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"York"

- a type of heavy cruiser of the British Royal Navy.
A total of 2 units were built - “York” ( York
), “Exeter” (
Exeter
).

History of creation

After the laying of the lead ship of the series, which, according to the shipbuilding program of 1925, was planned to consist of seven units. The Admiralty planned to begin construction of the second ship of this type on March 15, 1928 at the Devonport shipyard, the third and fourth to be laid down in 1929, and two more units were included in the 1929-1930 program. However, due to the limited naval budget and the economic crisis that soon engulfed the countries of Western Europe, the construction of “class B” cruisers was postponed from year to year. While the London Naval Treaty of 1930, adopted as a result of the London Conference, which established limits on the total displacement of the class of heavy cruisers for each country participating in the conference, put an end to the construction of cruisers with eight-inch artillery in the British fleet. By building two York-class cruisers, Great Britain had exhausted its total displacement limit for heavy cruisers and could now only build light cruisers.

Ships[edit]

Design

Frame

York-class heavy cruisers were high-sided ships with a forecastle with a noticeable sheer appearance at the ends, two tall smokestacks and two masts. The lead cruiser of the series largely retained the architectural appearance of the prototype - heavy cruisers of the County class, although it also had a number of external differences. The general distinctive features of the Yorkies were:

— fewer chimneys; shift to the stern of the bow group of main battery towers, and after it the shelter deck superstructures, bow superstructure and chimneys.

"Exeter" differed from the lead ship in the width of the hull (1 foot wider = 0.3048 m), a new type of superstructure (tower-shaped), the absence of an inclination of masts and pipes, a different location of the mainmast, the number of seaplanes and the layout of aircraft equipment.

The standard displacement according to the project was supposed to be 8400 dl. tons, but during the construction process it was possible to save money, as a result of which its standard displacement of the York was 8250 dl. t, full - 10,350 dl. t, and "Exeter" - 8390 and 10,490 dl. T.

The ships had the following dimensions: greatest length - 175.25 m, length between perpendiculars - 164.59 m, width - 17.37 m (York), 17.68 m (Exeter), draft - 5.18- 6.17 m.

Armament

The armament of the new cruisers initially included six 203 mm and four 102 mm guns, two single-barreled Pom-Pom machine guns and more than a dozen 7.62 mm Lewis machine guns. On York

used Mark II turrets, which were planned to save 20 tons compared to Mark I, but the savings did not work out [2]. The total mass of weapons (with rotating turret armor) was 1000 dl. tons (12% of standard displacement), the cost was about a third of the total cost of the ship.

Booking

The York's armor was a "box-shaped" armor protection of County-class cruisers that covered only the vital parts of the ship, reinforced by installing a side belt and strengthening the horizontal armor. The armor was made of plates made of uncemented homogeneous steel NT, as well as of highly elastic shipbuilding steel Ducolle.

A short armor belt made of plates 4 meters high and 76 mm thick, which were bolted, protected the machine and boiler rooms (MKO) along their entire length. With normal displacement, it rose 1.2 m above the waterline. The traverses were of the same thickness - 89 mm.

Armor of the walls of artillery towers, as well as their barbettes - 25 mm; armored traverses of the front and rear cellars of the elevated turret “B” - 76 mm; side traverses of the cellars of all main battery towers −111 mm;

Availability of double sides in the MKO area.

Main power plant

The main power plant included eight three-manifold Admiralty boilers and four single-stage gearboxes, four sets of Parsons steam turbines driving four propeller shafts. Turbogear units (TGA) consisted of low-pressure turbines (LPT) and high-pressure turbines (HPT) and had speeds (at rated power): 3000 rpm on the high-pressure turbine shaft, 2100 rpm on the low-pressure turbine shaft.

Working steam pressure - 21.2 kgf/cm² (20.5 atm), temperature - 329 (625). The design maximum speed was expected to be 32.5-33 knots - one knot faster than that of the "Counties"[3]. But this did not happen. And although the “York” showed good speed during sea trials, its “certificate indicator” of maximum speed turned out to be almost the same as that of the “Counties” of the latest series - 32.3 knots. The wider Exeter achieved only 32 knots.

The last raid of Scharnhorst

According to a German historian: “The military situation in Germany, after the defeat at Stalingrad, became very difficult by December 1943. The army was forced to constantly retreat, which forced them to abandon front-line fortifications and cost a lot of money. In addition, in many places the Russians made huge breakthroughs, and there their advance went forward without meeting resistance. The ranks of the battle-worn infantry were dangerously weakened, and only skeletons remained of the former divisions - groups of soldiers fighting desperately in the vast expanses of Russia. The high command at the Fuhrer's headquarters realized that something had to be done to relieve the crushing pressure on the Eastern Front. Having suffered heavy losses, the Luftwaffe was almost incapable of anything. Submarine successes also declined sharply from February 1943. There remained only the 1st battle group high in the latitudes of Northern Norway - the battleship Scharnhorst. Of the other large ships, none were suitable for operations against Arctic convoys. The damaged Tirpitz was anchored in the Kaa Fjord inside the Alta Fjord after being attacked by one of the British submarines."

Battleship Scharnhorst

Therefore, it was decided that, given a favorable opportunity, Scharnhorst and several escorting destroyers would attack the next convoy on the northern route from Halifax to the USSR. The ship was built in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, laid down on June 15, 1935, launched on October 3, 1936, and entered service on January 7, 1939.

General layout of the battleship Scharnhorst

Reservation scheme for the battleship Scharnhorst

Battleship Scharnhorst . Displacement 31,552 t (standard), 38,900 t (full), main dimensions 235.4 × 30.0 × 9.91 m, power 161,164 hp. With. (119 MW), speed 31 knots (57.4 km/h), crew 1968 people (60 officers, 1908 sailors). Reservations: the main armor belt, 4.5 m high and about 148 m long, had a thickness of 350 mm, thinning towards the lower edge to 170 mm, fore and aft from the barbettes of the end towers it ended with 150 mm and 200 mm traverses, respectively, towards the ends from the main belt there was a thin anti-fragmentation belt of the same height, but 70 mm thick at the bow and 90 mm at the stern; Main battery towers, barbettes and conning towers - up to 360 mm; deck – 95 mm. Armament: 3x3 – 283 mm, 4x2 + 4x1 – 150 mm guns, 14x105 mm, 16x37 mm, 10x20 mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 three-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes, 3 Arado Ar-196 A-3 aircraft, 1 catapult. During design work, Hitler rejected Admiral Raeder's proposal to increase the caliber of the guns to 380 mm. But after the signing of the Anglo-German naval agreement and the start of construction of new French battleships with a 380-mm main caliber, the Fuhrer approved such a replacement; it was planned to be produced in the winter of 1940/41, but with the outbreak of World War II they abandoned rearmament.

