Supertest: Dutch Tier VIII Premium Cruiser De Zeven Provinciën

The De Zeven Provinciën-class was a pair of light cruisers built for the Royal Netherlands Navy.

The construction of De Zeven Provinciën and De Ruyter actually goes way back to 1939 when they were laid down. However, due to the nazi invasion in May 1940 the construction was stopped and the ships were only 25% completed for De Ruyter and 12% for DZP.

(Just to make it easier for the names, I will only use the ones they had when finally commissioned because both ships were renamed… a lot of times.)

The German forces were able to capture the hulls and were planning to complete them on their own with De Ruyter being renamed KH1 and DZP being renamed KH2. The construction progress was slow for both ships due to dockyards being used for other units and also thanks to sabotage operations from the Dutch resistance. In December 1944, KH1 (De Ruyter) was launched to be used as a blockship but the operation was never carried out.

After World War II, the construction of the two ships resumed. The initial design that was calling for two twin and two triple turrets with 152 mm/53 guns, two triple 533 mm torpedo tubes and six twin 40 mm Bofors was replaced by four twin turrets with 152 mm/53 guns, four twin 57 mm AA guns and eight single 40 mm Bofors L/70. Other changes were incorporated such as advanced electronics and a better propulsion plant.
Both ships were finally commissioned in late 1953, participating in numerous NATO exercises and being used as flagships in task forces. The ships were sold to Peru in 1973 for De Ruyter and 1976 for DZP. DZP would serve until March 1999 and be scrapped in 2000 while De Ruyter was only decommissioned in September 2017 and will be preserved as a museum.

In World of Warships, we are getting De Zeven Provinciën as a she was when commissioned. She can use the airstrikes which will be the special new armament for the Dutch cruisers.

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.

The DZP is also equipped with an Engine Boost and the Specialized Repair Party of British cruisers.

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
De Zeven Provinciën	Propulsion: 85 000 hp	‎SUO Mk 8 Mod. 1	152 mm/53 Bofors M42

General Characteristics

Main Battery

4 x 2 152 mm/53 Bofors M42
Maximum Firing Range	16.060 km
Reloading Time	6.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	30° (turrets can turn at 360°)
Optimal firing angles at the rear	33° (turrets can turn at 360°)
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	144 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE Brisantgranaat
Alpha Damage	2 150 HP
Damage	760 HP
Penetration capacity	30 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°

Anti-air Armament

Airstrike

Airstrike bombers – ‎Fokker T.V.
Range	1.500 – 12.000 km
Number of charges	1
Reload time	60 s
Time to hit the target	20 s
Dispersion area	240 m x 105 m rectangle
Hitpoints per plane	1 460
Aircraft per squadron	12
Bomb type	P.u.W 100 kg
Bombs per plane	8
Maximum bomb damage	5 800
HE penetration capacity	32 mm
Explosion size	0.93
Fire chance	33 %

Consumables

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Damage Control Party Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s	Engine Boost Number of charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Speed bonus: +8%	Specialized Repair Party Number of charges: 3 Work time: 20 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration: 2%/s

The Armor

General External Armor Protection:

Front and Read Internal Protection of the Middle Section:

Internal Armored Deck:

Citadel Protection:

Hidden Armored Deck inside the Stern:

Turrets Armor Protection:

Personal Opinion

As of now, the ship itself looks interesting. The firepower is quite good and the 360° turning turrets will bring extra comfort when trading shots with other ships.

Her armor gets me a bit worried but I expect the ship to end up being an overpenetration fiesta and in any case, she has the Specialized Repair Party to recover from big blows that she will suffer.

For the bombs themselves, they seem really limited in terms of utility due to the long drop time. Against targets not/barely moving, they will definitely hurt. Otherwise, if you get nailed by something that takes 20 s to hit you and that you see coming from miles away, you are really asking for it.

In any case, I can’t wait to see a carrier trying to drop this ship because, with such high DPS, the guy will have a very bad surprise.

Thank you for reading this article!

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Have a good one and see you soon!

Yuzorah

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