HMS Abdiel
Contents
Description
The HMS Abdiel (M39) is a member of the Abdiel-class minelayer family. The HMS Abdiel was built at Thornycroft's Woolston shipyard on May 23, 1966, launched on January 22, 1967, and commissioned on October 17, 1967. Her official mission, as a "Exercise Minelayer" designated by the Ministry of Defence, was to train Royal Navy personnel in minelaying operations using dummy naval mines and to serve as a Forward Headquarters ship for mine clearance operations. Despite the fact that successive British governments have been opposed to the use of sea and land mines since the mid-1960s, she was capable of laying offensive mines during wartime. She was assigned to the Home Fleet (1942–1943), the Mediterranean Fleet (1941–1943), and the Eastern Fleet (1942–1942). Despite being built as a swift minelayer, her capacity and speed allowed her to be used as a fast transport ship as well. On September 10, 1943, during Operation Slapstick, mines sank the HMS Abdiel in Taranto harbour in Italy. Two German torpedo boats (S-54 and S-61) had laid the mines just hours before they left the harbour. After the captain of the USS Boise had earlier declined to transport the troops, the British 1st Airborne Division's troops (6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion and 204 (Oban) Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery) board the HMS Abdiel. Two mines exploded beneath the HMS Abdiel shortly after midnight, and the minelayer sank in three minutes, killing many sailors and soldiers.
Introduced in Update "Apex Predators", the HMS Abdiel functions a lot like those destroyers with light armaments. She will struggle against targets with heavy weaponry, but she will have no trouble engaging weaker opponents. Given that the main armament has a very accurate range of about 5 km, it is crucial to aim your shots at opponents with more firepower. However, unless players have allies to support them, it is not recommended to initiate a fight with any stronger opponents. It is suggested that players seek out choke points leading to objectives and take advantage of her superior speed to arrive there first and plant mines; however, be cautious as she is a prime target for torpedoes fired by fast coastal vessels.
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HMS Abdiel is classed as a light cruiser and has a low BR compared to other light cruisers. In this BR bracket, there are some maps that don't feature a cruiser spawn (namely Aleutian Islands) and there is a risk that you won't be able to spawn anything if your line-up consists only of HMS Abdiel herself. |
General info
Survivability and armour
Other than the gun shields and some very light armour on the bridge, HMS Abdiel more resembles a destroyer than a light cruiser. She does however feel much tankier than the equivalent destroyers at this BR, likely due to her displacement and larger crew size.
If carrying mines in the stern then her survivability is much reduced. Often players will target her rear quarters trying to detonate the mines or rear ammo racks, so don't carry them unless you intend to use them.
Her front ammo racks are somewhat protected behind fuel tanks and are at least partially underwater, though magazine explosions seem to plague the entire British line, particularly from plunging 5"/38 fire at range. The rear ammo racks seem to be very vulnerable too as mentioned back.
She does contain a lot of empty space however, especially if mines are not being carried, hence feels as though she can take a lot more of a beating than equivalent BR ships.
Mobility
HMS Abdiel, at 39 knots fully upgraded, is faster than many coastal torpedo boats. Acceleration is rapid compared to anything else in the British blue water fleet and she'll do 13 knots in full reverse. She feels more like a particularly responsive destroyer and is difficult to target against a skilled player using evasive manoeuvres. Rudder control is pretty much instant allowing you to dodge incoming shells.
Her speed and manoeuvrability allows capping and positioning unavailable to other ships, though as a Light Cruiser she is hampered by using the Heavy fleet spawn.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 85 | 29 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 73 | 25 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
With two twin 4"/45 turrets forward and another at the stern HMS Abdiel has similar firepower to other British ships at this BR. The stern turret can fire at relative fine angles forward, about 15 degrees off the bow. Turret traverse is somewhat slow though easily enough to keep the guns on target which manouvreing.
She therefore plays far more like a destroyer than a Light Cruiser.
| 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 | ||
| 4 inch HE | HE | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 inch SAP | SAP | 102 | 85 | 64 | 48 | 38 | 30 |
| 4 inch HE-TF | HE-TF | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 4 inch HE-VT | HE-VT | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| 4 inch HE | HE | 811 | 15.88 | 0 | 0.1 | 1,550 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| 4 inch SAP | SAP | 811 | 17.35 | 0.015 | 5 | 600 | 47° | 60° | 65° | |||
| 4 inch HE-TF | HE-TF | 811 | 15.88 | 0 | 0.1 | 1,550 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Proximity-fused shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Arming distance (m) |
Trigger radius (m) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| 4 inch HE-VT | HE-VT | 811 | 15.88 | 0 | 0.1 | 274 | 18 | 1,550 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |
Secondary armament
Secondaries amount to a single quad 40 mm pompom high-mounted on the rear superstructure. You often see Coastal vessels in downtiers and the pompoms tend to make short work of them.
