Supertest: Italian Tier V Battleship Conte di Cavour
5 min readThe Conte di Cavour was the lead ship of a class of battleships built for the Regia Marina in the 1910s. This class was composed of 3 ships: Conte di Cavour, Guilio Cesare and Leonardo da Vinci. Both Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare would survive to see World War II while Leonardo da Vinci was scrapped in 1923 after she sank in 1916 due to a magazine explosion.
Conte di Cavour herself was laid down in August 1910, launched in August 1911 and completed in April 1915. The ship saw no action during World War I and was in fact, rarely deployed to keep her ready for a potential battle with the Austro-Hungarian fleet.
In 1923, the ship took part in the Corfu incident and bombarded the island’s main town with her 76 mm guns, killing 20 civilians and wounding 32 more. In 1933, she, alongside Guilio Cesare, underwent a massive reconstruction and received, among everything else, a more powerful main battery, better engines as well as a heavier secondary and anti-air battery.
During World War II, the Conte di Cavour took part in the Battle of Calabria where she fought against the British forces but survived the battle undamaged unlike the Giulio Cesare.
In November 1940, the ship, alongside the fleet stationed in Taranto harbor was attacked by British torpedoes bombers from the HMS Illustrious. The ship’s AA gunners shot down one Swordfish but not before it dropped its torpedo, scoring a hit under the B turret. Work was made to run the Conte di Cavour aground but the ship still ended up settling at the bottom of the harbor. She had a low priority for repairs compared to the other damaged battleships and in September 1943, was captured by the German forces while the ship had received only minimal repairs. In the end, the ship was scrapped in 1946.
In World of Warships, Conte di Cavour appears as she was before her 1933’s reconstruction, unlike the Guilio Cesare.
The main features of the Italian battleships are:
- Like the Italian cruisers, instead of HE shells, the new ships are armed with SAP shells. They inflict high damage on weakly and moderately protected targets and ship parts but do not cause fires.
- The “Exhaust smoke generator” is among the consumables of the Italian battleships starting from tier VIII, which will allow you to hide from the enemy without sacrificing speed.
- A large number of guns with a relatively short firing range and poor accuracy. They will basically be close/mid-range SAP sailing shotguns.
- Decent concealment and average maneuverability, quickly turning turrets and rather good armor.
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.
Hull | Engine | Gun Fire Control System | Main battery |
Conte di Cavour (A) |
Propulsion: 31 000 hp |
SDT 5 mod. 1 |  305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 |
 Conte di Cavour (B) |
SDT 5 mod. 2 |
Stock Ship
| Tier | V |
| Health | 37 000 HP |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction | 15 % |
| Displacement | 22 922 tons |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 14.640 km |
| 305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 | 3 x 3 305 mm 2 x 2 305 mm |
| Secondary Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 4.500 km |
| 120 mm/50 Vickers 1909 | 18 x 1 120 mm |
| Maximum speed | 22 knots |
| Turning Circle Radius | 620 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 16.8 s |
| Surface Detectability | 12.24 km |
| Air Detectability | 7.74 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke | 9.35 km |
| 3 x 3 305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 2 x 2 305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 14.640 km |
| Reloading Time | 33.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 60.0 s |
| Optimal firing angles at the front | 31° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear | 31° |
| Sigma | 1.60 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 210 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | SAP – 305 mm proiettili CS 1909 |
| Alpha Damage | 7 850 HP |
| Penetration capacity | 79 mm |
| Projectile Speed | 850 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.412 |
| Projectile Mass | 406 kg |
| Ricochet Angles | 70° – 80° |
| Type of Projectile | AP – 305 mm proiettili AP 1909 |
| Alpha Damage | 8 650 HP |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.412 |
| Projectile Mass | 452 kg |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 400 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.01 s |
| Detonator threshold | 51 mm |
| Ricochet Angles | 45° – 60° |
| 18 x 1 120 mm/50 Vickers 1909 | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 4.500 km |
| Reloading Time | 5 s |
| Sigma | 1.00 sigma |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE – 120 mm proiettili HE 1909 |
| Alpha Damage | 1 700 HP |
| Damage | 720 HP |
| HE penetration | 20 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.36 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 6 % |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.35 |
| Projectile Mass | 22.75 kg |
| 6 x 1 76/40 Ansaldo 1917 8 x 1 40 mm/39 QF MKII | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 3.0 km |
| Hit chance | 75 % |
| Sector’s damage | 42 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 147 |
Slot 1 | Slot 2 |
Damage Control Party  Work time: 15 sCooldown: 80 s | Repair Party  Number of charges: 4Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s |
Upgraded Ship
| Tier | V |
| Health | 38 700 HP |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction | 15 % |
| Displacement | 24 250 tons |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 16.104 km |
| 305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 | 3 x 3 305 mm 2 x 2 305 mm |
| Secondary Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 4.500 km |
| 120 mm/50 Vickers 1909 | 18 x 1 120 mm |
| Maximum speed | 22 knots |
| Turning Circle Radius | 620 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 12.0 s |
| Surface Detectability | 12.24 km |
| Air Detectability | 7.74 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke | 9.35 km |
| 3 x 3 305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 2 x 2 305 mm/46 Vickers-Terni Model 1909 | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 16.104 km |
| Reloading Time | 33.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 60.0 s |
| Optimal firing angles at the front | 31° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear | 31° |
| Sigma | 1.60 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 224 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | SAP – 305 mm proiettili CS 1909 |
| Alpha Damage | 7 850 HP |
| Penetration capacity | 79 mm |
| Projectile Speed | 850 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.412 |
| Projectile Mass | 406 kg |
| Ricochet Angles | 70° – 80° |
| Type of Projectile | AP – 305 mm proiettili AP 1909 |
| Alpha Damage | 8 650 HP |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.412 |
| Projectile Mass | 452 kg |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 400 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.01 s |
| Detonator threshold | 51 mm |
| Ricochet Angles | 45° – 60° |
| 18 x 1 120 mm/50 OTO 1939 | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 4.500 km |
| Reloading Time | 5 s |
| Sigma | 1.00 sigma |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE – 120 mm proiettili HE 1918 |
| Alpha Damage | 1 700 HP |
| Damage | 720 HP |
| HE penetration | 20 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.36 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 6 % |
| Projectile Speed | 840 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.35 |
| Projectile Mass | 22.75 kg |
| 6 x 1 76/40 Ansaldo 1917 8 x 1 37 mm/54 Breda 1939 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 3.5 km |
| Hit chance | 75 % |
| Sector’s damage | 53 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 185 |
Slot 1 | Slot 2 |
Damage Control Party Work time: 15 sCooldown: 80 s | Repair Party Number of charges: 4Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s |
The Armor
Just like pretty much all low tier battleships, the Conte di Cavour present very good external armor protection.
General external protection
Internal turtleback
Additional armored deck
Citadel protection
Frontal protection of the middle section
Rear protection of the middle section
Turret armor
Personal opinion
The speed and lack of HP will definitely be significant issues on this ship but at least, she compensates by her heavy broadside power and concealment. Also, unlike at tier IV, you start seeing less battleships with heavy external protection which means that the SAP will gain in value.
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