Ship:Dresden

14.8

Cruiser | Germany | Tier II

Tech Tree Position

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Battle Levels

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II

67,300

Dresden — German Tier II cruiser.

After building small ships equipped with steam engines, Germany began producing warships featuring turbines. During World War I, SMS Dresden, the lead ship of the new class, saw action in the Battle of Coronel as part of von Spee's squadron and in the Battle of the Falkland Islands, where she was the only German warship to escape destruction. Dresden raided the South Atlantic and Pacific until she was intercepted by British cruisers. In the battle that followed, the ship was scuttled, and the crew escaped to be interned in Chile for the duration of the war.

Modules

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Dispersion (m)	Maximum HE Shell Damage (HP)	Chances of HE shells causing a fire on target (%)	Maximum AP Shell Damage (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
105 mm/40 SK C/04 on an MPL C/04 mount	12	18	108	1,200	4			0	8,000

	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 ()
Dresden (A)	15,800	6	100	10		4				0	12,500
Dresden (B)	17,100	6	100	12		4				360	38,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
FKS Typ 2 Mod. 1		0		0	6,000
FKS Typ 2 Mod. 2		0		230	25,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 18,800 hp	25		0	3,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1

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.

The German cruiser line truly begins here at Tier II with Dresden. Along with Tier III's Kolberg, she is something of an anomaly in the overall context of the branch in that both ships will spend most of their time firing high-explosive shells at enemy cruisers and destroyers.

This ship, and her successor Kolberg, are well known for being an oddity in the German cruiser branch. While all German tech tree cruisers from Tier 7 and up are heavy cruisers, Dresden Kolberg barely qualify as light cruisers. In fact, they are more like gunboat destroyers. While she does have guns so small that higher-tier German ships use (a variant) of them as flak guns, Dresden can spew out an endless machine-gun stream of shells. That said, she can't do any damage whatsoever. Her AP shells are light and slow, with bad firing arcs, meaning they are worthless. Her HE shells are very bad, as is characteristic of German HE shells. With their 1/4 penetration values, Dresden will need to target destroyers or the superstructure of other ships to deal direct damage, with very few exceptions. However, HE shells still start fires, even if they don't penetrate. Additionally, since she will be meeting low-tier players who have poor DCP discipline, (excluding the seal-clubbers) she can burn everything to a crisp - except destroyers, who die so fast they don't have time to catch fire. She has low survivability, and poor maneuverability, but her speed is usable. She has horrible firing range and arcs, but accuracy doesn't matter when the whole map is raining shells.

Overall, Dresden is an oddity - something you will only find at low tiers. She is a small, fragile, protected cruiser, with bad maneuverability and usable speed. However, with a stupid number of guns (comparable to the Tier 3 St. Louis or Bogatyr) and a machine-gun rate of fire (each gun capable of outputting 15 rounds per minute) she can melt destroyers and burn anything larger to a well-done steak. Play her to her strengths and she is still average or below-average, but a ton of fun to use, and a great hinderance to enemies, which will vastly help your team. And winning battles gets you out of her faster. Very few players will spend more than a few battles in Dresden, which makes it easy to only see a part of what she truly is - a fragile machine-gun firing mostly worthless bullets. Destroyers stand no chance against her, but most everything else is a serious threat, given her poor penetration values, poor survivability, maneuverability, and fire chances. Stay with allies, so you can be continuously firing without having to weather retaliation.

Pros:

Even bad, small HE shells can start fires - a swarm of bees will kill a bear.
Most barrels of any Tier II cruiser; roughly comparable to Tier III's Bogatyr or St. Louis.
On the fast side for Tier II cruiser.
Given her ROF and gun count, she can machine-gun everything
Destroyers die so fast they don't have time to catch fire.

Cons:

Shortest firing range of all Tier II cruisers found in the regular tech tree.
HE shells do extremely small amounts of damage and AP is practically worthless.
Large turning radius for a ship her size makes dodging torpedoes a challenge.
High shell arc.
When dealing with same-tier or higher-tier ships (other than destroyers) she is restricted to firing at the superstructure or waiting for DoT effects to take their toll.