Vice Admiral Robert L. Barnett

On December 24, 1943, on Christmas Eve, the main command of the naval forces received a message that the long-awaited convoy JW-55B to Murmansk was at sea. The JW route followed the so-called northern route past Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen and around the North Cape to Murmansk. The caravan was covered by the British navy. Small ships - frigates, corvettes, destroyers and patrol ships - served as cover from submarine attacks. The capital ships of Force 1 (the heavy cruiser Norfolk and the light cruisers Sheffield and Belfast), under the command of Vice Admiral Robert L. Burnett (Sir Robert Leslie Burnett; 1887–1959), a veteran of Arctic convoys, sailed without orders, parallel to the transports and somewhat to the south, that is, in the direction from which the enemy was expected. They covered the convoy from attacks by surface ships, and although they walked separately from the formation, they were ready at any time to engage in battle if necessary. Long-range cover, in case of German battleships appearing in the area, was provided by formation 2 (battleship Duke of York, cruiser Jamaica and 4 destroyers) they were commanded by Admiral Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape ; 1888—1981).

Rear Admiral Erich Bey

It was extremely difficult for the German high command to make a final decision. However, the acting commander of the 1st Battle Group, Rear Admiral Erich Bey (1898-1943), was confident enough in his abilities, and this persuaded Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz (1891-1980) in favor of carrying out the operation. His decision was also influenced by reports from aerial reconnaissance and submarines, which were unable to detect the battleship and reported that the convoy was covered by only a few cruisers. On December 25, 1945, an order was received for a squadron consisting of the battleship Scharnhorst and five destroyers to go to sea. The operation was given the loud name “Eastfront”, as if emphasizing its importance for the German ground armies on the Eastern Front. At 19.00, the Scharnhorst weighed anchor and left the Altafjord. He was accompanied by the 4th Destroyer Flotilla (Z-29, Z-30, Z-33, Z-34 and Z-38).

The destroyers Z-29 and Z-30 belonged to type 1936A , all were built in 1941 by the Deshimag shipyard in Bremen. Displacement 2603 t (standard), 3597 t (full), main dimensions 121.9 × 12 × 3.7 m, power plant 2 TZA, 6 PCs, power 70,000 hp, speed 36–37 knots, crew 332 ( 11) person. Armament: four 150 mm/48 guns, 2x2 – 37 mm/83 and 5x1 – 20 mm/65 anti-aircraft guns, 2x4 – 533 mm TA. The rest belonged to the 1936A (Mob) type; they had no differences in terms of the power plant and dimensions, but were ordered under the mobilization program and were distinguished by simplified construction technology, and the armament of the main battery included a bow two-gun turret (total 1x2, 3x1 - 150 mm /48 guns). Z-33, Z-34 were built by the Deshimag shipyard in Bremen in 1942, Z-38 - in Kiel in 1943.

German destroyer Z-30

Type 1936A(Mob) destroyer models

The destroyers were equipped with a FuMO 24/25 radar station installed on the navigation bridge. The radar had a “mattress” type antenna array measuring 6x2 m, an operating frequency of 368 MHz (wavelength 81.5 cm) and a range of 15–18 km. It should be noted that German radars were seriously inferior to Allied radars. The bearing was determined with an accuracy of 3°, the range error reached 70 m, two closely located targets merged into one mark on the screen, which excluded “blind” shooting. In addition, FuMO turned out to be very difficult to maintain and often failed.

However, the plans of the Germans for the British very soon ceased to be a secret. The departure of the German formation was reported by the Norwegian underground fighter B. Rohrholt on the radio, then British intelligence managed to intercept and decipher the orders coming from Berlin... For at midnight on December 26, German ships violated radio silence, reporting to the command that due to severe weather conditions, the squadron’s military operations destroyers are practically impossible - in response, at 3.19 he was given permission to conduct a combat operation with the forces of one battleship. These radiograms were intercepted and decrypted. Therefore, when Bey read the new order, British admirals Burnet and Fraser were already holding its English translation in their hands.

At 7.03 on December 26, a German formation, located 40 miles southwest of the island. Bear, turned to the point where in the morning twilight - about 10 o'clock - according to calculations, a meeting with the convoy was supposed to take place. The destroyers were searching 10 miles southwest of Scharnhorst, the crews were in a state of full combat readiness from 03.00. The destroyers had a hard time in stormy seas and their speed had to be reduced to 10 knots, so they began to fall behind. Vice Admiral Burnet positioned his formation between the convoy and the possible direction of the Scharnhorst's appearance. The Scharnhorst did not yet suspect the presence of British ships, since for greater secrecy it did not turn on its radar. In bad weather, without the correct information, Scharnhorst went straight to the British cruising group (Norfolk, Sheffield and Belfast).

Light cruiser "Belfast" museum ship (HMS Belfast; C-35)

General layout of the cruiser "Belfast"

Light cruisers HMS Belfast and Sheffield . Displacement 10,550 t (standard), main dimensions 190.17 × 19.32 × 6.32 m, power 82,500 hp. (60 MW), speed 32.5 knots, crew 730 people. Reservations: belt – 114/102 mm, deck – 50-76 mm, beam (bow/stern) – 63/63 mm, barbettes – 50-25 mm, main gun turrets (front/side/rear/roof) – 102/50 /50/50 mm. Armament: 4×3 – 152 mm/50 guns in turrets, 6×2 – 102 mm/45 and 2×8 – 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, two three-tube 533 mm TR-4 torpedo tubes, 1 catapult, 2 seaplane. Belfast was commissioned on August 5, 1939, Norfolk on August 25, 1937.

At 8.40 a.m. on board the Belfast, the flagship of Vice Admiral R. Barnett, an alarm sounded. One of the operators of the type 273 radar system, designed for long-range detection of surface targets along the course, detected a clear signal reflected from an object at a distance of 32 km - in other words, between the cruisers and the convoy. Barnett's three cruisers continued to move north-west at a speed of 24 knots, Belfast leading, followed in succession by Sheffield and Norfolk. At 9.21, the lookout on board the Sheffield through binoculars saw the gray silhouette of the Scharnhorst in the southwest, which was heading in the opposite direction.

