Jeanne d'Arc
Contents
Description
Launched in 1930, Jeanne d'Arc was the training vessel of the French navy in the days leading up to World War Two and right after. During World War Two itself, she was modernized by the US engineers of the USS Vulcan repair ship, starting early 1943. This refit focused on upgrading anti-air guns with Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm. Following that, the vessel provided fire support for the Allied troops in amphibious landings on Corsica and Southern France. After the end of the war she returned to her service as a training vessel, conducting 27 post-war cruises all around the world, until being decommissioned in 1965. Throughout her career, she provided invaluable service for the French navies, training countless officers and sailors alike.
Introduced along with the initial release of the French bluewater naval tech tree in Update "La Royale", Jeanne d'Arc has an interesting combination of a very high damage output from her four twin 155 mm/50 main guns, very good anti-air guns, and lacklustre survivability, which is made worse by the overall very large silhouette of the vessel. It makes her an attractive, but somewhat tricky, target to enemy aircraft, torpedo boats and warships alike. She's best played as a glass cannon, assisting more resilient vessels from the second or even third line, and focusing on the soft targets, such as destroyers and unarmoured light cruisers.
General info
Survivability and armour
Despite having several good things going for her, the ship is still relatively easy to sink by a higher calibre munitions.
Compared to the other ships in the BR, she has the highest crew count (in fact, she has a higher crew count than a ships in much higher BRs, such as HMS York or IJN Furutaka), a good number of sections, ammunition store relatively deep below the waterline in the armoured boxes and engines that just barely stick above the waterline.
Where her survivability suffers the most is in three areas: Firstly, manoeuvrability - before unlocking the Rudder modification it's best to spot enemy torpedoes before they enter the torpedo detection distance (base 80 metres, top 100 metres) as even some of the slowest torpedoes will be challenging to avoid. Similarly, incoming fire is best avoided by using hard cover (islands, icebergs, etc.) rather than trying to manoeuvre the cruiser away from the path of the shells. Secondly, her large profile makes for an easy target, in particular for enemy torpedoes, though gun fire will have an easy time connecting as well.
Finally, the biggest issue with her survivability is the crew distribution. Quite unusually for a cruiser, the vast majority of her crew is located in basically just 3 locations. Hits below the aft turrets destroying the two compartments there can easily knock down over 160 crew members. Destroying just one of them (e.g. with a SAP shell) will knock down around 80 crew (~10% of the entire crew). The single largest crew compartment is right in the middle of the superstructure - it's not only the largest one in size, but also the largest one in crew count and oftentimes the first one to be destroyed in a broadside battle. Finally there are two compartments below the forward turrets, not as populated nor as large as in the rear but still easy targets.
This vulnerability makes the ship very often die just by running out of crew, rather than ammo-racking or sinking, giving the impression that she has a much lower crew count than she does in reality.
Mobility
Her mobility is comparable to RN Etna, which is towards the lower end of low-BR cruisers. But unlike most of her peers, she has a very large profile making it important to take extra caution when it comes to pre-emptive positioning. Also note that the time for the the rudder to completely deflect before upgrades is 5.28s (compared to 5.1s on Etna, 5.13s on IJN Kako and 5.39s on USS Trenton) making it beneficial to invest in Ship Control crew skill.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 60 | 34 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 51 | 29 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
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Other than the essential Damage Control Division and Fire Division, the ship highly benefits from 155 mm M1924 SAP, Rudder Replacement and Primary Armament Targeting. In tier IV it could be argued that Engine Maintenance is the most beneficial of the three available modifications, as the ammo racks are relatively difficult to hit on the ship.
Armament
Primary armament
The primary armament is very potent when it comes to sustained firepower, especially when using the ready-to-use ammo. Its high calibre can easily deal with enemy destroyers and be a real threat to the cruisers. It's not uncommon to one-shot enemy destroyers with these guns.
Where she will struggle is when fighting enemy heavy cruisers in up-tiers, such as USS Portland, as the guns simply lack penetration to deal with the armour.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 1,000 m | 2,500 m | 5,000 m | 7,500 m | 10,000 m | 15,000 m | ||
| M1924 HE | HE | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 |
| M1924 HE-BF | HE | 87 | 78 | 64 | 53 | 45 | 34 |
| M1924 SAP | SAPBC | 142 | 126 | 104 | 87 | 73 | 55 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| M1924 HE | HE | 864 | 59 | 0 | 0.1 | 6.16 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| M1924 HE-BF | HE | 870 | 56.5 | 0.015 | 7 | 2.9 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| M1924 SAP | SAPBC | 870 | 56.5 | 0.01 | 7 | 3.67 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Secondary armament
Four 75 mm guns with two flanking main superstructure and two between the funnels make for a relatively poor long-range anti-air, but occasional lucky shots can still provide some degree of defence.
Having a low number of guns with a relatively long reload rate makes them unsuitable for defense against coastal vessels - anti-aircraft armament should be used instead.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 100 m | 1,000 m | 2,000 m | 3,000 m | 4,000 m | 5,000 m | ||
| OEA Mle 1925 | HE | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| HE-TF OEA Mle 1925 | HE-TF | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| OEA Mle 1925 | HE | 850 | 5.93 | 0 | 0.1 | 450 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| HE-TF OEA Mle 1925 | HE-TF | 850 | 5.93 | 0 | 0.1 | 450 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
Anti-aircraft armament
The armament of ten Bofors 40 mm certainly makes for a highlight on this ship. AI will use these guns to engage targets at a considerable distance, making it easy to scare off enemy bombers and torpedo boats alike. When under manual control the high muzzle velocity, rate of fire and guns being spread all across the ship makes it exceptionally easy to take down enemy targets.
