World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Karl von Schönberg

Also called: 卡尔·冯·勋伯格 Beta
Germany · Tier VII · Destroyer · Premium
Gunboat destroyerDamage from sustained main-battery pressure, not torpedo dumps.
Playstyle
  • Hold mid-cap distance and lean into gunboat trades from cover where the peer destroyer cannot match you…
  • Avoid: Trading guns in open water against peer DDs
Key characteristics
11 km gun rangeHeavy HE shellsImproved HE penSmoke + SonarEngine BoostStiff AP fuse
On this page
Community Data

Karl von Schönberg Community Stats

Log in to GamingDiver and upload your data to see Community Data for Karl von Schönberg: community win rate, damage, survival, spotting, and your own comparison.

Log in & upload to see Community Data

Playstyle

Overview

Karl von Schönberg is a Tier VII German gunboat destroyer: her damage comes from sustained main battery pressure on caps and open-water trades. Torpedoes are a secondary threat for closing lanes, not her main damage. Standout traits: best HE alpha in T7 DDs (2,200) and best AP fuse timer in T7 DDs (0.03 s).

Positioning

Hold mid-cap distance and lean into gunboat trades from cover where the peer destroyer cannot match your fires-per-minute. Avoid open-water duels with ships running smoke or radar; your damage is mostly gunfire, and gunfire from cover wins more than from blue water. Your guns lose penetration at range, so aim AP at broadsides you can still citadel and put HE into superstructures and upper-hull sections, rather than the bow-in or belt armor your shells bounce and shatter on.

Potato Avoidance

Trading guns in open water against peer DDs

Your damage is sustained main-battery pressure from cover (the torpedoes are a secondary threat), so open-water duels just stack incoming HE on you while you fire back.

Signature Traits

Improved HE penetration

HE pen at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6. HE-spam is a real damage option here, not just a fire-starter; pens roughly 1.5x more armor than a same-caliber peer's HE, shared by 5/34 T7 DDs.

Engine Boost

+8% speed, 120 s duration. Engine Boost consumable temporarily raises top speed. Mobility on demand to reposition, chase a kill, or break contact.

ELITE MAIN BATTERY
  • Heavy HE shells · 2200.0 damage
  • Deep-fuse AP · 0.03 s
  • Big-caliber overmatch · 10.4 mm
ELITE SONAR
  • Long-range · 5.58 km
  • Wide torpedo · 3.84 km
Stiff AP fuse

25.0 mm AP arming threshold, worst of T7 DDs. Over-pens thin plates; the trade-off pays off when most targets are battleship belt armor.

Acquisition

How to get Karl von Schönberg

Karl von Schönberg is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition paths: Containers and Campaign. Container chances are shown as the listed odds of receiving this exact ship, dividing grouped ship-pool odds across the resolved ships and including nested container paths when a crate can drop another crate.

Best listed chance for this ship

  • Mystic Lantern 0.02% Superprize: Premium Ship Event containers · Mystic Lantern · 1 of 25 ships
Official WG availability sources
  • Silent Orca Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2024-11-18 · End: 2024-12-15 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
  • Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
  • Through the Spy Glass: K. Schönberg Ship feature / release Start: 2024-11-19 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
Show direct source rows

Builds Beta

Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.

Open in Build Tool →

Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.

Cohort position

Hide

Where Karl von Schönberg sits among Tier VII DDs (34 ships). Notable standouts are shown first; the rest of the cohort-ranked stats are in the expand below. Acquisition variants (Black Friday, Founders Edition) are counted once with their base ship, not as separate peers.

BestMain battery caliber150 mm (1 of 5 tied) BestHE shell damage2,200 (1 of 4 tied) BestAP fuse timer0.03 s (1 of 7 tied) Top 10%Hit points22,500 HP (3/34) Top 10%AP shell damage3,800 (2/32) Top 10%Acceleration15.7 s (4/34) Top 10%Power-to-weight26.47 hp/t (3/34) Top 25%Main battery range11.2 km (6/34) Top 25%HE fire chance11% (5/34) Top 25%Engine power80,000 hp (5/34) Top 25%Turn-speed retention115.9 hp/m (6/34) Bottom 25%Torpedo damage≈12,700 (27/33) Bottom 25%Torpedo speed58 kt (28/33) Bottom 25%Deck armor10 mm (26/28) Bottom 10%Main dispersion99 m (32/34) WorstAP arming threshold25 mm (1 of 5 tied) WorstMax armor16 mm (34/34) WorstCitadel belt16 mm (34/34) WorstEnd plates16 mm (32/34 / 1 of 3 tied)
See 19 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Karl von Schönberg -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort. Stats tagged NORM are tied across more than half the cohort, so the value is the cohort default rather than a standout.