Research

Availability of researchable upgrades for Dresden is as follows:

Hull: Upgrade to Hull (B) for more health, faster rudder shift time, and more main battery guns.
Gun Fire Control System: Upgrade to FKS Typ 2 Mod. 2 for an extra 10% range on the main battery.
Propulsion: There is no propulsion module upgrade, but access to the beginning of the German destroyer branch (V-25) stems from here.

Hull (B) is the top upgrade priority; not only does it increase Dresden’s health pool, but she gains one more barrel in each broadside. Pick up the Fire Control System range upgrade second.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Dresden are as follows:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1 *

Dresden only has access to Upgrade Slot 1. Given the bare handful of games most captains will spend in her this is a fairly minor upgrade; either Main Armaments Modification 1 is recommended.

Commander Skills

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack				Defense
1	Grease the Gears +15% main battery traverse speed. ★★	Swift Fish +5% torpedo speed.	Consumable 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 of a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5km. ★	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver - slowly - while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated.
2	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire. +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance fired at submarines. ★★	Fill the Tubes -10% torpedo tubes reload time.	Consumables Enhancements +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search, Surveillance Radar, Smoke Generator, & Engine Boost.	Eye in the Sky Spotting Aircraft: • +2 charges • -50% cooldown time.	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery. ★★★	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..
3	Heavy HE and SAP Shells +10% HE and SAP shell damage. +15% ship detectability guns 149mm and up. ★★★	Pack a Punch +15% torpedo damage. +20% secondary battery range..	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★★	Heavy AP Shells +5% damage for AP shells 190mm and larger.	Superintendent +1 charge to all consumables.	Survivability Expert +450 HP per ship tier.
4	Top Grade Gunner -10% reload time of secondary batteries If enemy ship is spotted within detectability range, -8% reload time of main battery.	Outnumbered If there are fewer allies than visible enemies within the ship's base main caliber firing range: +8% ship speed -10% main battery dispersion.	Radio Location Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.. ★	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells Base fire chance reduced by half.	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	AAA & ASW Expert +25% continuous AA and flak damage. +15% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −50% ship consumables reload time..
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

Dresden can equip the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party

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

Historical Info

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 • IX ZF-6 Golden • IX ZH-1 • X Z-52 • X Elbing • X Z-42 • X Georg Hoffmann • X Georg Hoffmann Golden • X Sharqi
Cruisers	I Hermelin • II Dresden • II Emden • III Kolberg • IV Karlsruhe • V Königsberg • VI Deutschland • VI Nürnberg • VI Admiral Graf Spee • VI Leipzig • VI HSF Admiral Graf Spee • VII Admiral Scheer • VII Yorck • VII München • VII Weimar • VII Nürnberg '44 • VII München B • VIII Knesebeck • VIII Admiral Hipper • VIII Prinz Eugen • VIII Mainz • VIII Schill • VIII Mainz B • VIII Cross of Dorn • VIII Wiesbaden • VIII Schill B • IX Manteuffel • IX Roon • IX Siegfried • IX Ägir • IX Admiral Schröder • IX Blücher • IX Roon CLR • IX AL Ägir • X Prinz Adalbert • X Hindenburg • X Hildebrand • X Bremen • X AL Hindenburg • X Bremen Golden • ★ 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 • VIII Bismarck '41 • VIII BA Tirpitz • VIII AL Bismarck • VIII Wahnsinn • VIII Eiserner Kanzler • IX Friedrich der Grosse • IX Prinz Rupprecht • IX Pommern • IX Pommern B • X Grosser Kurfürst • X Schlieffen • X Preussen • X Mecklenburg • X Schlieffen • X Von Zuckerhoff • ★ 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