Heavy cruiser Norfolk

General layout of the cruiser "Norfolk"

At 9.29, the last naval battle in European waters, known as the Battle of the North Cape, began. The first flare shell fired by the Belfast exploded high in the sky; the torch burned, forming a bright greenish-yellow flame and illuminating the raging ocean. The British heavy cruiser Norfolk opened fire with its 203 mm guns. The German battleship immediately responded with volleys of main-caliber artillery, tried to evade the battle and changed course. Norfolk fired six full broadsides. However, neither Belfast nor Sheffield could aim their guns accurately because Norfolk was positioned between them and the target. In addition, in stormy seas, British cruisers could not make more than 24 knots.

The heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk was built by the Navy shipyard in Portsmouth and entered service on April 30, 1930. Standard displacement 10,087 tons, main dimensions 192.9 × 20.1 × 6.3 m, power 80,000 hp, speed 32.25 knots, crew 784 people. Armor: belt – 25 mm; traverses – 25 mm; deck – 35…37 mm; cellars – up to 111 mm; towers – 25 mm; barbettes – 25 mm. Armament: 4×2 – 203 mm/50 guns in turrets, 4×2 – 102 mm/45 and 2×8 – 40 mm/40 anti-aircraft guns, 2×4 – 533 mm torpedo tubes, 1 catapult, 1 seaplane.

Battle of Scharnhorst with British cruisers

During the 20-minute firefight, the Scharnhorst was hit by three 203 mm shells. The first hit the upper deck from the port side between the deck 150-mm installation and the torpedo tube, ended up in the engine room dining room, but did not explode; the resulting fire was soon extinguished. Another shell hit the bow rangefinders. The nose radar antenna was destroyed. The third shell hit the forecastle and exploded in the cockpit. The failure of the bow radar, the newest Seetakt station, affected the fate of the battleship in the most fatal way - the polar night and stormy weather made the ship, devoid of radar, completely blind. The last hope of the Germans was the stern locator, but it had a significant dead zone in the bow corners and could not give a more or less complete picture of the situation and had a range of only 8–10 km. However, Scharnhorst was able to break away from the British cruisers and, having an advantage of 4–6 knots, quickly increased the distance from her pursuers. Subsequently, he again launched an attack on the convoy. For, at 10.02, a message was received on the Scharnhorst about the discovery of a convoy. Oberleutnant Robert Lubsen, commander of U-277 (Type VII C), noticed a cluster of ships that, due to the storm and the risk of collision, were sailing with their running lights on. By 12 o'clock the battleship came out to intercept to the northeast of it.

Scheme of the battle at North Cape

At this time, the Belfast radar again spotted the Scharnhorst. All three British cruisers went on the attack. The Scharnhorst noticed them and once again changed course. This turn did not allow the destroyer division accompanying the cruisers to attack the German raider. Soon the cruisers opened fire. Scharnhorst responded immediately. The British developed a high density of fire: in the first three minutes of the duel, Belfast fired 9 full salvoes, Sheffield - 5. Even the artillery of the destroyers entered the battle, rushing into a torpedo attack, but forced to retreat under the hurricane fire of the German battleship.

In this battle, the cruiser Norfolk received a direct hit in the stern turret. The personnel was urgently evacuated and the artillery cellar was filled with water. The second shell hit the Norfolk amidships. As a result, all the cruiser's radar equipment was disabled. One officer and six sailors were killed, and five more were wounded. At the same time, a salvo from 283-mm guns covered the Sheffield, and shrapnel rained down on the deck. The cruiser was damaged in various places. This phase of the battle was extremely dangerous for the British: if Bey had set a goal to deal with Burnett’s cruisers, he, with his superior speed, could have done this without much difficulty - after all, Scharnhorst was much stronger than all three cruisers. However, Admiral Bey saw his main task as the destruction of the convoy and considered the battle with cruisers as an annoying obstacle on the way to the goal. Therefore, trying to escape, he ordered the speed to be increased to 30 knots. In a strong storm, cruisers had significantly worse seaworthiness compared to the giant battleship: against the waves they could travel at a speed of no more than 24 knots.

"Scharnhort" fires with its main caliber

The German destroyers saw the illumination shells that the British cruisers fired in the morning battle, but they were far from the Scharnhorst. Admiral Bey ordered them to go northeast to join the flagship, but at 11.58 sent them west again to search for the convoy. After this, there was no longer any tactical interaction between the Scharnhorst and the German destroyers. At about 1 p.m., the destroyers, unknowingly, passed only 15,000 m south of the convoy. Finally, at 1:43 p.m., Admiral Bey ordered them to stop searching and return to base. The next day at about 10.00 they returned to Kaa Fiord.

Taking advantage of its speed advantage, the Scharnhorst again left the battle, but was unable to break radar contact with the British. The cruisers knew that Admiral Fraser's Force 2 was already nearby and the German battleship was rushing straight at it, so they made every effort not to lose it. At about 1:15 p.m., Admiral Bey decided to return to base, not expecting any more skirmishes. The ship's crew, who had not eaten since the morning, started lunch, but combat readiness remained. The stern radar was turned off so as not to be detected by its operation. With the bow radar destroyed and the stern one turned off, and also unable to search directly ahead, the Scharnhorst walked straight into a trap from which there was no way out.

Scharnhorst at full speed

What is most interesting is that with proper interaction between the fleet and aviation, the trap could have been avoided. While patrolling the sea area, a Luftwaffe aircraft (the Kriegsmarine never had its own aircraft due to the position of G. Goering) discovers a group of ships, which it reports to its intelligence department: “Five ships , one presumably large , northwest of the North Cape.” One of the fundamental principles of intelligence is that the initial processing and analysis of information should be carried out by the same person, who has full access to the internal information of the final recipient of the intelligence. However, the scheme for transmitting information to the Luftwaffe that was to be used by the naval command was a gross violation of this principle. The Luftwaffe intelligence officer, guided by the rule that information should contain facts and not speculation, crosses out the words “one suspected major” from the message. And the Kriegsmarine intelligence officer, on the basis of a truncated message “five ships northwest of the North Cape,” mistakenly identifies the actually discovered “Duke of York” with escort ships as five German destroyers separated from the “Scharnhorst”, and leaves the battleship’s route unchanged...

At 16.17, the radar of the British battleship Duke of York detected the enemy at a distance of 225 cables, Admiral Fraser began an immediate approach to the German raider. At 16.32, the artillery radar of type 284 found a target 147 cables away (27,200 m). At 16.47, fire was opened with illuminating shells, and at 16.50, all 10 main caliber guns of the battleship Duke of York and 12 six-inch guns of the cruiser Jamaica met the Scharnhorst with salvos. The British's shooting from the very beginning turned out to be very accurate - the very first salvo from the Duke of York destroyed the Scharnhorst's bow turret and temporarily disabled the second one. The turret was jammed with the guns raised, and the horizontal and vertical aiming drives were out of order.

