World of Warships Supertest: Spanish Tier II Cruiser Méndez Núñez

Historical 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

Consumables

Slot 1

Damage Control Party Work time: 5 s 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

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.

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Have a good one and see you soon!

Yuzorah

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