Early in 1939, the high command of the Kriegsmarine
adopted a naval reinforcement program known as "Plan Z."
Although it wasn't new,
the idea brought forward by the Kriegsmarine's leadership
astounded with its grandeur and ambition.
Just imagine—a powerful armada comprising 10 brand-new powerful battleships,
around 50 light and heavy cruisers,
a horde of destroyers, submarines, and four aircraft carriers,
that would oust Great Britain from its throne of naval supremacy
and establish the German rule over the seas.
However, as we all know— it wasn't meant to be.
In the autumn of 1939, Plan Z began to fall apart,
leaving some interesting relics behind.
One example is battleship project H-39,
which the World of Warships designers used to create Tier IX battleship Pommern.
It's quite easy to understand
why the German naval engineers moved in this direction.
After the construction
of the very successful battleship Bismarck in the mid-1930s,
with their next project—type H—
they decided to further increase the ship's displacement,
thus allowing for installation of the same number of guns,
but of a higher caliber—
eight 406-millimeter guns in four twin turrets.
In the process of bringing Pommern to life,
our developers found an alternative
and installed four specially designed triple turrets with 380 mm guns,
just like those found on Bismarck.
Thanks to their characteristics,
these guns are very effective at medium ranges
and capable of inflicting serious damage with armor-piercing shells,
even to battleships of higher tiers.
Using high-explosive shells also has some notable advantages.
In some situations,
these shells will allow you to cause considerable damage to any enemy
who has their bow pointed towards you,
and you might set them on fire in the process.
I've already mentioned the effective firing range.
In the heat of battle, one can easily overlook the moment
when the convenient medium range
suddenly shrinks to close-quarters engagement,
where heavy and concentrated enemy fire
is complemented with the risk of getting stuck in torpedo soup.
This is quite a stressful situation.
To help you keep your composure
and self-control under such challenging circumstances,
this battleship has a large HP pool, good armor,
and a traditionally powerful German secondary battery.
Moreover, she's equipped with the Hydroacoustic Search consumable
and armed with torpedo launchers,
which can surprise your enemies in a most unpleasant way.
In general, Pommern is well suited to active combat.
The battleship can lead an attack, push through flanks,
and provide support to lighter allied ships.
She's also capable of single-handedly holding a tactically important area
for extended periods of time,
thus blocking a potential enemy advance.
Now, let's talk about the Commander skills and ship upgrades
that will help you fully unlock the potential of this German battleship.
For a Commander with 10 skill points,
I recommend the following skills:
Priority Target, Adrenaline Rush,
Superintendent, and Concealment Expert.
For a 19-point Commander, you should additionally learn
Fire Prevention, Basics of Survivability, and Expert Marksman.
The set of recommended upgrades is quite traditional—
Main Armaments Modification 1, Damage Control System Modification 1,
Aiming Systems Modification 1, Damage Control System Modification 2,
Concealment System Modification 1, and Main Battery Modification 3.
As you can probably determine
from the recommended upgrades and Commander skills,
this ship was designed to thrive at the core of the battle,
dominate enemy forces, and lead her allies by example.
Hers is a difficult and risky mission that involves intense fighting,
but that only makes the taste of victory sweeter.
Good luck, Captains!