- Yes
- No
About this ship and its interest in War Thunder
The Arras class is an old design created during WW1 as a sub-chaser and its career extended all the way to the end of WW2. Old, poorly manoeuvrable, it has however an exceptional fire power, although the angle of fire is more or less restricted. It could fall in well as a low-tier to mid tier support ship, somewhere along the line of the flower class. A variant, armed with a prototype 37mm, is a viable option as well.
THE ARRAS CLASS
As the submarine warfare was getting more violent and the convoys suffered disastrous losses during WW1, The British and the French decided to build submarine chasers to counter the threat. France bet on a ship with a powerful armament and a powerful engine, but disguised as a cargo ship, to do the job. This was the Arras, or Amien class. A serie of 43 ships was ordered, and 30 of them ended up in service, between 1918 ( Arras and Reims) and 1922 (Mondement and Bethune). Many of them were modernised during the 1920’s, with several new armament, and one of them, the Bapaume, was converted into small carrier.
At the begining of WW2, 11 of them were still in activity. Of those, Vauquois sank because of a mine on June 18, 1940. Five of them were captured by the British, and either given to the FNFL or used by the British until the end of the war. The Tahure was the one which saw the most activity : It was part of the French fleet which attacked the Thai fleet at Koh Chang, in 1941. It was eventually sunk by an american submarine in 1944. The last ships of the bunch were scuttled in 1942 during the German invasion of France.
One of those ship, the Amien, had the particularity of serving as a test platform for the new 37mm modèle 1935 AA canons, and had a piece installed in the rear of the ship, which was apparently successfully used during the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940.
Specifications :
DIMENSIONS
Total length : 75m
Total width : 8.71m
draught : 3.20m
displacement : 850t
ENGINE
type : 2 x Parson steam engines, 5000 HP
propellers : 2
max speed : 22 knts
autonomy : 3000 miles at 11 knts
ARMAMENT :
ORIGINAL
-
2 x 138mm mle 1910 canon
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1 x 75mm mle 1891 canon (bow of the ship)
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4 x 1 Hotchkiss mle 1914 - 8.8mm machineguns
AMIENS
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2 x 138mm mle 1910 canon
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1 x 75mm mle 1891 (bow of the ship) canon
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1 x turret with 2 x 37mm mle 1935 AA canons (stern of the ship)
-
4 x 1 Hotchkiss mle 1914 - 8.8mm machineguns
CREW : 103
PHOTOS
PHOTOS OF THE ARRAS CLASS :
Spoiler
Photo of the Tahure
Photos of the Arras
Photo of the Remiremont
Photo of the Belfort
Bar-le-Duc. You can see the 75mm on the stern, before the 138mm canon.
PHOTOS OF THE AMIEN WITH ITS 37MM
Spoiler
REGARDING THE 37MM mle 1935 AA CANONS
SOURCES :
Spoiler
AMIENS 1st class avisos (sloops) (1918 - 1924)
Avisos de la classe Arras (ou Amiens) - Forum PAGES 14-18
France 37 mm/70 (1.46") Model 1935 - NavWeaps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_de_138_mm_Modèle_1910_naval_gun
The FriedrichFiles - Amiens class
Thanks to Private_Wolk for its link regarding the 37mm AA canons of the Amien.