History Characters / WorldOfWarshipsGermany

* JackOfAllStats: Very maneuverable for a battleship with a small turn-circle and decent speed while possessing tough armor and 10 quick-firing 12in/305mm guns.

* PowerfulButInaccurate: Her 6 15-inch guns hit very hard, but have poor accuracy. She will either decimate the enemy or be forced to rely on her other weapons.

* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: The entire line (both historic and speculative) of ships are named after specifically Prussian/Prusso-German generals, with the strange exception of Prinz Rupprecht [[note]]The ship is likely named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine (who, though born a German, spent most of his career in British service) rather than Rupert of Bavaria (who would've still been alive at the time of theoretical commissioning, and even had he been dead, the ship would've used his title of Crown Prince (i.e., Kronprinz), instead of simply Prince).[[/note]].

* MilitaryMashupMachine: Boasting fast reloading but very small eleven inch guns she is even more like a cruiser than Gneisenau.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Her name means Great Elector, the popular name for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William,_Elector_of_Brandenburg Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia]], whose reforms started Prussia's rise from a Duchy to a Kingdom, and later the German Empire.

* BackFromTheDead: Meta example. No one expected the König Albert to make a return to the premium shop given that Wargaming has put the König Albert in the "do not sell" list due to her overperformance. But she went on sale again on July 15th 2018. Another, evern later example, in that she was made available for purchase with summer tokens during the 2020 summer 'sale' (really just a glorified crate sale, with the addition of Vampire, König Albert, and a permanent camo for Atlanta being the only non-crate purchases available).

Tier VIII German Submarine. The IXC/40-class submarines were a slightly faster version of the IXC class. They were meant to complement the more numerous VII-class in long-range operations. A total of 87 boats were completed, and served in other navies, with the last being decommissioned in 1968. A single example of the type, ''U-534'', was raised in 1933 and brought to England for preservation as a museum ship.

* BackFromTheDead: Invoked with her ''From the Bottom of the Ocean'' perma-camo which is a surprisingly faithful reproduction of the battle damage suffered by Bismarck during her last battle (it even has a overpen hole in the bow which the player can look clean through).

German Battleships are defined by their "turtleback" armor scheme from Tier 7 on that provides superior protection against citadel hits at closer range but tends to take many normal penetrations and can still be defeated at long ranges or the right angles. This closer-ranged "brawler" setup is complemented by the ship's weapons: guns that have a lower caliber and accuracy but higher rate of fire compared to other [=BBs=], and powerful secondary suites that shower opposing ships in High Explosive fire.

* AchillesHeel: Because of their turtleback armor scheme they are extremely vulnerable to plunging fire and dive bombers. Their atrocious antiair stat (and later ships' horrible turning circles) double up on this, as airdropped torpedoes and AP bombs from dive bombers can easily turn them into burning wrecks.

* LightningBruiser: German battleships are typically fast for their tier, particularly at higher tiers where most can manage 30+ knots (few other tech-tree lines have this consistency of high speed), and a the entire line of ships are notoriously difficult to citadel at close range (especially the Bayern).

* DamnedByFaintPraise: She's easily the best of the tier 3 battleships, but that's not saying much as all the tier 3 Battleships really suck.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: Is a fairly good ship and would be more popular if it weren't for the tier 3 König Albert being essentially the same thing but a tier lower. Partially rectified when Wargaming permanently stopped selling the König Albert.

Alternate German Battleship line branches out right on Tier III, and fully consists of battlecruisers. All of these ships were designed back in German Empire, before or during the WWI. This line has higher speed, incredibly strong secondaries and higher tiers are outfitted with torpedoes. As a trade-off, they all has much less survivability, both in HP and armor.

* AlternateHistory: Starting with Tier VII, these ships get extensive post-WWI refits. It means that they not only were finished, but survived the Great War and weren't interned (and eventually scuttled at Scapa Flow by their crews), as other ships were in real life.

