Drache
Contents
Description
Originally built by the Deutsche Werft for the Yugoslav Navy as the seaplane tender Zmaj (dragon) in 1928, the Zmaj was rarely used in its original role by the Yugoslav Navy until it was converted into a minelayer in 1937. Before the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941, Zmaj was tasked with deploying mines along the Dalmatian coast; however, the minefield inadvertently ended up sinking two Yugoslav passenger ships. Eleven days later, Zmaj was captured by the Italians who handed the ship over to the Germans. She was renamed Drache in reference to her original name.
After being refitted with German weaponry and commissioned for the Kriegsmarine on 20 August 1942, Drache was at first used in her original role as a seaplane tender, though later she was converted back into a minelayer. She was subsequently modified to serve as a troop transport and submarine chaser in addition to her minelaying duties a month later, and also renamed with the generic name Schiff 50 (ship no. 50). After being used as a testbed for the Flettner Fl 282 helicopter, Schiff 50 was frequently used to transport German and Italian troops around the Mediterranean and for minelaying operations. In October 1943, her minefield laid around the Dodecanese managed to sink two destroyers and one submarine. In 1944, Schiff 50's anti-air armament was improved with the addition of two quadruple 20 mm flak autocannons at the cost of swapping two 105 mm cannons for 88 mm flak cannons to compensate for increased top weight. Despite this, however, Schiff 50 was sunk by a Bristol Beaufighter of No. 252 Squadron of the Royal Air Force while anchored in Vathy harbour on 22 September 1944, and was scrapped there after the war.
Introduced in Update "Sons of Attila", the Drache (or more specifically the 1944 refit after being renamed as Schiff 50) sticks out like a sore thumb among the German coastal fleet due to her disproportionately large size. Being designed as an ocean-going vessel rather than a coastal ship, she has considerably larger displacement than many bluewater destroyers, while also having a huge crew count of 300. This, along with her empty hull space, allowed the Drache to take an absurd amount of punishment with minimal damage. Even destroyer-calibre guns will take some time to sink the ship. However, the reason that she is pitted against PT boats rather than bluewater destroyers is due to her poor mobility and the lack of firepower that, while sufficient to take care of smaller coastal vessels, is woefully inadequate to deal with ships with detailed damage models. Therefore, the Drache is best used as a "bullet sponge", drawing the enemy fire while letting your allies cover your flanks as you harass any smaller PT boats before they can use their torpedoes against you.
General info
Survivability and armour
While it has barely any armour like the majority of coastal ships, the Drache is compensated for by her detailed damage model, huge crew complement of 300, and plenty of empty hull space, thus significantly buffing its survivability.
Mobility
The Drache is rather slow, with its two diesel engines barely competing with various submarine chasers found at its BR.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 42 | 14 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 28 | 9 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
The Drache has a pair of 88 mm guns, which are perfect for combating larger opponents you may face (e.g. Japanese submarine chasers). The HE rounds can be used to make short work of any PT boats while the APCBC shells may be saved for more heavily armoured boats like the MBK pr.186 which are more common at your BR.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 100 m | 1,000 m | 2,000 m | 3,000 m | 4,000 m | 5,000 m | ||
| Spgr. L/4.5 Lh 31 | HE | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Spgr. L/4.5 Br. Lh 31 | HEF-I | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| PzGr 39 | APCBC | 146 | 124 | 104 | 88 | 74 | 62 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| Spgr. L/4.5 Lh 31 | HE | 700 | 9 | 0 | 0.1 | 698 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Spgr. L/4.5 Br. Lh 31 | HEF-I | 700 | 9 | 0 | 0.1 | 698 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| PzGr 39 | APCBC | 773 | 10.2 | 0.8 | 28 | 108.8 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Secondary armament
In addition to the 88 mm guns, there are also two dual 37 mm mounts, with a choice of AP and HE shells. They should be kept as second-hand weapons as their rate of fire is lesser than their autocannon counterparts.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| Spgr L/4.1 Lh 37 | HE | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Psgr L'spur Zerl | APCBC | 87 | 84 | 71 | 58 | 48 | 39 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| Spgr L/4.1 Lh 37 | HE | 1,000 | 0.75 | 0 | 0.1 | 27.4 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Psgr L'spur Zerl | APCBC | 1,000 | 0.82 | 1.3 | 15 | 37.4 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Anti-aircraft armament
The Drache sports an extremely powerful anti-aircraft arsenal of two 20 mm Flakvierling 38 guns and two Flakzwilling 38 guns, which can shred any aircraft or PT boat that would be foolish enough to dare and try to approach you.
Additional armament
While both the mines and depth charges are potent if utilized correctly, they are purely situational and may act more as a larger ammo rack than an effective weapon; It is advised not to bring them with you.
Usage in battles
The Drache is a powerful yet slow ship and should be played as such. Since you have a coastal spawn, one such tactic would be to try and provide fire support for your team, taking out PT boats with ease as you hobble over to the capture point. Once you reach the capture point, defending it should be your top priority. You can use your potent 88 mm guns at this point to knock out enemies your team would otherwise have trouble dealing with (e.g. AA ferries or the Albatros).
Another tactic you can use is to be the damage absorber of your team, using your huge amounts of empty space to soak up large amounts of damage while also shielding the rest of your teammates. Though you are capable of withstanding torpedoes, depth charges and some bombs, you are not invincible. Some players may try and stick very close to you to take advantage of your non-existent gun depression and incapacitate you. However, if you react quickly enough with your 20 mm guns this can be avoided.
Enemies worth noting
- Soviet post-war boats/frigates (MPK Pr.12412, SKR-7): Should you get uptiered, these boats will be your greatest concern. Their 76 mm guns have a significantly faster fire rate than yours, leaving you with little chance to return fire. It is advised not to engage them at any cost unless you have no other choice.
- Destroyers: Various destroyers like the aforementioned are in plentiful supply around your BR, and their armament significantly outweighs yours. While they might have a harder time trying to sink you than most other ships due to your large amounts of empty space that will absorb damage, it is also strongly advised not to engage them.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Accurate main guns that can knock out PT boats in a few hits
- Powerful secondary armament
- Large and empty hull space allows the boat to absorb hits from bombs and enemy fire
- Huge crew count for a ship with coastal spawn
Cons:
- Has only two main guns that are too weak to effectively damage destroyers or frigates
- Very slow and sluggish to manoeuvre
- Large and easily recognisable profile
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
- Skins
See also
- Vessels of a similar role, configuration or era
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft | |
|---|---|
| Minelayer | |
| R-1-class | Drache(*)** |
| Battleships | |
| Helgoland-class | SMS Helgoland* |
| Bayern-class | SMS Bayern* |
| *Previously Howaldtswerke, Kiel **Previously Deutsche Werft, Hamburg (*)KB Zmaj before it was captured by Nazi Germany | |
| Germany sub-chasers | |
|---|---|
| M-class | M-17 · M-802 |
| R-1-class | Drache |
| Project 89.2 | Bernau |
