Derfflinger

13.3

Battleship | Germany | Tier V

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V

1,600,000

Derfflinger — German Tier V battleship.

Improved armor protection on British ships highlighted the need to strengthen the armament of the new German ships. Eight 305 mm guns in four superfiring turrets were arranged along the ship's centerline. During the Battle of Jutland, Derfflinger sank British battlecruisers HMS Queen Mary and Invincible, but she was also seriously damaged in action. She took at least 17 hits from large-caliber shells and suffered the heaviest losses of life among all the ships that remained afloat. Because of her stalwart resistance at Jutland, the British nicknamed her "Iron Dog."

Derfflinger was first released in Early Access with Update 0.10.9.

Modules

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Dispersion (m)	Maximum HE Shell Damage (HP)	Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell (%)	Maximum AP Shell Damage (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
305 mm/50 SK C/08 on a Drh LC/1912 mount	2.3	45	181	3,400	22	8,300		0	160,000

	Hit Points (HP)	Armor (mm)	Armor (mm)	Main Turrets (pcs.)	Secondary Gun Turrets (pcs.)	AA Mounts (pcs.)	Torpedo Tubes (pcs.)	Hangar Capacity (pcs.)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Derfflinger	47,600	13	300	4	8/12	15/8				0	240,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
FKS Typ 5 Mod. 1		0		0	160,000
FKS Typ 5 Mod. 2		0		3,600	400,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 76,634 hp	26.5		0	160,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3

Player Opinion

Performance

Warning. The data presented in the AA Defense sidebar section may be incorrect.

Background

Built in response to the British Lion class battlecruisers launched in 1910, Derfflinger was laid down in 1912 and was the lead ship of her class of three. She was a completely new design compared to her predecessors and was built to compliment the Konig-class battleships also being built at the time. Like Konig, Derfflinger was the first of her type to have all of her main battery mounted on the centerline and her secondary armament moved up to the superstructure due to the flush deck design. Her main battery was larger than her predecessors, opting for 12in guns in response to the British increasing their armor thickness. Following the design philosophy of the other German battlecruisers, Derfflinger was better armored than her British counterparts but featured a slightly smaller main battery.

The Ship

Tier V Derfflinger continues the distinctive characteristics established by the preceding German battlecruisers — high speed, good concealment, and better main battery accuracy, but lower survivability. Although her guns and armor are definitely those of a battleship, her speed, concealment, and ideal positioning are more cruiser-like.

Maneuverability

While no longer best in tier, Derfflinger’s speed is still among the highest of Tier V battleships. She can easily outrun the slower dreadnoughts, but keeping pace with same-tier cruisers is no longer possible. As with III Von der Tann and IV Moltke, experienced players should use her high speed to quickly reach advantageous positions and adapt to the course of the battle, but newer players still need to be careful and not overextend.

Like the preceding battlecruisers, Derfflinger is not an agile ship. With one of the largest turning circles and slowest rudder shifts among Tier V battleships, she relies on positioning to avoid enemy fire and torpedoes. Her torpedo protection is average as well, further increasing the importance of positioning to dissuade torpedo attacks.

Armament

Derfflinger is armed with eight 305mm guns in four twin turrets. Unlike the previous battlecruisers, all four turrets are centerline. The two middle turrets lose some of the forward/backward firing angles provided by the wing turrets, but in exchange they have significantly better broadside angles on both sides of the ship. Although Derfflinger shares the same caliber and reload as V Konig, her shells deal slightly less damage and her AP shells have less penetration at all ranges. These traits of similar caliber but weaker shells compared to the battleship line will continue through the rest of the battlecruisers. Stock turret traverse is extremely slow at 45 seconds and, unless buffed with modules and commander skills, players will experience difficulty tracking targets at brawling range or changing the direction of aim quickly.

As with the rest of the line, Derfflinger uses the large cruiser dispersion found on ships like IX Alaska and VI Graf Spee. This gives her better dispersion than other battleships at her tier, but her lower sigma will result in some inconsistent salvos. Players of other lower sigma battleships like VII Lyon should be familiar with the effect this has on dispersion, where some salvos are accurate and others land nowhere near the aim point.

Derfflinger uses the same secondary suite found on Moltke, mostly consisting of casemate mounted 150mm guns. Derfflinger’s secondaries have the same improved range as Konig and share the improved penetration of other German battleships and battlecruisers. For Tier V, their performance is still worth investing into, but they don’t get the improved dispersion that starts at Tier VI.

