World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Kolberg

Also called: 科尔贝格 Beta
Light cruiserHE fires and sustained DPM rather than picking AP citadels.
Playstyle
  • Hold under 10 km with islands tight enough to break vision on demand
  • Avoid: Open-water broadside trading
Key characteristics
High HE / fire outputHigh AP DPMFast turret traverseFast reloadFragileNo AA
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Community Data

Kolberg Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

Kolberg is a Tier II German light cruiser with 105mm guns at 11 km, 3.6-second reload. Her damage profile is HE fires and sustained DPM rather than picking AP citadels. Standout traits: best AP DPM in T2 CAs (230,000) and best high-arc HE shells in T2 CAs (54.5°).

Positioning

Hold under 10 km with islands tight enough to break vision on demand. The HE pressure rewards a steady firing arc more than rotation play; pick a corner of the map you can hold and work fires from there. 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

Open-water broadside trading

Her 105mm shells citadel cruisers on the wrong frame, and her 18,300-HP hull does not recover from a punished salvo. Pick rotations and angles deliberately; the chip-damage role pays better than the trade-blow role on a cruiser of this profile.

Signature Traits

ELITE MAIN BATTERY
  • AP DPM machine · 207000 AP
  • High-arc HE shells · 54.5°
  • Fast turret traverse · 10.0°
  • Fast reload · 4.0 s
  • High fire pressure · 4.5 fires
  • Fire-starter cruiser
WEAK MAIN BATTERY
  • Low fire chance · 5.0%
  • Slow AP shells · 715.0 m
Acquisition

How to get Kolberg

Kolberg is available in the Fire-Support Cruisers branch of the Germany Tech Tree for 13,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 2,600 credits.

Show Germany tech-tree branch diagram
Germany Tech Tree

Kolberg sits in the Fire-Support Cruisers branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full Germany tree.

Builds Beta

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

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Cohort position

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Where Kolberg sits among Tier II CAs (25 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 reload4 s (1 of 2 tied) BestAP DPM207,000 (1 of 2 tied) Top 10%Fires per minute4.5 (3/24) Top 10%AP arming threshold18 mm (3/24) Top 25%Rudder shift5.4 s (5/25) Top 25%HE DPM108,000 (7/24) Top 25%Main dispersion101.8 m (5/25) Top 25%Acceleration23.7 s (7/25) Top 25%Engine power31,000 hp (7/25) Top 25%Turn-speed retention66 hp/m (7/25) Top 25%Displacement4,915 t (5/25) Top 25%Power-to-weight6.31 hp/t (7/25) Top 25%Citadel belt80 mm (7/25) Bottom 25%Hit points18,300 HP (23/25) Bottom 25%AP fuse timer0.01 s (19/24) WorstMain battery caliber105 mm (1 of 2 tied) WorstNo secondaries (10 of 25 in cohort) WorstAP velocity715 m/s (1 of 2 tied) WorstHE velocity715 m/s (1 of 2 tied) WorstNo AA (9 of 25 in cohort) WorstNo torpedoes (19 of 25 in cohort)
See 12 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Kolberg -- 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 speed27 kt(9/25) Concealment9.39 km(15/25) Air detection5.63 km(15/25) Traverse-to-turn ratio5.91 ×(9/25) Main battery range10.97 km(18/25) Sigma2(11/25) Max armor100 mm(16/25) Deck armor50 mm(13/25) NormAP ricochet start45°(23 of 24 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(23 of 24 tied at this value) NormBow armor6 mm(23 of 25 tied at this value) NormStern armor6 mm(22 of 25 tied at this value)
Survivability
Hit PointsInitial: 17,200 → 18,300
Displacement4,915 t
Armor range6–100 mm
Plate armor thicknesses6, 9, 10, 19, 50, 80, 100 mm
Armor material/layer entries38
Fire resistanceInitial: 0% → 3.3%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction0%
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 105 mm L/45 MPL C/06
Mounts / barrels12 mounts / 12 barrels
Reload time4 s
Firing range (base)10 km
Firing range (top fire control)11 km
Turret traverse10 °/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 =(997330·81.11000+1.1)·30=101.8m
101.8 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: σV=σH·radiusOnMax =101.8·0.6=61.1m
61.1 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius: σH,50=σH·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =101.8·0.319(σ=2)=32.5m
32.5 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius: σV,50=σV·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =61.1·0.319(σ=2)=19.5m
19.5 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 10 deg/s traverse speed = 18 s.
18 s
Base shells/min
ƒ6 broadside guns x 60 / 4 s base reload = 90.
90
HE shells
HE Damage1,200
HE Velocity715 m/s
Fire Chance5%
HE penetration
ƒ18 mm ≈ 105 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
18 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ1,200 HE damage x 6 broadside guns = 7,200.
7,200
Base HE DPM
ƒ7,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4 s base reload = 108,000.
108,000
Base fires/min
ƒ90 shells/min x 5% fire chance = 4.5.
4.5
AP shells
AP Damage2,300
AP Velocity715 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.01 s
Fuse Threshold18 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(105 mm caliber / 14.3) = 7 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
7 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: P=107·K·m0.69·d1.07·v01.38 =107·1870·18.20.69·0.1051.07·7151.38=134.1mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
134.1 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (13 km), where the shell has slowed to 236 m/s: P=107·1870·18.20.69·0.1051.07·2361.38=29.1mm.
29.1 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ2,300 AP damage x 6 broadside guns = 13,800.
13,800
Base AP DPM
ƒ13,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4 s base reload = 207,000.
207,000
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.
3
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 31,000 hp
Engine power31,000 hp
Maximum speed27 kt
Turning circle radius470 m
Rudder shift time5.4 s
Engine power-boost threshold7 kt
Engine spool-up time15.3 s
Reverse spool-up time7.7 s
Acceleration 0-90%
ƒTime to reach 90% of top speed (24.3 kt of 27 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.
23.7 s
Acceleration 0-99%
ƒTime to reach 99% of top speed (26.7 kt of 27 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.
38.3 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·27.0·0.5144470=1.69°/s, so ratio=ωturretωhull=101.69=5.9×. Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.
5.9× slow
Concealment
Detectability by sea9.39 km
Detectability by air5.63 km
Smoke firing penalty3.32 km
Detect after firing main guns
ƒmax(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
9.39 km
Detect Fire Sea11.39 km
Detect Fire Air8.63 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Module options (2)

