Supertest: Soviet Tier VIII Cruiser Tallinn

Ladies and Gentlemen, it turns out that I was right to wait for the balance changes for test ships. The Soviet heavy cruisers all received a nerf to their radar duration but also a concealment nerf for Tallinn and Riga.

When it comes to Tallinn, she was initially called Lützow, a German cruiser of the Admiral Hipper-class. The ship was purchased by the Soviet Union in February 1940 and was renamed Petropavlovsk in September 1940.

At the moment of her transfer, the ship was not yet completed and only had half of her 8 203 mm guns installed (a twin turret at the front and one at the rear). Due to poor cooperation between the Germans and the Soviets, by the time of Operation Barbarossa, the ship was nowhere near finished but she still took part in the defense of Leningrad.

In September 1941, she was heavily damaged by German artillery and was later sunk in April 1942. She was then refloated in September of the same year and after repairs, she was used in 1944 during the counter-offensive to free Leningrad. It’s also at that point that she received her name “Tallinn”.

Tallinn was used as a floating barrack after the war and in 1953, was renamed again to Dniepr. She was scrapped at some point between this year and 1960.

In World of Warships, the Tallinn is as she would have been completed after the war, following the plans of the Project 83.

As usual, I will cover the stats of the stock and fully upgraded versions of the ship.

Characteristics

Stock ship

GeneralMain BatterySecondariesTorpedo TubesAir DefenseConsumables

Tier	VIII
Health	39 000 HP
Displacement	15 281 tons
Main Armament
Maximum Firing Range	16.060 km
180 mm/57 MK-3-180	4 x 3 180 mm
Secondary Armament
Maximum Firing Range	5.000 km
100 mm/70 SM-5-1s	6 x 2 100 mm
Torpedo Armament
Maximum Firing Range	4.000 km
533 mm Quintuple PTA-53-68-bis	2 x 5 533 mm
Maximum speed	33.1 kts
Turning Circle Radius	900 m
Rudder Shift Time	15.3 s
Surface Detectability	14.04 km
Air Detectability	7.49 km
Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke	6.44 km

4 x 3 180 mm/57 MK-3-180
Maximum Firing Range	16.060 km
Reloading Time	13.5 s
180 Degree Turn Time	22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	37°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	37°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	176 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – HE-33
Alpha Damage	2 500 HP
Damage	890 HP
Penetration capacity	30 mm
Explosion size	0.7
Fire chance	11 %
Projectile Speed	920 m/s
Air Drag	0.265
Projectile Mass	109.2
Type of Projectile	AP – AP-33
Alpha Damage	4 550 HP
Chance to Cause Fire	-0.5 %
Projectile Speed	920 m/s
Air Drag	0.278
Projectile Mass	109.2
Projectile Krupp	2 370
Projectile Detonator	0.022 s
Detonator threshold	30 mm

6 x 2 100 mm/70 SM-5-1s
Maximum Firing Range	5.000 km
Reloading Time	4.0 s
Sigma	1.00 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – HE-55
Alpha Damage	1 400 HP
Damage	310 HP
HE penetration	17 mm
Explosion Size	0.29
Chance to Cause Fire	6 %
Projectile Speed	1 000 m/s
Air Drag	0.295
Projectile Mass	15.6

2 x 5 533 mm Quintuple PTA-53-68-bis 53-38U
Reloading Time	131 s
Maximum Distance	4.0 km
Optimal firing angles at the front	33°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	39°
Damage	17 933
Flooding Chance	302 %
Speed	65 kt
Surface Detectability	1.3 km

6 x 2 100 mm/70 SM-5-1s
Sector range	0.1 km – 5.8 km
Hit chance	90 %
Sector’s damage	42
Sector’s damage frequency	0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second	147
Flak clouds number	6
Flak cloud damage	1400
8 x 2 45 mm CM-16
Sector range	0.1 km – 3.5 km
Hit chance	90 %
Sector’s damage	47
Sector’s damage frequency	0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second	165

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Damage Control Party I Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 90 s	Defensive AA Fire I Number of charges: 2 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 120 s Continuous DPS: +50% DPS from flak clouds: +300%	Surveillance Radar I Number of charges: 2 Work time: 10 s Cooldown: 180 s Ship spotting distance: 12.0 km
Damage Control Party II Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s	Defensive AA Fire II Number of charges: 3 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Continuous DPS: +50% DPS from flak clouds: +300%	Surveillance Radar II Number of charges: 3 Work time: 10 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting distance: 12.0 km
	Hydroacoustic Search I Number of charges: 2 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 180 s Ship spotting distance: 5.0 km Torpedo spotting distance: 3.5 km
	Hydroacoustic Search II Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting distance: 5.0 km Torpedo spotting distance: 3.5 km

Fully upgraded ship

GeneralMain BatterySecondariesTorpedo TubesAir DefenseConsumables

Tier	VIII
Health	45 000 HP
Displacement	18 981 tons
Main Armament
Maximum Firing Range	17.666 km
180 mm/57 MK-3-180	4 x 3 180 mm
Secondary Armament
Maximum Firing Range	5.000 km
100 mm/70 SM-5-1s	6 x 2 100 mm
Torpedo Armament
Maximum Firing Range	4.000 km
533 mm Quintuple PTA-53-68-bis	2 x 5 533 mm
Maximum speed	33.1 kts
Turning Circle Radius	900 m
Rudder Shift Time	10.9 s
Surface Detectability	14.04 km
Air Detectability	7.49 km
Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke	6.44 km