* MemeticMutation: Schlieffen secondaries go 'brrrrrrrrrr!' Justified because this ship has the highest and longest-ranged secondary output in the game (practical DPM, since she is out-DPM'd on paper at shorter ranges by a small handful of ships).
* MoreDakka: As noted above, Schlieffen has insane secondary output, but it has to be seen to be able to truly appreciate it. When in-battle and a division of three Schlieffens (or even just two) get within secondary range of an enemy ship and are given the opportunity to boost their accuracy, that poor sucker will be positively deluged. Zooming in to that enemy ship will show the sheer quantity of shells raining down. Taken to its logical extreme (such as when teams from American and British navies played an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdKjpXPrnGg exhibition match]]), massed Schlieffens' secondaries can make the server crap itself, leaving it incapable of rendering any of the shells or tracers, only the explosions when they hit.

Germany only built one real aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, and as such, the line proper is composed entirely of paper ships. These carriers deviate from every other carrier in the game by carrying armor piercing missiles on their missile planes, making them near worthless against destroyers but more effective against cruisers and battleships, while their dive bombers ascend to extreme heights and dive extremely quickly. Another significant difference is that the secondary batteries on these carriers are quite effective, allowing them to possibly fight off enemy destroyers or cruisers who enter secondary range. Their planes also share Graf Zeppelin's higher speed, but lower durability.

A speculative Tier VIII German Cruiser of the Admiral Hipper class (presumably Seydlitz) which replaces the 4 x 2 203mm main battery with the three gun 150mm turrets of the Nurnberg.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:German Premium Battleships]]
!König Albert
Tier III Premium German Battleship.

A theoretical battlecruiser design (although it really just looks like an uparmored and slightly upgunned ''Scharnhorst'' class battlecruiser), wielding 9 305mm guns and torpedoes.

* MilitaryMashupMachine: A battlecruiser like Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Odin is the King of the Gods in Norse Mythology.

Based on early plans for Graf Zeppelin, and armed with, unusual for a german carrier, HE dive bombs.

Graf Zeppelin is the first aircraft carrier introduced outside of the IJN and USN. She was very nearly completed but was not due to [[RequiredSecondaryPowers a snag in the development of carrier capable planes]] [[note]]Not helping was [[FatBastard Hermann Göring]] [[InterserviceRivalry seeing naval aviation as a threat to his authority over the Luftwaffe]] [[/note]].

* TheBattlestar: Has by far the most powerful secondaries on any aircraft carrier after the rework, with only Kaga comparing (and then only in gun size).
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Zigzagged. The Graf Zeppelin's power level swung wildly during her initial testing and at her initial release she was commonly considered the worst Tier 8 carrier because of underwhelming fighters, horrendously inaccurate dive bombers and complete lack of torpedo bombers. The backlash reached levels where Wargaming pulled back the carrier from sale for re-balancing. The current version has a reputation as being unforgiving but deadly in the hands of an expert. Then with the repeated nerfs to AP bombs, along with her aircraft's infamous fragility, Graf Zeppelin is considered to be nearly as unusable in it's intended role as it was upon it's first release.

''Admiral Hipper'' was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers, built in defiance of the tonnage limits imposed by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935. She was laid down that year, launched in 1937, and commissioned in 1939, just in time for the outbreak of war. She was still undergoing refits and sea trials at that time and did not see action until the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. As they were approaching the Norwegian coast, ''Hipper'' encountered the British destroyer HMS ''Glowworm'', which at first attempted to escape, but then turned back, fired torpedoes, and ultimately rammed ''Hipper'' in a brave but futile last attack.[note][[WorthyOpponent ''Admiral Hipper'''s commander was so impressed by his counterpart's valor that he sent a letter to the Admiralty recommending him for the Victoria Cross, which he was posthumously awarded in 1946]].[/note]''Hipper'' led the assault on Trondheim, bluffing her way past the Norwegian coastal artillery batteries and successfully debarking troops in the port. She returned to Germany for repairs from her battle with ''Glowworm'' before being sent back to Norway to attack British transports and merchant shipping. In December 1940, she was assigned to conduct ''Kreuzerkrieg'' (anti-commerce) warfare in the Atlantic Ocean. After two extended patrols in the Atlantic, with mixed results, ''Hipper'' returned to Germany for overhaul, then was sent back to northern Norway to attack Murmansk-bound convoys. In December 1942 she led a German squadron that attacked the strongly escorted Convoy JW 51B, in what became known as the Battle of the Barents Sea. ''Hipper'' sank a destroyer and a minesweeper, but was forced to retreat after being damaged by the British cruisers ''Sheffield'' and ''Jamaica''. Hitler was enraged by the failure of the German force to sink any merchant ships, and ordered that the Kriegsmarine was to pay off its entire surface fleet thereafter to concentrate entirely on submarine warfare. ''Hipper'' returned to Germany and was decommissioned in accordance with Hitler's decree. In 1944, she was recommissioned as a training ship, stationed in Gotenhafen, and spent most of the year on exercises in the Baltic. As the Red Army advanced on Gotenhafen in early 1945, ''Hipper'' fled the city with over 1,300 refugees onboard, arriving safely in Kiel. There, she put into a shipyard for refit, only to be severely damaged by a British airstrike in April, after which her crew scuttled her at her moorings. She was raised that summer, towed to nearby Heikendorfer Bay, and broken up for scrap beginning in 1948.