Survivability

While Derfflinger has one of the highest stock health pools of Tier V battleships, the lack of an upgraded (B) hull leaves her just above average among the upgraded health pools. She is still more durable relative to her tier than later battlecruisers, but extended focus fire will drain her health pool quickly.

Unlike their British counterparts, the real life German battlecruisers sacrificed armor to retain their high speed. When facing higher tier opponents, Derfflinger’s thinner armor starts to be more noticeable, but against same tier ships her armor is still rather strong.

As a German battleship, she features a thick main belt and a citadel protected behind a sloped turtleback. Her upper bow and a large part of her stern are only 19mm thick, but she has an extended armor belt covering part of her lower stern and most of her lower bow. The forward section of her bow armor belt actually extends more than halfway above the waterline. While the thinner upper plating is vulnerable to most cruiser HE and overmatch from battleship caliber AP, the thick main and extended armor belts and turtleback-protected citadel can still make her a difficult ship to kill when properly angled.

Derfflinger uses the Fast Damage Control Team  as found on the Russian battleships rather than the normal Damage Control Party  consumable. The significantly faster cooldown leaves her less vulnerable to full duration fires or floods after repairing, but the limited charges can run out quickly in long engagements if players don’t use them selectively.

In addition to the durability provided by her thick armor, Derfflinger’s survivability is further improved by her best in tier concealment. When fully specced for concealment, her detection can rival many cruisers in her matchmaking range. That allows her to sneak up on unsuspecting broadside targets when possible, as well as go dark if she starts to take too much focus fire.

Anti-aircraft

If her speed and dispersion are some of her strongest points, Derfflinger’s anti-aircraft defenses are easily one of her weakest. Among Tier V battleship stock hulls, her defenses are fairly average mostly because she has some long range AA and produces flak. But compared to their upgraded hulls, her AA is decidedly below average. Her long range guns are among the shortest ranged for the tier with one of the lowest continuous damage values, and her short range defenses don’t have great range or outstanding damage either. In fact, her AA defenses are barely improved over those of Moltke’s upgraded hull — just a slight increase in short range DPS.

Her long range mounts can produce flak, but at only one burst per reload it offers little improvement to her long range defenses. As a result, she has few options to prevent attacks besides sticking with allies, and most of her plane kills will come after they’ve already launched their attack.

Battle performance

Derfflinger should use her speed and concealment to position on a flank at the start of a battle. Her speed and concealment also allow her to adapt quickly as the battle evolves, and her good armor and Fast Damage Control Team can open up aggressive possibilities and make her difficult to kill when angled. She can pick and choose her fights, but she isn’t always the best ship for pushing in and brawling.

Pros:

Good main battery reload speed
Large cruiser dispersion formula instead of battleship
Improved secondary range and penetration
Decent top speed of 26.5 knots
Excellent concealment for a battleship
Uses the Fast Damage Control Team  with a shorter cooldown

Cons:

Average health pool and weaker armor
Lower main battery damage and penetration compared to other Tier V battleships
Extremely slow main turret traverse at 45 seconds. Requires modules and commander skills to buff to 32.6 seconds, which trades away options used to support a full secondary build.
Short effective anti-air range
Below average continuous anti-aircraft damage and only one flak cloud per salvo
Large turning circle with slow rudder shift
Limited number of Fast Damage Control Team  consumables

Research

Availability of researchable upgrades for Derfflinger is as follows:

Gun Fire Control System: Upgrade to FKS Typ 5 Mod. 2 for an extra 10% range on the main battery.

Tier VI battlecruiser Mackensen is researched directly off the stock (A) hull. While the extra range of the upgraded fire control system can be helpful, her stock range is still sufficient for many battles.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Derfflinger are as follows:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1 
Slot 3: Secondary Battery Modification 1 or Aiming Systems Modification 1

To get the most out of Derfflinger’s secondaries, the Secondary Battery Modification 1 is recommended. For commanders that wish to further improve Derfflinger’s main battery performance, Aiming Systems Modification 1 should be selected instead.