British battleship Duke of York

General layout of the battleship Duke of York

"Duke of York" ( HMS Duke of York - "Duke of York") battleship of the King George V class, built at the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, entered service on November 4, 1941. Displacement 42,500 tons, main dimensions 227x31.4x10.5 m, power 125,000 l. With. (92 MW), speed 28 knots (51.86 km/h), crew 1556 people. Armor: main belt – 374 mm, lower belt – 137 mm, deck – 136 mm, main gun turrets – 324 mm, barbettes – 324 mm. Armament: 10x356 mm (14″ Mk VII) and 16x133.4 mm (5.25″ Mk. I) guns, 64x40 mm QF 2, 8x40 mm Bofors, 16x20 -mm "Oerlikon" Mk. V, 39x20mm "Oerlikon" Mk. IIIA anti-aircraft guns, four Supermarine Walrus aircraft, 1 catapult.

The duel between the Scharnhorst and the battleship Duke of York was clearly unequal - German 283-mm shells from such a distance could not penetrate the thick armor that protected the vital parts of the English battleship. In addition, with only a few salvos the Germans were able to cover the Duke, whose side was covered with shrapnel, and with a direct hit on the foremast, one of its supports was blown overboard and the Type 284 artillery radar was temporarily disabled. Lieutenant Bates, who climbed onto the mast, managed to repair the broken cable between the antenna and the radar screen and the British were able to continue firing with the same effectiveness. The rest of the damage on the Duke was caused by its own fire: demolished ventilation fungi, damaged deck, broken boats. That is, the Duke of York escaped with minimal damage. British 356-mm “suitcases” caused very serious destruction. The German battleship turned north, and at 16.57 the Belfast opened fire on it, and 3 minutes later the Norfolk arrived in time. Scharnhorst fired two salvos at the cruisers and turned east, increasing speed to 30 knots.

"Sharkhorst" under fire from the battleship "Duke of York"

The British gave chase. But now Admiral Bey had not only cruisers on his tail, but also a huge, powerful modern battleship, which was also not afraid of the storm. The Duke was theoretically inferior to the Scharnhorst in speed by 1.5–2 knots, but it was not easy for the Germans to realize their advantage in the current conditions. Moreover, British shells caused more and more damage. Only at 18.24 Bey managed to break away by 19.5 km, which is why the British ceased fire. At the same time, Bey, now knowing for sure that he was driven into a corner, ordered the last radiogram to be sent to Hitler: “We will fight until the last shell.” At about 7 p.m., the ship's commander ordered all secret documents to be burned.

This battle was called the "Battle of the North Cape". During its course, the Duke of York expended 446 main battery shells, firing 52 salvos, of which 31 were covered, and by that time the Scharnhorst had received at least 13 direct hits from 356-mm shells. Most of his supporting artillery was destroyed, and Fraser decided to attack the enemy with torpedoes. The Scharnhorst tried to fire back from its surviving guns, its shells pierced the director and rangefinder of the destroyer HMS Saumarez, shrapnel riddled the side and superstructures, and the speed dropped to 10 knots. An officer and 10 sailors were killed on the ship, 11 people were wounded. However, the British cruisers and destroyers continued the torpedo attack, firing a total of 55 torpedoes, of which 11 hit the target. There was a dense cloud of smoke around the Scharnhorst, so the British ships did not see it sink. According to the surviving Germans, “the huge ship seemed to fly into the air, scattering hundreds of meters around like fireworks.”

The sinking of the battleship Scharnhorst

The next day, at about 10.00, the German destroyers returned to Kaa Fiord. Many experts believe that it was their absence in the final phase of the battle at the North Cape that turned out to be fatal for the Scharnhorst. After all, if its bow radar failed, the destroyers could detect the enemy in a timely manner, help the flagship repel torpedo attacks, and they themselves would pose a serious danger to British ships, having 150-mm guns and 8 torpedo tubes. Thus, the Kriegsmarine Operation Ostfront, which aimed to destroy convoy JW-55B, ended with the sinking of the last German operational battleship Scharnhorst by the British squadron under the command of Admiral Fraser. His death put an end to the threat posed by the German surface fleet and seriously undermined Germany's position in Norway, and Admiral Fraser thus avenged the death of the aircraft carrier Glories, which he had previously commanded (1936), which was killed by shells from the Scharnhorst and its fellow "Gneisenau" in 1940.

Admiral Bruce Fraser

Of the crew of more than 1,900 people, including 40 cadets, only 38 sailors survived. Of these, 36 were captured by the British (30 were caught from the water by the destroyer Scorpion and 6 by Matchless). Two managed to swim to the coast of Norway. And as soon as they began to cook food on the burner saved from the Scharnhorst, it exploded, killing both “lucky ones.” All the officers were killed, including Rear Admiral Erich Bey and the ship's commander, Captain Fritz-Julius Hintze Fritz-Julius (1898–1943). After the battle, Admiral Bruce Fraser, having gathered the officers on board the Duke of York, said: “Gentlemen, the battle with Scharnhorst ended in victory for us. I hope that any of you who ever have to lead your ship into battle against a much stronger enemy will command your ship as valiantly as the Scharnhorst was commanded today. For the victory, Admiral Fraser became Knight Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire and was given the title "Lord of the North Cape". The Soviet government awarded Admiral Frazer and Vice Admiral Barnett the Order of Suvorov, 1st and 3rd class, respectively.

Kapitana zur See Fritz-Julius Hintze

On September 10, 2000, the skeleton of the Scharhorst was found by a Norwegian expedition on board the research vessel MS HU Sverdrup at a depth of 290 m. The ship lies keel up, the bow up to the bridge was destroyed by the explosion of ammunition magazines. The tip of the aft part is also missing. The main caliber turrets are nowhere to be seen, neither on the hull nor close by. Today the Belfast is permanently moored in London, on the Thames River near Tower Bridge. It has been a museum for twenty-five years now.

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Project evaluation

British cruisers of reduced displacement with eight-inch guns were ordered due to a turn in British shipbuilding policy aimed at reducing the cost of fleet development programs. The appearance of small heavy cruisers in their fleets was due to completely different reasons, the lack of protection was obvious (York-class cruisers were sometimes even called “semi-heavy”)[4], their armor did not protect against direct hits from eight-inch shells and all the little ones lost when compared to full-fledged "Washington" cruisers. “York” was unlucky and in battle he met with “super heavyweights” (cruisers, in violation of the contract, built with a displacement that exceeded the standard) - Japanese Myoko-class cruisers (in his last battle he had to fight alone against four) with a predictable result.

Class features of cruisers

What are cruisers intended for?

