Leopard (France)
| This page is about the destroyer Leopard (France). For other uses, see Leopard (Disambiguation). |
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Contents
Description
The Chacal-class vessels were the first large destroyers made for the modern French Navy after the First World War. They featured a larger displacement than all of the preceding destroyers, and mounted more firepower to contend with the contemporary navies of the time. The Léopard was the third ship to be launched, out of the 6 ships that were built. She was commissioned into service on the same day as the Lynx, one of her sister ships, and participated in one of the most famous events of the war, Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation. She is depicted in-game after she was converted into an escort destroyer, removing her forward boiler room for increased fuel stores - thus she is visually identifiably by her only having two funnels, compared to the three her sisters have.
Thanks to this change, the greatest drawback of the Léopard is her very low top speed of 58 km/h (31.3 kn), making her one of the slowest destroyers in the game. In addition, to make room for the improved AA battery, the rear 550 mm torpedo launcher had to be removed, giving her a salvo of only 3 torpedoes. The torpedoes should be saved for close range fights against more dangerous opponents, as the low number of torpedoes make them very inefficient to launch at large distances.
Introduced in Update "La Royale", the Léopard can fulfill multiple roles, such as providing both anti-aircraft cover and heavy fire support for friendly ships. Despite her slow speed, her deadly 130 mm guns outclass many other weapons of her tier. These guns have a shorter effective range than some other guns due to their lower velocity, however, they make up for this with their powerful ammunition.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Léopard, being a large destroyer with a high displacement, has a sizeable crew for her rank, numbering 246 men. As with most destroyers of the rank, she mounts no protection, with the exception being her lightly armoured 130 mm guns and anti-aircraft weapons. The primary protection of the Léopard is her mobility, however, even that can not be relied upon. Her anti-aircraft weaponry is a notable point, as compared to other French vessels, such as her sister ship Chacal and the smaller Bourrasque, she mounts a much improved, and needed, anti-aircraft battery.
Getting hit in the Léopard usually results in a fire, as her internal modules, such as the boilers and fuel tanks, are close together. However, the magazines of the 130 mm guns are small and hard to hit, and are further protected by being placed below the waterline, making it harder for enemy munitions to penetrate the hull and detonate the ammo.
Mobility
The Léopard reaches a top speed of 58 km/h (31.3 kn), making her one of the slowest destroyers in the game; this is the greatest drawback and main limiting factor for the Léopard. This is further worsened by a very slow turn rate, slower than even the Besposhchadny, notorious for being a sluggish destroyer. An exceptional are should be taken to avoid torpedoes and bombs as early as possible, especially until Rudder Replacement modification is unlocked.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | Turn Time (s) | Turn Radius (m) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||||
| AB | Stock | 52 | 23 | ~151.88 | ~248.44 |
| Upgraded | 71 | 31 | ___ | ___ | |
| RB/SB | |||||
| Upgraded | 58 | 25 | ___ | ___ | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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As with all vessels, Tool Set and Fire Protection System should be researched first. Like other French destroyers, research of the SAPBC rounds is recommended, as this greatly increases her firepower, followed by the mobility modifications. If you find yourself doing fine with the standard HE rounds, the mobility upgrades are a great alternative, as this gives her a desperately needed increase in mobility.
Armament
Primary armament
The primary armament of the Léopard consists of 4 x 130 mm Mle.19 naval guns, two each mounted at the bow and stern of the vessel. These guns have a low rate of fire compared to most other ships of the Léopards tier, however, these guns have extremely deadly ammunition.
| 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 | ||
| OEA Mle 1932 | HE | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 |
| OPFA Mle 1923 | SAPBC | 61 | 54 | 43 | 34 | 27 | 25 |
| 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% | ||||||||||
| OEA Mle 1932 | HE | 725 | 34.83 | 0 | 0.1 | 3.96 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| OPFA Mle 1923 | SAPBC | 725 | 32.05 | 0.035 | 5 | 1.98 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Secondary armament
Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.
- Universal: HEF · AP-T · HEF · AP-T
- 40 mm HE: HEF · HEF · HEF · AP-T
- 40 mm AP: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEF
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| HEF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| AP-T | 60 | 57 | 48 | 39 | 32 | 26 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| HEF | 701 | 0.82 | 0 | 0.1 | 71 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
| AP-T | 701 | 0.91 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
Anti-aircraft armament
An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select anti-aircraft weapons. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.
Additional armament
Describe the available additional armaments of the ship: depth charges, mines, torpedoes. Talk about their positions, available ammunition and launch features such as dead zones of torpedoes. If there is no additional armament, remove this section.
Usage in battles
Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very high calibre ammunition with a large explosive filler in both HE and SAP
- Low profile makes it more difficult to hit
- Decent anti-air/anti-coastal armament
Cons:
- Very low muzzle velocity of the main guns
- Exceptionally poor mobility compared to the counterparts
- Very large fuel tanks make it prone to fires
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
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
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) | |
|---|---|
| Destroyers | |
| Jaguar-class | Leopard |
| Battleships | |
| Bretagne-class | Lorraine |
| See also | Loire Aviation |
| France destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Bourrasque-class | Bourrasque |
| Chacal-class | Chacal · Leopard · Panthere |
| Aigle-class | Aigle · Vautour · Milan |
| Vauquelin-class | Vauquelin |
| Le Fantasque-class | Le Malin · Le Triomphant |
| Hunt-class | La Combattante |
| Trophies | Germany |
| Desaix-class* | Kleber |
| Type 1936 | Marceau |
| * Modified Type 1934A-class destroyers | |