The complement of no less than twenty 20 mm guns engaging targets from 2 km makes for one of the most threatening targets to the enemy bombers in that BR.
Usage in battles
Jeanne d'Arc would be best summed-up as a glass cannon. It's able to quickly and efficiently deal with any unarmoured or poorly armoured target, while its exceptional anti-air armament (lacking only HE-VT shells) provides a respectable threat to both aircraft and coastal vessels alike.
Where she struggles the most are an armoured targets - 155 mm SAP shells simply lack penetration to deal with the heavier targets in up-tiers. Furthermore, a more knowledgable enemies can use the unarmoured crew compartments against the ship, leading to a relatively quick sinking if the incoming fire isn't addressed.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very high sustained damage, made exceptional when the first stage ammunition is available
- Great anti-air defense for its BR
Cons:
- Crew concentrated in easy to hit locations makes for a poor survivability
- Mediocre mobility
- Poor turret traverse speed and low rate of fire once the first stage ammunition is expelled
- Does not have an access to AP shell, will struggle against more well-armoured opponents
History
Jeanne d'Arc (named after Joan of Arc) was designed as a replacement of the ageing 1899 armoured cruiser of the same name that served as the training ship for the French navy since 1912. Seeing the ship's age becoming an issue, the Ministry of Navy asked for a replacement, but the order wasn't placed until 1928, thus the French used Edgar Quinet as an interim solution. Finally, on 14 February 1930, Jeanne d'Arc went down the slipway at Saint-Nazaire Penhoët shipyard, becoming the new training ship of the French Navy. She was a one-off ship dedicated training ship serving until 6 July 1964, when the name was taken over by La Résolue, which itself was eventually supplanted by the Léopard-class that serves as training ships to this day.
Jeanne d'Arc was designed around the guns known from Duguay-Trouin and large superstructure amidship for accommodation and facilities for the cadets. Machinery was shared with the Pluton minelayer, but also included a small auxiliary boiler on a port side of the ship allowing to maintain heating and other essential functions without firing up the main boilers. The ship also featured an unusually powerful generators: 200 kW turbo-generators and two 120 kW diesel generators were designed to facilitate an unusually large crew complement. In sea trials, she achieved a maximum speed of 27.86 knots (51.6 km/h), but suffered from vibrations specifically at 13.5 knots and 15 knots, making it difficult to use optical rangefinders at these speeds.
The hull was divided by 16 watertight bulkheads, featuring a double bottom and additional empty spaces around magazines, diesel tanks, between boiler rooms and fuel bunkers. Certain key bulkheads were reinforced and magazines had 20 mm armour to the sides, while the conning tower was protected by double-layered armour, 15 mm each.
Facilities below the forward superstructure included one unusual facility - a large lecture hall able to accommodate 156 midshipmen and instructors that was used as a theatre, cinema or a dance hall on visits to distant ports in the numerous French overseas territories. The ship also included extensive medical facilities, including consulting room and isolation ward in order to accommodate for the visits in the tropics where a large crew complement of an inexperienced officers could catch tropical diseases.
The gun turrets were significantly enlarged compared to these on Duguay-Trouin to allow for groups of the officer cadets to observe the loading and firing of the guns. Similarly, the gun control systems were exceptional for the treaty cruisers and regularly updated to keep up with the state-of-the-art equipment. At the core of the fire control system was the Mle 1923 fire control computer stored below decks, after the 1933 refit the fire control computer was replaced by Mle 1930 and all of the main guns could be remotely fired from the director control tower and the conning tower. As a backup measure, turret III could take control of the remaining turrets and using a 5-metre coincidence rangefinder could provide an emergency fire control, sending range and bearing data as well as coordinate firing of all the main guns.
The ship featured an Mle 1926S torpedo tubes (with the launchers and associated facilities shared with the Duguay-Trouin-class) armed with six Mle 1923D torpedoes (in case of war) or two Mle 1924M exercise torpedoes (in case of training exercises). In 1938, a small depth-charge launcher was installed on the quarterdeck able to launch 35 kg charges (used, among others, on the destroyer Le Triomphant). Torpedo tubes were later dismantled to make space for additional cadets as tensions rose in late 1930s.
The vessel included aviation facilities for two CAMS 37 seaplanes, specifically an unarmed variant 37-11 designed to carry a pilot, trainee and two passengers. In 1938, the aircraft were replaced by Loire 130. The biggest issue was a lack of catapults, forcing planes to be deployed by crane and making airborne operations impossible in rough waters. The aviation facilities were later dismantled.
Media
- Skins
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
- [Wikipedia] French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (1930)
- Jordan John and Jean Moulin. 2013. French Cruisers 1922-1956. Annapolis Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
| Ateliers et Chantiers de Penhoët | |
|---|---|
| Destroyers | |
| Jaguar-class | Chacal |
| Light Cruisers | |
| Unique Ships | Jeanne d'Arc · Emile Bertin |
| France light cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Duguay-Trouin-class | Duguay-Trouin · Primauguet |
| Jeanne d'Arc* | |
| Emile Bertin* | |
| * Unique ship | |
