Ship:Graf Zeppelin B

14.8

Graf Zeppelin B

Aircraft Carrier | Germany | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

General

Purchase priceSpecial

Hit Points52,600

Secondary Armament #1

150 mm/55 SK C/28 on a Dop. MPL C/36 mount8 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range6.3 km

Rate of Fire8 shots/min

Reload Time7.5 sec

HE Shell150 mm Spr.Gr. L/4.5

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,700

Initial HE Shell Velocity875 m/s

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell8 %

Secondary Armament #2

105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/31 mount6 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range6.3 km

Rate of Fire17.9 shots/min

Reload Time3.4 sec

HE Shell105 mm Spr.Gr. Kz. L/3.84

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,200

Initial HE Shell Velocity900 m/s

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

AA Defense

20 mm/65 C/38 on a Flak 35 Vierling L/38 mount7 х 4 pcs.

37 mm/69 Flak M42 on an LM/42 mount11 х 2 pcs.

105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/31 mount6 х 2 pcs.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed32 knot

Turning Circle Radius1140 m

Rudder Shift Time13.7 sec

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range15.7 km

Air Detectability Range10 km

Battle Levels

12345678910

VIII

Special

Graf Zeppelin B — German special premium Tier VIII aircraft carrier.

A high-speed aircraft carrier armed with numerous secondary and dual-purpose guns. She had the most powerful propulsion among all German Navy ships. The carrier was never completed because Germany's shipbuilding program priorities changed during the course of World War II.

Graf Zeppelin B first went on sale on 29 November 2019 via Black Friday containers.

Modules

	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 ()
Graf Zeppelin B.	52,600	9	100		8/6	7/11/6				0	0

	Speed (knot)	Average Damage per Second (HP/min)	Loadout	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Me 155A	136			1,320		0	0

	Maximum Torpedo Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Ta 152C-1/R14	5,333	181	1,710		0	0

	Maximum Bomb Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Ta 152C-1/R14		181	1,650		0	0

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 200,000 hp	32		0	0

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5

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.

Graf Zeppelin B is in all respects save her paint scheme identical to Graf Zeppelin.

Graf Zeppelin B is the only German aircraft carrier available in World of Warships at this point in time. As such she differs greatly from all the other carriers present and gives her own unique flavor in-game. She currently sits at Tier VIII.

Graf Zeppelin B's hull is worth a special mention. For one she boasts a threatening amount of secondary armament, which makes her a risky target for destroyers that can not avoid getting spotted. This also opens up the opportunity to use her late-game as a platform which engages through her secondaries and planes, but such maneuvers need to be carefully calculated or else the destruction of the ship will be imminent. Secondly, she features a reinforced hull plating which makes her immune to non-IFHE guns with a caliber of up to 128mm. Destroyer captains engaging her with artillery should be aware of that and switch to AP-shells in these cases.

The most potent planes of Graf Zeppelin B are her torpedo bombers. Being able to fly at speeds of up to 227 knots they are capable of traveling far distances with ease, and can do quick “boom and zoom” attacks even against vessels with stronger AA defenses. Their torpedoes however are not hitting particularly hard, and the planes are rather fragile, so it should be kept in mind that several runs will be required to deal notable damage and that ships with high continuous dps are a big threat. Every attack run can drop up to three torpedoes, which will be dropped in a wedge shape. As every squadron consists of nine planes, Graf Zeppelin B can make three attack runs with three planes each. However, the flooding chance for these torpedoes is quite low, making DoT stacks difficult with this German carrier.

Being the only viable plane type on Graf Zeppelin B against destroyers, her attack aircraft will satisfy the player with good hitting power and rocket penetration (40mm), but unlike the torpedo bombers they do not possess a superior speed and are in fact on the slower side of T8 aircraft. Every attack run will release up to eight rockets, so timing the drop for a narrow reticle is highly recommended. With eight planes in total per squadron that results in four attack runs.

The remaining plane type are the dive bombers, which while they offer a faster diving approach, are lacking in terms of striking power and penetration. However, using the same plane as the torpedo bombers they are fast enough to travel across the map quickly. Each attack run will consist of two dive bombers with one bomb each, and the entire squadron will consist of eight planes in total. Unfortunately, some ships are completely immune to these weapons, and while the circular reticle means you can approach from any angle, it also means that even the best aimed drops can result in no hits.

