New French Cruisers have been announced. Do they have any actual basis in reality? Even as blueprints or concept designs?

[XDMeloniXD]

How grounded in reality are these designs? Even if they are blueprints, how much "creative freedom" may WG have put in these? They look weird, ugly and awesome. Just hope they have... some kind of basis in reality...

 ,Cheers! 

[Karasu_Browarszky]

Only the Lesta Cafeteria Napkin Cabinet truly knows.

[ImperialAdmiral]

This game is getting places...

 

I'm really concerned and bored with those fantasy ships.

 

I wish there was a new game with only historical ships.

[Aragathor]

They are Dunkerque class preliminary designs. But I wouldn't count on their historicity.

The T10 AFAIK is completely fictional.

[ZeuSueZ1337]

25 minutes ago, XDMeloniXD said:

"Do they have any actual basis in reality? Even as blueprints or concept designs?"

 

ДА! ....now off to Gulag --- on a CCCP CV 

 

[Fatal_Ramses]

This is just retarded... please is this an early Aprils Fool joke?

[arttuperkunas]

Dunkeke must be one very strong ship if the T10 is just a preliminary design for it.

[NoirLotus]

T7 looks like a design study for Dunkerque dating late 20s, early 30s ; T8 and 9 could be other concept designs but with a late-war modernization, so they are already borderline fictional. No idea for the T10.

[Siagor]

They look like George Legs on steroids.

[invicta2012]

1 hour ago, XDMeloniXD said:

How grounded in reality are these designs? Even if they are blueprints, how much "creative freedom" may WG have put in these? They look weird, ugly and awesome. Just hope they have... some kind of basis in reality...

Here we go...

 

"In 1926, Admiral Salaün, Chief of the Naval General Staff, requested from the STCN a study for a capital ship of 17,500 tons standard displacement with sufficient speed and gun power to hunt down and kill lightly protected treaty cruisers. The resulting ship would have had a length overall of 205 metres and a beam of 24.5 metres (corresponding figures for the cruiser Duquesne were 195 metres and 19.1 metres), and a speed of 35 knots. The main armament was to comprise eight 305mm 55-calibre guns, disposed in two quadruple turrets forward, and protection was to be sufficient to resist 203mm armour-piercing shells.

 

Unfortunately, no sketch designs of this project have been found. ... In similar vein, although there is no detailed information on the protection system, the stipulation that the ships be able to resist 203mm shell suggests an armoured belt in the region of 150-180mm, probably with a 75mm deck. In effect these ships would have been strikingly similar in conception to the early ‘battlecruisers’ as originally envisaged by the British Admiral Fisher."

 

That sounds rather like the Tier VII to me. 

 

There's also a table of 1920s and 30s Cruiser/BC designs in my French BB book*. 

 

 

 

There are also later BC/fast BB Designs which WG have amalgamated to make Carnot. Anyone recognise the gun layout?

 

 

I have to say, though, that the Tier X looks more like a Richelieu alt. design given Dunkerque's guns and put in a cruiser slot than anything descended from here. I'm also a bit disappointed they haven't added the historical Tier V and VI French Heavy Cruisers of the Duquense, Suffren and Foch types. 

 

 

(*French Battleships by John Jordan and Robert Dumas, worth buying if you have an interest in these ships). 

[Miscommunication_dept]

Brest looks good bye Marseille looks alien.

A but like Nelson but nothing like any other french ship.

[invicta2012]

1 minute ago, gopher31 said:

A but like Nelson but nothing like any other french ship.

It's a cruiser version of one of the Richelieu preliminary designs (see 2,3,4, below).

 

 

FWIW The French decided the "all forward" design was a bad idea after their engagements with the RN and USN in WW2, so this would never have been built, it would have been a more traditional Alsace type layout.

[K82J]

This was some interesting looking French design too

 

 

 

Sadly i dont know much about this, only that this was some 17.500 ton design, and i only have this picture...

[invicta2012]

2 minutes ago, K82J said:

Sadly i dont know much about this, only that this was some 17.500 ton design, and i only have this picture..

I'd love to know what that is! The French did have some odd Italian-inspired ideas about BBs with all the main guns in the centre  (5 and 5bis in the Richelieu pic) but I've never seen a cruiser like that. I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it ended up in WoWs....

[yagron_the_real]

What I remember from  the same book that @invicta2012 quoted: In the 20's, the French Navy was interested in building ships that we would probably call large-cruisers (in period they called them armoured cruisers, and the Washington Treaty would've considered them capital ships). Initially they were to counter the new Italian cruisers. Plans were drawn, comittees were assembled, business as usual. The proposals was between 17500 and 37000 tons if I recall correctly. In the end the Germans announced the Panzerschiff-s, and the French then wanted something  good against those things as well, so after some further design work Dunkerque class was born.

WG took these plans, took parts from here, parts from there (even from the Richelieu preliminaries..), mixed them well, spiced up with liberal amount artistic liberty and the new line is born.

[tocqueville8]

T10 looks like a Nelson had s-e-x with a Helena...

[x_scheer109_x]

The Toulon would have to be this 1926 design:

http://shipbucket.com/drawings/3702/file

[___V_E_N_O_M___]

These are basically french battlecruiser designs, definitely not heavy cruisers.

[Yedwy]

47 minutes ago, ___V_E_N_O_M___ said:

These are basically french battlecruiser designs, definitely not heavy cruisers.

As the Dunq and Stras were, they were built as counters to the Deutchlands and not as a counter to Sharnhorsts or Bismarcks

[guy_incognito79]

Wow, a whole new branch.... sorry, twig.... consisting of a whopping 3 ships.

 

I'm more interested in how close to reality they are.

[Yedwy]

20 minutes ago, guy_incognito79 said:

Wow, a whole new branch.... sorry, twig.... consisting of a whopping 3 ships.

 

I'm more interested in how close to reality they are.

They seem to be genuine designs however how close to reality they end up in WOWS is hard to predict...

[Karasu_Browarszky]

20 minutes ago, guy_incognito79 said:

Wow, a whole new branch.... sorry, twig.... consisting of a whopping 3 ships.

 

I'm more interested in how close to reality they are.

 

Mind the gap.

[Humorpalanta]

Good thing is now you are allowed to write on the forum:

 

Nice Brests! :P

[FrankvC_Jr]

Brest looks alright imo Will probably get her just because I grew fond of the Dunkerque, despite my initial reservations 

[Piratenmaedchen]

Does pressing "W" cause them to advance?