- Yes
- No
About the Jean Bart and its interest in War Thunder
Although we have yet to see the more modern and state of the art battleships in War Thunder, the recent additions of heavier warships certainly paves the way for future implementations in the game. The Jean Bart is no exception. Its modern dual purpose guns, its massive radar enhancements and its unique configuration and armament make it a obvious contender for top tier for the French navy.
History of the Richelieu class
During the 1930’s the French navy was trying to find a way to rearm its fleet to compete with the rest of the major European powers. The Reggia Marina, which felt threatened by the appearance of the new Dunkerque class battleships, launched the construction of new warships surpassing this class in every way : The Littorio class. The French answer was immediate, and a few days after the specs of the Littorio class were officially revealed, the French navy started working on a new battleship class, which would eventually become the Richelieu class.
The Jean Bart during the war :
When the war broke out, Battleship Jean Bart wasn’t finished. Although it had been launched, it was far from operational, not even sea worthy. Construction was prioritized during the Phoney war, but even that wasn’t enough and when the Battle of France started, Jean Bart was more or less 50% finished. The catastrophic turn of events of the war forced the sailors and workers to work tirelessly for 2 weeks straight, almost without sleeping just to get the ship to be sea-worthy.
And so, with the Germans being a few hours away from Jean Bart’s dockyard in Saint Nazaire, the ship set sail on june 19th, 1940. Harassed by German Heinkel he 111 bombers, it managed to get out of the river and in the open sea with minimal damage. Joined by several brand new destroyers of the Hardi class, the ship fled to Cassablanca after refusing to get to the UK.
The next 2 years were uneventful, until Operation Torch and the end of the Vichy regime. The Allies launched an attack on Cassablanca, where Jean Bart was stationed. To their surprise, even though the ship was unfinished, its only working turret started firing grazing the US warships. It was then intensely shelled, most notably by USS Massachussets, a brand new US battleship, and bombed by US aviation. Ironically, its half-finished state was what saved the ship since, being a mostly empty shell, most of the shots went straight through the ship without any ammo being blown up.
The Jean Bart after the war :
After the war, the French navy considered converting the ship into an aircraft carrier, but given the cost they decided to rather finish the ship with more modern equipment. Brought back in France in 1945, it was then finished according to plans in 1949, then massively modernized in 1951, transforming the 152mm secondaries into dual purpose guns, adding a great amount of AA fire, and a vast array of radars and combat centers. After several delays, it was admitted into service in 1955. A year later, it participated to the Suez Crisis, where it fired its last 380mm shells. After that, it was considered to convert it into a missile ship, but the idea was ultimately abandonned, and the ship was decommissionned, then scrapped in 1970.
General Characteristics :
Tonnage: 37 832 tons (standard) 44 708 tons (max overload)
Length: 247.85 m
Beam: 35.54 m
Draught: 9.22 m
Propulsion: Parson steam turbines - 5 Sural-Hugé du Templé boilers - 157 000 HP
Max Speed: 32.13 knts (60 km/h)
Range: 9500 nautical miles at 15 knots - 3450 nautical miles at 30 knots
Crew : 2134 men
Armor :
Vertical protection : main belt : 335-350 mm (bulkhead)
Horizontal protection : upper bridge : 170mm
Horizontal protection : lower bridge : 40mm
Conning tower : 340mm
Main Turrets : 430mm (front), 300mm (roof)
Secondary turrets : 130mm
Armament (1951) :
- 8 x 380mm mle 1935 canons (2 x 4)
- 9 x 152mm mle 1930 canons (3 x 3)
- 24 x 100mm mle 1945 AA canons (12 x 2)
- 28 x 57mm/60 mle 1951 AA canons (14 x 2)
About the 380mm canons :
Spoiler
TURRET SPECS :
Gun depression : -5° / +35°
Gun depression speed : 5.5°/s
Turret rotation : 156° (142° turret n°2)
Turret rotation speed : 5°/s
Max shell capacity : 830
Shells :
879kg explosive shell mle 1949
890kg AP shells ( 10 000- 37 800m range), 249mm pen @ 38 000m
RoF : 1.13-2.2 shot per minutes.
Informations regarding the guns can be found here :
France 380 mm/45 (14.96") Model 1935 and Model 1936 - NavWeaps
About the 152mm mle 1930 guns
Spoiler
TURRET SPECS :
Gun depression : -10° / +45°
Gun depression speed : 8°/s
Turret rotation : 150°
Turret rotation speed : 12°/s
Max shell capacity : 1300
Shells :
55kg explosive shell (26960m range),
54 et 58kg AP shells ( 26474m range),
47kg AA shell ( 24200m range).
RoF : 6 shot per minutes.
For more detailed informations :
France 152 mm/55 (6") Model 1930 - NavWeaps
About the 100mm AA canons :
Spoiler
https://2img.net/h/www.dynamic-mess.com/Media/Images/100mm1945.JPG
TURRET SPECS :
Gun depression : -8° / +70°
Gun depression speed : 8°/s
Max shell capacity : 1000
Total shell capacity : 12500
Shells :
HE Model 1951 : 29.36 (13.32 kg).
RoF : 20-25 shot per minutes.
More infos here : France 100 mm/55 (3.9") Model 1945 - NavWeaps
About the 57mm AA canons :
Spoiler
Turret :
Gun depression : -10° / +90°
Gun depression speed : 25°/s
Max shell capacity : 1200 per gun (80 rounds clip)
Total shell capacity : 42000
ROF : 120 rpm (240 for the turret).
Range : ± 5500m (AA) 15000m (45°)
Muzzle velocity : 956m/s
More infos here : Sweden 57 mm/60 (2.25") SAK Model 1950 - NavWeaps
PHOTOS :
Spoiler
https://www.saint-nazaire-musees.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CP-1245-1024x731.jpg
https://www.netmarine.net/bat/croiseur/jeanbart/photo15.jpg
https://i-com.cdn.gaijin.net/monthly_2021_01/02.jpg.47e3c1a9c36e39b3b3c32b4d0779b487.jpg
https://www.netmarine.net/bat/croiseur/jeanbart/photo07.jpg
https://i-com.cdn.gaijin.net/monthly_2021_01/Jean_Bart_1955_18.jpg.a77ab665499e2a8b626b8236ac5757b8.jpg
https://wiki.gcdn.co/images/6/6f/Jean_Bart_Algiers_1_Nov_1956_w_elite_Commando_Hubert_1st_Parachute_Regiment_Foreign_Legion_for_Anglo-French_Suez_intervention.jpg
https://i.redd.it/ftm0ze083w761.jpg
VIDEO :
SOURCES :
Spoiler
FRANCE CUIRASSES CLASSE RICHELIEU - Page 2
FRANCE CUIRASSES CLASSE RICHELIEU - Page 3
-John Jordan et Robert Dumas French Battleships 1922-1956 Seaforth publishing 2009
-Eric Gille Cent Ans de cuirassés français Marines Editions juin 1999
-René Sarnet et Eric Le Vaillant Richelieu 1997 (fourni en PdF par l’ami Vautour)
-Jean Moulin Les cuirassés français en images Marines Editions octobre 2006
-Jean Moulin Les cuirassés de la Seconde guerre mondiale en images Marines Editions juin 2008
Sweden 57 mm/60 (2.25") SAK Model 1950 - NavWeaps
France 100 mm/55 (3.9") Model 1945 - NavWeaps
France 380 mm/45 (14.96") Model 1935 and Model 1936 - NavWeaps
France 152 mm/55 (6") Model 1930 - NavWeaps