Supertest: British Tier VI Premium Battleship Repulse

HMS Repulse was the second ship of the Renown-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down in January 1915, launched in January 1916 and commissioned in August 1916. Upon completion, the Renown-class were the fastest capital ships in the world with a top speed of 31.5 knots.

In November 1917, Repulse took part in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight where the British disrupted the German efforts of breaking through the British-laid minefields of the North Sea. During this battle, Repulse fired a total of 54 381 mm rounds and scored a hit on the light cruiser SMS Königsberg. The British forces had to retreat when SMS Kaiser and SMS Kaiserin got spotted and Repulse covered the fleet.

Repulse was damaged in December 1917 in a collision with the battlecruiser HMAS Australia but would be present at the surrender of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow in November 1918.

During the interwar period, the ship underwent several refits with a drastic improvement of her armor protection, a new catapult system and better anti-air among everything else.

At the beginning of World War II, the ship was mostly deployed to hunt German raiders and blockade runners and later participated in the Norwegian Campaign in early/mid-1940. In late 1941, HMS Repulse was sent to the Indian Ocean where, alongside the freshly built HMS Prince of Wales, they were meant to deter Japanese forces from attacking British territories as part of Force Z. HMS Indomitable was supposed to be part of Force Z but, as she ran aground in the Caribbean, her arrival was delayed.

On the 10th December 1941, as the fleet was heading towards Kuantan after receiving reports of Japanese troops landings, Force Z was spotted by the submarine I-58 which also fired five torpedoes but they all missed.
Several hours later, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Whales as well as their escorts were attacked by Mitsubishi G3M bombers and G4M torpedo bombers. During the first bomber run, the ship was hit by a bomb after being straddled by two near misses. Afterward, Repulse, brilliantly handled by her captain, Bill Tennant managed to evade a total of 19 torpedoes. However, she later got caught in a synchronized drop and took 4 or 5 torpedoes.
Due to the damage received, the ship shortly started listing and quickly capsized. In total, 508 men were lost with the survivors being rescued by HMS Electra and HMS Vampire.

In 2002, her wreck was designated as a ‘Protected Place’ under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Sadly, it was discovered in October 2014 that, alongside Prince of Wales, the wreck had been heavily damaged by scrap metal dealers using explosives.

In World of Warships, we are getting Repulse as she was at the time of her sinking. She follows the same design as the other “battlecruiser-type” of battleships we already have (Champagne, Florida, Slava, etc.) with improved accuracy on their main battery at the cost of armor protection. Repulse also gets the same Engine Boost consumable as Bourgogne and Georgia.

If you want to learn more about the Renown-class as a whole, here is a video from Drachinifel covering it:

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
Repulse	Propulsion: 119 025 hp	Mk VI mod. 1	381 mm/42 Mk I

General Characteristics

Main Battery

3 x 2 381 mm/42 Mk I
Maximum Firing Range	19.760 km
Reloading Time	30.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	54.4 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	30°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	30°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	214 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 381 mm HE Mk VIIIb
Alpha Damage	5 300 HP
Damage	4 110 HP
Penetration capacity	95 mm
Explosion size	2.23
Fire chance	34 %
Projectile Speed	731.5 m/s
Air Drag	0.338
Projectile Mass	879 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 381 mm AP Mk XXIIb
Alpha Damage	11 400 HP
Projectile Speed	731.5 m/s
Air Drag	0.247
Projectile Mass	879 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 190
Projectile Detonator	0.015 s
Detonator threshold	64 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Secondary battery

6 x 1 102 mm/45 Mk V
Maximum Firing Range	4.960 km
Reloading Time	4 s
Sigma	1.00 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 102 mm HE 35 lb
Alpha Damage	1 500 HP
Damage	310 HP
HE penetration	17 mm
Explosion Size	0.3
Chance to Cause Fire	6 %
Projectile Speed	811 m/s
Air Drag	0.33
Projectile Mass	15.88 kg
3 x 3 102 mm/45 Mk IX
Maximum Firing Range	4.960 km
Reloading Time	6 s
Sigma	1.00 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – HE-32
Alpha Damage	1 500 HP
Damage	350 HP
HE penetration	17 mm
Explosion Size	0.31
Chance to Cause Fire	6 %
Projectile Speed	800 m/s
Air Drag	0.411
Projectile Mass	14.1 kg

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: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration: 0.5%/s	Spotting Aircraft Number of charges: 4 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 240 s Maximum firing range: +20%	Engine Boost Number of charges: 3 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 90 s Speed bonus: +15%

The Armor

External armor protection:

Front and rear armor protection of the middle section:

Casemate armor protection:

Citadel armor protection:

Turrets armor protection:

Hidden armor protection inside the bow and stern:

Personal opinion

Well on paper, Repulse doesn’t look too bad. Considering that she has the battlecruiser dispersion with 2.0 sigma, her guns will work perfectly fine. The fact that she has the special 15% engine boost will offer her some unparalleled mobility at this tier, especially since she is, from the start the fastest tier VI battleship.

The only real downsides are the weak armor protection, especially for the bow and stern and the fact that, apparently, the British ran out of WD40 for her turrets.

Easter egg

At the rear of the superstructure of Repulse, there is a list of battles in which a ship named Repulse fought:

• Battle of Cadiz, 1596
• The Islands Voyage (Azores), 1597
• Invasion of Martinique, 1762
• Battle of the Saintes, 1782
• Battle of Cape Finisterre (Ferrol), 1805

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Yuzorah

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