles60° – 67.5°

Torpedo Armament

2 x 4 533 mm Vierling
G7 Steinbutt
Reloading Time90 s
Maximum Distance7.000 km
Optimal firing angles at the front43°
Optimal firing angles at the rear50°
Damage13 700
Flooding Chance227 %
Speed61 kt
Surface Detectability1.3 km

Anti-air Armament

4 x 2 37 mm/83 SK C/30 on a Dopp LC/30 mount
Sector range0.1 km – 3.5 km
Hit chance100 %
Sector’s damage9
Sector’s damage frequency0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second32
8 x 1 20 mm/65 C/38 on an L/30 single mount
Sector range0.1 km – 2.0 km
Hit chance95 %
Sector’s damage24
Sector’s damage frequency0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second84

Consumables

Slot 1
Slot 2
Damage Control Party
consumable_PCY009_CrashCrewPremiumWork time: 5 s
Cooldown: 40 s
Hydroacoustic Search
consumable_PCY016_SonarSearchPremiumNumber of charges: 3
Work time: 100 s
Cooldown: 120 s
Torpedo spotting range: 3.0 km
Ship spotting range: 4.0 km

Fully Upgraded Ship

General Characteristics

TierVII
Health19 400 HP
Torpedo Damage Reduction0 %
Displacement3 691 tons
Main Armament
Maximum Firing Range11.517 km
150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36 on a Tbts LC/36 mount
150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36T on an LDrh LC/38 mount
2 x 1 150 mm
1 x 2 150 mm
Torpedo Armament
Maximum Firing Range8.000 km
533 mm Vierling2 x 4 533 mm
Maximum speed36 knots
Turning Circle Radius670 m
Rudder Shift Time4.3 s
Surface Detectability7.2 km
Air Detectability3.51 km
Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke3.1 km

Main Battery

1 x 2 150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36 on a Tbts LC/36 mount
2 x 1 150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36T on an LDrh LC/38 mount
 Maximum Firing Range11.517 km
 Reloading Time7.5 s
180 Degree Turn Time22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front40°
Optimal firing angles at the rear35°
Sigma2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion55 m
Shells
Type of Projectile HE – 150 mm Spr.Gr. Ausf. B
Alpha Damage2 200 HP
Damage780 HP
Penetration capacity 38 mm
Explosion size0.57
Fire chance12 %
Projectile Speed835 m/s
Air Drag0.25
Projectile Mass51 kg
Type of ProjectileAP – 150 mm P.Spr.Gr. Ausf. B
Alpha Damage3 700 HP
Projectile Speed835 m/s
Projectile Mass51
Projectile Krupp1 933
Projectile Detonator0.025s
Detonator Threshold25 mm
Ricochet Angles60° – 67.5°

Torpedo Armament

2 x 4 533 mm Vierling
G7 Steinbutt
Reloading Time90 s
Maximum Distance7.000 km
Optimal firing angles at the front43°
Optimal firing angles at the rear50°
Damage13 700
Flooding Chance227 %
Speed61 kt
Surface Detectability1.3 km

Anti-air Armament

4 x 2 37 mm/69 Flak M42 on an LM/42 mount
Sector range0.1 km – 3.5 km
Hit chance100 %
Sector’s damage28
Sector’s damage frequency0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second98
2 x 4 20 mm/65 C/38 on a Flak 35 Vierling L/38 mount
6 x 2 20 mm/65 C/38 on a twin mount
Sector range0.1 km – 2.0 km
Hit chance95 %
Sector’s damage31
Sector’s damage frequency0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second109

Consumables

Slot 1
Slot 2
Damage Control Party
consumable_PCY009_CrashCrewPremiumWork time: 5 s
Cooldown: 40 s
Hydroacoustic Search
consumable_PCY016_SonarSearchPremiumNumber of charges: 3
Work time: 100 s
Cooldown: 120 s
Torpedo spotting range: 3.0 km
Ship spotting range: 4.0 km

The Armor

Just like the rest of the new German destroyers/spähkreuzers, the Z-31 has the gimmick of having a “heavily” armored middle section compared to the other standard destroyers which will reduce the damage they will take when fitting other destroyers and some cruisers.

Personal Opinion

So basically, outside of laser-accurate guns and the strong AP shells with improved penetration angles, that ship is just a (much) worse Z-39.
She has weaker torpedoes with less range, no smoke, no engine boost, weaker hydro, no access to the 5th upgrade slot.

That destroyer is supposed to be a gunboat but with that firepower, that lack of speed, no smoke and just a tiny bit of armor as a survivability advantage, the number of targets that you can actually engage without being rolled over seems quite low.

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15,466 thoughts on “Supertest: German Tier VII Destroyer Z-31

  1. Great WG still a Type 1936 destroyer in the game as if we haven’t had enough of it already. I would have preferred to see Z23 in the new branch and the Type 1945 destroyer as the new TX in the old tree …

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