Difference between revisions of "Le Malin"
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== Description == | == Description == | ||
<!-- ''In the first part of the description, cover the history of the ship's creation and military application. In the second part, tell the reader about using this ship in the game. Add a screenshot: if a beginner player has a hard time remembering vehicles by name, a picture will help them identify the ship in question.'' --> | <!-- ''In the first part of the description, cover the history of the ship's creation and military application. In the second part, tell the reader about using this ship in the game. Add a screenshot: if a beginner player has a hard time remembering vehicles by name, a picture will help them identify the ship in question.'' --> | ||
| − | + | '''Le Malin''' was the first of the [[Le Fantasque (Family)|Le Fantasque destroyers]] to be launched off slipway in 1933. With the beginning of World War Two, she was delegated to hunting down German commerce raiders in the central Atlantic. Following the fall of France, she avoided British attack on Mers-el-Kébir, and escorted surviving French ships to the mainland, fighting for Vichy France. In 1942, she underwent refit in Casablanca until the port was attacked by the US Navy. A near-miss from the battleship USS Massachusetts blew a hole in the hull of the vessel, killing 7 crewmen, disabling one of the boilers, and causing a significant list to the port. The vessel was captured by Americans and passed on to the Free French, but due to the lack of facilities she received only temporary repairs and was rebased to Boston, where she received repairs and refit (as modelled in-game). In service of the Free French, she participated in the Battle of Ist and numerous minor duties across the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Post-war, she served as an escort vessel for French carriers, later being delegated to the role of a stationary training vessel and eventually a floating jetty before being stricken off in 1964. | |
| + | |||
| + | Le Malin was introduced in [[Update "La Royale"]] and, typically for French destroyers, she features a combination of excellent speed with great firepower. However, her main guns suffer from being unable to rotate fast enough to keep up with the turn rate of the vessel, having horizontal targeting speed slower than most heavy cruisers. She's best used as a somewhat limited destroyer - to deal with enemy vessels (including light cruisers), and capture the points, preferably always keeping the enemies on one side of the vessel to ensure they remain within firing angles for as long as possible. | ||
== General info == | == General info == | ||
| Line 12: | Line 14: | ||
{{Specs-Fleet-Armour}} | {{Specs-Fleet-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.'' --> | <!-- ''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.'' --> | ||
| − | The vehicle's survivability is mediocre at best. While the vehicle has a fairly sized crew and lots of empty space to absorb shells, it also has a huge silhouette which makes it easy to get hit. Additionally, the large unarmoured bridge can be taken out with ease, which can negate one of your most powerful advantages- your potent mobility. This can be especially crippling as your turret traverse is extremely poor, which means if you get stuck in a turn with your bridge | + | The vehicle's survivability is mediocre at best. While the vehicle has a fairly sized crew and lots of empty space to absorb shells, it also has a huge silhouette which makes it easy to get hit. Additionally, the large unarmoured bridge can be taken out with ease, which can negate one of your most powerful advantages- your potent mobility. This can be especially crippling as your turret traverse is extremely poor, which means if you get stuck in a turn with your bridge destroyed, you are highly unlikely to be able to return fire to the enemy. |
=== Mobility === | === Mobility === | ||
{{Specs-Fleet-Mobility}} | {{Specs-Fleet-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.'' --> | <!-- ''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.'' --> | ||
| − | The ship has good manoeuvrability. It is exceptionally fast in a straight line and it is quite agile, with a reasonable rudder shift speed and turn rate. | + | The ship has good manoeuvrability. It is exceptionally fast in a straight line and it is quite agile, with a reasonable rudder shift speed and turn rate. Compared to [[Tashkent]], which has nearly identical maximum speed, it has a ~20% smaller turn radius, making it much easier to avoid torpedoes or throw enemy aim off. Its reverse speed is average, although it does take quite a while to stop from full speed. |
{{NavalMobility | {{NavalMobility | ||
| Line 36: | Line 38: | ||
{{main|138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm)}} | {{main|138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm)}} | ||
| − | The main guns of this ship are generally very potent, but in a few situations they can be near useless. They have a fast reload and high-yield SAP which will deal plenty of damage and will | + | The main guns of this ship are generally very potent, but in a few situations they can be near useless. They have a fast reload and high-yield SAP which will deal plenty of damage and will overpenetrate less than pure AP or APCBC rounds. However, they have limited capability against larger ships with more armour, because they have very little penetration. The guns also have a slow traverse rate, which can make getting guns on target quite difficult, especially when a target is moving. |
