The French large destroyer Le Malin of the Le Fantasque class was built to chase and hunt other destroyers.

Le Malin, destroyer, French. Rank III

Features:

• Hard-hitting main caliber guns
• Effective AA guns

• Thin-skinned gun mounts
• Huge profile

We continue to introduce you to the bluewater fleet of France, which will be added to the game with the release of the next major War Thunder update. The destroyers of the Le Fantasque class are among the most famous ships of this type in history. Meet Le Malin, “the malign one", the Le Fantasque-class destroyer with powerful main battery armament, excellent sailing performance and deadly anti-air battery!

Le Fantasque-class destroyers were originally designed as destroyer hunters that operate as part of a group of ships of the same type and fight more like light cruisers. That is why the main armament of the Le Malin besides torpedoes is very powerful artillery. The Mle 1929 138.6mm guns with half-closed 10 mm anti-fragmentation shields are placed along the ship in a linearly elevated layout. Due to their design, the gun mounts are poorly protected from enemy fire, especially from fragments and shrapnel, and have quite low traverse speed. However, the satisfying ballistics and effective semi-AP rounds make the destroyer a very dangerous enemy even for ships of heavier classes.

In our game, Le Malin will be presented in the latest configuration after the upgrade in Boston in 1943. The originally poor anti-aircraft armament, which they tried to strengthen in each of the five ship upgrades, finally turned out to be quite effective, including two twin-barreled and one quad mount of the 40mm Bofors autocannons and 10 20mm Oerlikons. During the same upgrade in Boston, the ship received two additional mortars for 100-kg depth charges, bringing their total number to four. But the torpedo armament had to be reduced, abandoning one of the three triple-tube launchers.

The Le Malin - big, fast and malign - will appear in the game in the next major War Thunder update, as part of the closed beta-testing. Get early access packs to the French Navy СBT and you can be the first to test the amazing ships of one of the most distinctive fleets in the world!