Commander Skills

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack			Defense
1	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type. ★★	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance when firing at submarines. ★★	Consumables Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except: Damage Control Party , Repair Party .	Emergency Repair Specialist -3% cooldown time of Damage Control Party  and Repair Party .	Incoming Fire Alert Receive a warning about a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5 km.	Preventive Maintenance −30% chance of main armament, engines, steering becoming incapacitated +15% to HP of secondary and AA guns. ★★★
2	Grease the Gears +20% main turret traverse speed.	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells. Base fire chance reduced by half. ★	Brisk So long as the ship remains undetected: +10% ship speed.	Vigilance +25% detection range of enemy torpedoes +7% damage reduction of Torpedo Protection System. . ★★	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery. ★	AAA & ASW Expert +15% continuous AAA and flak damage . +10% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −40% ship consumables reload time..
3	Super-Heavy AP Shells +7.5% AP shell damage −10% fire and flood damage received +25% fire and flood duration.	Long-Range Secondary Battery Shells +20% secondary battery firing range. ★★	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★	Basics of Survivability -15% repair, fire, and flooding duration. ★★	Improved Repair Party Readiness −0.8% reload time of Repair Party each time your ship receives potential damage equal to 100% of the ship's base HP. After receiving 2M HP potential damage: +1 charge of Repair Party .. ★	Focus Fire Training In an active priority AA sector: • +1.5% (to 5%) immediate damage. • +25% continuous damage. • +1 flak burst per salvo. −10% aircraft preparation time. −15% reload time of Airstrike armament..
4	Furious 1st fire / flood −10% Main battery reload time 2nd etc. (up to 5), each −5% Main battery reload time	Manual Secondary Battery Aiming −10% secondary battery reload time. −10% secondary battery dispersion. When firing at a manually selected target: dispersion gradually improves from -25% to -50%. ★★	Close Quarters Combat -10% reload time of main battery if an enemy ship is spotted within secondary range.	Emergency Repair Expert Damage Control Party  and Repair Party : +1 charge (each). +10% action time . ★★★	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	Fire Prevention Expert -10% risk of fire. Three fires maximum. ★★
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

Derfflinger can equip the following consumables:

Slot 1: Fast Damage Control Team 
Slot 2: Repair Party

Signals

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Juliet Charlie -100% to the risk of magazine detonation. ★★	Juliet Yankee Bissotwo -20% to flooding duration. ★★	India Yankee -20% to fire duration. ★★	Hotel Yankee -20% to damage received when ramming the enemy. +50% to damage dealt when ramming the enemy.	Victor Lima +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +4% chance of torpedoes causing flooding. ★★	India X-Ray +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating. ★★
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating.	Mike Yankee Soxisix +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range. -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells. -5% to secondary battery loading time. ★★	November Echo Setteseven +5% continuous AA damage at all ranges. +5% damage from flak bursts.	Sierra Mike +5% to the ship's maximum speed. ★★	November Foxtrot -5% reload time on all consumables. ★	India Delta +20% to the amount of HP recovered when Repair Party  is used. ★★
X-Ray Papa Unaone +10% action time of a Smoke Generator .	Sierra Bravo +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search  -10% reload time of Defensive AA Fire .

Note: Use of the Juliet Charlie signal makes detonation impossible.

Gallery

References

Ships of Germany

Destroyers	II V-25 • III G-101 • IV V-170 • V T-22 • VI Ernst Gaede • VI T-61 • VI Karl von Schönberg • VII Leberecht Maass • VII Z-31 • VII Z-39 • VIII Z-23 • VIII Gustav-Julius Maerker • VIII Z-35 • IX Z-46 • IX Felix Schultz • IX Z-44 • IX ZF-6 • X Z-52 • X Elbing • X Z-42
Cruisers	I Hermelin • II Dresden • II Emden • III Kolberg • IV Karlsruhe • V Königsberg • VI Nürnberg • VI Admiral Graf Spee • VI Leipzig • VI HSF Admiral Graf Spee • VII Yorck • VII München • VII Weimar • VIII Admiral Hipper • VIII Prinz Eugen • VIII Mainz • VIII Schill • VIII Mainz B • VIII Cross of Dorn • VIII Wiesbaden • IX Roon • IX Siegfried • IX Ägir • IX Admiral Schröder • IX Roon CLR • X Hindenburg • ★ Clausewitz
Battleships	III Nassau • III Von der Tann • III König Albert • IV Kaiser • IV Moltke • V König • V Derfflinger • VI Bayern • VI Mackensen • VI Prinz Eitel Friedrich • VII Gneisenau • VII Prinz Heinrich • VII Scharnhorst • VII AL Prinz Heinrich • VII Scharnhorst B • VII Scharnhorst '43 • VIII Tirpitz • VIII Bismarck • VIII Zieten • VIII Odin • VIII Brandenburg • VIII Anhalt • VIII Brandenburg B • VIII Tirpitz B • IX Friedrich der Grosse • IX Prinz Rupprecht • IX Pommern • IX Pommern B • X Grosser Kurfürst • X Schlieffen • X Preussen • X Mecklenburg • ★ Hannover
Aircraft Carriers	IV Rhein • VI Weser • VI Erich Loewenhardt • VIII August von Parseval • VIII Graf Zeppelin • VIII Graf Zeppelin B • X Manfred von Richthofen • X Max Immelmann