In terms of playstyle her captain should capitalize on the torpedo bombers whenever possible, launching fast attack waves against capital ships which do not possess the means of dodging her fish. Her rocket planes should be used against agile targets such as destroyers and maneuverable cruisers. When having the opportunity, spotting destroyers with the fighter plane consumable is an option that should be considered, however they lack the speed to be effective against enemy aircraft unless the opponent actively closes the distance to them.

Pros:

• Access to the fastest planes at Tier VIII, which will form her torpedo and dive bombers.
• Comes with one of the best secondaries in the game. Incredibly accurate even without Manual secondaries perk, with maximum possible range of 9.4 km.
• Her rocket planes hit hard and penetrate even battleship plating.
• Citadel is hidden below the waterline, which prevents her from taking massive amounts of damage.
• Can't be damaged by IFHE-Less 127mm and 128mm guns due to 21mm plating, which makes her immune to most of destroyers in game.

Cons:

• As a Tier VIII aircraft carrier, captains may face off against large amounts of high tier AA.
• Unable to train captains for any other carriers, and requires a specialized German captain to perform well.
• Poor surface detectability.
• Awful and situational AP bombers with bad alpha strike, penetration, accuracy and only two bombs per strike.
• Her AA is lacking, making it difficult to repel air attacks.
• Worst aerial torpedos at tier VIII, with lowest alpha damage and flooding chance.

Research

As a Premium ship, Graf Zeppelin B doesn't have any upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Graf Zeppelin B are as follows:

• Slot 1: Air Groups Modification 1
• Slot 2: Aircraft Engines Modification 1
• Slot 3: Secondary Battery Modification 1
• Slot 4: Torpedo Bombers Modification 2
• Slot 5: Flight Control Modification 1

Upgrade Slot 3 also offers the usage of Attack Aircraft Modification 1 , which could be viable if the player deems the aiming time for the attack aircraft to be too short.

Commander Skills

The prime focus of skills should lie on improving the performance of Graf Zeppelin B's torpedo bombers and aircraft in general. Additional skills distributed to her secondary performance are however an option, but should not shift the priority away from Graf Zeppelin B's strengths.

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack			Defense		Support
1	Last Gasp Completely restores engine boost for the last attack squadron.	Improved Engine Boost +10% Aircraft engine boost time.	Engine Techie -20% Engine Cooling cooldown time.	Air Supremacy -5% aircraft restoration time. ★★	Direction Center for Fighters +1 fighter to CAP squadrons.	Search and Destroy +10% to action radius of Patrol Fighter and Interceptor squadrons.
2	Torpedo Bomber -10% torpedo arming distance. ★★	Swift Fish +5% to torpedo speed.	Improved Engines +2.5% aircraft squadron speed. ★★	Repair Specialist +1 In-flight Repair consumable +10% its action time.	Secondary Armament Expert +10% flak and continuous damage -10% secondary battery reload time.	Patrol Group Leader +1 fighter to Patrol Fighter or Interceptor squadrons.
3	Sight Stabilization +7.5% aiming speed. ★★	Enhanced Armor-Piercing Ammunition +3% damage from AP bombs and rockets. ★★	Pyrotechnician +1% chance of HE rockets causing a fire. +5% chance of HE bombs causing a fire.	Aircraft Armor -10% continuous AA damage while in an aura. ★★	Survivability Expert +25 aircraft HP per ship tier. ★★	Interceptor Interceptors replace Patrol Fighters:  +10% action radius.  Invulnerable to fighters.  Cannot attack fighters.  Cannot spot ships.
4	Bomber Flight Control +5% speed all bomber types.	Proximity Fuze -10% (absolute) to target's torpedo protection. ★★	Close Quarters Expert Secondary batteries: +20% range -30% dispersion.	Enhanced Aircraft Armor -25% damage from flak.	Hidden Menace -15% ship detectability range. -20% Damage Control Party cooldown. +50% aircraft return time.	Enhanced Reactions -80% time before activated Patrol Fighters or Interceptors attack. +25% action time. +50% cooldown time.
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful      ★★ - Frequently Useful      ★ - Occasionally Useful     No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

Like other aircraft carriers, Graf Zeppelin B can not control the consumables of the ship.

