World of Warships Supertest: Spanish Tier II Cruiser Méndez Núñez
4 min readHistorical background
Méndez Núñez was the second ship of the Blas de Lezo-class cruisers from the Spanish Navy. The ship was laid down in September 1917, launched in March 1923 and commissioned in 1924.
The ship initially served off the coast of Morocco before being deployed to China to protect Spanish interests during unrests in Shanghai. When the Civil War broke out, she was in Equatorial Guinea. When she returned to home waters, she joined the Republic side and would serve under its banner until the end of the war.
In 1939, following the Cartagena Uprising, she was interned in Bizerte and seized by the French authorities. Afterward, she was returned to Francoist Spain and in 1944, she underwent a major modernization. The ship was converted into an anti-air cruiser with her main battery of six 152 mm deck-mounted guns being replaced by eight 120 mm dual-purpose gun mounts. Méndez Núñez would then continue to serve until she was stricken from the Navy list and scrapped in 1963.
In World of Warships, we are getting Méndez Núñez as she was after her anti-air cruiser conversion.
Ship’s preview
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 |
Méndez Núñez | Propulsion: 45 000 HP | SCI Mk II Mod. 1 | ![]() 120 mm/45 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.F on a shielded mount | 533 mm MKVII ES |
SCI Mk II Mod. 2 |
General Characteristics and Playstyle
Tier | II |
Health | 20 800 HP |
Torpedo Damage Reduction | 0 % |
Displacement | 6 045 tons |
Dimensions | |
Overall length | 142.4 m |
Beam | 14.1 m |
Overall height (keel to the highest point on the ship) | 15.4 m |
Freeboard | 3.3 m |
Main Armament | |
Maximum Firing Range | 10.740 km (11.814 km upgraded) |
120 mm/45 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.F on a shielded mount | 8 x 1 120 mm |
Torpedo Armament | |
Maximum Firing Range | 4.000 km |
533 mm Triple | 2 x 3 533 mm |
Maximum speed | 29.0 knots |
Turning Circle Radius | 530 m |
Rudder Shift Time | 6.02 s |
Surface Detectability | 8.41 km |
Air Detectability | 5.78 km |
Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke | 3.2 km |
Consumables | |||
Slot 1 | |||
Damage Control Party ![]() Cooldown: 60 s |
Main Armament
8 x 1 120 mm/45 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.F on a shielded mount | |
Maximum Firing Range | 10.740 km (11.814 km upgraded) |
Reloading Time | 10.0 s |
180 Degree Turn Time | 18.0 s |
Optimal firing angles at the front | 40° |
Optimal firing angles at the rear | 40° |
Sigma | 2.0 sigma |
Maximum Dispersion | 107 m (114 m upgraded) |
Shells | |
Type of Projectile | HE – 120 mm HE![]() |
Alpha Damage | 1 700 |
Penetration capacity | 20 mm |
Explosion size | 6.0 m |
Fire chance | 8 % |
Projectile Speed | 808 m/s |
Air Drag | 0.393 |
Projectile Mass | 22.68 kg |
Type of Projectile | AP – 120 mm AP![]() |
Alpha Damage | 2 050 |
Projectile Speed | 808 m/s |
Air Drag | 0.393 |
Projectile Mass | 22.68 kg |
Projectile Krupp | 1 800 |
Projectile Detonator | 0.01 s |
Detonator threshold | 20 mm |
Ricochet Angles | 45° – 60° |
Torpedo Armament
2 x 3 533 mm Triple 533 mm MKIV ES ![]() | |
Reloading Time | 72.0 s |
Maximum Distance | 4.000 km |
Optimal firing angles at the front | 31° |
Optimal firing angles at the rear | 35° |
Damage | 10 433 |
Flooding Chance | 170% |
Speed | 58 knots |
Surface Detectability | 1.1 km |
Anti-air Armament
8 x 1 120 mm/45 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.F on a shielded mount | |
Sector firing range | 0.1 km – 5.2 km |
Hit chance | 90 % |
Sector’s damage | 28 |
Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
Sector’s damage per second | 98 |
Flak clouds number | 1 |
Flak cloud damage | 980 |
5 x 2 37 mm/83 SK C/30 on a Dopp LC/30 mount | |
Sector firing range | 0.1 km – 3.5 km |
Hit chance | 90 % |
Sector’s damage | 7 |
Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
Sector’s damage per second | 25 |
2 x 4 20 mm/65 C/38 on a Flak 35 Vierling L/38 mount | |
Sector firing range | 0.1 km – 2.0 km |
Hit chance | 85 % |
Sector’s damage | 11 |
Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
Sector’s damage per second | 39 |
The Armor
External armor protection:
Citadel armor protection:
Hidden armor protection inside the stern:
Personal Opinion
On paper, the ship looks pretty good. She is the fastest cruiser at this tier by a pretty good margin. Her firepower is also solid considering that she a 7 guns broadside and the low HE penetration is a non-existant issue since pretty much nothing has armor.
She even gets torpedoes on each side in case of close encounters.
For the armor, she might have a giant citadel but her armor protection is actually pretty good as she can shatter quite a few HE shells and will bounce AP from battleships because of the large belt.
Don’t hesitate to subscribe to our notifications to ensure you don’t miss any future articles.
Also if you are new to the game or want to get back to it, feel free to use my Recruiting Station code for free goodies such as Premium ships, premium time, and more: https://warships.net/yuzorah
Have a good one and see you soon!