SMS ''Dresden'' was a light cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine. Laid down in 1906 and completed in 1908, she didn't fully enter service until 1909, due to several accidents during her sea trials. She spent three years with the High Seas Fleet before being stationed in the Mediterranean and then sent to the Caribbean to protect German interests during the Mexican Revolution. In July 1914, she was tasked with carrying the recently deposed dictator Victoriano Huerta to exile in Jamaica, after which she was meant to return to Germany. The outbreak of war prevented this, and she instead conducted anti-commerce warfare off Brazil before sailing to the Pacific Ocean. There, she joined up with the East Asia Squadron led by Admiral Maximilian von Spee. Under Spee's command, ''Dresden'' participated in the Battle of Coronel, where two British cruisers were sunk and two more chased off, and then in the Battle of the Falkland Islands, where a superior British squadron led by the battlecruisers ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' overwhelmed and sank almost all of Spee's ships. ''Dresden'' was one of two survivors; she escaped back to the Pacific, but her luck ran out eight months later when she was cornered off the Chilean island of Más a Tierra and attacked by two British cruisers. Her captain ran up a white flag and sent an officer to speak to the British, who demanded ''Dresden'''s unconditional surrender. Her crew promptly scuttled the ship and were subsequently interned in Chile until the end of the war. ''Dresden'''s badly mangled wreck lies in 70 meters (230 ft) of water off Más a Tierra and has occasionally been visited by underwater archaeologists and other divers. Her bell, compass, and several flags have been retrieved and are now preserved in German museums.

''Admiral Hipper'' was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers, built in defiance of the tonnage limits imposed by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935. She was laid down that year, launched in 1937, and commissioned in 1939, just in time for the outbreak of war. She was still undergoing refits and sea trials at that time and did not see action until the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. As they were approaching the Norwegian coast, ''Hipper'' encountered the British destroyer HMS ''Glowworm'', which at first attempted to escape, but then turned back, fired torpedoes, and ultimately rammed ''Hipper'' in a brave but futile last attack.[note][[WorthyOpponent ''Admiral Hipper'''s commander was so impressed by his counterpart's valor that he sent a letter to the Admiralty recommending him for the Victoria Cross, which he was posthumously awarded in 1946]].[/note]''Hipper'' led the assault on Trondheim, bluffing her way past the Norwegian coastal artillery batteries and successfully debarking troops in the port. She returned to Germany for repairs from her battle with ''Glowworm'' before being sent back to Norway to attack British transports and merchant shipping. In December 1940, she was assigned to conduct ''Kreuzerkrieg'' (anti-commerce) warfare in the Atlantic Ocean. After two extended patrols in the Atlantic, with mixed results, ''Hipper'' returned to Germany for overhaul, then was sent to northern Norway to attack Murmansk-bound convoys.

SMS ''König'' was the lead ship of her class of dreadnoughts. They were ordered in response to the ''Orion''-class dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy. ''König'' was laid down in 1911 and commissioned just days after the outbreak of WWI in August 1914. She and her sister ships took part in most of the major actions of the High Seas Fleet, including the Lowestoft Raid, the Scarborough Raid, and of course the Battle of Jutland. At Jutland, she and her sisters were in the forefont of the German line and consequently gave and received some of the heaviest damage of the battle. In 1917, she participated in Operation Albion, where she engaged and damaged the Russian pre-dreadnought ''Slava'' to the point where the latter was forced to scuttle. ''König'' was to have taken part in the last sortie of the fleet, but the battleship crews began to mutiny when word got out, causing the cancellation of the plan. She was interned at Scapa Flow and scuttled on 21 June 1919. Though most of the ships were later raised and scrapped, ''König'' and her sister ships ''Markgraf'' and ''Kronprinz Wilhelm'' still lie in the Flow and are popular sites for recreational divers.[[note]]''Kronprinz'' is the shallowest, in 12-38 meters (38-125 feet) of water. ''König'' lies in 40m (130 feet) of water, with the uppermost part of her hull at 20m (66ft). ''Markgraf'' lies in 45m (147 ft).[[/note]]