Graf Zeppelin B can equip the following consumables:

• Slot 1: Damage Control Party  unlimited
• Slot 2: CAP Fighter 

Graf Zeppelin B's aircraft can equip the following consumables: Attack Aircraft:

• Slot 1: Engine Cooling  (3 charges by default)
• Slot 2: Patrol Fighter  (3 charges by default)

Torpedo Bombers:

• Slot 1: Engine Cooling  (2 charges by default)
• Slot 2: Patrol Fighter  (3 charges by default)
• Slot 3: In-flight Repair  (3 charges by default)

Dive Bombers:

• Slot 1: Engine Cooling  (2 charges by default)
• Slot 2: Patrol Fighter  (3 charges by default)

Camouflage

As a premium ship, Graf Zeppelin B comes with Default permanent camouflage and a set of permanent combat bonuses.

Signals

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

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  An AP bomb from Graf Zeppelin’s air wing finds the Mogami’s citadel.
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  A German dive bomber returns to base after dropping its' ordinance on an enemy Yamato.
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Historical Info

Graf Zeppelin, 1939

Construction

Builder: Deutsche Werke; Kiel, Germany

Laid down: 28 December 1936

Launched: 8 December 1938

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Specifications

Displacement: 28,090 tons, standard

Length: 250.00m

Beam: 31.50m

Draft: 7.20m

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Machinery

16 La Mont boilers

4 Brown-Boveri turbines

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Performance

33 knots at 200,000 shaft horsepower

8,000 nautical miles at 19 knots

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Armor

Main belt: 60-100mm

Flight deck: 20-45mm

Torpedo bulkhead: 20mm

Armoured deck: 40-60mm

Transverse bulkheads: 60-80mm

Casemates: 20-30mm

Superstructure: 17mm

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Armament

Secondary

16 (8 x 2) 150mm/55 C28 low-angle guns

12 (6 x 2) 105mm/65 C33 high-angle guns

Anti-Aircraft

22 (11 x 2) 37mm/83 C33 guns

7 (7 x 1) 20mm/115 C30 guns

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Aircraft

Total

42 aircraft

2 compressed-air catapults

Fighters

Twelve (12) Bf 109T

Bombers

Thirty (30) Ju 87C

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Complement

1,760 men (est.)

The launching of Graf Zeppelin, 8 December 1938.

Design History

Flugzeugträger A — later christened Graf Zeppelin — was the culmination of the efforts mustered by the German Armed Forces to produce a native aircraft carrier to field in their reborn navy. The endeavor started in 1933, when the Kriegsmarine first seriously considered building a carrier; due to the circumstances Germany found herself in following World War I, there was a notable gap between her naval aviation capabilities and those of other navies. The project was further made difficult as aircraft technologies were rapidly shifting during the 1930s, and because — more inherently — the Kriegsmarine did not have any carrier doctrine to speak of. The Luftwaffe — a contributor to this joint venture — was also unenthusiastic, as they did not have any planes to spare for the Navy, nor did they have experienced pilots in naval aviation. Regardless, by 1934 the Kreigsmarine drafted the first designs and handed them over to Deutsche-Werke AG to finalize plans and begin construction.

The proposal by the Kriegsmarine called for a ship of 22,000 tons that could make 35 knots speed and carry 50 planes. In accordance with the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, two ships of such size would keep them below 50 percent of British carrier tonnage.

Since many resources were being invested in project, the Kriegsmarine was keen to ensure the survivability of the vessels. Uncharacteristic of typical German ships of this size, she was divided into multiple narrow compartments to mitigate loss to flooding. Also uncharacteristic of most carriers, she had armor installed, roughly equal to that of a cruiser. Additionally, Graf Zeppelin had a very novel system installed for fire-suppression: all the fuel systems were buffered with pressurized gasses. The non-liquid systems were filled with dry gas, and pipes carrying petroleum were jacketed with tubing filled with inert gas. Graf Zeppelin also had torpedo bulges installed for better protection and weight balance late in the design phase.

