fear_Naught Gaming's video: KMS Admiral Graf Spee 1939 : Night Test Sail Fire Power War Thunder Naval Forces

# # Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class "Panzerschiff" (armored ship), Admiral Graf Spee is the most armoured of the 3 Deutschland-class ships, sitting somewhere between a conventional heavy cruiser and a battlecruiser. Unlike dreadnoughts, she was made to face only cruisers and destroyers, while keeping a large operational range. The result was that her armour was made thick enough to barely resist cruiser shells of the era. Graf Spee will not have too much trouble facing 150 mm and smaller shells. Her crew is quite limited for her size, it is highly recommended to repair only when major damages are sustained, like losing a main turret or all engines. Doing otherwise will constantly feed her AA guns with fresh crew ready to be knocked unconscious again by the next 203+ mm HE shell that comes. It is worth noting that her torpedo bulge can stop torpedoes up to 250 kg of TNT equivalent. This will save you from most early PT boat's torpedoes, and many aircraft-launched torpedoes. Against aircraft attacks, she has sufficient AA to defend herself, but with the lack of variable time fuse and radar aiming, some planes will pass her defences. Her 283 mm cannons are effective against most targets. The only issue is that there are only 6 guns total, and she must take a relatively large angle to fire both turrets on a target. The advantage with them is that she can attack dreadnoughts and cause significant damages, even reaching ammo racks through a dreadnought's armour by using AP shells. However, the very long reload time of 30 seconds results in a rather low DPS overall, and can make it hard to hit smaller targets at long ranges. Her AA suite is somewhat decent for a 1939 ship. The 105 mm cannons only have access to HE-TF ammunition, making it rather difficult to accurately shoot down aircraft, especially at the longer ranges where the other armaments are ineffective. However, the 37 mm and 20 mm cannons are enough to knock out even large aircraft at closer ranges. The lack of HE-VT is very noticeable, aircraft may still penetrate her AA fire to drop their ordnance Her torpedoes will often get knocked out. They are placed over the stern, and usually, first incoming shots fall a bit far, knocking them out directly. It is recommended not to apply the "torpedo mode" upgrade, as the additional range is hard to take advantage of. And her torpedoes with the modifications will go slower than most cruisers she will face, making them near useless. Usage in battles Use her at ranges where cruisers will have a bit of trouble shooting her. While she can take some hits, she remains a heavy cruiser, and doesn't like getting focused. The enemy will want to sink you first as they fear your 283 mm cannons. You should try to sink dreadnoughts first, because you're the only cruiser out there that can hurt them. Pros and cons Pros: Wide range of guns calibre to face all threats Armour can stop cruiser's HE shells to some degree 283 mm main guns can damage dreadnoughts Good AA suite to 1939's standards (outclassed by late WW2 AA cruisers) Cons: Rather large target for enemy bombs and torpedoes 283 mm cannons have a long reload time of 30 sec Armour can be defeated from cruiser's AP shells at closer ranges