Tier VIII German Battleship of the main line. One of the most famous battleships of World War II (if not ''the'' most famous), Bismarck differs from her sister ship Tirpitz in carrying ''Hydroacoustic Search'' and an improved AA suite. ''Bismarck'' had a short but eventful career, spanning just eight months, eight days of which were spent at sea. She was the most powerful battleship ever built by Germany and one of the best produced by any European power. After her commissioning in 1940, she spent the remainder of the year on sea trials and shakedowns. In early 1941, she was designated for Operation Rheinübung, a large-scale raid against British merchant shipping. As originally conceived, ''Bismarck'' was to have been accompaned by ''Tirpitz'' and the battleships ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'', but ''Tirpitz'' was not finished in time, ''Scharnhorst'' was down for overhaul, and ''Gneisenau'' had been damaged and required repairs. Thus, ''Bismarck'' went to sea with only the heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen''. She was spotted by Swedish planes and ships on her way out through the Baltic and then by RAF reconnaissance planes in Norway, giving the British plenty of notice of her intentions. HMS ''Hood'' and ''Prince of Wales'' were sent to hunt down and sink the two German ships, but in a stunning reversal, ''Hood'' blew up and sank after a hit from ''Bismarck'' detonated her aft magazines just eight minutes into the battle. In return, however, ''Prince of Wales'' scored a hit that holed the battleship's bow and cut off access to her forward fuel oil tanks. Now enraged, the Royal Navy unleashed its capital ships to hunt down and sink ''Bismarck'', but she nearly managed to escape until a lucky shot from a Swordfish torpedo bomber jammed her rudder and left her unable to maneuver. ''Bismarck'' made a last stand against the oncoming British warships, who pounded her relentlessly until her crew finally opted to scuttle her and abandon ship. Only 116 members of the crew survived. ''Bismarck'''s wreck was rediscovered in 1989 by Robert Ballard, the same man who relocated ''Titanic'' and ''Yorktown'', among other historic wrecks. She sits upright in 4,791 meters (15,719 feet) of water, 650 km west of the French coast.

Tier VII German Battleship of the battlecruisers line. It's the last ship in the line that was actually laid down - so-called "Ersatz Yorck" class, that was a direct continuation of Mackensen class.

A ''Dresden''-class protected cruiser, and amongst the most famous raider vessels in history.

Tier VI German Cruiser. A ''Deutschland''-class ''panzerschiff'', the most famous of the class.

* MilitaryMashupMachine: The ''Deutschland''-class defied easy classification in RealLife and in-game, though by all intents and purposes they were heavy cruisers with lower-end-caliber battleship artillery (making them somewhat of a prototype "cruiser killer"/supercruiser, along the lines of the Alaska class). The British called her a "pocket battleship" due to her [[PintsizedPowerhouse large amount of firepower in what basically amounts to a cruiser]].
** She also sports torpedoes with longer range than normal (8 km instead of 6km) for German Cruisers with excellent firing arcs. This gives her a fighting chance against the battleships that would normally rip her apart at close range.
* MightyGlacier: By cruiser standards; slow [[note]] She can only do 28.5 knots while other cruisers can do at least 30 [[/note]] but packs devastating firepower and boasts enhanced durability in comparison to other cruisers.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: German Admiral [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_von_Spee Maximilian von Spee]], who was killed in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in World War One aboard the armored cruiser ''SMS Scharnhorst'' (no relation to the in-game battleship) trying to hold off a superior British force. The ''Graf Spee'' is actually commissioned by Maximilian von Spee's daughter.

