Supertest: French Tier IV Destroyer Bourrasque
5 min readContinuing our exploration of the French destroyers, here is the tier IV Bourrasque (and with good guns this time).
The Bourrasque-class (pronounced roughly Boorask) was part of a plan to modernize the French navy after World War I. The ships were laid down in 1923 and served from 1926 to 1950. The class saw varied service during World War II both on the allied side and the Axis side. The 12 ships of the class were, in fact, serving in 5 different navies.
As for the Bourrasque, the ship participated in the Operation Dynamo (evacuation of Dunkerque) but sank after hitting a mine bringing down with her 500 crewmen and troops that were on board.
First of all, the French are artillery destroyers with Engine Boost, giving + 20% to the speed and Main Battery Reload consumable, accelerating the reload of the main caliber guns by 50%. When fighting in them, it is necessary to properly use the advantage in speed and the ability over a short period of time to significantly increase firepower. They have good armor-piercing shells, which at high tiers can cause damage directly to the citadel of light cruisers from a distance of 8–10 km and heavy cruisers from a distance of 6–7 km. An inconsiderate cruiser, presenting broadside, can become an easy target!
A nice addition will be torpedoes with an average range of 8 km, but an impressive speed of 75 knots.
The main difference is the lack of the seemingly standard and basic consumable for destroyers, Smoke Generator. But, given the fact that the destroyer at tier X can achieve speeds of up to 55 knots, this deficiency can be partly compensated for with skillful maneuvering and speed changes. In addition, the hit points of the French destroyers are allocated in the same manner as the test destroyer L’effronté (Le Terrible). This system allows destroyers to live longer under intense enemy fire.
To sum up, we can say that this new concept of destroyers is more suited to those who prefer speed and an artillery heavy style of play, and for the successful implementation of all their strengths, commanders will need to develop two skills: competent positioning and a “Hit and Run” style of combat.
Hull | Engine | Gun Fire Control System | Main battery | Torpedoes |
Bourrasque (A) |
Propulsion: 33 000 hp |
PCA n° 4 Mle 1 |
130 mm/40 Mle 1919 |
550 mm 23Dt |
Bourrasque (B) |  PCA n° 4 Mle 2 |
| Tier | IV |
| Health | 9 300 HP |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 10.740 km |
| 130 mm/40 Mle 1919 | 4 x 1 130 mm |
| Torpedo Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 9.000 km |
| 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | 2 x 3 550 mm |
| Maximum speed | 33 kt |
| Turning Circle Radius | 560 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 3.0 s |
| Surface Detectability | 6.84 km |
| Air Detectability | 2.70 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke | 2.6 km |
| 4 x 1 130 mm/40 Mle 1919 | |
| Reloading Time | 6.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 18.0 s |
| Optimal front firing angle | 58° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 50° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 104 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE |
| Alpha Damage | 1 900 HP |
| Damage | 570 HP |
| HE penetration | 21 mm |
| Explosion Size | 045 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 9 % |
| Projectile Speed | 725 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.323 |
| Projectile Mass | 34.85 |
| Projectile Krupp | 1 |
| Type of Projectile | AP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 300 HP |
| Chance to Cause Fire | -0.5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 725 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.323 |
| Projectile Mass | 32.05 |
| Projectile Krupp | 1 803 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.025 s |
| 2 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | |
| Reloading Time | 90 s |
| Maximum Distance | 9.0 km |
| Optimal front firing angle | 58° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 59° |
| Damage | 14 833 |
| Speed | 60 kt |
| Surface Detectability | 1.3 km |
| 4 x 1 13.2 mm/76 Mle 1929 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 0.9 km |
| Hit chance | 81 % |
| Sector’s damage | 70 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 1.89 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 37 |
| Sector reinforcement | |
| Sector reinforcement bonus | +50% |
| Sector reinforcement time | 5 s |
| Sector reinforcement shift time | 5 s |
Slot 1 | Slot 2 |
 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s |  Number of charges: 2 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 180 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s |  Number of charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
| Tier | IV |
| Health | 11 700 HP |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 11.814 km |
| 130 mm/40 Mle 1919 | 4 x 1 130 mm |
| Torpedo Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 9.000 km |
| 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | 2 x 3 550 mm |
| Maximum speed | 33 kt |
| Turning Circle Radius | 560 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 3.0 s |
| Surface Detectability | 6.84 km |
| Air Detectability | 2.70 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke | 2.6 km |
| 4 x 1 130 mm/40 Mle 1919 | |
| Reloading Time | 6.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 18.0 s |
| Optimal front firing angle | 58° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 50° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 104 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE |
| Alpha Damage | 1 900 HP |
| Damage | 570 HP |
| HE penetration | 21 mm |
| Explosion Size | 045 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 9 % |
| Projectile Speed | 725 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.323 |
| Projectile Mass | 34.85 |
| Projectile Krupp | 1 |
| Type of Projectile | AP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 300 HP |
| Chance to Cause Fire | -0.5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 725 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.323 |
| Projectile Mass | 32.05 |
| Projectile Krupp | 1 803 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.025 s |
| 2 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | |
| Reloading Time | 90 s |
| Maximum Distance | 9.0 km |
| Optimal front firing angle | 58° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 59° |
| Damage | 14 833 |
| Speed | 60 kt |
| Surface Detectability | 1.3 km |
| 2 x 1 37 mm/50 CAS Mle 1925 | |
| Sector range | 0.9 km – 3.0 km |
| Hit chance | 85 % |
| Sector’s damage | 40 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 3.62 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 11 |
| Flak clouds number | 1 |
| Flak cloud damage | 210 |
| 2 x 2 13.2 mm/76 CAD Mle 1929 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 0.9 km |
| Hit chance | 81 % |
| Sector’s damage | 70 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 2.39 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 29 |
| Sector reinforcement | |
| Sector reinforcement bonus | +50% |
| Sector reinforcement time | 5 s |
| Sector reinforcement shift time | 5 s |
Slot 1 | Slot 2 |
Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s | Number of charges: 2 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 180 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s | Number of charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
The armor
The Bourrasque is protected by 10 mm of armor for both the hull and the superstructure. The gun mounts are however only protected by 3 mm of armor.
Personal opinion on the ship
Eeeeeeh…. Where should I start…
The HP pool is the highest at this tier, that’s nice. The range as well and at least this time, you don’t have shells with parachutes on the back so it shouldn’t be too hard to land shells. The torps are also the strongest at tier IV with the longest range, highest damage and 2nd highest speed (Shenyang torps are better by 4 knots). However, they also have by far the longest reload.
The firing angles are absolutely horrendous and I don’t even understand why because I don’t see what would be blocking the turrets here. Also, the ship is the slowest of all destroyers at tier IV (which is quite funny considering the fact that French DDs are supposed to be all about speed…
Overall, I’m really not looking forward to testing that one. It just seems to have too many downsides especially for the role it’s supposed to fulfill.
About Author
“Pronounced roughly”
There’s no “roughly”, it IS pronounced like that
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the same cl*** as the Cyclone that was featured in the Operation Dynamo special event? But that was a Tier 5 ship, right? What’s the difference between the two, since this one is a Tier 4?
A whole line like Le Terrible, just what nobody wanted.