As mentioned above, cruisers are support ships with all the ensuing consequences. When playing on a cruiser, the team has to act, carefully analyzing the situation on the mini-map. As a rule, the tasks of a cruiser include:

1. Destruction of enemy destroyers when allied destroyers are spotted.
2. Dealing damage to enemy onboard cruisers.
3. Throwing landmines at enemy battleships in cooperation with allied ships.
4. Covering the allied order with your air defense.

What are cruisers not designed for?

The answer to this question is difficult, because by and large, cruisers are designed for almost everything. It is not recommended, perhaps, to duel with enemy battleships. However, dueling in session shooters is generally not a good idea, because it is much more interesting to defeat opponents by creating a local numerical advantage.

Notes

Comments

1. Head.
2. All data for December 1941
3. All data for December 1941
4. All data for September 1939
5. Before modernization, they carried 6x1 200 mm guns in single-gun turrets.
6. Before modernization, they carried 3x2 200-mm guns in two-gun turrets.
7. Before modernization, they carried 4x1 76-mm guns.
8. Before modernization, they carried 4x1 76-mm guns.

Used literature and sources

1. All data is as of 1939.
2. Marriott, p.35
3. Marriott, p.29, p.35
4. Alexander Donets
   York-class heavy cruisers
5. Patyanin S.V., Dashyan A.V., Balakin K.S.
   etc. All cruisers of World War II. - M: Yauza, EKSMO, 2012. - P. 29. - ISBN 5-699-19130-5.
6. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946. - New York: Mayflower Books, 1980. - P. 420. - ISBN 0-83170-303-2.
7. Patyanin S.V., Dashyan A.V., Balakin K.S.
   etc. All cruisers of World War II. — P. 313.
8. Patyanin S.V., Dashyan A.V., Balakin K.S.
   etc. All cruisers of World War II. — P. 437.
9. Patyanin S.V., Dashyan A.V., Balakin K.S.
   etc. All cruisers of World War II. — P. 441.
10. Patyanin S.V., Dashyan A.V., Balakin K.S.
    etc. All cruisers of World War II. — P. 74.

Bibliography[edit]

• Conway's All the World's Warships 1922–1946
  , Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
• College, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: A complete list of all warships of the Royal Navy
  (Ed. Ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Marriott, Leo. Treaty Cruisers: The First International Warship Building Competition
  . Pen & Sword Maritime, Barnsley, 2005. ISBN 1-84415-188-3

Literature

• Donets A.I.
  

  	type "Kent"¹	Kent Berwick Cumberland Cornwall Suffolk Australia Canberra
  	type "London"¹	London · Devonshire · Sussex · Shropshire
  	Norfolk type¹	"Norfolk" · "Dorsetshire"
  	York type	York · Exeter
  ¹ Sometimes combined into County type

  Battlecruisers	"Rinaun" type "Hood"
  Aircraft carriers	"Corages" type "Furies" "Argus" "Hermes" "Eagle" "Ark Royal" type "Illustrious" "Unicorn" Implacable type type "Colossus" Majestic type* type "Odeyshes"* type "Malta" type "Sentor"*
  Escort carriers	"Archer"** "Odesity" Avenger class** "Ettaker" type** "Ruler" type** "Activity" "Pretoria Castle" "Nairana" type
  Heavy cruisers	Hawkins type type "Kent" type "London" Norfolk type York type type "Surrey"
  Light cruisers	"Caledon" type type "Danae" type "Emerald" Linder type Aretyusa type Southampton type "Manchester" type Belfast type "Dido" type type “Improved “Dido” Fiji type type "Uganda" Swiftsure type "Tiger" type*
  Destroyers and leaders	type "R" type "S" types "V" and "W" Shakespeare type Scott type "Caldwell" type** type "Vicks"** "Embuscade" "Amazon" type "A" type "B" types "C" and "D" types "E" and "F" types "G" and "H" type "I" "Tribal" type types "J", "K" and "N" types "L" and "M" types "O" and "P" types "Q" and "R" types "S" and "T" types "U" and "V" type "W" (1943) types "Z" and "Ca" types "Ch", "Co" and "Cr" "Battle" type Whipon type type "G" (1944) type "Daring"*
  Escort destroyers, frigates and corvettes	"Hunt" type "River" type "Captain" type** type "Takoma"** type "Loch" Bay type "Flower" type "Castle" type
  Sloops	type "24" Bridgewater type Hastings type Hindustan type Banff type** Shoreham type Grimsby type Kingfisher type "Bittern" type "Egret" type "Black Swan" type type "Modified "Black Swan"
  Submarines	type "H" type "L" type "O" type "P" type "R" type "S" "River" type Grampus type type "T" type "U" type "V" type "Emphion"
  Ultra-small submarines	type "X" type "XE"
  Monitors	Erebus type Roberts type
  Minesweepers	"Hunt" type type "Halcyon" type "OK"** Algerin type
  Seaplane transports	"Pegasus" "Albatross"
  Combat boats	MTB MGB
  Converted ships	"MAC-spikes" (Merchant Ships with Flight Deck) "CAM-spikes" (Merchant ships with an aircraft catapult) type "Three" "Ails" type (armed trawlers)
  Italics indicate series of ships that were not completed or were not laid down ; * - completed after the end of the war; ** - foreign built

How to play on a cruiser against ships of other classes?

Cruiser vs battleships

Killing an enemy battleship 1v1 is not a good idea. Battleships have excellent armor and a long firing range, and several hits on the citadel are guaranteed to send the cruiser to the bottom. Therefore, it is better to destroy battleships through joint efforts. Ideally, you want to kill an enemy battleship that is exchanging fire with an allied battleship. Simply shoot landmines at the battleship's superstructures, hoping to set the enemy ship on fire. After the first fire appears, begin targeting another section of the ship that is not yet engulfed in flames. After all, in World of Warships you can put several fires on a ship.

But diving into an enemy battleship, trying to destroy it with torpedoes, is not the best idea. An enemy battleship may well shoot you broadside as it turns around for a torpedo attack.

Cruiser vs cruisers

In fact, hunting cruisers is great fun! The secret of success is in the competent combination of high-explosive and armor-piercing shells and knowledge of the characteristics of your main caliber and the thickness of the side armor of enemy ships. So, in most cases, it is more profitable to wait until one of the enemy cruisers turns broadside and fire a volley of armor-piercing shells at it. As a rule, citadels are excellent at knocking out at close and medium distances, while when shooting at a longer distance, at the bow/stern and in the diamond, it is more profitable to shoot with landmines.

