Isuzu
Contents
Description
The Isuzu-class, Isuzu (DE-211) is a rank V Japanese frigate
with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.95 "Northern Wind".
General info
Survivability and armour
Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.
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.
Armament
Primary armament
Isuzu carries four 3-inch Mk.33 automatic cannons in twin installation. The turrets are placed at the front and back of the ship and can effectively cover your vessel from all sides. HE shells can take care of unarmoured targets especially motor boats which can be destroyed within a few shots. For armoured targets and destroyers, you can choose AP shells but you still have to keep in mind that it is a 76 mm multi-purpose cannon. HE-VT shells are good for use in AA roles as there is not any secondary armament you can rely on.
Torpedo armament
The rotary torpedo launcher with four tubes is located in middle of the ship. This gives you the ability to release them to both sides, although the launcher can't rotate a full 360° so sometimes it have to make almost whole revolution to rotate to other side. As many ships with this kind of launcher, it has blind spots at the front and back of the ship. When you want to release a torpedo, you have to expose your profile to the enemy. On other hand, these four torpedoes have maximum speed of 102 km/h and range of 38 km, which makes them best torpedo in-game in these two characteristics. They also carry 267 kg of TNT which is not the best but still deadly.
Special armament
As one of special armaments, this ship carry Mark 108 Weapon alfa without any upgrades. This is an anti-submarine rocket, but in-game you can only use it for close range combat against ships. It shoot RUR-4 rockets that have a speed of 306 km/h and carry 113 kg of TNT, which is equal to small torpedoes. The biggest disadvantage is the range, which is only 800 m especially, combined with the fact that fast boats can easily dodge these rockets. Blind spot in front of the ship (thanks to main armament turret) makes this weapon very situational.
After unlocking the "Bomb mortar" upgrade, you can equip 2 x Mk. 6 depth charges which are projected from mortars. These weapons have an extremely limited range (only a few hundred meters off each side of the ship) and would only be used during a close-in brawl. Keep in mind that the depth charges do take a few seconds to fly through the air and sink before they detonate, so be aware of timing their firing. Each Mk. 6 depth charge has an explosive charge of 136 kg TNT, which will obliterate any small craft and deal significant damage to a larger ship.
Usage in battles
Isuzu has upgraded forepower from its in-game predecessor Chikugo but it shares the same imperfections of not very long-range and small calibre compared to opponents you will meet. That means you should stick to the same tactics that work for Chikugo, such as not attempting to battle against long-range destroyers and rather focusing on boats and sub-chasers. You should not take this ship into late game as there isn't any anti-air armament and you will be easy prey for bombers that can overwhelm you if coming from different directions.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Can equip Type 89 (533 mm) torpedoes, the fastest and longest range torpedoes in-game
- Powerful armament for mid-range combat
Cons:
- No secondary or anti-aircraft armament
- Very expensive (SL and RP) for its abilities
- Only destroyer spawn although its most effective against other sub-chasers
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
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
| Japan frigates | |
|---|---|
| IJN | |
| Escort | IJN Syonan |
| JMSDF | |
| Destroyer Escort | JDS Akebono · JDS Ikazuchi · JDS Isuzu · JDS Chikugo |
| Destroyer | JDS Ayanami |
