World of Warships Supertest: French Tier VI Premium Cruiser Dupleix

Historical background

Dupleix was the fourth ship of the French Suffren-class of heavy cruisers. The ship was laid down in November 1929, launched in October 1930, and commissioned in May 1932. She was one of the Seven treaty heavy cruisers that France constructed, armed with 203 mm guns but with paper-thin armor protection.

At the start of the Second World War, Dupleix was deployed in Northern Africa to hunt down German raiders. Later, with Operation Vado in June 1940, Dupleix would see her only opportunity to fire her guns at the enemy. The ship was deployed off the coast of Italy to bombard Vado alongside Colbert. Sadly, with the capitulation of France on the 25th, things took a turn for the worst. During the scuttling of the fleet in Toulon in November 1941, German forces took a hold of the ship before she was sunk but the guns had already been destroyed and a fire ravaged the ship, coupled with numerous explosions. The ship burned for 9 days in total and ended up sinking regardless.

Later on, Dupleix was refloated by the Italians in July 1943. However, she was hit by American bombs in March 1944 and sank once more. She would later be scrapped in 1951.

In World of Warships, Dupleix presents the classic kit of French heavy cruisers with an improved Engine Boost and a Main Battery Reload Booster.

Ship’s preview

Ship’s commemorative flag

Ship’s camouflages

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
Dupleix	Propulsion: 90 000 HP	‎PCA n° 6 Mle 1	203 mm/50 Mle 1924 on a Mle 1924 mount	‎550 mm 23DT Mle 1

General Characteristics

Main Armament

4 x 2 203 mm/50 Mle 1924 on a Mle 1924 mount
Maximum Firing Range	16.940 km
Reloading Time	15.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	25.7 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	36°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	38°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	150 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 203 mm HE OEA Mle 1927
Alpha Damage	2 800
Penetration capacity	34 mm
Explosion size	12.9 m
Fire chance	15 %
Projectile Speed	850 m/s
Air Drag	0.33
Projectile Mass	123.8 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 203 mm AP OPf Mle 1936
Alpha Damage	4 800
Projectile Speed	820 m/s
Air Drag	0.33
Projectile Mass	134.0 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 434
Projectile Detonator	0.033 s
Detonator threshold	34 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

Secondary Armament

4 x 2 90 mm/50 Mle 1926 on an Mle 1930 mount
Maximum Firing Range	5.600 km
Reloading Time	4.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 90 mm HE OEA Mle 1925
Alpha Damage	1 300
HE penetration	15 mm
Explosion Size	3.75 m
Chance to Cause Fire	5 %
Projectile Speed	850 m/s
Air Drag	0.314
Projectile Mass	9.51 kg

Torpedo Armament

2 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles 550 mm 23DT
Reloading Time	90 s
Maximum Distance	9.000 km
Optimal firing angles at the front	28°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	28°
Damage	14 833
Flooding Chance	246%
Speed	60 knots
Surface Detectability	1.3 km

Anti-air Armament

ASW Airstrike

Br. 521 Bizerte – Depth charge airstrike
Reloading Time	30 s
Number of charges	1
HP per plane	2 000
Number of planes in the squadron	1
Number of bombs in payload	1
Damage	3 400
Sink speed	7.5-11.3 m/s
Explosion radius	375 m
Fire chances	19%
Flooding chances	300%

Consumables

Consumables
Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Slot 4	Slot 5
Damage Control Party Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s	Hydroacoustic Search Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Torpedo spotting range: 3.0 km Ship spotting range: 4.0 km	Engine Boost Number of charges: 3 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 90 s Speed bonus: +15%	Fighter Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Number of fighters: 2 Patrol radius: 3.0 km	Main Battery Reload Booster Number of charges: 4 Work time: 15 s Cooldown: 120 s Effect: -50% Main battery reload time
	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:

Citadel armor protection:

Hidden armor protection inside the stern:

Personal Opinion

Right now, Dupleix looks pretty strong compared to the rest of the tier VI roster. The firepower is nothing to ignore with potent HE shells as well as strong AP. Considering that she is at tier VI, she also gets the advantage of overmatching tier V cruisers as well as some tier VI cruisers, being one of the rare ships at this tier with 203 mm guns. The cherry on top is obviously her Main Battery Reload Booster to either heavily punish broadside cruisers or capitalize on battleships using their damage control party.

Her HP pool, great mobility, slim citadel, and decent concealment will also give her the edge over most tier VI cruisers in terms of survivability.

Thank you for reading this article!

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