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USS Mitscher (DL-2): New Standards

The first US destroyer of the Cold War era featuring auto-loading 127mm guns!

USS Mitscher (DL-2), destroyer, USA, rank II

Features

  • Automatic main caliber cannons
  • Excellent mobility
  • Large complement
  • Only two main caliber guns
History

Following the end of WWII and going into the Cold War, requirements set for U.S. Navy warships changed substantially. Specifically, as the USSR became the sole adversary and its surface fleet wasn’t as much of a threat immediately as its submarine fleet, the focus for American shipbuilders shifted towards anti-submarine warfare capabilities, especially for future destroyer designs.

With its design originally being conceived in 1944, the emerging Mitscher-class destroyer was selected to meet these new requirements. The lead ship of the class, USS Mitscher, was laid down in October 1949 and launched in January 1951. Before being laid down, all Mitscher-class destroyers were initially classified as destroyers. However, this changed during their construction, as they were reclassified into destroyer leaders. 

Entering service with the USN in May 1953, USS Mitscher began its service with a goodwill tour to Europe before returning back to the US in February 1956. In the following nine years, USS Mitscher took part in countless NATO exercises and also stood off Cyprus to aid in evacuating American citizens during the civil unrest taking place at the time.

Returning to the U.S. in the mid 1960’s, USS Mitscher underwent a significant refit between 1966 - 1968, being converted into a guided missile destroyer. Deploying a number of times after refit during the early 1970’s, USS Mitscher was decommissioned in 1978 and ultimately sold for scrap in 1980, ending the ship’s 27-year long service career.

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In War Thunder, USS Mitscher will be a new destroyer arriving in the mid ranks of the American naval forces with the release of the upcoming major update. Expanding the American destroyer lineup into the Cold War era, USS Mitscher brings with it several distinct new features not necessarily found on older designs and in today’s devblog, you’ll find out all about it. Let’s get started!

USS Mitscher’s primary armament consists of two single 5’’ (127 mm) cannons. Being a staple primary gun caliber found on most WWII era U.S. destroyers, some captains may initially become concerned at the number of guns fitted to the ship. However, looks can be deceiving and that’s certainly the case with this warship. Despite only possessing two primary guns, USS Mitscher’s 5’’ cannons are equipped with an automatic loading mechanism, giving it a mind-boggling fire rate of 40 rounds/min! As a result, the two cannons’ combined fire rate can certainly replace a much larger conventional gun battery in terms of volume of fire and captains should have no problems wreaking total havoc on their opponents.

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However, USS Mitscher’s arsenal doesn’t end just there. In addition to the 5’’ guns, the warship comes fitted with a pair of twin 3’’ rapid-firing long-range AA cannons as well as four twin 20 mm automatic cannons for short-range AA duties. Rounding off the ship’s weapons complement are four 533 mm torpedo launchers, depth charges as well as the ‘Weapon Alpha’ anti-submarine rocket launcher, which some captains may be familiar with from commandeering the Japanese Isuzu frigate.

In addition to the ship’s excellent firepower, USS Mitscher also boasts a much larger crew complement than any other American destroyer currently in the game, consisting of 350 sailors. As a result, USS Mitscher can better deal with combat damage than other destroyers, having more crew available to conduct repairs and extinguish fires. However, being a destroyer also means that USS Mitscher doesn’t possess any protection. As a result, the ship remains vulnerable to high-caliber fire and larger warship’s are better dealt with by outmanoeuvring them with the ship’s excellent mobility and subsequently launching torpedoes from a distance.

USS Mitscher will soon become available to all captains as it arrives as part of the next major War Thunder update “Ground Breaking” to rank II in the American naval tree. In the meantime, make sure to stay tuned to the news as we continue unveiling what else the upcoming major update has in store for you. Until then, calm seas and happy hunting captains!

You can greatly speed up the research on this vehicle with:

USS Helena Pack
USS Helena Pack
The Kit Includes:
  • Cruiser USS Helena (Rank 4, USA)
  • 2000 Golden Eagles;
  • Premium account for 30 days.

 

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