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Battleship Lorraine: the last French dreadnought

Meet the Bretagne-class Lorraine battleship, the pinnacle of the French bluewater tech tree in the upcoming La Royale update!

Lorraine, battleship, France, rank V

Features:

  • 340mm main guns
  • Very capable AA artillery
  • Mediocre protection
History

In 1912 France issued an ambitious shipbuilding program for the construction of 17 new battleships, three of which were immediately funded. The lack of the necessary shipbuilding infrastructure to start building ships with a longer hull than the current Courbet-class dreadnoughts forced the Naval Council to acquiesce in the same displacement for new ships, but the main caliber artillery was increased from 305 to 340 mm. All three ships of the series - the leader ship Bretagne, the Provence and the latest Lorraine - were assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron. During the First World War, the ships operated in the Mediterranean, but did not take an active part in the battles. In the interwar period, battleships became part of the Atlantic Fleet. By the time the Second World War began, all three ships were part of the High Seas Forces (Forces de haute mer) and were based in Toulon. After the surrender of France, the battleship Lorraine was disarmed in Alexandria, but remained part of the fleet. In 1942, the crews of the ships interned in Alexandria became part of the Free French fleet. The ship provided fire support to Allies liberating France. After the end of the war, she was used as a stationary artillery training ship until 1947, when it was decommissioned and used for some time as a floating barracks. Finally sold for scrap in 1953.

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France's latest dreadnought, the battleship Lorraine, will be the top ship in the French bleuwater fleet research tree at the time of the release of the major La Royale update!

A dreadnought is about guns and armor! Lorraine is good in guns: despite the fact that we chose for the game one of the later upgrades with the top main turret dismantled, commanders will have access to 8 340mm guns in four twin-barrel turrets arranged in a line, so Lorraine fires full broadside. The selection of shells is not quite common for rank V, there are no semi-armor-piercing rounds, so high-explosive fragmentation shells are supplemented by two types of armor-piercing shells - with and without a ballistic cap. Semi-armor-piercing shots are available for 138mm auxiliary guns - there are 14 such guns, 7 casemates per side. Impressive firepower!

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It should also be noted that the air defense artillery is powerful and well allocated: 8 75mm cannons begin firing at distant targets, 14 40mm Bofors are activated at medium distances, while approaching aircraft meet 25 20mm auto cannons. Such protection against aircraft for early battleships is very rare.

As for the protection of the ship, one could hardly call it brilliant. Due to displacement restrictions, the shipbuilders had to sacrifice armor. The thickness of the main armored belt is from 220 to 250 mm, the thickness of the armored deck reaches 40 mm. The main turrets are protected relatively well, there is 300 mm of armor at the front. Lorraine is capable of surviving cruiser fire, but enemy battleships at short distance could easily pierce this French lady, so always maintain a good distance from enemy The modest crew of 1187 members also does not play in favor of the survivability of the ship under enemy battleships fire.

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The heavy and majestic battleship Lorraine will be the pinnacle of the French navy in the La Royale update, which is almost ready. This ship will be the first to be explored by participants in the closed beta test of the French navy, make sure to purchase early access packs to be among them and significantly speed up your research!

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