Voroshilov
Contents
Description
The Pr.26, Voroshilov, 1943 is a gift rank IV Soviet light cruiser with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Ixwa Strike" as a reward for Battle Pass: Season III, "Strength athletics".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour scheme:
- 150 mm rolled homogeneous armour around the bridge and elevator
- 50 mm rolled homogeneous armour at the citadel
- 50 mm rolled homogeneous armour on each main turret
- 25 mm rolled homogeneous armour around the small command tower at the secondary firing platform
- 20 mm rolled homogeneous armour around the steering gear
- 14 mm anti-fragmentation armour on the torpedo tube mounts
- 8 mm rolled homogeneous armour on the gunshield of 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machine guns
As with the other Kirov-class cruisers, the Voroshilov is best described as an oversized light cruiser. She dwarfes most of the other proper light cruisers and rivals the size of a heavy cruiser (just shorter than Mogami-class heavy cruisers by 13 m). The Voroshilov's size is essentially a double-edged sword: it can be easily targeted at any ranges, yet it's very survivable despite only having a simple 50 mm of citadel armour, this is because most of the Voroshilov's critical components (such as main battery ammo racks and engines) were located inside the citadel sitting just below the waterline. This essentially turned the whole upper hull into a huge bullet sponge that can contain a lot of damage, save for a well-struck shot. Other than the citadel armour, the Voroshilov's main turrets are also covered with 50 mm of armour to protect it from HE shells.
However, as mentioned above, the Voroshilov lacks any substantial anti-fragmentation armour to protect her crew from incoming fire. This is essentially her Achilles' heels as she can be overwhelmed by several enemy ships firing HE shells at her. She is also vulnerable to bombs and torpedoes due to lack of hull armour as well.
Mobility
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 78 | 23 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 67 | 19 | |
The Voroshilov can reach a respectable top speed of 78 km/h in AB (67 km/h in RB). However, she's quite sluggish to move around due to excessive hull length.
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Armament
Primary armament
The Voroshilov has 9 x 180 mm/57 (7.1") B-1-P Pattern 1932 naval cannons for her main armament, arranged in triple turrets mounted A-Bs-X. While each shots is very powerful and accurate, the Voroshilov has a fairly low rate of fire at 5 shots per minute. This mean that she have lesser damage output per minute than its contemporaries at 5.7 BR.
The Voroshilov has an access to a powerful HE shell by default with 7.9 kg of TNT and good fragmentation penetration of 65 mm, which is enough to disable the turrets of most enemy ships at range and depleting the crews of some of less-protected ships. She can unlock an APCBC round with very high penetration but much lower explosive mass and a SAPCBC round with lesser penetration but with almost the same explosive mass as the HE shell (7 kg of TNT). Since every shells has the same muzzle velocity of 920 m/s, it is easy to leading targets and cycles between each shells.
As a rule of thumb, use HE shell against any soft targets and less-protected ships, SAPCBC against more well-protected cruisers, and APCBC against very heavy targets like dreadnoughts.
Secondary armament
The Voroshilov has 6 x 100 mm/56 B-34 cannons as a secondary armaments, placed around the second funnel of the ship. These guns are quite weak against larger ship and mediocre against fast PT boats. However, they are quite effective as an anti-air weaponry thanks to high-velocity shell (900 m/s) and access to HE-TF and HE-VT shells.
The only problem with the 100 mm guns is that its ammo storage are located just below the firing platform. So, if they're hit, these ammo storage can be detonated and cause significant damage to the ship.
Anti-aircraft armament
The key difference of the Voroshilov compared to her sister ships is her anti-air armament. She is equipped with 13 x 37 mm 70-K anti-air cannons placed all over the ship. These 37 mm guns are very powerful against any aircraft she will face and are capable of shooting down the enemy from up to 3-4 km away. As a bonus, she also have seven Vickers machine guns and four DShK machine guns to serve as a deterrent at close range.
Additional armament
The Voroshilov can be equipped with six 533 mm 53-39 torpedoes, launched from a triple launcher placed on each side of the ship. These torpedoes are quite fast (93 km/h without torpedo modification) and pack a good amount of explosive of 300 kg. However, without torpedo modification, these torpedoes has a very poor range at only 4 km. It is advised not to load them before getting a torpedo modification, as it will serve merely as an external ammo racks.
