World of Warships Supertest: British Tier VII Battleship Rooke

Historical background

Rooke is based on the J3 design of battlecruiser made by the Royal Navy during the 1921 Fleet modernization program. The J3 design was meant as a follow-on to the Admiral-class battlecruisers and incorporated all the lessons learned from World War I, especially with the Battle of Jutland.

With these new battlecruisers, the British Admiralty wanted something that would match the American Lexington-class battlecruisers, especially in terms of speed. Another limitation was, obviously, that the ships would be able to fit in British available dockyards.

The first designs, K2 and K3 were gigantic ships displacing around 53 000 tons and armed with 18-inch guns. The problem was that they could only achieve 30 knots and only 2 dockyards would have been able to house them. J3, on the other hand, saved 10 000 tons, still had an improved armament over Hood, could reach 32 knots, and could pass through the Suez and Panama Canals.
Sadly, the designs would be abandoned in favor of the I3 and G3 designs that were more compact, better optimized in terms of armor and tonnage, and even had better firepower.

In the end, with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, all these designs were abandoned because of the limitations that needed to be respected.

If you want to learn more about the J3 design as well as the other battlecruisers designs from the Royal Navy, here is a video from Drachinifel covering them:

In World of Warships, we are getting a fairly good representation of the J3 design. Compared to most of the line, her torpedo tubes are above the water though. As for the rest, she has the classic characteristics of battlecruisers and she gets a Defensive AA Fire consumable compared to the previous ships.

Ship’s preview

Ship’s camouflage

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	Torpedoes
Rooke (A)	Propulsion: 151 000 HP	Mk VII mod. 1	381 mm/45 Mk.VII on a Mk.III mount	‎533 mm Mk IX
Rooke (B)		Mk VII mod. 2

Stock Ship

General Characteristics

Main Armament

3 x 3 381 mm/45 Mk.VII on a Mk.III mount
Maximum Firing Range	15.910 km
Reloading Time	30.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	30.0 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	30°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	28°
Sigma	1.5 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	181 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 381 mm HE Mk VIIIc
Alpha Damage	5 350
Penetration capacity	64 mm
Explosion size	2.23
Fire chance	34 %
Projectile Speed	836 m/s
Air Drag	0.338
Projectile Mass	879.0 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 381 mm AP Mk XIIIb
Alpha Damage	11 900
Projectile Speed	836 m/s
Air Drag	0.338
Projectile Mass	879.0 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 250
Projectile Detonator	0.015 s
Detonator threshold	64 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Secondary Armament

8 x 2 152 mm/50 BL Mk.XXII on a Mk.XVIII mount
Maximum Firing Range	5.600 km
Reloading Time	12.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE Mk V
Alpha Damage	2 150
HE penetration	25 mm
Explosion Size	0.54
Chance to Cause Fire	9 %
Projectile Speed	884 m/s
Air Drag	0.362
Projectile Mass	50.8 kg
6 x 2 113 mm/45 QF Mk.I/III on an RP10 Mark II BD mount
Maximum Firing Range	5.600 km
Reloading Time	5.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 113 mm HE 5crh
Alpha Damage	1 700
HE penetration	19 mm
Explosion Size	0.38
Chance to Cause Fire	8 %
Projectile Speed	746 m/s
Air Drag	0.329
Projectile Mass	24.95 kg

Torpedo Armament

Anti-air Armament

Consumables

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Slot 4
Damage Control Party Work time: 15 s Cooldown: 80 s	Repair Party Number of charges: 4 Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 10%	Engine Boost Number of charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Speed bonus: +8%	Defensive AA Fire Number of charges: 3 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Damage from continuous DPS: +50% Damage from flak explosions: +300%

Fully Upgraded Ship

General Characteristics

Main Armament

3 x 3 381 mm/45 Mk.VII on a Mk.III mount
Maximum Firing Range	17.501 km
Reloading Time	30.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	30.0 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	30°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	28°
Sigma	1.5 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	195 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 381 mm HE Mk VIIIc
Alpha Damage	5 350
Penetration capacity	64 mm
Explosion size	2.23
Fire chance	34 %
Projectile Speed	836 m/s
Air Drag	0.338
Projectile Mass	879.0 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 381 mm AP Mk XIIIb
Alpha Damage	11 900
Projectile Speed	836 m/s
Air Drag	0.338
Projectile Mass	879.0 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 250
Projectile Detonator	0.015 s
Detonator threshold	64 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Secondary Armament

8 x 2 152 mm/50 BL Mk.XXII on a Mk.XVIII mount
Maximum Firing Range	5.600 km
Reloading Time	12.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE Mk V
Alpha Damage	2 150
HE penetration	25 mm
Explosion Size	0.54
Chance to Cause Fire	9 %
Projectile Speed	884 m/s
Air Drag	0.362
Projectile Mass	50.8 kg
6 x 2 113 mm/45 QF Mk.I/III on an RP10 Mark II BD mount
Maximum Firing Range	5.600 km
Reloading Time	5.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 113 mm HE 5crh
Alpha Damage	1 700
HE penetration	19 mm
Explosion Size	0.38
Chance to Cause Fire	8 %
Projectile Speed	746 m/s
Air Drag	0.329
Projectile Mass	24.95 kg

Torpedo Armament

Anti-air Armament

Consumables

Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Slot 4
Damage Control Party Work time: 15 s Cooldown: 80 s	Repair Party Number of charges: 4 Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 10%	Engine Boost Number of charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Speed bonus: +8%	Defensive AA Fire Number of charges: 3 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Damage from continuous DPS: +50% Damage from flak explosions: +300%

The Armor

External armor protection:

Front and rear armor protection of the middle section:

Main armor deck:

Citadel armor protection:

Turrets armor protection:

Hidden armor protection inside the bow and stern:

Personal Opinion

Overall, Rooke looks like a fairly solid ship. Although the range is a bit short, she has good firepower as she uses the same AP shells as Monarch a tier higher but with battlecruiser dispersion. She doesn’t get the thermonuclear HE shells though. When it comes to her torpedo armament, considering the position of the tubes and the armor profile of the ship, using them would be a death sentence as they require to show a flat broadside and present the vulnerable citadel.

The armor isn’t anything great but at least, she has a high top speed plus an Engine boost and her concealment is also excellent.

The only real downside of the ship is that her range is fairly short.

Thank you for reading this article!

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Yuzorah

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