- 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 | ||
| AP-T | 60 | 57 | 48 | 39 | 32 | 26 | |
| HEF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| AP-T | 701 | 0.91 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
| HEF | 701 | 0.82 | 0 | 0.1 | 71 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
Anti-aircraft armament
Dedicated AAA is rather weak with 2x quad .50 cals on either side of the bridge. You'll want to keep some 4" VT handy if there are aircraft around, particularly bombers operating above pompom range. She doesn't feel to be too vulnerable to low level air attack given the BR though can suffer from high altitude bombing if the player is distracted as she's a comparatively large target.
The 4" guns do provide an excellent rate of fire however so best to use individual ranged shots to walk the fire onto the approaching aircraft.
She certainly isn't a AAA cruiser, though can be effective.
Additional armament
HMS Abdiel can carry 40 Type M Mk1 contact mines which are dispensed from racks under the rear deck. These are 600 kg each and will happily cripple if not destroy any ship coming into contact with them.
Usage in battles
The play style for HMS Abdiel will be familiar to those of lightly gunned destroyers. In downtiers you can happily bully weaker opponents, even literally pushing them around at contact range. Uptiers are more difficult, especially when carrying mines. It's important not to give easy shorts into your rear hull. It is also important to dodge incoming salvos as plunging fire through the forward deck can reach the magazines.
The 4" guns are very accurate inside of about 5 km so it's important to place your shots against opponents who have superior firepower. Using single ranged shots and walking the fire up and down the target seems to be surprisingly effective rather than spamming broadsides. At range varying speed and direction can make her a difficult target though closer in you are likely to be outgunned.
Unless there are clear choke points the obvious use for mines is at the cap points and Abdiel does make an exceptional vessel for taking such, even at much higher BRs where her speed can turn matches. A very useful vessel to keep around should the match situation require it. Her manoeuvrability is well suited to the inland cap points, where she'll often face coastal vessels. Though watch out for torpedoes as she's rather long.
Some caution is required early in the game where it is easy to get well ahead of the rest of your team and become the focus. On the other hand she's quite capable of dodging a lot of incoming fire, so long as they don't take her engines out, and using her to lay smoke to protect the spawn or advancing fleet can be effective.
In arcade battles, her ship class is clearly visible, though in RB some destroyer captains might not recognise her silhouette and be wary of taking on a Light Cruiser. She can also be effective as a scout, keeping enemy vessels in sight such that the rest of the fleet can engage.
Well worth keeping her in your roster for Enduring Confrontation too as her ability to get around the map to complete objectives is unparalleled.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Features fast-firing and accurate 4-inch guns
- High top speed and mobility
- Decent anti-air defense
- Can be loaded with 40 sea mines for area denial
- Exceptionally good fun to play
Cons:
- Being classed as a light cruiser, the ship is forced to spawn at longer ranges where the 4-inch guns are less effective
- Lacks any torpedo armament
- Practically no armour protection save for the bridge; highly vulnerable to enemy fire
- Extremely vulnerable magazines and mine racks, both sit way above the waterline
- Current meta doesn't particularly suit minelayers
History
Designed to speed into contested waters and lay minefields overnight, the Abdiel-class proved to be very useful vessels, although they were rarely used in their intended role. A minefield laid in the Sicilian Channel claimed two Italian Destroyers and a couple of merchant ships, though only 2% of the UK's total minelaying effort was offensive in nature, rather than the tens of thousands of mines laid around Britain's coasts by small boats and aircraft.
Instead, the Abdiel-class became invaluable as supply vessels which could run the gauntlet of Axis airpower to help relieve Malta, Tobruk and participated in many evacuations. None of the Abdiel-classes were lost whilst performing their intended role as minelayers, though three were lost during the war. Including, rather ironically, HMS Abdiel to a mine in Taranto harbour.
A memorial to the fast minelayers can be found in Milford Haven, their operating base.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
External links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdiel-class_minelayer
https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-07ML-Abdiel.htm
https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/98851/War-Memorial-with-Sea-Mine-Milford-Haven.htm
| J. Samuel White | |
|---|---|
| Torpedo/Gun Boats | |
| Steam Gun Boat (SGB) | SGB Grey Goose |
| Light Cruisers | |
| Abdiel-class | HMS Abdiel |
| Britain light cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Emerald-class | HMS Enterprise |
| Dido-class | HMS Dido |
| Leander-class | HMNZS Leander |
| Arethusa-class | HMS Arethusa |
| Town-class | HMS Belfast · HMS Liverpool · HMS Southampton |
| Tiger-class | HMS Tiger |
| Abdiel-class* | HMS Abdiel |