Cruisers

U.S.A.	I Erie • II Chester • II Albany • III St. Louis • III Charleston • IV Phoenix • V Omaha • V Marblehead • V Marblehead Lima • V Rattlehead • VI Pensacola • VI Dallas • VII Atlanta • VII New Orleans • VII Helena • VII Indianapolis • VII Atlanta B • VII Boise • VII Flint • VIII Baltimore • VIII Cleveland • VIII Wichita • VIII Anchorage • VIII Congress • VIII Rochester • VIII San Diego • VIII Bridgeport • VIII AL Montpelier • IX Buffalo • IX Seattle • IX Vallejo • IX Alaska • IX Tulsa • IX Alaska B • IX Cambridge • IX Fort Worth • IX Fort Worth Golden • X Des Moines • X Worcester • X Puerto Rico • X Salem • X Hawaii • X Austin • X Puerto Rico B • X Hawaii Golden • ★ Jacksonville • ★ Annapolis
Netherlands	I Van Kinsbergen • II Gelderland • III Java • IV De Ruyter • V Celebes • VI Kijkduin • VII Eendracht • VIII Jaarsveld • VIII Haarlem • VIII De Zeven Provinciën • VIII Vrijheid • IX Menno van Coehoorn • IX Johan de Witt • IX Van Speijk • X Utrecht • X Gouden Leeuw • X Prins van Oranje • X Prins van Oranje Golden • X Vrijheid
U.S.S.R.	I Orlan • II Diana • II Diana Lima • II Novik • III Aurora • III Bogatyr • III Oleg • III Varyag • III AL Avrora • IV Svietlana • V Murmansk • V Kotovsky • V Krasny Krym • V Mikoyan • V Kirov • VI Budyonny • VI Molotov • VI Admiral Makarov • VII Shchors • VII Lazo • VII Lazo B • VIII Chapayev • VIII Tallinn • VIII Mikhail Kutuzov • VIII Ochakov • VIII Pyotr Bagration • VIII Bagration • VIII Dmitry Pozharsky • VIII Kiberpankov • IX Dmitri Donskoi • IX Riga • IX Kronshtadt • IX Kozma Minin • X Moskva • X Alexander Nevsky • X Petropavlovsk • X Stalingrad • X Smolensk B • X Smolensk • X Sevastopol • X Komissar • X PTRPVLSK • X Vladimir Monomakh • ★ Novosibirsk
Japan	I Hashidate • II Chikuma • III Tenryū • III Katori • IV Yūbari • IV Kuma • IV Iwaki Alpha • V Furutaka • V Agano • V Yahagi • V Desert Falcon • VI Aoba • VI Gokase • VII Myōkō • VII Omono • VII Tokachi • VII Maya • VII ARP Myōkō • VII ARP Ashigara • VII ARP Haguro • VII Southern Dragon • VII Eastern Dragon • VII ARP Nachi • VIII Mogami • VIII Tone • VIII Atago • VIII Shimanto • VIII Atago B • VIII ARP Takao • VIII ARP Maya • IX Ibuki • IX Takahashi • IX Azuma • IX AL Azuma • IX Chikuma II • IX Chikuma II Golden • IX Suzuya • IX Suzuya Golden • IX Suzuya VL • IX BA Takahashi • IX Azuma B • X Zaō • X Yodo • X Yoshino • X Yoshino B • X Kitakami • X Kushiro • X Zaō CLR • ★ Kurama
Germany	I Hermelin • II Dresden • II Emden • III Kolberg • IV Karlsruhe • V Königsberg • VI Deutschland • VI Nürnberg • VI Admiral Graf Spee • VI Leipzig • VI HSF Admiral Graf Spee • VII Admiral Scheer • VII Yorck • VII München • VII Weimar • VII Nürnberg '44 • VII München B • VIII Knesebeck • VIII Admiral Hipper • VIII Prinz Eugen • VIII Mainz • VIII Schill • VIII Mainz B • VIII Cross of Dorn • VIII Wiesbaden • VIII Schill B • IX Manteuffel • IX Roon • IX Siegfried • IX Ägir • IX Admiral Schröder • IX Blücher • IX Roon CLR • IX AL Ägir • X Prinz Adalbert • X Hindenburg • X Hildebrand • X Bremen • X AL Hindenburg • X Bremen Golden • ★ Clausewitz
