Z-42

13.3

Destroyer | Germany | Tier X

Tech Tree Position

Battle Levels

12345678910

X

Special

Z-42 — German special premium Tier X destroyer.

A variant of the Type 1936B destroyer project. Unlike other ships in the series, she is armed with dual-purpose main guns consisting of twin 105 mm mounts.

Z-42 was first released 15 February 2023 with Update 12.1 and is available in the Armory for 27,000 Steel.

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 ()
105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/37 mount	13.3	18	109	1,200	5	2,300		0	0

	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 ()
Z-42	19,700	13	20	5		3/4/5	2			0	0

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	Torpedo Tubes Reload Time (sec)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Damage (HP)	Torpedo Speed (knot)	Torpedo Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
G7a T1	0.6	100	7.2	13,700	62	10		0	0

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
FKS Typ 10 Mod. 1		0		0	0

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 70,000 hp	36.5		0	0

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5
Slot 6

Player Opinion

Performance

Warning. The data presented in the AA Defense sidebar section may be incorrect.
Refer to the in-game Port screens for more useful data.

German destroyer Z-42 is a high-DPM gunboat that relies on her strong Hydroacoustic Search consumable to actively contest capture zones. In game she’s a modified Type 1936B destroyer from the Kriegsmarine.

Armament:

Z-42 carries ten 105 mm guns in five twin mounts, the same ones used as secondary guns on many German ships, most notably Schlieffen. Her shells share the same traits as other German ships. Her HE shells deal less damage and have a lower fire chance, but have the German ¼ pen mechanic, allowing her to penetrate 26 mm plating. Her AP shells have increased damage for their caliber and, thanks to their lower caliber, they can fuse on enemy destroyer plating and score full penetrations more consistently than other destroyers with larger guns. Her 4.5-second main battery reload and lower HE damage don’t give her great HE DPM, but her AP DPM is among the best in her tier, lower only than Marceau and Harugumo. Her turret traverse is also particularly slow for a destroyer, taking 18 seconds to rotate 180°, so switching targets can be a problem. Her gun range is good, with a 12.5 km range before any upgrades.

Z-42 carries eight torpedoes in two quadruple launchers with a 10 km range. Her launch angles are decent, but her torpedoes perform poorly. They have a decent reload and detectability, but they are slow at only 62 knots and deal little damage. As a result, they are more useful for causing flooding, forcing a DCP, or dealing chip damage rather than a primary source of damage.

AA Armament:

Z-42’s AA armament consists of ten 105 mm dual-purpose guns in twin turrets, eight 37 mm cannons in four twin mounts and twelve 30 mm guns in three quadruple mounts. Although she produces a lot of flak, her defenses aren’t that effective. The decent number of flak puffs with their good damage can mislead players into thinking that she can effectively defend herself from carrier strikes, but flak clouds are easily avoidable and her poor DPS isn’t sufficient to take down planes, especially those coming from Tier X and supership carriers. On top of that, her long range mounts have the shortest range of the tier, just 5.2 km.

ASW Armament:

Her ASW armament consists of two sets of Depth Charges. Each charge drops eight bombs that deal low damage, and reloads in 40 seconds.

Consumables:

Z-42 comes with a standard Damage Control Party consumable, Engine Boost, Hydroacoustic Search and Short-Burst Smoke Generator. Her Engine Boost is standard for a destroyer, providing an 8% increase to her top speed and increases her acceleration. Her Hydroacoustic Search is typical of German ships, with an increased detection range (6 km for ships, 4 km for torpedoes). Her smoke generator is also uncommon for German destroyers. She uses the Short-Burst Smoke Generator found on British destroyers as well as the premium German destroyer Z-35.

Survivability and Armor:

Z-42 comes with 19,700 base hitpoints, which is slightly below average. Her armor is the same standard 19 mm plating found on most high tier destroyers, without any additional plating that can improve her survivability. As a result, she is more vulnerable in her cap contesting role. Her turrets only have 15 mm plating, so she has a higher chance of losing them in game.

