We are finally reaching the top of the French destroyers line. Let’s have a look at the tier VIII ship, Le Fantasque.

The Le Fantasque-class (pronounced Le Fantask) of large destroyers from the French navy was part of the naval programme of 1930. Launched in 1933 and 1934, the 6 ships of the class saw extensive actions during World War 2 serving for both the Vichy France and the Free French Naval Forces.

The class is especially known for its speed as they were the fastest destroyers ever built with a maximum speed of 45 knots. It was designed to counter the large escorts built by the Italian navy.

The Le Fantasque, at the beginning of World War 2 was part of the “Force de Raid” and sank the German cargo ship Halle in 1939 and captured its crew.

Later on, she took part in the hunt of the German Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee. Later in November of the same year, she captured the German merchantman Santa Fé.

After France surrendered, she was based at Dakar with her sister-ships Le Malin and L’Audacieux. During the Allied attack on 23 September 1940, she sailed through the harbor to set smoke screens and to protect the other units. British ships and aircrafts targetted her but she didn’t receive any damage.

With the success of the Operation Torch, she was returned to the allied side with her sister-ship Le Terrible and they were both sent to Boston for refits and repairs, that refit had a heavy cost as, after it, her top speed was limited to 37 knots.

Due to her large size, to fit the allied standards, she was reclassified as a light cruiser.

She served for the rest of the war, taking part in various operations and wreaking havoc on German convoys, as part of the Free French Naval Forces. Later on, in 1945 and 1946, she served in Indochina and it’s in 1957 that she will be struck from the Navy list and sold for scrap.

The Le Fantasque that we have in World of Warships is as she somewhat was after her refit (without the loss of speed, 2 missing oerlikon 20 mm and without the light cruiser classification of course).

Oui oui, Les gimmicks First of all, the French are artillery destroyers with Engine Boost, giving + 20% to the speed and Main Battery Reload consumable, accelerating the reload of the main caliber guns by 50%. When fighting in them, it is necessary to properly use the advantage in speed and the ability over a short period of time to significantly increase firepower. They have good armor-piercing shells, which at high tiers can cause damage directly to the citadel of light cruisers from a distance of 8–10 km and heavy cruisers from a distance of 6–7 km. An inconsiderate cruiser, presenting broadside, can become an easy target! A nice addition will be torpedoes with an average range of 8 km, but an impressive speed of 75 knots. The main difference is the lack of the seemingly standard and basic consumable for destroyers, Smoke Generator. But, given the fact that the destroyer at tier X can achieve speeds of up to 55 knots, this deficiency can be partly compensated for with skillful maneuvering and speed changes. In addition, the hit points of the French destroyers are allocated in the same manner as the test destroyer L’effronté (Le Terrible). This system allows destroyers to live longer under intense enemy fire. To sum up, we can say that this new concept of destroyers is more suited to those who prefer speed and an artillery heavy style of play, and for the successful implementation of all their strengths, commanders will need to develop two skills: competent positioning and a “Hit and Run” style of combat.

3D Preview Le Fantasque by Harkonnen on Sketchfab

Modules Hull Engine Gun Fire Control System Main battery Torpedoes Le Fantasque (A) Propulsion: 64 000 hp PCA n° 8 Mle 1 139 mm/50 Mle 1929 550 mm 24V Le Fantasque (B) PCA n° 8 Mle 2

Please Note I will cover both the stock configuration and the fully researched configuration for the tech tree ships.

Characteristics General Main Battery Torpedo Tubes Air Defense Consumables Tier VIII Health 15 400 HP Main Armament Maximum Firing Range 11.620 km 139 mm/50 Mle 1929 5 x 1 139 mm Torpedo Armament Maximum Firing Range 8.000 km 550 mm tube lance-torpilles 3 x 3 550 mm Maximum speed 42.7 kt Turning Circle Radius 690 m Rudder Shift Time 5.9 s Surface Detectability 8.18 km Air Detectability 4.12 km Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke 3.3 km 5 x 1 139 mm/50 Mle 1929 Reloading Time 5.0 s 180 Degree Turn Time 18.0 s Optimal front firing angle