Pan-Asia	I Chengan • III Ning Hai • V Chungking • VI Rahmat • VI Huanghe • VII Chumphon • VII Lanzhou • VIII Harbin • VIII Irian • VIII Wukong • VIII Narai • VIII Piñatian • VIII AL Harbin • IX Sejong • IX Dalian • IX Mengchong • IX Tianjin • IX Baotou • X Jinan • X Incheon • X Zhuge Liang
U.K.	I Black Swan • II Weymouth • III Caledon • IV Danae • V Emerald • V Hawkins • V Exeter • VI Leander • VI Devonshire • VI London • VI Dido • VI Orion '44 • VII Fiji • VII Surrey • VII Belfast • VIII Edinburgh • VIII Albemarle • VIII Cheshire • VIII Tiger '59 • VIII Belfast '43 • VIII Hampshire • VIII Nottingham • VIII AL Cheshire • VIII Sinann • VIII Érne • VIII STAR Edinburgh • IX Neptune • IX Drake • IX Aberdeen • IX Cursed Fang • X Monmouth • X Minotaur • X Goliath • X Plymouth • X Gibraltar • X Defence • ★ Edgar
Europe	I Gryf • VI Elli • VIII Regele Carol I • X Svea
Italy	I Eritrea • II Nino Bixio • III Taranto • IV Alberto di Giussano • V Raimondo Montecuccoli • V Genova • VI Trento • VI Duca d'Aosta • VII Zara • VII Duca degli Abruzzi • VII Francesco Ferruccio • VII Gorizia • VII Optio • VII Fiume • VII AL Gorizia • VIII Amalfi • IX Brindisi • IX Michelangelo • IX Ferrante Gonzaga • IX Messina • X Venezia • X Napoli • X Napoli B • ★ Piemonte
France	I Bougainville • II Jurien de la Gravière • III Friant • IV Duguay-Trouin • V Émile Bertin • VI La Galissonnière • VI De Grasse • VI Dupleix • VI Montcalm • VII Algérie • VII Toulon • VIII Charles Martel • VIII Cherbourg • VIII Bayard • IX Saint-Louis • IX Brest • IX Carnot • IX Le Havre • IX BA Utnapishtim's Ship • X Henri IV • X Marseille • X Colbert • X Brennus • X Amiral Lartigue • ★ Condé
Commonwealth	I Sutlej • II Port Jackson • III Caradoc • IV Dunedin • V Delhi • VI Hobart • VI Perth • VI Mysore • VII Uganda • VII Gambia • VIII Auckland • IX Encounter • IX Hector • X Cerberus • X Brisbane • X Pioneer • X Brisbane B
Spain	I Júpiter • II Méndez Núñez • III Navarra • IV Almirante Cervera • V Galicia • VI Baleares • VI Canarias • VII Asturias • VIII Cataluña • VIII Numancia • IX Andalucía • IX Almirante Oquendo • X Castilla
Pan-America	I Hércules • II Almirante Barroso • II Almirante Abreu • III Vicente Guerrero • IV Córdoba • V La Argentina • VI Almirante Cochrane • VII Coronel Bolognesi • VII Nueve de Julio • VIII Ignacio Allende • VIII Almirante Grau • VIII Comandante Aguirre • IX Santander • X San Martín

Navigation

Ship:Dresden

Modules

Compatible Upgrades

Player Opinion

Performance

Pros:

Cons:

Research

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

Commander Skills

Consumables

Signals

Gallery

Historical Info

SMS Dresden, 1908

Construction

Specifications

Machinery

Performance

Armor

Armament

Main

Secondary

Torpedoes

History

Design

Service

Historical Gallery

References

Ship Change Log