Z-23

14.0

Z-23

Destroyer | Germany | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price109000 exp

Purchase price8,800,000

Hit Points16,700

Main Battery

128 mm/45 SK C/34 on an MPLC/34 mount4 х 1 pcs.

Rate of Fire15 shots/min.

Reload Time4 sec.

Rotation Speed8 deg./sec.

180 Degree Turn Time22.5 sec.

Firing Range9.85 km.

Maximum Dispersion88 m.

HE Shell128 mm Spr.Gr.

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,500

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell6 %

Initial HE Shell Velocity830 m./s.

HE Shell Weight28 kg.

AP Shell128 mm P.Spr.Gr.

Maximum AP Shell Damage3,000

Initial AP Shell Velocity830 m./s.

AP Shell Weight28 kg.

Torpedo Tubes

533 mm Vierling2 х 4 pcs.

Rate of Fire0.67 shots/min.

Reload Time90 sec.

Rotation Speed25 deg./sec.

180 Degree Turn Time7.2 sec.

TorpedoG7 Steinbarsch

Maximum Damage14,400

Torpedo Speed65 knot

Torpedo Range8.49 km.

AA Defense

128 mm/45 SK C/41 on a Drh LC/41 mount1 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second14.9

. . . Firing Range5.01 km.

20 mm/65 C/38 on an L/30 single mount6 х 1 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second18

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

37 mm/83 SK C/30 on a Dopp LC/30 mount2 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second5.2

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed37 knot

Turning Circle Radius680 m.

Rudder Shift Time6.3 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range7.68 km.

Air Detectability Range3.5 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

14.0

Z-23

Destroyer | Germany | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price109000 exp

Purchase price8,800,000

Hit Points19,500

Main Battery

128 mm/45 SK C/34 on an MPLC/34 mount3 х 1 / 1 х 2 pcs.

Rate of Fire15 shots/min.

Reload Time4 sec.

Rotation Speed8 deg./sec.

180 Degree Turn Time22.5 sec.

Firing Range10.84 km.

Maximum Dispersion88 m.

HE Shell128 mm Spr.Gr.

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,500

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell6 %

Initial HE Shell Velocity830 m./s.

HE Shell Weight28 kg.

AP Shell128 mm P.Spr.Gr.

Maximum AP Shell Damage3,000

Initial AP Shell Velocity830 m./s.

AP Shell Weight28 kg.

Torpedo Tubes

533 mm Vierling2 х 4 pcs.

Rate of Fire0.67 shots/min.

Reload Time90 sec.

Rotation Speed25 deg./sec.

180 Degree Turn Time7.2 sec.

TorpedoG7 Schildbutt

Maximum Damage14,400

Torpedo Speed66 knot

Torpedo Range9.51 km.

AA Defense

128 mm/45 SK C/41 on a Drh LC/41 mount1 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second14.9

. . . Firing Range5.01 km.

37 mm/69 Flak M42 on an LM/42 mount4 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second41.2

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

20 mm/65 C/38 on a twin mount2 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second8.4

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

20 mm/65 C/38 on a Flak 35 Vierling L/38 mount4 х 4 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second24

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed37 knot

Turning Circle Radius680 m.

Rudder Shift Time4.5 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range7.68 km.

Air Detectability Range3.5 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

VIII

8,800,000

Z-23 — German Tier VIII destroyer.

Developed from the Leberecht Maass-class destroyers (Zerstörer 1936A type), this ship had larger dimensions and greater firepower compared to her prototype. She is equiped with 128 mm main gun mounts rather than her historical 150 mm armament, but retains the torpedo armament of her predecessor.

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 ()
128 mm/45 SK C/34 on an MPLC/34 mount 128 mm/45 SK C/41 on a Drh LC/41 mount	15	22.5	88	1,500	6	3,000		0	650,000

	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 ()
Z-23 (A)	16,700	6	20	4		6/2	2			0	900,000
Z-23 (B)	19,500	8	20	3/1		2/4/4/1	2			26,000	2,200,000

	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 ()
G7 Steinbarsch	0.7	90	7.2	14,400	65	8.5		0	800,000
G7 Schildbutt	0.7	90	7.2	14,400	66	9.5		16,000	1,300,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
FKS Typ 8 Mod. 1		0		0	400,000
FKS Typ 8 Mod. 2		0		20,000	1,400,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 70,000 hp	37		0	635,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5

Player Opinion

Performance

A solid upgrade to Leberecht Maass, Tier VIII's Z-23 is similar in broad strokes but sees incremental improvements in several key areas. Most welcome is the ability to take the concealment upgrade in the new upgrade slot, allowing her to reach a detection range of 6.2 km when combined with camouflage and the captain skill; still worse than most other destroyers, but at least closer to competitive. A slight downgrade in acceleration, rudder shift, and turning circle is compensated for by a meaty helping of 2,000 additional hit points.

