Z15 Erich Steinbrinck

Z15 Erich Steinbrinck

Z15 Erich Steinbrinck

Description

The Type 1934A-class, Z15 Erich Steinbrinck, project is a rank German destroyer with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.93 "Shark Attack".

General info

Survivability and armour

Similar to other destroyers at its rank, the Type 1934A (1944) has very little armour to shield itself from incoming fire except from small-calibre machine guns. However, the ship is quite survivable thanks to its 8-section hull and high crew count. This allows the Type 1934A (1944) to last longer in a trading firefight.

Mobility

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded
RB/SB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded

The Type 1934A (1944) is fast and manoeuvrable, which can help the ship to survive longer via evasive manoeuvring.

Armament

Primary armament

Similar to most German destroyers prior to rank III, the Type 1934A (1944) is equipped with basic 127 mm naval cannons, two at the front of the ship and the other two at the back. These cannons' damage per shot is not bad against targets at its BR range, but not that good either, thus requiring you to hit the enemy several times (usually 20 - 30 hits for destroyers) to sunk them (thus somewhat inadaquate at long ranges due to lack of stopping power). Fortunately, the gun has a very good reload time of just 4 seconds with ace crew, coupled with good shell velocity and accuracy. This makes the Type 1934A (1944) capable of continuously lob its shells into its target within a mid-to-close range (within 7 kilometers) into submission.

Secondary armament

Secondary armaments consisted of seven dual 37mm AA gun mounts (14 in total), two at the bridge and the second smokestack and three at the rear fighting compartment. These guns provided very deadly firepower at close range and good anti-air coverage.

Anti-aircraft armament

In addition, the Type 1934A (1944) is also featuring two twin 20 mm anti-aircraft mounts, one at the bow and the other at the rear compartment.

Additional armament

As with other German destroyers, the Type 1934A (1944) comes equipped with G7a torpedoes in two quadruple launchers. These torpedoes remain very deadly against any target the ship may face.

Usage in battles

The Type 1934A (1944) is a potent support and brawling ship that's excel at mid-to-close range combat. Although its 127mm guns is somewhat inadaquate against long-range targets, it is quite deadly at closer range thanks to its rapid rate of fire and good accuracy. This allows the ship to pick off important modules on the enemy ships (turrets, engines, bridge) and slowly killing them.

To complement its primary armament, the type 1934A (1944) is also equipped with fourteen 37mm guns as secondary armaments. This gun is very useful for occasionally set the enemy ship on fire, depleting the crew, and finish them off. This gun is also useful for anti-air purposes, although it's advised to man the gun by yourself when an enemy plane is getting close.

Due to its gun placement, the Type 1934A is able to aim and shoot two main guns with greater accuracy and still packing enough firepower to pick off important modules, moving in this position can make the ship more surviveable, since not only the ship's profile is much smaller and harder to hit when bow on, this also prevent most enemy from damaging its unprotected engines and transmission.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High survivability due to high crew count and section layout
• Good top speed and agility
• Main guns is very accurate and has very good rate of fire
• Powerful secondary armaments
• Good anti-air coverage
• Equipped with deadly G7a torpedoes

Cons:

• Average (yet adaquate) damage per shot for its BR
• Lacks armour to shield off small-calibre cannons at close range
• Engines and transmissions is exposed to any incoming shots from the sides

History

The in-game Type 1934A (1944) was based on the late refit of German Type 1934A-class destroyer Z-6 Theodor Riedel

The Z-6 is one of the 15 Type 1934A-class destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine during the mid-1930s. At the beginning of World War II in September 1939, the ship laid defensive minefields to the North Sea. She covered her sister ships over the next few months as they laid offensive minefields in English waters in late 1939–early 1940. She participated in the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign by transporting troops to the Trondheim area in early April 1940 and was transferred to France later that year where the ship covered another minelaying sortie before engine problems caused her to return to Germany in November for repairs. Theodor Riedel was badly damaged when she ran aground three days after her repairs were completed and was out of action until May 1942.

The ship was transferred to Norway in 1942 and ran aground yet again as she prepared to attack one of the convoys to Russia in July. Repairs were completed in December and Theodor Riedel participated in the Battle of the Barents Sea at the end of the year and in the German attack on Spitzbergen in mid-1943. After another lengthy refit, the ship began escorting ships between Denmark and Norway in mid-1944 and continued to do so until May 1945 when she made several trips to rescue refugees from East Prussia before the end of the war on 8 May.

Theodor Riedel spent the rest of the year under British control as the Allies decided how to dispose of the captured German ships and was ultimately allotted to France in early 1946 and renamed Kléber. She became operational later that year, but she was reconstructed and modernized in Cherbourg in 1948–51. After its completion, the ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron for several years. Kléber was placed in reserve in late 1953, but was not condemned until 1957 and scrapped the next year.

See also

• Type 1934A (1940) - a basic Type 1934A-class prior refit

External links

• [Wikipedia] Type 1934A destroyers
• [Wikipedia] German torpedo boat Z-6 Theodor Riedel