Stats above use the fully-upgraded modules. These are the research-tree alternatives; trade-offs are flagged.

HullUpgrade
  • Hit points17,200 → 18,300
  • Rudder shift9.7 → 7 s
Fire controlUpgrade
  • Main battery range9,973 → 10970.3 m

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 Disp101.8 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{9973}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-1.1}{1000} + 1.1\right)\cdot 30 = 101.8\,\text{m}$
Max Vert Disp61.1 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 101.8 \cdot 0.6 = 61.1\,\text{m}$
Med Horiz Disp32.5 m
50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 101.8 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 32.5\,\text{m}$
Med Vert Disp19.5 m
50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 61.1 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 19.5\,\text{m}$
Dispersion familyCruiser Disp.
Standard cruiser dispersion baseline.
AP Pen Close134.1 mm
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 1870 \cdot 18.2^{0.69} \cdot 0.105^{-1.07} \cdot 715^{1.38} = 134.1\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far29.1 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (13 km), where the shell has slowed to 236 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 1870 \cdot 18.2^{0.69} \cdot 0.105^{-1.07} \cdot 236^{1.38} = 29.1\,\text{mm}$.
HE penetration18 mm
18 mm ≈ 105 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
AP overmatch7 mm
floor(105 mm caliber / 14.3) = 7 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius3
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 alpha6
Barrels that can bear on one beam (6 of 12); casemate/wing mounts only fire one side.
Turret turn time18 s
180 degrees / 10 deg/s traverse speed = 18 s.
HE full-salvo alpha7,200
1,200 HE damage x 6 broadside guns = 7,200.
AP full-salvo alpha13,800
2,300 AP damage x 6 broadside guns = 13,800.
Base HE DPM108,000
7,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4 s base reload = 108,000.
Base AP DPM207,000
13,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4 s base reload = 207,000.
Base shells/min90
6 broadside guns x 60 / 4 s base reload = 90.
Base fires/min4.5
90 shells/min x 5% fire chance = 4.5.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS0
Continuous AA damage summed across AirDefense module auras (no usable per-aura data available, so the formula prediction couldn't be applied on this ship).
Maximum AA range0 km
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

Armor Beta

Hull HP 17,20018,300 with hull upgrade, 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 & stern6 mm

Overmatched by 106+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.

Belt / citadel80 mm

Thin belt: battleship AP citadels straight through it broadside. Rely on angle, speed and concealment, never sit flat.

Farming6 mm

Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 3%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →

Section Plates HP cap Threats Tactic
Bow6 mm primary (range 6–100 mm)1,000 (5% of HP)
Overmatched by 127mm+ (Farragut, Shenyang)6 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)10 mm13,700 (75% of HP)
Overmatched by 150mm+ (Celebes, Königsberg)Angle bounces 127mm10 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern6 mm primary (range 6–80 mm)900 (5% of HP)
Overmatched by 127mm+ (Farragut, Shenyang)6 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel80 mm primary (range 9–80 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.
Superstructure6 mm primary (range 6–50 mm)400 (2% 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 HP9,200 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.
Rudder (module)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP5,500 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
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Acceleration and Ballistics Chart

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Kolberg can equip, from in-game data.

  • Kolberg 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