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Imperatritsa Mariya: the Empress of the Black Sea

Imperatritsa Mariya was one of the first dreadnought battleships that entered service with the Russian Empire before the outbreak of the First World War. Meet the top ship in the Russian Navy line in the War Thunder "New Power" update!

Imperatritsa Mariya,  battleship, USSR, rank V

Pros

  • Superior artillery 
  • Torpedoes
  • Good protection
  • Large crew

Cons

  • Weak AA artillery
History

The first battleships of the "dreadnought" type in the Russian Empire entered service with the Baltic Fleet, they were battleships of the Sevastopol type, laid down back in 1909. The proximity of a world war and information about the serious strengthening of the Turkish fleet forced the Tsarist government to start building three battleships similar to the ones in the Baltic for the Black Sea Fleet. The general architecture, key technical units, three-gun turrets were borrowed from the battleships "Sevastopol". Three battleships for the Black Sea Fleet were laid down in 1911, all new ships were named after the Russian monarchs. Tests of the battleship Imperatritsa Mariya (Russian for “Empress Mariya”) ended in 1915, the ship was immediately put into service and began to perform combat missions.

With the advent of Russian dreadnoughts, the situation on the Black Sea changed dramatically in favor of the Russian Empire. Imperatritsa Mariya provided support to the 2nd brigade of battleships near the Turkish coastline in the fall of 1915, at the end of winter it took part in the Trebizond landing operation, and in the summer of 1916 became the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.On October 20th, a powder storage detonated and a fire occurred on the ship, the subsequent series of explosions caused the destruction of the battleship. More than 200 sailors perished, the ship sank near Sevastopol. With great effort in 1918 the ship was lifted and transferred to dry dock, but restoration work was never completed due to the social and political crisis in post-war Russia. In 1927, the battleship Imperatritsa Mariya was dismantled for its metal.

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The battleship Imperatritsa Mariya will appear in our game with the release of the New Power update at rank V of the USSR Navy research tree. In terms of the approach to the composition of artillery and armor, the battleship is a classic dreadnought, but the layout with a flat deck, four three-gun turrets on a longitudinal axis and an almost complete absence of superstructures significantly distinguish the Mariya from her peers.

The main caliber on the ship is four three-gun turrets with 305mm cannons, all the turrets can fire simultaneously at one target from the left or right side. In addition to a massive one-second salvo, the Russian battleship is distinguished by the truly devastating semi-armor-piercing shells for the main caliber with a mass of 471 kg and an explosive mass over 55 kg!  Imperatritsa Mariya has an impressive secondary caliber - 20 130mm cannons, 10 on each side. The main armament of the battleship is supplemented by four single-tube torpedo tubes with a supply of torpedoes. But the anti-aircraft armament of the  Imperatritsa Mariya leaves much to be desired - you will have only four 75mm unitary loading cannons, one on the roof of each gun turret. Of course, such a battery is not capable of effectively fighting enemy aircraft.

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The Russian battleship has good survivability thanks to the armor belt of differentiated thickness (up to 262.5 mm), good protection of barbets, turrets and vital compartments. In addition, a large crew (1,300 officers and lower ranks) also contribute to the ability to survive for an extended time under intense enemy fire.

The best tactic for using the  Imperatritsa Mariya dreadnought, like other first battleships in the game, will be to destroy the most protected targets - battleships and cruisers from a lengthy distance. Heavy main battery guns have a long reload time, so firing accuracy will be especially important here. The greatest danger to the Mariya is aviation, so if your team has a battleship, do not forget to cover it with anti-aircraft fire.

Meet the Imperatritsa Mariya in the upcoming War Thunder update “New Power” along with battleships from other gaming nations - the big ships are coming!


The War Thunder Team

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