Max speed36 kt(21/34) Concealment6.85 km(12/34) Air detection3.42 km(12/34) Rudder shift4 s(21/34) Traverse-to-turn ratio7.15 ×(20/34) Main battery reload4.5 s(21/34) Fires per minute5.87(16/34) HE DPM117,333(24/34) AP DPM202,667(13/32) AP velocity835 m/s(19/32) HE velocity835 m/s(21/34) Displacement3,022 t(20/34) AA DPS155(24/34) AA range3.5 km(21/34) AA threat373(25/34) Torpedo range8.5 km(21/33) Torpedo reload90 s(11/33) NormAP ricochet start45°(26 of 32 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(26 of 32 tied at this value)
Survivability
Hit Points22,500
Displacement3,022 t
Armor range10–16 mm
Plate armor thicknesses10, 13, 15, 16 mm
Armor material/layer entries23
Fire resistance36.6%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction0%
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 150 mm L/48 Tbts LC/36
Mounts / barrels4 mounts / 4 barrels
Reload time5 s
Firing range11.2 km
Turret traverse11 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)2
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: σH=(R30·idealRadiusminRadiusidealDistance+minRadius)·30 =(1120030·80.51000+0.5)·30=99m
99 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: σV=σH·radiusOnMax =99·0.6=59.4m
59.4 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius: σH,50=σH·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =99·0.319(σ=2)=31.6m
31.6 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius: σV,50=σV·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =59.4·0.32(σ=2)=19m
19 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 11 deg/s traverse speed = 16.4 s.
16.4 s
Base shells/min
ƒ4 broadside guns x 60 / 5 s base reload = 48.
48
HE shells
HE Damage2,200
HE Velocity835 m/s
Fire Chance11%
HE penetration
ƒ38 mm ≈ 150 mm caliber / 4 (improved HE penetration: German BBs, Yamato-class, and a handful of others).
38 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ2,200 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 8,800.
8,800
Base HE DPM
ƒ8,800 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 5 s base reload = 105,600.
105,600
Installed HE DPM
ƒ8,800 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.5 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 117,333.
117,333
Base fires/min
ƒ48 shells/min x 11% fire chance = 5.28.
5.28
AP shells
AP Damage3,800
AP Velocity835 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.025 s
Fuse Threshold25 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(150 mm caliber / 14.3) = 10 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
10 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: P=107·K·m0.69·d1.07·v01.38 =107·1933·45.30.69·0.151.07·8351.38=220mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
220 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (14 km), where the shell has slowed to 333.2 m/s: P=107·1933·45.30.69·0.151.07·333.21.38=61.9mm.
61.9 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ3,800 AP damage x 4 broadside guns = 15,200.
15,200
Base AP DPM
ƒ15,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 5 s base reload = 182,400.
182,400
Installed AP DPM
ƒ15,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.5 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 202,667.
202,667
AP AOE Radius
ƒAP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.
12
Torpedoes
ModuleTorpedoes: 533 mm Vierling
Launchers / tubes2 launchers × 4 tubes = 8 tubes
Reload time90 s
Projectile speed58 kt
Range8.5 km
Maximum simulated damage
ƒEstimate of WG's in-game value; matches the in-game port screen within ±5%. Saturation: most targets only intersect one hull section, so the sim transfers ~1/3 of the warhead alpha (2/3 when the warhead blast >= 5000 and the burst reaches a second section). For this ship: Dsim=α·c=38,100·0.333=12,700.
≈ 12,700
Torpedo detectability1.3 km
Flooding chance227%
Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s
Torp Turn
ƒTime to rotate the launchers 180 deg: tturn=180°25°/s=7.2s.
7.2 s
Torp Arming179 m
Per-side salvo damage
ƒOne side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 12,700 = 101,600.
101,600
AA Defense
AA mount points10
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (12×3.5×1) + (34×3.5×0.95) = 155. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.
155
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
3.5 km
37 mm Flak LM/432×1 37mm
20 mm Flak 384×1 20mm
20 mm Flakvierling 384×4 20mm
Medium aura
DPS12
Range3.5 km
Near aura
DPS34
Range2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒMedium 12 + Near 34 = 46
46
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 80,000 hp
Engine power80,000 hp
Maximum speed36 kt
Turning circle radius690 m
Rudder shift time4 s
Engine power-boost threshold7 kt
Engine spool-up time7.7 s
Reverse spool-up time3.8 s
Acceleration 0-90%
ƒTime to reach 90% of top speed (32.4 kt of 36 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.
15.7 s
Acceleration 0-99%
ƒTime to reach 99% of top speed (35.6 kt of 36 kt). 99% rather than 100% because true top speed is asymptotic (thrust meets drag), so the last fraction of a knot is never quite gained.
26.4 s
Traverse-to-turn ratio
ƒHow many degrees the turret can swing for each degree the hull turns. Turn rate ωhull=180π·Vmax(m/s)Rturn=180π·36.0·0.5144690=1.54°/s, so ratio=ωturretωhull=111.54=7.2×. Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.
7.2× ok
Concealment
Detectability by sea6.85 km
Detectability by air3.42 km
Smoke firing penalty2.99 km
Detect after firing main guns
ƒmax(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
6.85 km
Detect Fire Sea8.85 km
Detect Fire Air6.42 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 40 s reload · 5 s active
Choose one
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 20 s emit / 69 s cloud active
Main Battery Reload Booster2 charges · 150 s reload · 20 s active · +50% reload boost
Engine Boost2 charges · 180 s reload · 120 s active · +8% speed bonus
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 118 s active · 5.58 km ship detect
ƒDerived from the consumable's 30 m grid-unit range (km = grid units x 30 / 1000): 186×301000=5.58 km
· 3.84 km torpedo detect
ƒDerived from the consumable's 30 m grid-unit range (km = grid units x 30 / 1000): 128×301000=3.84 km

