USS Cowell
Contents
Description
The Fletcher-class, USS Cowell (DD-547), 1943 is a gift Rank III American destroyer with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was first announced in Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm" as a bundle to access the Naval Closed Beta Test.
A Fletcher-class destroyer in the United States line, the Cowell is in the same class-line as the family ship Fletcher (DD-445). The first statistical difference between the Fletcher and the Cowell is the armament, with the Cowell having four more turrets of 40 mm Bofors autocannons, and having one more additional turret of 20 mm autocannons.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Antifragmentation armour
- Cast homogeneous armour
- Hardened armour
| Armour | Bow (Slope angle) | Sides | Stern | Deck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | N/A | 13 mm (0-24°) | N/A | 13 mm (88-89°) |
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
| Turrets | 3.2 mm Front 15 mm Gun mantlet |
3.2 mm | 3.2 mm | 3.2 mm |
Notes:
- The radar atop the bridge is covered with an antifragmentation armour with 19 mm thickness.
- Gun shields around the 20 mm Oerlikon autocannons are 12.7 mm thick.
The Cowell is very strong and powerful against smaller vessels, however, should you be able to live long enough, a torpedo hitting the ship basically anywhere will guarantee a kill. Try using islands and cover to your advantage when attacking a Cowell using a plane or PT boat to hide yourself from the arcs of the Bofors.
For destroyers, aim underneath the front turret with an AP shell. You will have a chance of detonating the ammunition stowage for the front guns which will normally kill the whole ship.
Mobility
| Mobility characteristic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tons) | ||
| 2,924 | ||
| Max Speed (km/h) | ||
| Mode | Stock | Upgraded |
| Arcade | 56 | 76 |
| Realistic/Simulator | 56 | 65 |
Armament
Primary armament
| 127 mm 5/38 Mark 12 Dual Purpose gun (x5) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turrets (Bow to stern) | ||||||
| Turret 1 | Turret 2 | Turret 3 | Turret 4 | Turret 5 | ||
| Vertical guidance | -10°/+85° | -10°/+85° | -10°/+85° | -10°/+85° | -10°/+85° | |
| Horizontal guidance | ±150° | ±150° | ±143° | ±150° | ±150° | |
| Ammo capacity | 1,800 | |||||
| Rounds per turret | 360 | |||||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration in mm @ 90° | |||||
| 10m | 100m | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | ||
| 127mm AAC | HE | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| 127mm Common | APHE | 146 | 145 | 140 | 133 | 126 | 119 |
| 127mm AAVT | HE-VT | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity in m/s |
Projectile Mass in kg |
Fuse delay
in m: |
Fuse sensitivity
in mm: |
Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent): |
Normalization At 30° from horizontal: |
Ricochet: | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| 127mm AAC | HE | 792 | 25 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 3,220 | +0° | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| 127mm Common | APHE | 792 | 25 | 2.0 | 10 | 1,150 | ° | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| 127mm AAVT | HE-VT | 792 | 25 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 3,220 | +0° | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Secondary armament
| 40 mm Bofors Mk. I (x10) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turrets (Bow to stern) | ||||||
| Front port turret (x2) | Front starboard turret (x2) | Middle port turret (x2) | Middle starboard turret (x2) | Rear turret (x2) | ||
| Vertical guidance | -15°/+88° | -15°/+88° | -10°/+88° | -10°/+88° | -15°/+88° | |
| Horizontal guidance | -150°/+90° | -90°/+150° | -180°/+20° | -20°/+180° | ±180° | |
| Ammo capacity | 20,000 | |||||
| Rounds per turret | 4,000 | |||||
Belts
| Belts | Shell composition | Combat usage |
| Universal | AP-T – HEF-T | |
| 40 mm HE clips | HEF-T – HEF-T – HEF-T – AP-T | |
| 40 mm AP clips | AP-T – AP-T – AP-T – HEF-T |
Anti-aircraft armament
| 20 mm Oerlikon Mk.II (x7) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turrets (Bow to stern) | |||||||
| Front port turret | Middle port turret | Front starboard turret | Middle starboard turret | Rear port turret | Rear starboard turret | Rear stern turret | |
| Vertical guidance | -80°/+65° | ±100° | -65°/+80° | ±100° | ±180° | ||
| Horizontal guidance | -4°/+50° | ||||||
| Ammo capacity | 16,800 | ||||||
| Rounds per turret | 2,400 | ||||||
Torpedo armament
| 533 mm steam turbined Mk.15 torpedo | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # on ship | Mass (kg) | Maximum speed in water (km/h) |
Travel distance (km) | Depth stroke (m) | Arming distance (m) |
Explosive type | Explosive mass (kg) | |
| 10 | 1,288 | 49 | 13.7 | 0.5 | 15 | TNT | 374 | |
Special armament
- Without load
- 6 x Mk.6 mortar depth charge
Usage in the battles
As a destroyer, the Cowell stands above the PT boats in the previous ranks.