Scout plane
Located amidships is a catapult with one Beriev Be-2 (aka KOR-1) scout plane which provides unique offensive and defensive abilities, expanding tactical options. Ship-launched scout planes fly just like regular tree units but lack munition choices and cockpit views. Alongside the typical abilities of strafing with its two light machine guns, dropping 2 x 50 kg bombs, and capping zones, the KOR-1 and other scout planes have the added ability to lay down smoke cover (up to 3 times). Captains will be wise to remember to utilise the aircraft and consider when best to use it, for example to cap a point early or late in the match, to create a smoke screen to stymie enemy bombardment and repair, to attack enemy units directly, or perhaps something completely new!
Usage in battles
The Voroshilov is a rather odd mix between faster light cruiser and slower heavy cruiser. She has the powerful guns and the hull size of a heavy cruiser, and the speed and (lack of) armour of a light cruiser. This made her very versatile and can be used to fulfill multiple roles.
The Voroshilov featured nine slow-firing yet powerful 180 mm guns as her main armament. These guns are quite effective at all ranges, but it is especially effective at medium-to-long ranges (~7 - 12 km) due to accuracy and high muzzle velocity. However, make sure to make every shot count, as the Voroshilov carries somewhat limited ammunition (900 shells) and most of the enemy cruisers reload faster than you and will retaliates as soon as they saw you.
Protection-wise, the Voroshilov is fairly survivable ship. While she lacks any substantial armour plates except 50 mm of RHA on her citadel and turrets, she can soak up a considerable amount of hits (especially AP rounds) and still remains afloat. However, due to her massive size and lack of armour (especially for a light cruiser), she is quite easy to hit if you did not exploit her A-Bs-X turret arrangements and her mobility, and she is quite prone to any kinds of explosive damages (HE shells, bombs, torpedoes, etc.)
While she is able to hold on her own for awhile, the Voroshilov is best used with any allied ships nearby. Stick together with your teammates, strike hard at long distance, and provide anti-air support is a key of success of playing this ship.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Nine powerful 180 mm guns, housed inside a well-protected turrets with good firing angle
- Surprisingly survivable, rivaling to that of some heavy cruisers
- Can take a lot of punishments when angled
- Decent top speed
- Very potent anti-air coverage
- One scout seaplane
Cons:
- Very long hull, can be easily targeted
- Lack of anti-fragmentation armour made her prone to damage from HE shells, especially when fighting several opponents alone
- Will be regularly facing battleships that can decimating it in a few salvoes
- Rather mediocre protection against torpedoes and bombs
- Poor turn speed, especially when stock
- Somewhat limited main ammunition stock (900 rounds)
History
Devblog
The light cruiser Voroshilov is one of the cruisers of the Project 26 (Kirov class), was laid down in 1935, launched in 1937, and in 1940 joined the Soviet Black Sea Fleet as flagship. Like other cruisers from the project, it was a deep modernization of the Italian cruiser Eugenio di Savoia, with significantly better firepower and hull strength. Voroshilov saw combat literally in the first days of the Nazi invasion of the USSR, assisting the attack on the oil silos of the Constanta, Romania in June 1941. Later that year she shelled the accumulations of German military vehicles and personnel in the Perekop region. During WWII, Voroshilov took an active part in combat throughout the Black Sea, and was several times damaged by shelling and enemy aircraft. For her courage, the cruiser was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the war, Voroshilov continued to serve in the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Navy, going through several stages of modernization. The cruiser was decommissioned in 1973 and later scrapped for metal.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Related development
External links
| Black Sea Shipyard (Черноморский судостроительный завод) | |
|---|---|
| Destroyers | |
| Derzkiy-class | Frunze |
| Fidonisy-class | Kerch |
| Project 1 | Moskva |
| Light Cruisers | |
| Project 26 | Voroshilov |
| Project 68A | Mikhail Kutuzov |
| USSR light cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Imperial Russia | |
| Svetlana-class | Krasny Krym* · Krasny Kavkaz* |
| * Laid down by Imperial Russian Navy; Finished and renamed by the USSR | |
| Project | Soviet Union |
| Pr.26 | Kirov · Voroshilov · Maxim Gorky |
| Pr.68 | Chapayev · Zheleznyakov |
| Pr.68-bis | Sverdlov · Mikhail Kutuzov |
| Pr.68-bis-ZiF | Shcherbakov |
| Lend-Lease | USA |
| Omaha-class | Murmansk |
| Trophies | Italy |
| Condottieri-class | Kerch |