To reach the top speed wanted in the design sketches, engineers concluded that it would require an engine output of over 200,000 shaft horsepower; no ship in built by the navies Europe had that much power at the time. To accomplish such a feat, engineers estimated that it would take no less than four turbines to do so, with each turbine being fed by four boilers. Each group of boilers would be placed in their own fire-room for better management. In addition, a novel feature implemented into Graf Zeppelin was the Voith-Schneider cyclorotors. Designers understood that a vessel of such size would not be able to maneuver on rudder alone in ports and canals. Accordingly, they installed two cyclorotors under the forward keel of the ship; they could be extended in order to aid in low-speed maneuverability, and then retracted back into the hull when not in use. (In modern vessels, bow thrusters fill a similar role.) Similarly, in 1939, her straight bow was replaced by a “clipper” bow to increase seaworthiness.

Just like the navies of America and the Japan, the German Kriegsmarine fell into the belief that aircraft carriers should be able to protect themselves in surface combat. As such — in conjunction with her aforementioned armor package — Graf Zeppelin mounted sixteen 150mm guns in eight twin-armored casemates all along her bow. Since these guns could only service low-angles, she had another twelve 105mm guns installed in six twin-turrets fore-and-aft of the island superstructure. In addition, she had a complement of 20mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns.

Unlike aircraft carriers of other nations, planes could not take off from the flight deck unassisted; they had to be launched off two prominent steam pressure catapults built into the forward end of the flight deck. As the catapults used large launching sleds to hurl the aircraft off deck, there was a complex retrieval system built right underneath the flight deck to re-position the sleds back at the start for reuse. In theory, this allowed the aircraft carrier to launch eight planes in under four minutes. The catapults would be fed via three elevators that worked between two hangars. As German aviation programs could not diversify for both Air force and Navy needs, the mainstay of the aviation complement onboard Graf Zeppelin would be naval versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber.

Service History

Despite all the efforts put into her design and construction, Graf Zeppelin would never come into being as the first completed aircraft carrier of the Axis powers of Europe. Finally laid down in 1937 — following the Anglo-German Naval Treaty of 1935 where Germany successfully negotiated for the right to build aircraft carriers — the fate of Graf Zeppelin and her unnamed sister ship would be argued over by three men: Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine Erich Raeder, head of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring, and Admiral Karl Dönitz. Raeder was the driving force behind the addition of aircraft carriers to the Kriegsmarine, following visitations to see Japan’s powerful carrier force earlier in the 1930’s. An aircraft carrier would require aircraft, however, and this would require an establishment of a Fleet Air Arm, leading to the short-lived Trägergruppe (or "Carrier Group"). This, however, would be under the split jurisdiction of the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, and Göring jealously fought off any attempts that would undermine his complete control of every military aircraft in Germany's inventory. Dönitz, an influential admiral himself, knew that the greatest successes enjoyed by the Kaiserliche Marine was at the hands of their U-boats, and believed that Germany could never muster a naval force to contest the Royal Navy on the surface; he pushed to have resources that would be expended on any aircraft carriers shifted elsewhere.

Given all of the various factors involved, Raeder’s ambitions of adding a total of four aircraft carriers to the Kriegsmarine would ultimately prove impossible. Nevertheless, construction of Graf Zeppelin and her sister Flugzeugträger B proceeded uninterrupted until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, halting construction as wartime resources were spent elsewhere (and Raeder still battled Göring politically). In late February 1940, the frustrated Raeder ordered Flugzeugträger B to be broken up and scrapped, although Graf Zeppelin was spared this fate, rusting in a drydock at Kiel. Her sixteen 150mm secondaries were transferred to coastal installations in recently conquered Norway in April 1940 with Hitler’s approval. She first went to sea in July 1940 to be transferred to Gotenhafen, Germany (now Gdynia, Poland) where she continued to languish in port without any progress. She moved again to Stettin in November 1941 to stay out of Russian air strike range, where she was used as a floating warehouse by the Kriegsmarine. Following the successful Japanese carrier strike on Pearl Harbor, Raeder had the ammunition to finally gain approval from Hitler to continue construction on Graf Zeppelin on 13 May 1942. Construction continued slowly from then on, moving back to a floating drydock in Kiel come December 1942. In late January 1943, however, Hitler had become disenchanted with the Kriegsmarine and ordered all large surface ships to be scrapped. In the political chaos that followed, Raeder was relieved as the head of the Kriegsmarine by Dönitz. Dönitz managed to convince Hitler to withdraw his order to scrap most surface ships, but agreed to halt the construction of all large capital ships. Thus, in February 1943 Graf Zeppelin’s construction was halted for the last time. In April, she was towed to a wharf near Stettin, where she sat for two years with a 40-man skeleton crew.

