Supertest: Dutch Tier VI Cruiser Kijkduin

The Kijkduin is based on a project of cruiser from 1937 designed for the Royal Netherlands Navy. Quite a few modifications were made with the most notable one being the replacement of the triple 1st and 4th turrets by twin turrets instead.

From what I understood, the caliber is also wrong as the guns were meant to have a caliber of 150 mm and the anti-air armament was only composed of machine guns instead of 40 mm Bofors.

In World of Warships, Kijkduin is where we start seeing the new airstrikes, the special gimmick of the Dutch cruisers (and possibly for the whole techtree techtree).

At the moment the airstrike allows you to order a squadron of planes to drop an area of variable size depending on which ship is using it and within a limited range around your ship. Bombs will take a long time to reach their target, so it’s best to use them against large and low-mobility targets. At the same time, the aircraft don’t detect opponents and unlike aircraft carrier squadrons they are not directly controlled by the player. They can, however, still be shot down.

This type of armament is based on the actually used method of low-altitude bombing with parachute-equipped bombs. The bombing is carried out in two stages: The bomb descends a certain distance on a parachute, which detaches after a while; The bombs fall the rest of the way without a parachute.

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
Kijkduin (A Hull)	Propulsion: 85 000 hp	‎SUO Mk 6 Mod. 1	152 mm/53 Bofors M42
Kijkduin (B Hull)		‎SUO Mk 6 Mod. 2

General Characteristics

Stock Ship

Main Battery

4 x 2 152 mm/53 Bofors M42
Maximum Firing Range	13.240 km
Reloading Time	7.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	27°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	25°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	122 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE Brisantgranaat
Alpha Damage	2 200 HP
Damage	770 HP
Penetration capacity	25 mm
Explosion size	0.57
Fire chance	11 %
Projectile Speed	900 m/s
Air Drag	0.284
Projectile Mass	46 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 152 mm AP Pantsergranaat
Alpha Damage	3 000 HP
Projectile Speed	900 m/s
Air Drag	0.288
Projectile Mass	46.7 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 200
Projectile Detonator	0.025 s
Detonator threshold	25 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Airstrike

Airstrike bombers – ‎Fokker T.V.
Range	1.500 – 10.000 km
Number of charges	1
Reload time	60 s
Time to hit the target	16 s
Dispersion area	135 m x 90 m rectangle
Hitpoints per plane	1 860
Aircraft per squadron	12
Bomb type	P.u.W 100 kg
Bombs per plane	4
Maximum bomb damage	5 800
HE penetration capacity	32 mm
Explosion size	0.93
Fire chance	33 %

Anti-air Armament

Consumables

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Damage Control Party Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s	Hydroacoustic Search Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Torpedo spotting range: 3.0 km Ship spotting range: 4.0 km	Spotting Aircraft Number of charges: 4 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 240 s Maximum firing range: +20%
		Fighter Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Number of planes in a squadron: 2

Fully Upgraded

Main Battery

4 x 2 152 mm/53 Bofors M42
Maximum Firing Range	14.564 km
Reloading Time	7.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	27°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	25°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	134 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE Brisantgranaat
Alpha Damage	2 200 HP
Damage	770 HP
Penetration capacity	25 mm
Explosion size	0.57
Fire chance	11 %
Projectile Speed	900 m/s
Air Drag	0.284
Projectile Mass	46 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 152 mm AP Pantsergranaat
Alpha Damage	3 000 HP
Projectile Speed	900 m/s
Air Drag	0.288
Projectile Mass	46.7 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 200
Projectile Detonator	0.025 s
Detonator threshold	25 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Airstrike

Airstrike bombers – ‎Fokker T.V.
Range	1.500 – 10.000 km
Number of charges	1
Reload time	60 s
Time to hit the target	16 s
Dispersion area	135 m x 90 m rectangle
Hitpoints per plane	1 860
Aircraft per squadron	12
Bomb type	P.u.W 100 kg
Bombs per plane	4
Maximum bomb damage	5 800
HE penetration capacity	32 mm
Explosion size	0.93
Fire chance	33 %

Anti-air Armament

Consumables

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Damage Control Party Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s	Hydroacoustic Search Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Torpedo spotting range: 3.0 km Ship spotting range: 4.0 km	Spotting Aircraft Number of charges: 4 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 240 s Maximum firing range: +20%
		Fighter Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Number of planes in a squadron: 2

The Armor

General External Armor Protection:

Citadel Protection:

Hidden Armored Deck inside the Stern:

Turrets Armor Protection:

Personal Opinion

The ship doesn’t really look great for the tier VI cruiser.

The damage output is quite low, especially when you also consider the short gun range. This could indicate that Wargaming are planning to have the ships relying on their airstrike to compensate. However, with the limited range and long time for the bombs to hit their target, this might not be a very good trade.

The ship’s armor will also be a limiting factor as in general, a squishy cruiser doesn’t survive for long at close range against the capital ships those airstrikes are supposed to deal with.

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Yuzorah

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