The Cowell is a powerful American destroyer that is very versatile. There can be 3 main jobs for the Cowell to do:
- 1. Gunfighter
With it's fast firing armament, it is definitely capable of fighting other destroyers. Load APHE for your main guns and you can start firing against enemy ships from mid to long range. Try disabling the enemies' engine room or gun turrets to prevent them from escaping or fighting back effectively. You also have ten torpedoes so you can use them in any tricky situation. Should you be outmatched, try turning away and using a smoke screen to conceal yourself.
- 2. Anti Air Ship
The Cowell has lots of anti-air weaponry. The deadliest will be your ten Bofors and five 127mm cannons. Let your AI gunners shoot from long distance using radio fuse HE shells. Once enemy aircraft come close enough you should either take control of the Bofors or the main guns themselves to deal with enemies. As always, lead your target and take into account your ship's momentum if you need to. The ship can fire all of it's anti aircraft guns when the enemy is directly above the ship. Try turning to the side to allow more guns to fire if the enemy is coming from an angle. The radio-fuse shells will make quick work of any enemy aircraft or at least critically damage them to the point that they will not be able to make their attack run, while the Bofors will chew down many smaller planes.
- 3. Light Craft Hunter
The Bofors also allow the Cowell to hunt PT boats and other small craft very well. From longer distances, use HE or Radio HE shells to try to hit enemy PT boats and deal splash damage to them. Once you move in closer, take command of your bofors, load their Universal or HE belts, and slice the PT boats to ribbons. For larger gunboats, using your main guns are still an option. Since you are a destroyer, you are armored enough to be immune to most of their small cannon and machine gun fire. Your main threat at this point are torpedo boats. Try targetting any PT boats that are heading in your direction. PT boats such as the LS-3 and G-5 are dangerous since they are small, fast and can carry 2 torpedoes. Be sure you make your course erratic and hard to hit, and always be ready to change course in the event that you detect an incoming torpedo. Keep in mind, if a torpedo hits: game over.
In terms of opposition:
- BTD-1:This plane can carry 2 torpedoes which can kill you very quick, or can attack you from high altitude with a 2000 lb bomb. Try prioritizing these aircraft to shoot down first.
- Pr. 159: This patrol ship can shoot very rapidly and deal a lot of damage to your ship. Try engaging it from long range where your shells will have the advantage.
- Light Cruisers: Light cruisers will have better guns that are capable of beating you in a straight up gun duel. Try avoiding them or disabling their vital parts, or requesting help.
- PT boats: Certain PT boats who penetrate your line of defenses might pose a danger by launching off torpedoes. Use your Bofors to try to mow down any PT boat that gets too close and always be maneuvering to dodge
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Equipped with 5 fast firing turrets
- LOTS of Bofors to allow you to deal with air and PT boat threats
- Very effective at anti air due to radio fuse shells and Bofors
- Has ten torpedoes
- Premium economy gain
Cons:
- Very vulnerable ammunition rack beneath the front turrets.
History
Talk about the history of the creation and military application of the ship in greater detail than in the introduction. If there turns out to be too much historical information, put it in a separate article, taking the link to the vehicle article and adding the “/historical” block to it (e.g. https://wiki.warthunder.ru/Vehicle-name/historical) and add a link to it here using the main template. Links to sources must be provided at the end of the article.
Media
Skins and camouflages for the USS Cowell from live.warthunder.com.
Read also
Sources
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- page on ship encyclopedia;
- other literature.