Maneuverability:

Z-42’s maneuverability is good, with her 4.4 s rudder shift time and 670 m turning circle making her one of the most maneuverable in her tier. However, her speed isn’t particularly impressive at 36.5 knots. With the Sierra Mike signal, Engine Boost consumable and Swift in Silence skill, she can reach 44.3 knots.

Battle Performance

Z-42 is one of those ships that have good characteristics but don’t excel in any role. Her 6 km Hydroacoustic Search provides a good advantage when contesting capture points, but she lacks the HE DPM to effectively win 1 vs 1 battles against many potential enemies, especially those equipped with Surveillance Radar. However, if her opponent makes the mistake of giving too much broadside, her AP shells can easily deal massive amounts of damage. Her torpedoes are mostly a defensive tool due to their slow speed and poor damage. Their main use is to delay enemies from pushing key areas and to trigger floodings on enemy ships that happen to get hit by them. She doesn’t have a Repair Party consumable or much health, so she must be careful when picking fights with other destroyers.

Z-42 can be good at both contesting caps and farming damage on enemy ships. For the latter role, captains must manage her short-burst smokes to trigger fires on ships with their Damage Control Party on cooldown, and use islands or friendly smokes as cover when it isn’t available.

Pros:

Good main battery range
Strong AP DPM
HE with increased penetration
Good maneuverability
Hydroacoustic Search  with a 6 km range
Access to Short-Burst Smoke Generator

Cons:

Low health
Poor HE DPM and fire chance
Painfully slow turret traverse
Poor torpedo damage with suboptimal range

Research

As a premium ship, Z-42 has no module upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades are:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Engine Room Protection or Hydroacoustic Search Modification 1 or Engine Boost Modification 1
Slot 3: Main Battery Modification 2 or Aiming Systems Modification 1
Slot 4: Propulsion Modification 1
Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1 
Slot 6: Main Battery Modification 3 or Gun Fire Control System Modification 2

Commander Skills

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack				Defense
1	Grease the Gears +15% main battery traverse speed. ★★★	Liquidator +30% chance (multiplicative) of causing flooding.	Consumables Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except: Damage Control Party , Repair Party .	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type.	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	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire. +15% to the damage-inflicting area of HE shells fired at submarines.	Swift Fish +5% torpedo speed.	Consumables Enhancements +10% action time of: Hydroacoustic Search , Surveillance Radar , Smoke Generator , & Engine Boost . ★★	Extra-Heavy Ammunition +7.5% main battery AP shell damage. +10% damage from depth charges. ★★	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies aiming at you with main battery. ★	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver - slowly - while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated. ★★★
3	Main Battery & AA Specialist -5% main battery reload time. +10% continuous AA damage. ★★	Fill the Tubes -10% torpedo tubes reload time.	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★★	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells Base fire chance reduced by half. ★★	Superintendent +1 charge to all consumables. ★	Survivability Expert +350 HP per ship tier. ★★★
4	Main Battery & AA Expert +20% main battery range. +15% flak damage. ★★	Swift in Silence So long as the ship remains undetected: +8% ship speed +5% main battery reload time.	Radio Location Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.. ★	Fearless Brawler +1 flak burst per salvo. -10% main battery reload when ship is spotted.	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	Dazzle For 15 seconds after you are detected: * +20% dispersion of enemy shells fired at you. * +8% ship speed.
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Without any doubt, the best captain for this ship is Günther Lutjens. Her high rate of fire coupled with the shell volume makes it very easy to activate the Main Battery Loader talent, which gives her a 7.5% reload buff. Being a destroyer, she can easily activate (in games without an Aircraft Carrier) the Resilient talent, healing her by 300 HP per second for 10 seconds every time she spots three ships. His enhanced skills, Grease The Gears and Preventive Maintenance, help to mitigate two of the ship's weaknesses, namely the poor turret traverse speed and high chance to get modules broken.

