Z4 Zerstörer began its career as the Fletcher-class USS Claxton (DD-571), launched in April 1942. Her first combat assignment was a patrol of the Gulf of Maine, in preparation for a possible sortie of the battleship Tirpitz. However, this failed to materialise, and the vessel was reassigned to the Pacific theatre, where she covered the invasion of the Solomon Islands. She also took part in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, where she, along with the rest of Destroyer Division 45, participated in the sinking of the Sendai and the rescue of her sister ship, USS Foote. Later that same month, she performed a successful surprise attack during the Battle of Cape St. George, contributing to the sinking of three Japanese destroyers. She also played a minor role in the Battle for Leyte Gulf and supported the US landings in Lingayen Gulf. After the war, she received a Presidential Unit Citation, underwent a minor refit, and, in 1959, was loaned to West Germany under the Mutual Assistance Programme, where she served as Zerstörer 4, with the pennant number D 178. In 1981, she was transferred to the Greek Navy, where she was dismantled for spares.

Introduced in Update "Storm Warning", Z4 Zerstörer is a unique premium variant of the Fletcher class (designated in German service as the Z1 class), replacing the secondary 20 mm and/or 40 mm autocannons with three twin-gun 76 mm batteries, armed with HE or HE-VT shells and aided by search and tracking radar. This makes her a unique anti-air vessel, capable of dominating airspace within a range of a few kilometres, with multiple ways of neutralising enemy aircraft and coastal vessels, while still remaining a respectable surface combatant. Her greatest weakness is the aft magazine, which is even larger than in other vessels of the class due to the addition of auxiliary ammunition storage.