SMS Von der Tann
Contents
Description
The SMS Von der Tann, 1914 is a rank V German battlecruiser with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Hot Tracks".
General info
Survivability and armour
The SMS Von der Tann is a battlecruiser. This class of ships is supposed to have the firepower of dreadnoughts, whilst having superior speed to catch their prey.
This comes at the cost of armor thickness and coverage. She doesn't have coal bunkers protecting all turrets, the front and rear turrets only have armor plates to protect their ammo.
A lucky shot will knock a turret out and its ammo storage underneath, especially from other dreadnoughts.
As with all ships of the era, she doesn't have AA defenses you can count on.
Mobility
Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 60 | 34 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 51 | 29 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.
Secondary armament
Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.
Anti-aircraft armament
An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select anti-aircraft weapons. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.
Additional armament
Describe the available additional armaments of the ship: depth charges, mines, torpedoes. Talk about their positions, available ammunition and launch features such as dead zones of torpedoes. If there is no additional armament, remove this section.
Usage in battles
As a battlecruiser, the Westfalen is fast and well-armed. While it only has 6 guns on broadside, the guns do a huge amount of damage and have a reload of 20 seconds, much faster than other battlecruisers and battleships (and the same as some American heavy cruisers). While other battleships can punch through your armour, cruisers will seriously struggle. Target cruisers and punish them with your strong secondary guns, colossal main battery firepower, and good reload. They'll struggle with your armour and they'll struggle to outrun you.
Your main threat will be battleships, who can angle against your guns and punch through your armour comfortably. Use your mobility to get away from, or around them, and don't be afraid to unleash some torpedoes on them if they do get too close.
Pros and cons
Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".
Pros:
- Fantastic speed for a ship of its size, able to outrun any battleship and stay close to cruisers
- Out-guns and out-armours every cruiser in the game
- Fantastic reload on its main guns, better than the Admiral Hipper despite them being the same size
- Deadly secondary armament that can punish cruisers if they come too close
Cons:
- Still slower than the majority of cruisers, can easily get left behind
- Battleships will destroy you in a gunnery duel
- Effectively no AA protection, easy target for aircraft
History
Devblog
With the appearance of HMS Invincible in 1906, the Imperial Navy found itself lacking an appropriate response as the British battlecruiser outmatched any comparable vessel in the German fleet at the time. As a result, German ship builders began working on designing an equivalent vessel in the same year under the name "Cruiser F". As the ship would eventually become Germany's first battlecruiser, its design was carefully considered, with emphasis being put on speed and protection.
By mid 1907, Cruiser F's design had been finalized and its construction approved by the Kaiser in June, christening the vessel SMS Von der Tann in honor of a Bavarian general. Von der Tann was laid down in March 1908 and launched exactly a year later, before being completed and commissioned into service in September 1910. At the time of commissioning Von der Tann quickly became the new symbol of German naval power, being not only the first German warship fitted with steam turbine engines, but also the world's fastest warship of its type at the time. After completing trials, Von der Tann was sent on a cruise to South America before returning to Germany in May 1911.
During WWI, Von der Tann participated in numerous naval operations in the war: including the Battle of Jutland in 1916, as well as participating in raids against British ports and engagements against the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. At the end of WWI in 1918, Von der Tann along with the remainder of the German Navy was interned at Scapa Flow. In the following year, the interned German fleet along with Von der Tann scuttled itself to prevent capture by the Allies with this event marking the end of the warship's illustrious career.
Media
- SMS Von der Tann Devblog Images
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| Germany battlecruisers | |
|---|---|
| SMS Von der Tann* | |
| SMS Derfflinger* | |
| Scharnhorst-class | Scharnhorst |
| * Unique ship | |