In her stock configuration, Z-23 has exactly the same guns as Maass, but loses a gun. However, upon upgrading to the N-Hull Z-23 exchanges her forward single gun mount for a twin turret, bringing her gun count up to five guns.

Finally, the upgraded torpedoes pick up an extra kilometer of range, improving their flexibility. The 1-knot increase in speed is small but can only help as well.

All in all, like her predecessors Z-23 may not quite have the finesse of American or Japanese destroyers, but her durability, Hydroacoustic Search , and balanced gun and torpedo armaments allow her to adapt to almost any circumstance.

Pros:

• 128mm main battery guns have a very fast rate of fire.
• Main battery has increased HE penetration, making them more consistent
• Can deliver torpedo strikes from beyond her detection range.
• Has decent speed for a Tier VIII destroyer.
• Has access to Hydroacoustic Search .
• High amount of hit points for a Tier VIII destroyer, second only to Akizuki.

Cons:

• Relatively large detection range compared to other Tier VIII destroyers.
• Main battery turrets have a somewhat slow turret traverse speed.
• Mediocre AA.
• Very short smokescreen duration limits offensive smoking ability.

Research

Upgrade the hull first for a massive increase in survivability. Next, the upgraded torpedoes are more comfortable to use. Take the gun range last.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Z-23 are as follows:

• Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
• Slot 2: Engine Room Protection *
• Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
• Slot 4: Propulsion Modification 1
• Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1 

If available, captains are encouraged to install Hydroacoustic Search Modification 1 in Upgrade Slot 2 in order to extend Z-23’s Hydroacoustic Search  duration to 115 seconds.

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

Consumables

Z-23 equips the following consumables:

• Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
• Slot 2: Smoke Generator 
• Slot 3: Engine Boost 
• Slot 4: Hydroacoustic Search 

Signals

The choice of which Signal Flags to mount will confer to the individual preference of each captain, and are subject to great variation, although there are certain flags which suit Destroyer game play better. Captains should mount India Yankee to decrease time to extinguish fires, mount November Foxtrot to decrease reload time of consumables, and mount Sierra Mike to increase the ship's maximum speed. To make their torpedoes more potent, captains should mount Juliet Whisky Unaone to increase chance of causing flooding and Juliet Charlie to mitigate risk to magazine detonation from mounting the former flag. If captains wish to buff their primary artillery, they are encouraged to mount Victor Lima + India X-ray to increase fire chance to HE shells.

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Charlie Kilo +5% ship HP; +2.5% squadron HP.	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.
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding.	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 .

Gallery

• 
• 

  Z-23 keeps the pressure going as it evades enemy torpedoes.

• 

  Z-23 destroys an enemy Benson class destroyer in a gun duel.

• 

  Z-23 fires a salvo at an enemy North Carolina class battleship.

• 

  A torpedo salvo from Z-23 destroys two enemy cruisers at once.

• 

  A Z-23 is destroyed by enemy aircraft.

Historical Info

Construction

Deschimag; Bremen, Germany

Laid down: 15 November 1938

Launched: 15 December 1939

Commissioned: 14 September 1940

Specifications

2,603 tons displacement, standard

127m length

12m beam

3.91m draft

Machinery

6 boilers, 2 turbines

Performance

38.5 knots at 70,000 shaft horsepower

2,174nm at 19 knots

Armament

Main

Five (1x2, 3x1) 150mm guns

Anti-Aircraft

Four (2x2) 37mm guns

Five (5x1) 20mm guns

Torpedoes

Eight (2x4) 550mm torpedo tubes

History

Design

The destroyers of the Zerstörer 1936A class were the last class of destroyers designed by Germany before the outbreak of World War II. They were slightly larger than the preceding 1936 class, and were designed to be more stable in the seas. The hull was reinforced, and a bulge was installed at the bow to improve seaworthiness. The latter was eventually removed, however, as it proved to have negative side effects on the bow. A double rudder allowed better maneuverability than on the 1934 or 1936 classes.

The result was a 127 meter long and 12 meter wide hull with a draft of up to 4.65m. The displacement ranged between 2,600 and 3,700 tons depending on the loadout, and her engines — with a combined 70,000 shaft horsepower — would allow for a speed of 36 knots (during speed trials, speeds up to 38.5 knots were achieved). The fuel capacity gave these ships a cruising range of up to 2,500 nautical miles. The crew for a single vessel consisted of 11 officers and 320 men.

