Supertest: French Tier IX Destroyer Mogador
6 min readHere comes the last ship before we finally see the tier X of the French destroyers line, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Mogador (literally pronounced like it’s written).
The Mogador-class of destroyers from the French navy was bringing the concept of large destroyers to it’s very limit as the ships were almost closer to the light cruiser. 2 ships were laid down in 1935 and commissioned in 1939. The Mogador and the Volta were meant as scouts for the fast battleships of the Dunkerque class.
The class was based on the Le Fantasque-class but was larger and was carrying 4 semi-enclosed twin turrets equipped with 139 mm guns. These turrets had a major flaw as they were underpowered leading to a much slower reload than the planned 10 rounds per minute. There were works on a new loading system but they were stopped by the Surrender of France in June 1940.
The ships were designed to achieve a speed of 39 knots but during the trials, they had no issue to reaching 43.45 knots for Mogador and 42.88 knots for Volta.
Both ships were present during the attack on Mers-el-Kébir but only the Volta was able to escape to Toulon as the Mogador received a hit from a 381 mm shell that detonated her depth charges, destroying a large portion of her stern.
After brief repairs, Mogador was sent to Toulon to receive a proper reconstruction. One year later, the Mogador and the Volta will be scuttled on 27 November 1942 with the other 75 ships stationed in Toulon’s harbor. Once again, thank you for nothing François Darlan…
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 |
Mogador (A) |
Propulsion: 92 000 hp |
PCA n° 9 Mle 1 |
139 mm/55 Mle 1934 |
550 mm 24V |
Mogador (B) |  PCA n° 9 Mle 2 |
| Tier | IX |
| Health | 16 900 HP |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 11.860 km |
| 139 mm/55 Mle 1934 | 4 x 2 139 mm |
| Torpedo Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 8.000 km |
| 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | 2 x 3 550 mm 2 x 2 550 mm |
| Maximum speed | 43.5 kt |
| Turning Circle Radius | 730 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 6.5 s |
| Surface Detectability | 8.12 km |
| Air Detectability | 3.95 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke | 3.25 km |
| 4 x 2 139 mm/55 Mle 1934 | |
| Reloading Time | 7.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 18.0 s |
| Optimal front firing angle | 23° for 3 turrets 46° for 4 turrets |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 45° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 113 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE |
| Alpha Damage | 2 000 HP |
| Damage | 630 HP |
| HE penetration | 22 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.50 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 10 % |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.234 |
| Projectile Mass | 40.2 |
| Projectile Krupp | 360 |
| Type of Projectile | AP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 700 HP |
| Chance to Cause Fire | -0.5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.234 |
| Projectile Mass | 39.9 |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 400 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.025 s |
| 2 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles 2 x 2 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | |
| Reloading Time | 77 s |
| Maximum Distance | 8.0 km |
| Optimal front firing angle | 20° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 22° |
| Damage | 18 400 |
| Speed | 75 kt |
| Surface Detectability | 1.4 km |
| 2 x 2 37 mm/70 ACAD Mle 1936 | |
| Sector range | 0.9 km – 3.5 km |
| Hit chance | 97 % |
| Sector’s damage | 200 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 3.59 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 56 |
| Flak clouds number | 1 |
| Flak cloud damage | 910 |
| 2 x 2 13.2 mm/76 CAD Mle 1929 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 0.9 km |
| Hit chance | 93 % |
| Sector’s damage | 90 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 1.47 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 61 |
| Sector reinforcement | |
| Sector reinforcement bonus | +50% |
| Sector reinforcement time | 5 s |
| Sector reinforcement shift time | 5 s |
Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 |
 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s |  Number of charges: 3 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 150 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time |  Number of charges: 2 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s |  Number of charges: 4 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 100 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time |  Number of charges: 3 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 90 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
| Tier | IX |
| Health | 20 200 HP |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 13.046 km |
| 139 mm/55 Mle 1934 | 4 x 2 139 mm |
| Torpedo Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 8.000 km |
| 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | 4 x 3 550 mm |
| Maximum speed | 43.5 kt |
| Turning Circle Radius | 730 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 4.7 s |
| Surface Detectability | 8.12 km |
| Air Detectability | 3.91 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke | 3.25 km |
| 4 x 2 139 mm/55 Mle 1934 | |
| Reloading Time | 7.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 18.0 s |
| Optimal front firing angle | 23° for 3 turrets 46° for 4 turrets |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 45° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 113 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE |
| Alpha Damage | 2 000 HP |
| Damage | 630 HP |
| HE penetration | 22 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.5 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 10 % |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.234 |
| Projectile Mass | 40.2 |
| Projectile Krupp | 360 |
| Type of Projectile | AP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 700 HP |
| Chance to Cause Fire | -0.5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.234 |
| Projectile Mass | 39.9 |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 400 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.025 s |
| 4 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles | |
| Reloading Time | 60 s |
| Maximum Distance | 8.0 km |
| Optimal front firing angle | 20° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 22° |
| Damage | 18 400 |
| Speed | 75 kt |
| Surface Detectability | 1.4 km |
| 2 x 2 57 mm/60 ACAD Mle 1951 | |
| Sector range | 1.5 km – 3.8 km |
| Hit chance | 97 % |
| Sector’s damage | 300 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 1.85 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 162 |
| Flak clouds number | 3 |
| Flak cloud damage | 1190 |
| 4 x 2 20 mm/70 Mk20 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 1.5 km |
| Hit chance | 90 % |
| Sector’s damage | 120 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.94 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 128 |
| Sector reinforcement | |
| Sector reinforcement bonus | +50% |
| Sector reinforcement time | 5 s |
| Sector reinforcement shift time | 5 s |
Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 |
Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s | Number of charges: 3 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 150 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time | Number of charges: 2 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s | Number of charges: 4 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 100 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time | Number of charges: 3 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 90 s Boost: +20% maximum speed |
The armor
The hull of the Mogador is protected by 19 mm of armor, the superstructure by 13 mm and the turrets by 10 mm.
Personal opinion on the ship
As of right now, the Mogador needs one thing, a reload buff. She has to compete against things like Kitakaze or Tashkent when it comes to her gunboat role but she will definitely need a bit of love on the firepower. Sure, she has the reload booster but relying on that consumable for damage is not a good thing.
Outside of this, considering that the ship will basically be Le Terrible but with more guns, faster, stronger anti-air, stealthier and with a pretty big HP pool, I think that I will have a bit of fun with her.
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Eight 139mm guns… Should be interesting…