In April 1945, as Soviet forces drew near, her crew flooded and detonated the ship in port, bringing an end to Germany’s only purpose-built aircraft carrier to ever near completion. Her life was not yet over, however. In March 1946, in violation of agreements with the Allied powers, the Soviets re-floated Graf Zeppelin. She was towed out of Stettin in the summer of 1947 — believed to be headed for the Soviet Union — with her flight deck loaded with containers. What happened after this point is not fully known. Western historians state that she struck a mine off the Gulf of Finland, and was scrapped after her damaged wreck was dragged to Leningrad. Soviet records indicate that she briefly made port in Swinemünde, then was towed out of harbor on 16 August 1947 and used as a target hulk for bombs, shells, and torpedoes. In 2006, her wreckage was discovered in 80 meters of water north of Władysławowo, Poland, confirming the final resting place of the Kriegsmarine's lone aircraft carrier.

Historical Inaccuracies

• Graf Zeppelin’s stat card depicts the ship had it been completed in 1945; the Bf 109T was in service until the summer of 1944. The aircraft was also outdated by 1942 and newer planes were sought when work on the aircraft carrier resumed that same year.
• The 37 mm Flak LM/42 anti-aircraft gun entered service in autumn 1943; construction on Graf Zeppelin ceased in early 1943. The 37 mm Flakzwilling 30 was originally intended for the ship.
• Actual planned aircraft capacity was 42; twelve Bf 109Ts & thirty Ju 87Cs. This was later revised to thirty Bf 109Ts and twelve Ju 87 D-4s.
• The Ju 87C was also a torpedo bomber.
• Stuka sirens are present on Graf Zeppelin's Ta-152C-1/R14 bombers.

Historical Gallery

• 
  The wappen (coat of arms) of Graf Zeppelin.
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  The keel for Graf Zeppelin in December 1936.
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  Graf Zeppelin after her launching on 8 December 1938.
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  Graf Zeppelin moored at Stettin in mid-1941.
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  Another view of Graf Zeppelin in 1941.
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  Projected recognition drawing of Graf Zeppelin had she been completed in September 1942.
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  Graf Zeppelin in drydock in March 1943.
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  Graf Zeppelin in 1947 at Swinemünde, prior to her sinking as a target ship.
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  Bow view of a model of Graf Zeppelin, at the Aeronauticum in Nordholz, Germany.
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  Sidescan sonar survey of the wreck of Graf Zeppelin.

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References

1. Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier - Wikipedia
2. Chesneau, R., Gardiner, R. (1980). Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships: 1922-1946. London UK: Conway Maritime Press.
3. Breyer, S. (1989). Graf Zeppelin: The German Aircraft Carrier. West Chester. PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
4. SANTI Expedition to Graf Zeppelin

Ship Change Log

• Available for testing by supertesters in the game starting from Update 0.8.10.
• Available for purchase in the Premium Store during the Black Friday promotion from November 29 to December 6, 2019. Could also drop from Black Friday containers.
• Update 0.8.6:
  • The armor penetration of the secondary high-explosive shells was increased from 18 to 26 mm.
• Update 0.9.2:
  • Fixed camera movement when viewing secondary battery guns.
  • The minimum time between attacks by bomber squadrons was increased from 5 to 8.5 s.
• Update 0.9.4:
  • Fixed a bug due to which the aft and bow bulkheads of the citadel had a thickness of 20 mm. Now the thickness of some of the bulkheads is 60 mm.
• Update 0.9.6:
  • Armor-piercing bomb damage was reduced from 7,000 to 5,800.
  • Aiming speed of bombers increased by 15%.
• Update 0.9.7:
  • The rocket attack was rotated 90 degrees, and now extends horizontally.
  • Fixed a bug due to which the cost of maintenance was 60,000 credits instead of 52,500.
• Update 0.10.0:
  • The speed of the patrol fighters was increased to 235 knots.
• Update 0.10.5:
  • Rocket aircraft now gain significant altitude at the start of an attack.
• Update 0.10.8:
  • Increased the chance of two bombs hitting the inner ellipse at once.
• Update 0.11.0:
  • Added the animation of aircraft launching via a catapult.

Ships of Germany

Aircraft Carriers