World of Warships Supertest: British Tier X Battleship St. Vincent

Historical background

St. Vincent is based on the I3 design of battlecruisers. In terms of design studies, I3 preceded G3 and introduced the strange layout of having all turrets located forward of the ship around the superstructure and the engines at the rear. The purpose of this layout was to maximize firepower as well as engine power while still having a reasonably compact hull.

Thanks to this design, the estimated speed would have been 32.5 knots provided by an impressive 180 000 horsepower. The main battery consisted of nine 18-inch guns (457 mm) in three triple turrets, two superfiring at the front and one amidship facing aft.

Even with these innovations, the design was still considered too big which drastically limited the number of available drydocks. As such, it was abandoned in favor of the smaller G3 design.

If you want to learn more about the I3 design as well as the other battlecruisers designs from the Royal Navy, here is a video from Drachinifel covering them:

In World of Warships, we are getting a fairly good representation of the I3 design with some modernization done to the anti-air armament as well as some armor changes from what I see. The ship sits at the end of the battlecruiser line and compared to previous ships she has a much more advantageous placement when it comes to its underwater torpedo tubes. They are aimed forward and cover a 40° area in front of the ship.

Ship’s preview

Ship’s camouflage

For the classic reminder, this is a ship in testing, anything can change so don’t look at her like she would already be released.

Modules

Hull	Engine	Gun Fire Control System	Main battery	Torpedoes
St. Vincent	Propulsion: 180 000 HP	Mk X mod. 1	457 mm/45 Mk.II in a turret	‎622 mm Mk I

General Characteristics

Main Armament

3 x 3 457 mm/45 Mk.II in a turret
Maximum Firing Range	19.540 km
Reloading Time	30.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	30.0 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	30°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	30°
Sigma	1.5 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	212 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 457 mm HE Mk IIa
Alpha Damage	7 100
Penetration capacity	76 mm
Explosion size	3.25
Fire chance	63 %
Projectile Speed	757 m/s
Air Drag	0.29
Projectile Mass	1 814.0 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 457 mm AP Mk IIa
Alpha Damage	14 900
Projectile Speed	762 m/s
Air Drag	0.29
Projectile Mass	1 506.0 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 485
Projectile Detonator	0.015 s
Detonator threshold	76 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Secondary Armament

8 x 2 152 mm/50 BL Mk.XXII on a Mk.XVIII mount
Maximum Firing Range	7.300 km
Reloading Time	12.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE Mk V
Alpha Damage	2 150
HE penetration	25 mm
Explosion Size	0.54
Chance to Cause Fire	9 %
Projectile Speed	884 m/s
Air Drag	0.362
Projectile Mass	50.8 kg
10 x 2 113 mm/45 QF Mk.I/III on an RP10 Mark II BD mount
Maximum Firing Range	7.300 km
Reloading Time	5.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 113 mm HE 5crh
Alpha Damage	1 700
HE penetration	19 mm
Explosion Size	0.38
Chance to Cause Fire	8 %
Projectile Speed	746 m/s
Air Drag	0.329
Projectile Mass	24.95 kg

Torpedo Armament

Anti-air Armament

Consumables

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Slot 4
Damage Control Party Work time: 15 s Cooldown: 80 s	Repair Party Number of charges: 3 Work time: 20 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +2.0%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 10%	Engine Boost Number of charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Speed bonus: +8%	Defensive AA Fire Number of charges: 3 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Damage from continuous DPS: +50% Damage from flak explosions: +300%

The Armor

External armor protection:

Front and rear armor protection of the middle section:

Armored deck under the funnels:

Main armor deck:

Turtleback:

Citadel armor protection:

Turrets armor protection:

Hidden armor protection inside the bow and stern:

Personal Opinion

Compared to Duncan, St. Vincent looks very strong. In terms of firepower, she uses the same shells as Thunderer except that she gets weaker HE with lower damage and penetration. St. Vincent also gets short-fuse AP shells compared to Thunderer. She still has the problem of the short firing range but at least, she gets good concealment and high speed to compensate. The armor is massively improved compared to Duncan with a thicker weather deck, internal main armor deck, and even a turtleback to protect the ship’s sides.

Another major improvement of this ship compared to the previous ones is the position of the torpedo launchers. They are aimed towards the front of the ship instead of its broadside. As such, it will be incredibly useful for aggressive actions and will also save your bacon from potential ramming attempts.

Still though… THIS SHIP IS SO DAMN UGLY! Killerbin and Painezor, couldn’t your ancestors design good-looking ships in the 20s?

Also, my OCD is going crazy right now.

Thank you for reading this article!

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Yuzorah

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