Ladies and Gentlemen, today, let’s have a look at the tier VII French destroyer Vauquelin (pronounced like this).

The Vauquelin-class of French destroyers was laid down in 1930 and commissioned in 1931. The class was similar to the previous Aigle-class with the exception that they had an additional set of torpedo tubes.

The class served during World War 2 but all ships were lost. 4 of them, including the Vauquelin, were scuttled in Toulon in 1942, the Maillé Brézé was lost in an accidental explosion in 1940 and the Chevalier Paul was torpedoed and sunk in 1941 off Syrian coasts.

Just like the Guépard, the HE damage on Vauquelin is not fitting at all compared to the rest of the ships so we will assume that it’s supposed to be 2 000 damage instead of the weird 1 400 damage.

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 Vauquelin by Harkonnen on Sketchfab

Modules Hull Engine Gun Fire Control System Main battery Torpedoes Vauquelin (A) Propulsion: 64 000 hp PCA n° 7 Mle 1 139 mm/40 Mle 1927 550 mm 24V Vauquelin (B) PCA n° 7 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 VII Health 15 100 HP Main Armament Maximum Firing Range 11.861 km 139 mm/40 Mle 1927 5 x 1 139 mm Torpedo Armament Maximum Firing Range 8.000 km 550 mm tube lance-torpilles 2 x 2 550 mm

1 x 3 550 mm Maximum speed 36 kt Turning Circle Radius 670 m Rudder Shift Time 5.6 s Surface Detectability 7.56 km Air Detectability 4.38 km Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke 3.0 km 5 x 1 139 mm/40 Mle 1927 Reloading Time 4.8 s 180 Degree Turn Time 27.7 s Optimal front firing angle

32° Optimal rear firing angle 36° Sigma 2.00 sigma Maximum Dispersion 113 m Shells Type of Projectile HE Alpha Damage 1 400 HP Damage 305 HP HE penetration 22 mm Explosion Size 0.49 Chance to Cause Fire 9 % Projectile Speed 700 m/s Air Drag 0.300 Projectile Mass 40.2 Projectile Krupp 360 Type of Projectile AP Alpha Damage 2 600 HP Chance to Cause Fire -0.5 % Projectile Speed 700 m/s Air Drag 0.300 Projectile Mass 40.4 Projectile Krupp 2 124 Projectile Detonator 0.025 s 2 x 2 550 mm tube lance-torpilles

1 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles Reloading Time 90 s Maximum Distance 9.0 km Optimal front firing angle 20° for one torpedo tube

52° for two torpedo tubes Optimal rear firing angle 57° Damage 18 400 Speed 57 kt Surface Detectability 1.2 km 4 x 1 37 mm/50 CAS Mle 1925 Sector range 0.9 km – 3.0 km Hit chance 93 % Sector’s damage 70 Sector’s damage frequency 3.94 s Sector’s damage per second 18 Flak clouds number 1 Flak cloud damage 420 2 x 2 13.2 mm/76 CAD Mle 1929 Sector range 0.1 km – 0.9 km Hit chance 88 % Sector’s damage 80 Sector’s damage frequency 2.39 s Sector’s damage per second 33 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: 120 s Cooldown: 180 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: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed General Main Battery Torpedo Tubes Air Defense Consumables Tier VII Health 16 900 HP Main Armament Maximum Firing Range 13.047 km 139 mm/40 Mle 1927 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 36 kt Turning Circle Radius 680 m Rudder Shift Time 4.0 s Surface Detectability 7.56 km Air Detectability 4.38 km Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke 3.1 km 5 x 1 139 mm/40 Mle 1927 Reloading Time 4.8 s 180 Degree Turn Time 27.7 s Optimal front firing angle

32° Optimal rear firing angle 36° Sigma 2.00 sigma Maximum Dispersion 113 m Shells Type of Projectile HE Alpha Damage 1 400 HP Damage 305 HP HE penetration 22 mm Explosion Size 0.49 Chance to Cause Fire 9 % Projectile Speed 700 m/s Air Drag 0.300 Projectile Mass 40.2 Projectile Krupp 360 Type of Projectile AP Alpha Damage 2 600 HP Chance to Cause Fire -0.5 % Projectile Speed 700 m/s Air Drag 0.300 Projectile Mass 40.4 Projectile Krupp 2 124 Projectile Detonator 0.025 s 3 x 3 550 mm tube lance-torpilles Reloading Time 90 s Maximum Distance 9.0 km Optimal front firing angle 20° for one torpedo tube

52° for two torpedo tubes Optimal rear firing angle 57° Damage 18 400 Speed 57 kt Surface Detectability 1.2 km 4 x 2 37 mm/50 Mle 1933

Sector range 0.9 km – 3.0 km Hit chance 93 % Sector’s damage 80 Sector’s damage frequency 3.90 s Sector’s damage per second 21 Flak clouds number 1 Flak cloud damage 420 6 x 2 13.2 mm/76 CAD Mle 1929

Sector range 0.1 km – 0.9 km Hit chance 88 % Sector’s damage 80 Sector’s damage frequency 1.06 s Sector’s damage per second 75 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: 120 s Cooldown: 180 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: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +20% maximum speed

The armor

The hull of the Vauquelin and the roof of the superstructure are protected by 16 mm of armor, the rest of the superstructure by 10 mm and the gun casemates by 3 mm.

Personal opinion on the ship

The ship has quite solid firepower at this tier even though the low shell velocity is a problem at this tier compared to tier VI. Also, for once, the firing angles are actually good so it will be much more comfortable to use the guns.

The HP pool remains solid but the German destroyers keep the lead in this category.

The torpedoes pack a serious punch, in fact, they have the highest damage for destroyers at tier VII but you only have 6 per side and the reload is quite high at 90 s.

As for the speed, she is doing fairly well with a top speed of 45.3 knots but of course, there are still Leningrad or Minsk around.

The concealment is decent and in per or even better than other gunboats destroyers at this tier but it’s not winning any price either.

Overall, on paper, the ship should be interesting to play as of now but it remains to be seen.

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