The effective firing range of armor-piercing shells depends on the characteristics of your ship's main gun. Thus, on Soviet cruisers from Tier VI to VIII, 152 mm armor-piercing shells are especially effective at distances of up to 8 km, while the Tier IX cruiser Dmitry Donskoy, thanks to its 180 mm guns, is capable of destroying citadels of cruisers at distances of up to 15 km.

Cruiser vs destroyer

In the “Superiority” mode, the main task of the cruiser is to support allied destroyers, namely, to destroy enemy destroyers when the allies are spotted. Considering that points are awarded not by the number of hit points knocked out, but by the percentage of hit points knocked out, dealing damage to destroyers is a quick and relatively easy way to score a lot of points in battle. Since destroyers have neither serious armor nor citadels, it is recommended to fire at them exclusively with high-explosive shells. In addition, each destroyed destroyer significantly reduces the enemy’s chances of victory, because there is no one to covertly capture points.

Cruiser vs aircraft carrier

It is traditionally difficult for aircraft carriers to cope with cruisers, which, as a rule, are small in size and have good maneuverability. With the exception of the Soviet giants, of course. However, in the game World of Warships, a handy aircraft carrier can pick up absolutely any ship in a couple of visits, and the American cruiser Des Moines, a menace to aircraft carriers, is no exception.

An excerpt characterizing the York-class heavy cruisers

Prince Andrei did not say anything to Tushin. They were both so busy that it seemed they didn’t even see each other. When, having put the surviving two of the four guns on the limbers, they moved down the mountain (one broken cannon and the unicorn were left), Prince Andrei drove up to Tushin. “Well, goodbye,” said Prince Andrei, extending his hand to Tushin. “Goodbye, my dear,” said Tushin, “dear soul!” “goodbye, my dear,” said Tushin with tears that, for some unknown reason, suddenly appeared in his eyes. The wind died down, black clouds hung low over the battlefield, merging on the horizon with gunpowder smoke. It was getting dark, and the glow of fires was all the more clearly visible in two places. The cannonade became weaker, but the crackle of guns behind and to the right was heard even more often and closer. As soon as Tushin with his guns, driving around and running over the wounded, came out from under fire and went down into the ravine, he was met by his superiors and adjutants, including a staff officer and Zherkov, who was sent twice and never reached Tushin’s battery. All of them, interrupting one another, gave and passed on orders on how and where to go, and made reproaches and comments to him. Tushin did not give orders and silently, afraid to speak, because at every word he was ready, without knowing why, to cry, he rode behind on his artillery nag. Although the wounded were ordered to be abandoned, many of them trailed behind the troops and asked to be deployed to the guns. The same dashing infantry officer who jumped out of Tushin’s hut before the battle was, with a bullet in his stomach, placed on Matvevna’s carriage. Under the mountain, a pale hussar cadet, supporting the other with one hand, approached Tushin and asked to sit down. “Captain, for God’s sake, I’m shell-shocked in the arm,” he said timidly. - For God's sake, I can't go. For God's sake! It was clear that this cadet had more than once asked to sit somewhere and was refused everywhere. He asked in a hesitant and pitiful voice. - Order him to be imprisoned, for God's sake. “Plant, plant,” said Tushin. “Put down your overcoat, uncle,” he turned to his beloved soldier. -Where is the wounded officer? “They put it in, it’s over,” someone answered. - Plant it. Sit down, honey, sit down. Lay down your overcoat, Antonov. The cadet was in Rostov. He held the other with one hand, was pale, and his lower jaw was shaking with feverish trembling. They put him on Matvevna, on the very gun from which they laid the dead officer. There was blood on the overcoat, which stained Rostov's leggings and hands. - What, are you wounded, darling? - said Tushin, approaching the gun on which Rostov was sitting. - No, I’m shell-shocked. - Why is there blood on the bed? – Tushin asked. “It was the officer, your honor, who bled,” answered the artillery soldier, wiping the blood with the sleeve of his overcoat and as if apologizing for the uncleanness in which the gun was located. Forcibly, with the help of infantry, they took the guns up the mountain, and having reached the village of Guntersdorf, they stopped. It had already become so dark that ten steps away it was impossible to distinguish the uniforms of the soldiers, and the firefight began to subside. Suddenly, screams and gunfire were heard again close to the right side. The shots were already sparkling in the darkness. This was the last French attack, which was answered by soldiers holed up in the houses of the village. Again everyone rushed out of the village, but Tushin’s guns could not move, and the artillerymen, Tushin and the cadet, silently looked at each other, awaiting their fate. The firefight began to subside, and soldiers, animated by conversation, poured out of the side street. - Is it okay, Petrov? - one asked. “Brother, it’s too hot.” Now they won’t interfere,” said another. - Can't see anything. How they fried it in theirs! Not in sight; darkness, brothers. Would you like to get drunk? The French were repulsed for the last time. And again, in complete darkness, Tushin’s guns, surrounded as if by a frame by buzzing infantry, moved somewhere forward. In the darkness, it was as if an invisible, gloomy river was flowing, all in one direction, humming with whispers, talking and the sounds of hooves and wheels. In the general din, behind all the other sounds, the moans and voices of the wounded in the darkness of the night were clearest of all. Their groans seemed to fill all the darkness that surrounded the troops. Their groans and the darkness of this night were one and the same. After a while, there was a commotion in the moving crowd. Someone rode with his retinue on a white horse and said something as they passed. What did you say? Where to now? Stand, or what? Thank you, or what? - greedy questions were heard from all sides, and the entire moving mass began to push on itself (apparently, the front ones had stopped), and rumors spread that they were ordered to stop. Everyone stopped as they were walking, in the middle of the dirt road. The lights lit up and the conversation became louder. Captain Tushin, having given orders to the company, sent one of the soldiers to look for a dressing station or a doctor for the cadet and sat down by the fire laid out on the road by the soldiers. Rostov also dragged himself to the fire. A feverish trembling from pain, cold and dampness shook his entire body. Sleep was irresistibly beckoning him, but he could not sleep from the excruciating pain in his arm, which ached and could not find a position. He now closed his eyes, now glanced at the fire, which seemed to him hotly red, now at the stooped, weak figure of Tushin, sitting cross-legged next to him. Tushin’s big, kind and intelligent eyes looked at him with sympathy and compassion. He saw that Tushin wanted with all his heart and could not help him. From all sides the footsteps and chatter of those passing, passing and infantry stationed around were heard. The sounds of voices, footsteps and horse hooves rearranging in the mud, the near and distant crackling of firewood merged into one oscillating roar. Now, as before, the invisible river no longer flowed in the darkness, but as if after a storm, the gloomy sea lay down and trembled. Rostov mindlessly watched and listened to what was happening in front of him and around him. The infantry soldier walked up to the fire, squatted down, stuck his hands into the fire and turned his face away. - Is it okay, your honor? - he said, turning questioningly to Tushin. “He got away from the company, your honor; I don’t know where. Trouble! Together with the soldier, an infantry officer with a bandaged cheek approached the fire and, turning to Tushin, asked him to order the tiny gun to be moved in order to transport the cart. Behind the company commander, two soldiers ran to the fire. They swore and fought desperately, pulling out some kind of boot from each other. - Why, you picked it up! Look, he’s clever,” one shouted in a hoarse voice. Then a thin, pale soldier approached with his neck tied with a bloody wrap and in an angry voice demanded water from the artillerymen. - Well, should I die like a dog? - he said. Tushin ordered to give him water. Then a cheerful soldier ran up, asking for a light in the infantry. - A hot fire to the infantry! Stay happily, fellow countrymen, thank you for the light, we will pay you back with interest,” he said, carrying the reddened firebrand somewhere into the darkness. Behind this soldier, four soldiers, carrying something heavy on their overcoats, walked past the fire. One of them tripped. “Look, devils, they put firewood on the road,” he grumbled. - It’s over, so why wear it? - said one of them. - Well, you! And they disappeared into the darkness with their burden. - What? hurts? – Tushin asked Rostov in a whisper. - Hurts. - Your honor, to the general. They’re standing here in the hut,” said the fireworksman, approaching Tushin. - Now, my dear. Tushin stood up and, buttoning his overcoat and straightening himself, walked away from the fire... Not far from the artillery fire, in the hut prepared for him, Prince Bagration was sitting at dinner, talking with some of the unit commanders who had gathered with him. There was an old man with half-closed eyes, greedily gnawing a mutton bone, and a twenty-two-year-old impeccable general, flushed from a glass of vodka and dinner, and a staff officer with a name ring, and Zherkov, looking at everyone restlessly, and Prince Andrei, pale, with pursed lips and feverishly shiny eyes. In the hut there stood a taken French banner leaning in the corner, and the auditor with a naive face felt the fabric of the banner and, perplexed, shook his head, perhaps because he was really interested in the appearance of the banner, and perhaps because it was hard for him hungry to look at dinner for which he did not have enough utensils. In the next hut there was a French colonel captured by the dragoons. Our officers crowded around him, looking at him. Prince Bagration thanked individual commanders and asked about the details of the case and losses. The regimental commander, who introduced himself at Braunau, reported to the prince that as soon as the matter began, he retreated from the forest, gathered woodcutters and, letting them pass by him, with two battalions attacked with bayonets and overthrew the French. - As I saw, Your Excellency, that the first battalion was upset, I stood on the road and thought: “I’ll let these through and meet them with battle fire”; I did so. The regimental commander wanted to do this so much, he regretted so much that he did not have time to do this, that it seemed to him that all this had actually happened. Perhaps it actually happened? Was it possible to make out in this confusion what was and what was not? “And I must note, your Excellency,” he continued, recalling Dolokhov’s conversation with Kutuzov and his last meeting with the demoted man, “that the private, demoted Dolokhov, captured a French officer before my eyes and especially distinguished himself.” “Here I saw, Your Excellency, an attack by the Pavlogradians,” Zherkov intervened, looking around uneasily, who had not seen the hussars at all that day, but had only heard about them from an infantry officer. - They crushed two squares, your Excellency. At Zherkov’s words, some smiled, as always expecting a joke from him; but, noticing that what he was saying also tended towards the glory of our weapons and the present day, they took on a serious expression, although many knew very well that what Zherkov said was a lie, based on nothing. Prince Bagration turned to the old colonel. – Thank you all, gentlemen, all units acted heroically: infantry, cavalry and artillery. How are two guns left in the center? – he asked, looking for someone with his eyes. (Prince Bagration did not ask about the guns on the left flank; he already knew that all the guns had been abandoned there at the very beginning of the matter.) “I think I asked you,” he turned to the officer on duty at the headquarters. “One was hit,” answered the officer on duty, “and the other, I can’t understand; I myself was there all the time and gave orders and just drove away... It was hot, really,” he added modestly. Someone said that Captain Tushin was standing here near the village, and that they had already sent for him. “Yes, there you were,” said Prince Bagration, turning to Prince Andrei. “Well, we didn’t move in together for a bit,” said the officer on duty, smiling pleasantly at Bolkonsky. “I did not have the pleasure of seeing you,” said Prince Andrei coldly and abruptly. Everyone was silent. Tushin appeared on the threshold, timidly making his way from behind the generals. Walking around the generals in a cramped hut, embarrassed, as always, at the sight of his superiors, Tushin did not notice the flagpole and stumbled over it. Several voices laughed.

