La Combattante was an experimental French coastal ship for the next generation of boats commissioned in 1964. During its service it saw many changes to its armament, mounting SS.11, SS.12, a 30 mm cannon, a 40 mm cannon and even the Exocet anti-ship missile. After being transferred to the Gendarmerie Maritime, it was later decommissioned in 1994. Added in the Dance of Dragons update, La Combattante is the only naval vessel armed with HEAT missiles. It offers similar gameplay to its predecessor the VLT-1 with its twin 40 mm but with a twist.
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Deadly 40 mm cannons | Not very good missiles |
| Nice mobility | Poor survivability |
Armament
La Combattante's armament resembles that of previous torpedo boats such as the VLT-1 with its twin Bofors 40 mm guns, except that a new and unique armament is added, the SS.11 ATGM.
40 mm Bofors L/60 Mark 3 gun
The 40 mm Bofors cannon remains one of the best naval weapons in coastal battles. It combines great damage, high fire-rate, and continuous fire capability (fast reload time for belts which makes it feel like there’s no pause). With a fire-rate of 160 shots/min and a total capacity of 2000 rounds, it is possible to fire continuously for 12.5 minutes, which is more than enough for a coastal battle. The rotation speed of the gun is very fast (30 °/s horizontal, 24 °/s vertical), which provides great reaction time (time needed to get guns on target after encountering one).
The 40 mm is capable of firing 3 different belts. An AP belt, an HE belt and a mix of AP and HE. It is recommended to use the AP belt as it is the best for dealing damage and taking out critical components (engine, armament, ammo magazines). The HE belt is better for AAW duty.
Having two 40 mm at the bow and at the stern allows for devastating damage to targets. If you angle yourself at 20° to the target you can fire both of your guns simultaneously.
SS.11 missiles
The SS.11 is the first surface-to-surface missile in naval with a HEAT warhead. This characteristic is actually its biggest flaw. Unlike other SSMs, the HEAT warhead doesn’t carry enough TNT to overpressure.
The only way to destroy a target with the SS.11 missile is to hit the ship’s magazines. While some coastal ships carry them above the water line, almost all destroyers and frigates have their magazines below the waterline, which makes the SS.11 missile useless.
In addition to its poor damage output, the SS.11 is also a very slow missile compared to other SSMs like the Neptuno or Tartar (the Tartar is supposed to be a SAM but can be used as an SSM). With a max speed of only 220 m/s, hitting a target can be very long, tedious and unreliable. If the target notices you launching a missile at it, they’ll be able to shoot at you before your missile hits it
12.7 mm Browning AN-M2 machine gun
The good old M2 Browning machine gun isn’t really useful at this tier in coastal battles but is still good for anti-air duties for aircraft flying too low and too close. Even with only two of them, they are still capable of starting fires on aircraft.
Survivability
In terms of survivability, La Combattante isn’t outstanding. Don’t let its relatively big size fool you as it only carries 28 crew. It can resist smaller calibers like 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm but autocannons and bigger calibers like 40 mm and even 76 mm will make quick work of it.
Having 2 guns with high traverse speed allows you to react quickly if someone engages you and their relatively small size will make it difficult for the enemy to take the guns out.
Mobility
La Combattante’s mobility isn’t particularly impressive. With a max speed of 43 km/h and a reverse speed of 23 km/h, this slowness doesn’t match the fast-attack gameplay during coastal battles, especially with 40 mm guns with hit-and-run tactics.
While mobility in general isn’t an issue, when you’re engaging someone or being engaged, the lack of ability to quickly evade fire, such as by hiding behind large cover, is a problem as you don’t have the survivability to resist prolonged fire.
Usage in battles
As you would imagine, the SS.11 is more of a gimmick than an actual useful tool. You will rely a lot more on your 40 mm guns, which are a lot more feasible. When engaging a target, the high rate-of-fire and damage combination makes the guns extremely powerful, at least against smaller coastal ships. As such, try to avoid engaging bigger targets like frigates and destroyers as your guns aren’t suited for this kind of target. If you do have an engagement against them, try to take out their armaments and keep shooting at them until they’re destroyed by crew losses.
Because of its low maximum speed, rushing points to capture them isn’t recommended as either someone else will be faster and capture it before you, or an enemy will intercept you before you can cap it. Use your mobility to take a position in order to ambush smaller ships.
Once you’re in position, simply wait for a patrol boat to show itself at relatively close range (max 2-3 km), come out, engage them, try to destroy them and go back into cover before someone else engages you.
History
La Combattante was supposed to be the next generation of coastal patrol boats for the French Navy. Authorized in 1960, she was built by CMN at Cherbourg and laid down on the 5th of December 1961. Launched on the 20th of June 1963 and commissioned on the 1st of March 1964, this prototype had a hull made of laminated wood and plastics in order to reduce its magnetic signature.
Powered by two SEMT-Pielstick VG DS diesel engines, these engines produced 3,600 hp and allowed the 180-tonne vessel to achieve 23 knots at max speed and had a range of 2,000 nmi at 12 knots.
The initial armament consisted of a single 40 mm gun at the bow, two 12.7 mm MGs and a unique SS.11 launcher in the middle. This prototype was used for many experiments and underwent many changes to its armament listed below:
- 1964–1×40 mm + SS.11
- 1965–1×30 mm (replacing the 40 mm) + SS.11 + flare launcher (at the stern)
- 1971–1×40 mm + SS.11 + Exocet (replacing the flare launcher)
- 1973–2×40 mm (replacing the 30 mm and the Exocet launcher) + SS.12
- 1986–1×40 mm at the stern
- 1986 soon after–Only 2×12.7 mm
Information on the specific refit and dates is hard to find. I had to rely on photos and the dates attached to them (which may even be incorrect).
The 30 mm version is never mentioned, but it’s safe to say that it was an HS.831A, the same cannon found on the AMX-30 DCA.
Together with the armament changes, in 1978-79, the original diesel engines were replaced by the new PA 4 VG DS engines increasing the power output to 4,000 hp.
It’s on La Combattante that the SS.11, SS.12, and Exocet were tested on the Mediterranean Sea. After positive test results, it was modified to carry more traditional armament configurations with two 40 mm and the SS.11/12 launcher. In 1985, La Combattante was transferred to the Gendarmerie Maritime in 1985 and soon after, all its armament was removed, leaving only its two 12.7 mm MG.
It was finally decommissioned in September 1996 and remained in Cherbourg up until its dismantling in 2014.
Sources
- Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1947-1995 — Robert Gardiner
- Article of the Combattante on meretmarine.com (archive)
- Article of the Combattante on netmarine.net (archive)
- Forum of former sailors of the French Navy who served on the Combattante