What made the 1936A class stand out from other destroyers of the era was their main battery armament. The 15cm L/48 was gun was unique to Germany, and the largest main battery rifle to be mounted on a destroyer to date. They were initially tested on the 1934-class destroyer Z-8 Bruno Heinemann, these guns were meant to counter new French and British destroyers, as well as allowing the 1936A class ships to serve as scout units and to compensate for the continual shortage of light cruisers and scouting units. There were two mountings available on the 1934A class, a single mount and a twin turret. Other than the number of guns in these mountings, they also differed in terms of gun elevations: the single mounting allowed for 30° elevations, whereas the twin turret could elevate up to 65°. Each ship of the Z-23 class was slated to receive one twin-barreled mount on the bow and three single-barreled mounts at the stern of the ship, with the sternmost two being superfiring and the central turret facing forward. The only exception for this layout was Z-28, which was used as a fleet command vessel and instead mounted four single mounts in two superfiring pairs, one at the bow and one at the aft. The Torpedo armament did not change from the 1934 series destroyers, with two quadruple 533mm torpedo tubes, and the initial anti-aircraft armament consisted of two twin 37mm Flakzwilling 30's and five single barreled 20mm FlaK 38's.

Availability issues with the 15cm twin turret meant that the first few vessels built only received four 15cm guns in single mountings. However, even the lighter armament showed that the bow was insufficiently designed and that the ships took a tremendous amount of water over the bow in the commonly rough seas of the northern Atlantic. When the twin turret was eventually installed in 1942 the issues with these guns became more noticeable. With the twin turret weighting more than four times that of a single mount, the fore ship was even more prone to being wet. As the turret was not properly designed to be waterproof the electrical systems within would often fail in heavy seas and the fixed ammunition meant that a lot of physical effort was required by the gun crews to reload the gun, which would hamper the ability to maintain a high rate of fire during combat.

With the threat from aircraft rising throughout the war, it was deemed as necessary to increase the anti-air-armament of all destroyers, resulting in the so-called “Barbara-program” which added additional AA guns for almost all ships in 1944. The proposed changes for the 1936A class ships were the removal of a 15cm single mount, and a completely new AA armament of twelve 37mm M42 and eighteen 20mm FlaK 38 guns, with the addition of 8.6cm AA rockets in four single launchers.

In-game historical inaccuracies

• Z-23 never carried 128mm guns, making her entire in-game main armament inaccurate.
• Neither Z-23 nor any of her sister ships had an AA gun platform around the forward funnel.
• The "Barbara-refit" that some of Z-23's sisterships received removed one of the main guns for additional 37mm weaponry. Z-23 in game keeps all of her guns, yet gets an increased 37mm battery.

Historical Gallery

• 

  Profile view of Z-23

• 

  Z-23 at sea.

• 

  A forward view of a Zerstörer 1936A at sea. In the foreground is Kapitän zur See Pönitz

References

1. German destroyer Z23 - Wikipedia
2. Type 1936A destroyer - Wikipedia

Ship Change Log

See here for links to Update notes.

• Available to supertesters in the game starting from Update 0.5.15.
• Introduced into the game as a researchable ship in Update 0.5.16.
• Update 0.6.6:
  • Improved appearance of the ship using a special technology for high-quality rendering of thin elements (mainly rigging).
• Update 0.6.12:
  • Detectability when firing main guns in smoke changed to 3.38 km.
• Update 0.6.13:
  • Fire extinguishing time now 30 s instead of 60 s.
• Update 0.6.15:
  • Added a bonus to the "Congratulatory" permanent camouflage - a 10% discount to the cost of post-battle maintenance.
• Update 0.7.10:
  • Added a special Steel Rat camouflage.
  • The range of the Hydroacoustic Search consumable was unified - 5 km for detecting ships, 3.5 km for detecting torpedoes.
• Update 0.8.5:
  • Credits earnings increased by +5%.
• Update 0.8.6:
  • The HP of the stock hull was increased from 14,700 to 16,700.
• Update 0.8.7:
  • Fixed the visual display of the "From the bottom of the Ocean" camouflage.
• Update 0.9.5:
  • Armor penetration of 128 mm HE shells was increased from 21 to 32 mm, and penetration of 150 mm HE shells - from 25 to 38 mm.
  • Small changes to geometry and textures.
• Update 0.10.3:
  • The 150 mm/55 Tbts KC/36T guns on an LDrh LC/38 mount were removed from the game. The main battery models were updated.
  • When Hull B is mounted, the artillery configuration will change: the fore turret will become twin-gun.
  • Fixed a bug due to which torpedoes inflicted damage if they had already passed the ship or were moving in the opposite direction to it.
• Update 0.10.4:
  • Fixed the rotation time of the bow turret.

Ships of Germany

Destroyers