How to play on a cruiser?

In the "Supremacy" mode, your main task is to cover allied destroyers going to capture points and destroy enemy destroyers, and the cruisers covering them. Cruisers with fast reloading are better suited for destroying destroyers; in this case, the cost of a miss is much lower. In other game modes, destroying destroyers is also one of the main tasks of cruisers, however, due to the lack of clearly marked “points of interest” on the map that attract destroyers, it can be much more difficult to realize yourself as a destroyer of destroyers.

Hunting cruisers is perhaps one of the most interesting tasks for a cruiser. If an enemy cruiser is hit at close or medium range with armor-piercing shells in the waterline area, the citadel can be penetrated with the most dire consequences for the enemy cruiser. At the same time, the small maximum damage from one projectile is often compensated by good accuracy of fire.

It should be noted that not all enemy cruisers have sufficient thickness of side armor for armor-piercing chamber shells to cock and cause full damage. Yes, when the shells hit exactly the citadel, as a rule, they are cocked, but when they hit above the citadel or at the extremities, through penetrations often occur. Therefore, when shooting at enemy cruisers, pay attention to the penetration indicator that appeared in World of Warships in update 0.5.8.

So, if, when shooting at the side of an enemy cruiser, only “drafts” fly out, wait until the enemy slightly turns the side into a diamond shape. In this case, the reduced armor will be greater, and the probability of through penetration will be less. However, the likelihood of a rebound will increase.

The distance from which your armor-piercing shells penetrate an enemy cruiser into the citadel depends on the characteristics of the main caliber of your ship and the armoring and location of the enemy ship's citadel, and is determined experimentally. As a rule, the larger the caliber and the flatter the projectile’s flight path, the higher the penetration distance.

And finally, it is best to shower battleships with high-explosive shells, targeting the superstructures. At the same time, it is not advisable to engage in a duel with an enemy battleship unless absolutely necessary. It is much more profitable to fire at an enemy battleship while it is distracted by one of your allies. If the battleship is still interested in you, try to turn your bow or stern towards it. In this case, there is a high probability of ricochets, and it is much more difficult to simply hit the narrow silhouette of the cruiser.