Tier VIII German Cruiser. Prinz Eugen is an Admiral Hipper class cruiser famous for both serving with the Bismark on its fateful maiden and final voyage and surviving the war almost unscathed. She briefly served in the United States Navy before being expended as a target at Bikini Atoll.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Eugene_of_Savoy Prince Eugene of Savoy]], who was one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history, and was the person responsible for liberating Europe after the Ottomans ruled it for one and a half century.
* PaletteSwap : [[AvertedTrope Averted]] but only just before 0.7.4, averted thoroughly afterwards. Before, Prinz Eugen trades a small amount of Admiral Hipper's AA for a couple of thousand HP. Said patch gave Hipper a 1.5s quicker reload while Prinz Eugen receives a Repair Party, which means the tech tree ship is better offensively, while Prinz Eugen is tougher.

Tier X German Submarine. XXI-class ''Elektroboot'' submarines were a completely new class, intended to replace the VII-class. They were the world's first true submarines, in that they were the first subs designed to operate primarily while submerged, and incorporated a number of innovations, including snorkels, power-assisted torpedo loading, improved hull design, and greater diving speed. However, they had design flaws that prevented their effective employment. A total of 118 boats were completed, but none of them took part in any meaningful fighting. Captured boats served in other navies until 1972, and the design itself directly influenced several Soviet, American, and Chinese submarines. A single example of the class, ''Wilhelm Bauer'' (ex-''U-2540'') was refloated after being scuttled, put into service with the West German Bundeswehr, and preserved as a museum ship in Bremerhaven.

Tier III German Cruiser. The last protected cruiser in the German Navy. SMS ''Kolberg'' was laid down at the Schichau-Werke yard in Danzig, Prussia (now Gdansk, Poland) in January 1908. The ship was developed from the ''Dresden''-class multipurpose cruisers and was tasked with the same primary roles: scouting for the heavier elements of the German fleet and raiding enemy commerce when the opportunity arose. In contrast to her predecessors, she had larger dimensions, a higher speed and a more powerful artillery. During modernization, ''Kolberg'' received two deck-mounted torpedo tubes in addition to her primary armament. ''Kolberg'' herself had a very active career for the Kaiser’s navy. She entered service just a few scant years before the outbreak of World War I, and ultimately fared better than ''Dresden'' did over the course of the war. She saw action during the Scarborough Raid and the Battle of the Dogger Bank, though she missed the great clash of fleets at Jutland. She spent the rest of her war in the Baltic and avoided being sent to Scapa Flow with the rest of the High Seas Fleet after the German surrender. She was given to France as war reparations and served in the French navy for five years. In 1925, she was decommissioned and used as a parts boat for other German cruisers in French service before being broken up for scrap in 1929.

* MistakenIdentity: Downplayed, but because of the many collabs between World of Warships and [[VideoGame/AzurLane Azur Lane]], the 'Prinz Heinrich's from each game can be confused for each other, resulting in further confusion when one realises AL's is a P-class cruiser, while WoWS' is an Ersatz Yorck battlecruiser which are completely different in design philosophy. This can be explained by how the two have different namesakes. AL's Prinz Heinrich was named for Kaiser Wilhelm II's son (who served as an admiral during WWI cf. Admirals Scheer and Graf Spee), while WoWS' Prinz Heinrich was named for Frederick the Great's younger brother (a talented Prussian general in his own right cf. Zieten).

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Because of the turret layout and the atypically-star-destroyer-like superstructure, most players utterly loathe how the Zieten looks, even though the ship performs very well all told.

* {{Nerf}} She had the option to mount 150mm guns before the German Destroyer line split. This crosses into ArtisticLicenceHistory for the sake of smooth gameplay progression, since the historic Z23 was only ever armed with 150mm single mounts.

* AndAllTheOtherReindeer: In general, the line is not considered to be especially strong (particularly in traditional destroyer roles, i.e., scouting and securing objectives), being slow to get anywhere or accomplish much. But Z-31 stands out as the worst of the bunch, tier for tier. It has lower artillery DPM, torp DPM, manoeuvrability, and utility than even its predecessor at Tier VI, Ernst Gaede. Z-31 is often judged as one of the worst ships in the whole game and undoubtedly the worst German ship.

* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: The entire line (both historic and speculative) of ships are named after specifically Prussian/Prusso-German generals, with the strange exception of Prinz Rupprecht (named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine).