HMS Eskimo
| This page is about the British Destroyer HMS Eskimo. For other ships of her class, see Tribal (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Tribal-class, HMS Eskimo (F75), 1941 is a rank II British destroyer with a battle rating of 4.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea" as part of the British fleet closed beta test.
HMS Eskimo, pennant number F75, part of the Tribal class, was a fleet destroyer finished during December 1938. She was intended to provide counter-destroyer firepower and support the combat flotillas, she served in this role throughout the Second World War.
Following an intermission from the escort destroyer role, the HMS Eskimo offers an offensive hit-and-run approach to the British destroyers; very comparable to the G-class (H89). Mainly by the superior firepower of six 120 mm main guns, each one firing devastating 3 kg High Explosive shells in quickfire rate: initially of 12 rounds per second!
Of course, when regarding destroyers, is not all about firepower but also about the increased top speed; unachieved on the earlier escort destroyer. The now fairly average survivability and auxiliary armaments surely will assist captains in control of this well-balanced combat destroyer.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Eskimo is lightly armoured overall. anti-fragmentation armour plates no thicker than 12.7 mm protect most of the gun emplacements. While the main turrets are protected by 3.2 mm of anti-fragmentation armour. As seen on the HMS Grafton and previous destroyers, this anti-fragmentation armour is mainly effective in protecting the gun breech versus HE shells. Any other type of shell is likely to go through this type of armour and disable the turret.
Regarding survivability, the Eskimo is packed with a lot of ammunition storages for the quick-firing high calibre main and secondary cannons. The most dangerous zones are the bow and the stern. No area is protected by any armour wether above or below the waterline; and not even effectively protected by fuel tanks. This means an accurate enemy salvo is likely to cause ammunition damage or a catastrophic detonation of the ammo magazines. The ammunition storages are not limited within the hull, but as another drawback of the high rate of fire, there are large quantities of ready-use ammo racks near most of the high-calibre cannons. SAP and APCBC shells are likely to cause a lot of damage to all the ammo storages since they are only protected by steel boxes.
Another aspect to consider is the constant loss of the ship's control. The transmission and engine rooms are located in an easily targetable area. There is no fuel tank or armour plates to protect none of them from enemy fire, unlike adversaries as the German destroyer Type 1936A or the Italian Corazziere which are decently protected with fuel tanks in those areas.
The crew size of 260 members remains average amongst the majority of destroyers at the rank with an average of 267. While it is significantly less than most of the German adversaries, with an average of 325 in their destroyers at the same battle rating. This places the Tribal class at a tactical disadvantage when duelling with all German destroyers.
Mobility
Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 82 | 31 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 67 | 25 | |
Modifications and economy
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Armament
Primary armament
Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.
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.
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
While the Tribal can fill numerous roles (and works well as a general all-rounder destroyer), it excels best as a gunnery ship. Thanks to the hefty calibre of its shells, as well as the accuracy of the guns, the Tribal can give other destroyers a good beating even from a distance. In addition, the concentration of 2/3rds of the Tribal's guns at the front of the ship means the Tribal can still pump out a good amount of damage while keeping a small profile. Still, if the Tribal's position is relatively safe from being shot at, don't be afraid to swing the rear turret around and let rip. While the rate-of-fire (RoF) of the guns is nothing special compared to some of the 4.7+ destroyers, it's more than enough for 4.3
The Tribal does also boast a hefty secondary armament for a destroyer. The 4-inch dual-mounted gun located towards the aft of the ship can also damage enemy destroyers, and can be a nasty surprise for coastal ships trying to get the jump on the Tribal. In addition, the Tribal is littered with AA guns that can make short work of both aircraft big and small, and torpedo boats. Combined with the Tribal's fast speed, this can make the Tribal an excellent support/escort ship if brought into higher-rank games, where the ship's 4.7-inch guns will begin to struggle against cruisers.
The main downside to the Tribal is its vulnerability. Not only is it far from the smallest destroyer, making it a big target, but it's also built out of ammo racks. The ready-use ammo located on the deck, as well as the thousands of shells under the turrets, can cause very unwelcome detonations from well-aimed enemy fire. The Tribal also suffers at close quarters, due to the mediocre traverse speed of the main turrets, and its lackluster torpedoes, which are few in number and lack the speed of contemporary torpedoes (though they do pack a big punch if they hit). Keep the Tribal away from close quarters fighting however, and it can out-gun its opponents at long range comfortably.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Numerous auxiliary and anti-air weaponry, as well as some torpedoes (4) and depth charges
- Primary guns have great precision even at long ranges (~10 km)
- Dual purpose guns; HE-VT shells for primary and secondary guns makes it easy to destroy aircraft
- 3 kg of explosive in the HE shells is great versus other destroyers and small vessels
- Top speed is average, but amongst the fastest Bluewater ships on the British Naval Tree
- The destroyer with the largest crew complement of the British rank II
Cons:
- Ammo racks are easily detonated by SAP or APCBC shells near the waterline; no armour present in the area
- Crew size remains below average versus German, American and Soviet destroyers
- Limited torpedo count may be ineffective versus heavier fleets due to small quantity
- Outmatched in most combat aspects versus early light cruisers as Köln, Leipzig or IJN Agano
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
- 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
| Britain destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Town-class | HMS Churchill · HMS Montgomery |
| V-class | HMS Valhalla · HMS Vega · HMS Verdun |
| G-class | HMS Grafton · ORP Garland |
| Hunt-class | HMS Calpe · HMS Brissenden |
| Tribal-class | HMCS Haida · HMS Eskimo · HMS Mohawk |
| J-class | HMS Jervis |
| K-class | HMS Kelvin |
| N-class | HMAS Nepal |
| Battle-class | HMS Armada · HMS Cadiz · HMAS Tobruk |
| Daring-class | HMS Daring · HMS Diamond · HMS Diana |