Consumables

Z-42 equips the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Short-Burst Smoke Generator  – 6 charges
Slot 3: Engine Boost  – 3 charges
Slot 4: Hydroacoustic Search  – 3 charges

Camouflage

As a premium ship, Z-42 comes with Default permanent camouflage and a set of permanent combat bonuses.

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

Destroyers

Japan	II Tachibana • II Umikaze • II Tachibana Lima • III Wakatake • IV Isokaze • V Minekaze • V Fūjin • V Kamikaze • V Kamikaze R • V Mutsuki • VI Fubuki • VI Hatsuharu • VI Shinonome B • VI Shinonome • VII Akatsuki • VII Shiratsuyu • VII Yūdachi • VIII Akizuki • VIII Kagerō • VIII Asashio • VIII HSF Harekaze II • VIII Asashio B • VIII HSF Harekaze • VIII AL Yukikaze • IX Yūgumo • IX Kitakaze • IX Minegumo • IX STAR Kitakaze • X Shimakaze • X Harugumo • X Hayate • ★ Yamagiri
U.K.	II Medea • III Valkyrie • III Campbeltown • IV Wakeful • V Acasta • VI Icarus • VI Gallant • VII Jervis • VII Jupiter '42 • VIII Lightning • VIII Cossack • VIII Cossack B • IX Jutland • IX Somme • X Daring • X Druid
France	II Enseigne Gabolde • III Fusilier • IV Bourrasque • V Jaguar • V Siroco • VI Guépard • VI Aigle • VII Vauquelin • VIII Le Fantasque • VIII Le Terrible • IX Mogador • X Kléber • X Marceau • X Kléber CLR
U.S.S.R.	II Storozhevoi • III Derzki • IV Izyaslav • V Gremyashchy • V Podvoisky • V Okhotnik • VI Gnevny • VII Minsk • VII Leningrad • VII Tashkent '39 • VIII Ognevoi • VIII Kiev • IX Udaloi • IX Tashkent • IX Neustrashimy • X Khabarovsk • X Grozovoi • X Delny • ★ Zorkiy
U.S.A.	II Sampson • II Smith • III Wickes • IV Clemson • V Nicholas • V Hill • VI Farragut • VI Monaghan • VII Mahan • VII Sims • VII Sims B • VIII Benson • VIII Kidd • IX Fletcher • IX Benham • IX Halford • IX Black B • IX Black • X Gearing • X Somers • X Forrest Sherman • ★ Joshua Humphreys
Germany	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
Pan-Asia	II Longjiang • III Phra Ruang • IV Shenyang • V Jianwei • VI Fushun • VI Anshan • VII Gadjah Mada • VIII Hsienyang • VIII Siliwangi • VIII Loyang • VIII Fenyang • VIII Loyang B • VIII Ship Smasha • IX Chung Mu • X Yueyang • X Lüshun • ★ Kunming
Spain	X Álvaro de Bazán
Europe	II Tátra • III Romulus • IV Klas Horn • V Visby • V Muavenet • VI Västerås • VI Stord • VII Skåne • VII Grom • VII Błyskawica • VII Stord '43 • VIII Öland • VIII Split • VIII Orkan • IX Östergötland • IX Lambros Katsonis • IX Velos • IX Friesland • IX Jäger • X Halland • X Gdańsk • X Småland • X Ragnar • ★ Dalarna
Netherlands	IX Groningen • X Tromp
Italy	II Curtatone • III Nazario Sauro • IV Turbine • V Maestrale • VI Aviere • VI Leone • VII Luca Tarigo • VII FR25 • VIII Vittorio Cuniberti • IX Adriatico • IX Paolo Emilio • X Attilio Regolo
Commonwealth	III Vampire • VII Haida • VII Huron • X Vampire II
Pan-America	VI Juruá

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Compatible Upgrades