See all derived stats

Show

All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.

Numbers the spec table cannot show directly: alpha-strike math, DPM, dispersion, AP penetration. Click the formula chip on any row to reveal how it is calculated.

Main battery formulas

Shell Grouping (σ)2
Max Horiz Disp99 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{11200}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-0.5}{1000} + 0.5\right)\cdot 30 = 99\,\text{m}$
Shell scatter width @ 10 km90 m
How wide your shells scatter at 10 km, from the same dispersion model as the max-range figure above. Picking a fixed range makes this number directly comparable from ship to ship: max-range dispersion makes a longer-range gun look worse even when it's tighter at any common range. The interactive Dispersion tab on the Charts card plots the full curve from 0 to max range.
Max Vert Disp59.4 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 99 \cdot 0.6 = 59.4\,\text{m}$
Shell scatter height @ 10 km52.1 m
How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above.
Med Horiz Disp31.6 m
50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 99 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 31.6\,\text{m}$
Med Vert Disp19 m
50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 59.4 \cdot 0.32\;(\sigma = 2) = 19\,\text{m}$
AP Pen Close220 mm
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 1933 \cdot 45.3^{0.69} \cdot 0.15^{-1.07} \cdot 835^{1.38} = 220\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far61.9 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (14 km), where the shell has slowed to 333.2 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 1933 \cdot 45.3^{0.69} \cdot 0.15^{-1.07} \cdot 333.2^{1.38} = 61.9\,\text{mm}$.
HE penetration38 mm
38 mm ≈ 150 mm caliber / 4 (improved HE penetration: German BBs, Yamato-class, and a handful of others).
Improved HE PenYes
This ship's HE shells use a 1/4 (~0.25) caliber-to-pen ratio instead of the standard 1/6 (~0.167) - 0.253 in this case. Lets HE pen ~37mm armor instead of ~25mm. Hits every German cruiser (150mm CL, 203mm CA) and BB (350mm+), British heavy cruisers / Lion / Nelson, a handful of other premiums.
AP overmatch10 mm
floor(150 mm caliber / 14.3) = 10 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius12
AP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.
Broadside guns used for alpha4
All 4 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time16.4 s
180 degrees / 11 deg/s traverse speed = 16.4 s.
HE full-salvo alpha8,800
2,200 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 8,800.
AP full-salvo alpha15,200
3,800 AP damage x 4 broadside guns = 15,200.
Base HE DPM105,600
8,800 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 5 s base reload = 105,600.
Base AP DPM182,400
15,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 5 s base reload = 182,400.
Installed HE DPM117,333
8,800 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.5 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 117,333.
Installed AP DPM202,667
15,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.5 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 202,667.
Base shells/min48
4 broadside guns x 60 / 5 s base reload = 48.
Installed shells/min53.3
4 broadside guns x 60 / 4.5 s installed Artillery reload = 53.3.
Base fires/min5.28
48 shells/min x 11% fire chance = 5.28.
Installed fires/min5.87
53.3 shells/min x 11% fire chance = 5.87.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability1.3 km
Estimated torpedo reaction time8.6 s
detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Torpedo speed58 kt
Travel time to max range56.4 s
range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Tube count8
2 launchers x 4 tubes.
Per-side salvo8 torpedoes
8 (centerline launchers train across - full salvo to either side).
Full-salvo damage101,600
All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 12,700 = 101,600.
Per-side salvo damage101,600
One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 12,700 = 101,600.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS155
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (12×3.5×1) + (34×3.5×0.95) = 155. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.
Maximum AA range3.5 km
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
AA threat index373
SUM over AA auras of (aura DPS x aura range km). A plane crossing the AA bubble is exposed to each aura for a time proportional to that aura's range, so long-reach DPS is worth more than the same DPS in a short bubble. Units: DPS*km; used to rank overall AA threat across the cohort.
Near aura range2 km

