HMS Norfolk

HMS Norfolk

HMS Kent

HMS London

HMS Norfolk

HMS Kent

HMS London

Britain

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.7	5.7	5.7

Class:

Heavy cruiser

Research:45 000

Purchase:300 000

Show in game

Description

The County-class, HMS Norfolk (78), 1943 is a rank IV British heavy cruiser with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Direct Hit".

The Norfolk is a Dorsetshire-class heavy cruiser, part of the so-called 'County class' of post-Washington Treaty cruisers built by the British in the late 1920s for ocean power projection and trade protection. As a 'treaty cruiser', the Norfolk sacrificed armour protection in favour of heavy 8-inch gun armament and high speed and endurance.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Citadel25 / 25 / 35 mm

Main fire tower25 / 25 / 25 mm

Hull25 mm (steel)

Superstructure8 mm (steel)

Number of section9

Displacement13 425 t

Crew819 people

Due to the displacement limits imposed on the County class, the Norfolk does not have much in the way of armour. Most of what little armour she has is concentrated around the main 8-inch gun magazines, which are protected inside an armoured box of 102 mm in the sides, 76 mm on the ends and on the deck. These boxes are located below the waterline, and make her quite resistant to ammunition detonations from destroyer or light cruiser main guns at range.

The machinery is protected by only 25 mm of armour on the sides, ends, and deck, and is thus vulnerable to even destroyer main guns. The main gun turrets and barbettes are similarly poorly protected.

The rest of the ship has no armour plating worth mentioning. This means that the ship tends to take a lot of damage from even HE shells. In particular, like most British cruisers, the Norfolk has an open bridge which is highly vulnerable to getting disabled.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB71 / 30 km/h

RB61 / 26 km/h

The Norfolk is fairly fast for a heavy cruiser. However, she is still a heavy cruiser, and thus her handling and acceleration/deceleration characteristics are still relatively cumbersome compared to those of lighter ships.

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	71	30
RB/SB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	61	26

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB11 261 → 14 650

RB10 929 → 14 218

Total cost of modifications78 400

134 700

Talisman cost1 700

Crew training87 000

Experts300 000

Aces1 100

Research Aces520 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

450 / 600 / 100 %

172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Seakeeping	Unsinkability	Firepower
Dry-Docking Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 300 200 Rudder Replacement Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 230 Propeller Replacement Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 210 Engine Maintenance Research: 6 400 Cost: 11 000 410	Damage Control Division Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 300 200 Fire Division Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 230 Smokescreen Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 230 Shrapnel Protection Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 210 Ventilation Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 210 New Pumps Research: 6 400 Cost: 11 000 410 Ammo Wetting Research: 6 400 Cost: 11 000 410	Anti-Air Armament Targeting Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 300 200 203mm_uk_mk8_mark_ib_sapc_ammo_pack Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 300 200 102mm_uk_mkxvi_navy_SAP_ammo_pack Research: 3 100 Cost: 5 300 200 Auxiliary Armament Targeting Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 230 102mm_uk_mkxvi_navy_he_dist_fuse_ammo_pack Research: 3 500 Cost: 6 000 230 Primary Armament Targeting Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 210 Improved Rangefinder Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 210 102mm_uk_mkxvi_navy_he_radio_fuse_ammo_pack Research: 3 300 Cost: 5 700 210 Torpedo Mode Research: 6 400 Cost: 11 000 410

Armament

Primary armament

4 х Turret2 x 8 inch/50 Mark VIII cannon

Ammunition300 rounds

Vertical guidance-3° / 70°

The Norfolk's main armament consists of eight BL 8-inch Mark VIII guns distributed in four twin turrets. These guns have acceptable accuracy, though they will struggle to gain consistent hits at longer ranges. The shortest possible reload achievable on with a fully trained crew is 12 s, which is one of the fastest reloads among the heavy cruisers currently in the game. There is no first-stage ammunition stowage, thus the reload is consistent no matter how much ammunition is left in the magazines.

The 8-inch guns have only two types of shell: HE and SAPC. The HE shell contains a powerful bursting charge of 10 kg of TNT, the highest of any 8-inch/203 mm gun. The SAPC shell combines decent penetration with a respectable 5.2 kg TNT filler.

The main guns have an unusual amount of elevation: this is because they were meant to be able to engage aircraft. However, as there is no time fused or VT fused shell available for the British 8-inch gun currently in the game, the Norfolk is unable to take full advantage of this feature.

Secondary armament

4 х Turret2 x 4 inch/45 Mark XVI cannon

Ammunition400 rounds

Anti-aircraft armament

2 х Turret8 x 40 mm 2pdr QF Mk.VIII automatic cannon

Ammunition17920 rounds

Belt capacity56 rounds

Fire rate200 shots/min

8 х Turret20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II autocannon

Ammunition1800 rounds

Belt capacity60 rounds

Fire rate450 shots/min

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

Setup 18 x 533 mm Mk.IX wet-heater torpedo

The Norfolk is equipped with two quadruple torpedo tubes, one set located on each side of the ship.

Usage in battles

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High rate-of-fire and for a heavy cruiser.
• Large explosive fillers in HE and SAP shells.
• Heavy anti-aircraft armament.
• Relatively high top speed.
• Equipped with air-search radar.
• Well-protected main gun ammunition magazines.

Cons:

• Little to no armour protecting the ship outside of the magazines.
• Mediocre main gun accuracy.
• Can be matched against battleships.
• Unarmoured and vulnerable bridge.
• Tends to lose crew quickly due to exposed secondary and anti-aircraft mounts.

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.

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Destroyers
G-class	ORP Garland
K-class	HMS Kelvin
Battle-class	HMS Cadiz
Hunt-class	La Combattante*
Light Cruisers
Town-class	HMS Liverpool
Heavy Cruisers
County-class	HMS Norfolk
Battlecruisers
Renown-class	HMS Renown
	*HMS Haldon in French service

Britain heavy cruisers
Hawkins-class	HMS Hawkins
York-class	HMS York
County-class	HMS Kent · HMS London · HMS Norfolk