34° Optimal rear firing angle 46° Sigma 2.00 sigma Maximum Dispersion 111 m Shells Type of Projectile HE Alpha Damage 2 000 HP Damage 630 HP HE penetration 22 mm Explosion Size 0.50 Chance to Cause Fire 10 % Projectile Speed 840 m/s Air Drag 0.234 Projectile Mass 40.2 Projectile Krupp 360 Type of Projectile AP Alpha Damage 2 700 HP Chance to Cause Fire -0.5 % Projectile Speed 840 m/s Air Drag 0.234 Projectile Mass 39.9 Projectile Krupp 2 400 Projectile Detonator 0.025 s 3 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles Reloading Time 90 s Maximum Distance 8.0 km Optimal front firing angle 20° for one torpedo tube

50° for two torpedo tubes Optimal rear firing angle 58° Damage 18 400 Speed 75 kt Surface Detectability 1.4 km 3 x 1 40 mm/56 Bofors Mk3 Sector range 1.5 km – 3.5 km Hit chance 95 % Sector’s damage 190 Sector’s damage frequency 3.78 s Sector’s damage per second 50 Flak clouds number 1 Flak cloud damage 700 2 x 2 13.2 mm/76 CAD Mle 1929 Sector range 0.1 km – 1.5 km Hit chance 90 % Sector’s damage 110 Sector’s damage frequency 0.81 s Sector’s damage per second 136 Sector reinforcement Sector reinforcement bonus +50% Sector reinforcement time 5 s Sector reinforcement shift time 5 s Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s Number of charges: 3 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 150 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time Number of charges: 2 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s Number of charges: 4 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 100 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time Number of charges: 3 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 90 s Boost: +20% maximum speed General Main Battery Torpedo Tubes Air Defense Consumables Tier VIII Health 18 500 HP Main Armament Maximum Firing Range 12.782 km 139 mm/50 Mle 1929 5 x 1 139 mm Torpedo Armament Maximum Firing Range 8.000 km 550 mm tube lance-torpilles 3 x 3 550 mm Maximum speed 42.7 kt Turning Circle Radius 690 m Rudder Shift Time 4.3 s Surface Detectability 8.18 km Air Detectability 4.12 km Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke 3.3 km 5 x 1 139 mm/50 Mle 1929 Reloading Time 5.0 s 180 Degree Turn Time 18.0 s Optimal front firing angle

34° Optimal rear firing angle 46° Sigma 2.00 sigma Maximum Dispersion 111 m Shells Type of Projectile HE Alpha Damage 2 000 HP Damage 630 HP HE penetration 22 mm Explosion Size 0.5 Chance to Cause Fire 10 % Projectile Speed 840 m/s Air Drag 0.234 Projectile Mass 40.2 Projectile Krupp 360 Type of Projectile AP Alpha Damage 2 700 HP Chance to Cause Fire -0.5 % Projectile Speed 840 m/s Air Drag 0.234 Projectile Mass 39.9 Projectile Krupp 2 400 Projectile Detonator 0.025 s 3 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles Reloading Time 90 s Maximum Distance 8.0 km Optimal front firing angle 20° for one torpedo tube

50° for two torpedo tubes Optimal rear firing angle 58° Damage 18 400 Speed 75 kt Surface Detectability 1.4 km 1 x 4 40 mm/56 Bofors Mk2

2 x 2 40 mm/56 Bofors Mk1 Sector range 1.5 km – 3.5 km Hit chance 95 % Sector’s damage 210 Sector’s damage frequency 2.39 s Sector’s damage per second 88 Flak clouds number 3 Flak cloud damage 770 8 x 1 20 mm/70 Mk4 Sector range 0.1 km – 1.5 km Hit chance 90 % Sector’s damage 110 Sector’s damage frequency 0.81 s Sector’s damage per second 136 Sector reinforcement Sector reinforcement bonus +50% Sector reinforcement time 5 s Sector reinforcement shift time 5 s Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s Number of charges: 3 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 150 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time Number of charges: 2 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s Number of charges: 4 Work Time: 15 s Cooldown: 100 s Boost: -50% Main battery reload time Number of charges: 3 Work time: 180 s Cooldown: 90 s Boost: +20% maximum speed

The armor

The hull of the Le Fantasque is protected by 19 mm of armor, the superstructure by 13 mm and the gun casemates by 6 mm.

Personal opinion on the ship

As of right now, the ship is basically a straight up better Le Terrible. She loses a tiny bit of speed but in return, she gets better firing angles, longer engine boost, better torpedoes, better concealment and actual anti-air.

Considering the fact that I did enjoy playing Le Terrible after her buff, I think that I’m going to like Le Fantasque quite a bit.

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