Armor Beta

Hull HP 22,500, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are the exact in-game values, not estimated.

Bow & stern16 mm

Overmatched by 140+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.

Farming10 mm

Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 37%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →

Section Plates HP cap Threats Tactic
Bow16 mm primary (range 15–16 mm)3,100 (14% of HP)
Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP.
Hull (midship)16 mm primary (range 13–16 mm)16,900 (75% of HP)
Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern16 mm primary (range 13–16 mm)1,800 (8% of HP)
Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel16 mm primary (range 15–16 mm)≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap)
Citadel pen: full damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage
Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. An AP citadel penetration deals the shell's full damage, the biggest single hit available; only over-penetrations are damped, to ×0.10.
Superstructure10 mm1,800 (8% of HP)
Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage
Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage. HE-spam target, and the section saturates fast (often only a few thousand HP).
Turret (module, per magazine)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP9,000 magazine HPMagazine detonation1–30% chance · below ~75% HPPer-turret powder-magazine HP. Detonation chance scales from 1% (no mag damage) to 30% (full mag damage); this range is the in-game value. Detonation can't roll while the ship is above ~75% HP (the standard detonation-protection threshold, not a per-ship stat). Smaller magazines saturate to the 30% ceiling faster.
AA mount (37 mm mount)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP200 per-mount HPDestroyed at 0 HPPer-mount HP for the heaviest AA on this ship. An AA mount destroyed at 0 HP stops shooting down planes for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. HE shells specifically target AA mounts since the small-caliber HP pool falls fast.
Rudder (module)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP6,800 module HPIncapacitated at 0 HPWhen module HP reaches 0 the rudder locks at its current angle until DCP repairs it. Repair via Damage Control Party.

Saturation cap = HP a section can absorb before further damage to it is reduced (the "bow-tank" effect). Citadel pool is ~165k on every ship (effectively no cap); damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead. Superstructure saturates fast but HE always pens regardless of the plate thickness. Rudder (and other module HPs) are a separate pool from ship HP: damaging a module doesn't drain ship HP. Incapacitated modules like the rudder and engine are restored by DCP, but secondary and AA mounts destroyed at 0 HP stay out for the rest of the battle.

Approximated side profile.
Open the 3D armor viewer →
3D armor viewer
Open in Charting Tool

Acceleration and Ballistics Chart

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Karl von Schönberg can equip, from in-game data.

  • Karl von Schönberg default exterior
    DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Primary official WG sources

GamingDiver has indexed official WG mentions for this ship, but none are focused enough to show as a primary source card here. Low-context list, crate, comparison, or passing mentions are intentionally filtered out.

Source status No high-context source card yet Filtered for precision