4 x 3 180 mm/57 MK-3-180
Maximum Firing Range	17.666 km
Reloading Time	13.5 s
180 Degree Turn Time	22.5 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	37°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	37°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	190 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – HE-33
Alpha Damage	2 500 HP
Damage	890 HP
Penetration capacity	30 mm
Explosion size	0.7
Fire chance	11 %
Projectile Speed	920 m/s
Air Drag	0.265
Projectile Mass	109.2
Type of Projectile	AP – AP-33
Alpha Damage	4 550 HP
Chance to Cause Fire	-0.5 %
Projectile Speed	920 m/s
Air Drag	0.278
Projectile Mass	109.2
Projectile Krupp	2 370
Projectile Detonator	0.022 s
Detonator threshold	30 mm

6 x 2 100 mm/70 SM-5-1s
Maximum Firing Range	5.000 km
Reloading Time	4.0 s
Sigma	1.00 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – HE-55
Alpha Damage	1 400 HP
Damage	310 HP
HE penetration	17 mm
Explosion Size	0.29
Chance to Cause Fire	6 %
Projectile Speed	1 000 m/s
Air Drag	0.295
Projectile Mass	15.6

2 x 5 533 mm Quintuple PTA-53-68-bis 53-38U
Reloading Time	131 s
Maximum Distance	4.0 km
Optimal firing angles at the front	33°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	39°
Damage	17 933
Flooding Chance	302 %
Speed	65 kt
Surface Detectability	1.3 km

6 x 2 100 mm/70 SM-5-1s
Sector range	0.1 km – 5.8 km
Hit chance	90 %
Sector’s damage	42
Sector’s damage frequency	0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second	147
Flak clouds number	6
Flak cloud damage	1400
8 x 4 45 mm SM-20-ZIF
Sector range	0.1 km – 3.5 km
Hit chance	90 %
Sector’s damage	82
Sector’s damage frequency	0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second	287

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Damage Control Party I Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 90 s	Defensive AA Fire I Number of charges: 2 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 120 s Continuous DPS: +50% DPS from flak clouds: +300%	Surveillance Radar I Number of charges: 2 Work time: 10 s Cooldown: 180 s Ship spotting distance: 12.0 km
Damage Control Party II Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s	Defensive AA Fire II Number of charges: 3 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Continuous DPS: +50% DPS from flak clouds: +300%	Surveillance Radar II Number of charges: 3 Work time: 10 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting distance: 12.0 km
	Hydroacoustic Search I Number of charges: 2 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 180 s Ship spotting distance: 5.0 km Torpedo spotting distance: 3.5 km
	Hydroacoustic Search II Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting distance: 5.0 km Torpedo spotting distance: 3.5 km

The armor

Compared to her German big sisters, the Tallinn presents a worse armor protection, losing the 27 mm plating on the bow, the stern and the sides. She basically has the same armor as the Mainz except for the turrets.

The bow section

The bow is 25 mm thick except for an extended belt of 40 mm that reaches the tip of the bow like on the Mainz.

Inside the bow, there is a 20 mm armored deck but it’s basically a decoration due to its position and its thickness. Anything that already overmatched the bow of the ship will overmatch it as well.

For the protection of the middle section, except for the 80 mm thick upper part of the citadel athwartship and a small part of the casemate above it, the rest is 25 mm thick. Sadly, I can’t show it here since with the rest of the bow also being 25 mm, you basically see nothing.

The middle section

The deck of the Tallinn is, following the IFHE and plating rework 27 mm thick. The sides, on the other hand, are only 25 mm thick and the main belt, behind the torpedo bulge is 80 mm thick. Finally, behind the turtleback, the citadel side armor is only 20 mm thick.

For the turtleback, it is 40 mm thick. The weird thing is that on the armor viewer, it doesn’t link with the main belt but it’s possibly a simple mistake.

The vertical protection is… laughably bad with the citadel deck only being 30 mm thick. It continues inside the stern to form an armored deck in that section.

The stern section

For the stern, it’s 25 mm thick except for a 70 mm thick extended belt around the steering gears.

Inside the bow, there are 2 plates of 70 mm on either side of the 30 mm armored deck.

The superstructure

Compared to the rest of the Admiral Hipper-class, the Tallinn has a much more compact superstructure with, for example, the lack of any plane operating facility. It is 13 mm thick except for the conning tower that is 150 mm thick.

The turrets

The turrets are entirely covered by 50 mm of armor sooo… yeah they are quite vulnerable. It’s not IJN level of turret protection but it’s not much better.

Personal opinion

Right now, the Tallinn seems like a weird introduction to the heavy cruiser sub-line. Compared to the Riga and Petropavlovsk, her armor is seriously lacking and you will be jumping from 180 mm guns that will require IFHE to 220 mm guns that won’t need it.

I also question the point of the radar on these ships now since it only lasts 12 seconds at best with the upgrade which means that unless Adrenaline rush kicks in, the ship will get one salvo at best and same for the rest of the team.

Yuzorah

See author's posts