How to upgrade a cruiser commander?

A complete guide to commander skills in World of Warships can be found in this article. Here I will give only summaries on leveling up the skills of cruiser commanders without much explanation.

Unlike battleships, there is no convenient universal skill template for cruiser commanders, so let's look at the skills by tiers and types of ships:

1. At level 1, take: Priority Target
   .
   Here we could call it a day and move on to the next level, but there are other options. Purely theoretically, cruisers with a main battery of 180 mm or more can take the Master Loader
   or
   Artillery Alarm
   , but a skilled player will definitely benefit from
   the Priority Target
   . By the way, it should be taken on all cruisers up to level 4 inclusive.
2. At level 2, take Desperate
   or
   Last Strength
   , depending on how fragile the engines and rudders on your cruiser are.
   On some cruisers (for example, on the Japanese Furutaka or the French Émile Bertin) it is mandatory to take Last Strength
   , on some this skill is not needed at all.
   It is determined exclusively experimentally, just play several battles in a row and see how important this skill is for you. spend points on Desperado
   later in any case.
3. At level 3, take Explosive Technician
   for high-explosive rapid fire (all Soviet cruisers up to Tier VIII inclusive),
   Vigilance
   for all other cruisers.
   High-level cruisers with the Repair Team equipment can take the Superintendent
   .
   All British light cruisers starting from Tier V require a Superintendent
   and premium equipment.
4. Master of Disguise
   first .
   Secondly, for cruisers with a 6-inch (152 mm) main battery, you can safely take the Inertial fuze of HE shells
   . On air defense barges you can take air defense perks. You can try not taking level 4 skills for the commander at all, so you can gain a whole bunch of useful skills of levels 1-3.

Now let's see what we got:

• Kirov
  :

• Budyonny
  ,
  Shchors
  , other cruisers with 152 mm guns:

• Chapaev
  and other cruisers with 152 mm guns and a large amount of equipment:

• Dmitry Donskoy
  ,
  Moscow
  and other heavy cruisers with main guns from 180 mm:

• British
  Tier IV-VIII cruisers:

• British
  Tier IX-X cruisers:

Which nation's cruisers should I download?

Japanese cruisers

Excellent ships with a small silhouette, powerful artillery and elven land mines with an increased chance of fire. As a bonus, Japanese cruisers can spam the straits with long-range torpedoes. Well, the premium Tier VIII cruiser Atago can generally be considered the best cruiser in the game (taking into account the level of battles, of course). It has all the advantages of free upgradeable analogues, and as a nice bonus it has the “Repair Team” equipment, which allows you to restore spent strength points.

In general, Japanese cruisers are well suited for novice players, because you can simply bombard enemy ships with landmines and spam the straits with torpedoes. Well, the low silhouette allows you to dodge salvos from battleships well. One of the disadvantages of Japanese cruisers is their very weak air defense.

American cruisers

Unlike the Japanese, high-level American cruisers do not have torpedoes, but armor-piercing shells have improved normalization, and therefore are better able to penetrate the sides of enemy cruisers. In addition, American cruisers have powerful air defense.

Do you want to suffer less from aircraft carriers? Then download American cruisers!

Soviet cruisers

Huge, cardboard and clumsy machines with poor camouflage and rapid-fire guns. Typical “second and third line support ships”, if you know what I mean. Due to their high rate of fire, Soviet cruisers up to and including Tier VIII are excellent for destroying destroyers, including due to the presence of hydroacoustic search (HAP). Up to Tier VIII, Soviet cruisers are especially effective when playing with land mines, while armor-piercing shells are advantageous to use at close and medium range to penetrate the sides of enemy cruisers. The heavy cruisers Dmitry Donskoy of Tier IX and Moskva of Tier X are capable of knocking out citadels from enemy cruisers from a distance of up to 15 km.

If you want to play on the Soviets, download the Soviets, they bend as well as others. However, due to the above disadvantages, Soviet cruisers are quite difficult to use. They add up very quickly from the salvoes of battleships.

German cruisers

When the German cruiser branch was introduced, their main feature was very good armor-piercing shells and very weak landmines. Land mines have been slightly improved since then, but German cruisers still do not excel in damage per minute with land mines. But high-level German cruisers have excellent armor and can withstand attacks well; knocking out a citadel from a high-level German cruiser is very difficult. However, as with German battleships, they take white damage well.

In general, the Germans have very interesting examples of technology, playing which will certainly give you pleasure. As usual, German equipment is recommended for pumping by leading Germanphiles.

British cruisers

At the time of their release, the British light cruisers were the most unusual cruisers in the game. No armor at all, with citadels sticking out of the water at levels IX-X, disgusting ballistics, no high-explosive shells (high explosives are only available on the Tier VII premium cruiser Belfast), but with incredible normalization for armor-piercing shells, the Repair Team skill and the Smoke Generator.

Unlike the cruisers of other nations, which the player can safely take and upgrade regardless of their experience in playing World of Warships, British light cruisers are intended for experienced players and in the hands of experienced players they will literally annihilate everything around them. It is categorically not recommended to choose the British to become acquainted with the class of cruisers.

French cruisers

Let's start with the main question - who are the French cruisers intended for? Firstly, for French-speaking players, and secondly, for players who have already pumped out cruisers of other nations. Unlike the British who came out in front of them, the French do not have bright chips. You can’t consider complete cardboard and glass modules to be a feature, which is why leveling up the skill is done with all your might

it is simply obligatory for the commander.

High-level French cruisers belong to the class of heavy cruisers, have fast turrets, good ballistics, armor penetration and high damage when playing with armor-piercing shells. High-explosive shells set fire very well. In general, unlike the Germans or the British, the French didn’t have anything like that cut off, but they didn’t add anything either. In fact, interesting ships start from levels VII-VIII, low-level ships turned out to be completely passable.

At low and medium levels, the rate of fire is not at all pleasing, although up to level VI inclusive, ships are considered light cruisers. However, in terms of rate of fire, the French are completely inferior to other nations, thereby cosplaying as heavy cruisers. The idea is, of course, original, but it all doesn’t look very logical.

The developers themselves believe that the features of the French are high speeds, with the ability to use the Fast and the Furious consumable starting from level VI, and long-stroke torpedoes, however, in the realities of World of Warships, these are rather modest advantages of the nation, which do not in any way compensate for the obvious drawback - the obvious secondary nature of the French cruisers . Do you want to play on heavy cruisers? Why not just pump out the Japanese or the Americans?