Battleships

Japan	II Mikasa • III Kawachi • IV Myōgi • IV Ishizuchi • V Kongō • V ARP Kongō • V ARP Kirishima • V ARP Haruna • V ARP Hiei • V HSF Hiei • VI Fusō • VI Mutsu • VI Ise • VII Nagato • VII Ashitaka • VII Hyūga • VIII Amagi • VIII Yumihari • VIII Kii • VIII Ignis Purgatio • VIII Ragnarok • IX Izumo • IX Adatara • IX Musashi • IX Hizen • IX Iwami • IX Daisen • IX Tsurugi • IX Iwami B • X Yamato • X Bungo • X Shikishima • X ARP Yamato • ★ Satsuma
U.K.	III Bellerophon • III Indefatigable • III Dreadnought • IV Orion • IV Queen Mary • V Iron Duke • V Tiger • V Agincourt • VI Warspite • VI Queen Elizabeth • VI Renown • VI Repulse • VI Repulse B • VII King George V • VII Rooke • VII Hood • VII Nelson • VII Duke of York • VII Collingwood • VII Renown '44 • VII Duke of Bronte • VIII Monarch • VIII Hawke • VIII Vanguard • IX Lion • IX Duncan • IX Marlborough • IX Scarlet Thunder • X Conqueror • X St. Vincent • X Thunderer • X Incomparable • ★ Devastation
France	III Turenne • IV Courbet • V Bretagne • VI Normandie • VI Dunkerque • VI Dunkerque B • VII Lyon • VII Strasbourg • VIII Richelieu • VIII Gascogne • VIII Champagne • VIII Flandre • VIII Picardie • IX Alsace • IX Jean Bart • IX Jean Bart B • X République • X Bourgogne • ★ Patrie
U.S.S.R.	III Knyaz Suvorov • IV Imperator Nikolai I • IV Gangut • V Pyotr Velikiy • V Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya • VI Izmail • VI Novorossiysk • VII Sinop • VII Poltava • VIII Vladivostok • VIII Lenin • VIII Borodino • IX Sovetsky Soyuz • IX Navarin • IX AL Sov. Rossiya • X Kremlin • X Slava • ★ Admiral Ushakov
U.S.A.	III South Carolina • IV Wyoming • IV Arkansas Beta • V New York • V Oklahoma • V Texas • VI New Mexico • VI Arizona • VI W. Virginia '41 • VII Colorado • VII Florida • VII West Virginia '44 • VII California • VIII North Carolina • VIII Kansas • VIII Nebraska • VIII Alabama • VIII Massachusetts • VIII Alabama VL • VIII Constellation • VIII Massachusetts B • VIII Alabama ST • VIII North Carolina CLR • IX Iowa • IX Minnesota • IX Delaware • IX Missouri • IX Kearsarge • IX Illinois • IX Kearsarge B • IX Georgia • X Montana • X Vermont • X Louisiana • X Ohio • X Rhode Island • X Wisconsin • ★ Maine
Germany	III Nassau • III Von der Tann • III König Albert • IV Kaiser • IV Moltke • V König • V Derfflinger • VI Bayern • VI Mackensen • VI Prinz Eitel Friedrich • VII Gneisenau • VII Prinz Heinrich • VII Scharnhorst • VII AL Prinz Heinrich • VII Scharnhorst B • VII Scharnhorst '43 • VIII Tirpitz • VIII Bismarck • VIII Zieten • VIII Odin • VIII Brandenburg • VIII Anhalt • VIII Brandenburg B • VIII Tirpitz B • IX Friedrich der Grosse • IX Prinz Rupprecht • IX Pommern • IX Pommern B • X Grosser Kurfürst • X Schlieffen • X Preussen • X Mecklenburg • ★ Hannover
Pan-Asia	IX Bajie • IX Wujing • IX Sun Yat-Sen • IX Louchuan
Spain	IX Victoria
Europe	V Viribus Unitis • IX Karl XIV Johan
Netherlands
Italy	IV Dante Alighieri • V Conte di Cavour • V Giulio Cesare • VI Andrea Doria • VII Francesco Caracciolo • VIII Vittorio Veneto • VIII Roma • VIII AL Littorio • IX Lepanto • IX Marco Polo • IX Giuseppe Verdi • X Cristoforo Colombo • X Ruggiero di Lauria • X Sicilia
Commonwealth	VII Yukon
Pan-America	V Rio de Janeiro • VIII Atlântico

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Compatible Upgrades