{{:138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm)/Ammunition|138.6 mm OEA Mle 1928, 138.6 mm OPFA Mle 1924}} | {{:138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm)/Ammunition|138.6 mm OEA Mle 1928, 138.6 mm OPFA Mle 1924}} | ||
| Line 45: | Line 47: | ||
{{main|Bofors L/60 Mark 2 (40 mm)}} | {{main|Bofors L/60 Mark 2 (40 mm)}} | ||
| − | The | + | The 40 mm Bofors guns are powerful against small coastal vessels, and using AP clips gives them increased potency against more armoured vessels. They can be used with some success against early destroyers, although this should be a last-ditch effort, in case the main armament is unable to fire for some reason. |
* '''Universal:''' {{Annotation|AP-T|Armour-piercing tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}} | * '''Universal:''' {{Annotation|AP-T|Armour-piercing tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}} | ||
| Line 58: | Line 60: | ||
{{main|20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II (20 mm)}} | {{main|20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II (20 mm)}} | ||
| − | The AA suite of this vessel is quite powerful. It consists of the ubiquitous | + | The AA suite of this vessel is quite powerful. It consists of the ubiquitous 40 mm Bofors and the 20 mm Oerlikon guns. The fast-rotation rate of the Oerlikons provides a useful close-defence against small torpedo boats, which is a real weakness of the ship at close range because of the slow rotation speed of the main batteries. The AA is very effective against all sizes of planes, being able to produce a large screen of lead that will take down even the most manoeuvrable fighters at quite impressive ranges. |
=== Additional armament === | === Additional armament === | ||
| Line 69: | Line 71: | ||
== Usage in battles == | == Usage in battles == | ||
<!-- ''Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | <!-- ''Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | ||
| − | + | Le Malin is best characterised by its excellent firepower and speed, at the expense of a lack of flexibility, due to the slow turret traverse. This makes it difficult to switch between targets when manoeuvring, and especially tricky to deal with any surprises or when moving between islands (such as is common on Palau islands or some portions of South Kvarken). This makes it necessary to get used to switching manual control to the secondary or even anti-air guns in order to deal with enemy Motor Torpedo Boats and other coastal vessels, or even to quickly disable enemy primary guns. | |
| + | |||
| + | That said, when Le Malin has an opportunity to dictate the encounter it will outgun most of the enemy destroyers, often being able to one-shot aft magazines with the large explosive filler of the guns. | ||
=== Pros and cons === | === Pros and cons === | ||
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' --> | <!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' --> | ||
| − | '''Pros:''' | + | '''Pros:''' |
* Fast | * Fast | ||
* Average agility | * Average agility | ||
| − | * Potent AA armament | + | * Excellent firepower |
| + | * SAP has plenty of explosive filler | ||
| + | * Potent AA armament | ||
* Fast reloading main guns | * Fast reloading main guns | ||
| − | |||
'''Cons:''' | '''Cons:''' | ||
* Large profile | * Large profile | ||
| − | * Unarmoured | + | * Unarmoured |
* SAP shells have very little pen- will struggle to deal with more armoured vessels | * SAP shells have very little pen- will struggle to deal with more armoured vessels | ||
* Very slow turret traverse | * Very slow turret traverse | ||
| − | * Somewhat awkward position of torpedo tubes | + | * Somewhat awkward position of torpedo tubes |
== History == | == 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: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' --> | <!-- ''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: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' --> | ||
| − | The ''Le Malin'' was a member of the ''Le Fantasque'' class of ''contre-torpilleurs'' that were built in the 1930s. The ''Le Malin'' herself entered service in 1935. The class was built to counter the [[Condottieri-class]] light cruisers of the Italian Navy. The ships were extremely fast (''Le Terrible'' set a new speed record for a conventionally hulled boat of 45 knots during her trials) and had a powerful armament of five [[138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm)]] guns in single mounts. They had a range of 2,900 miles at 15 knots. The ship | + | The ''Le Malin'' was a member of the ''Le Fantasque'' class of ''contre-torpilleurs'' that were built in the 1930s. The ''Le Malin'' herself entered service in 1935. The class was built to counter the [[Condottieri-class]] light cruisers of the Italian Navy. The ships were extremely fast (''Le Terrible'' set a new speed record for a conventionally hulled boat of 45 knots during her trials) and had a powerful armament of five [[138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm)]] guns in single mounts. They had a range of 2,900 miles at 15 knots. The ship was a member of the ''Force de Raid'' at the start of WW2, and engaged German units in Norway in April 1940. She escorted convoys evacuating personnel from France to French North Africa, and stayed with Vichy France after the French surrender. |
== Media == | == Media == | ||
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' --> | <!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' --> | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | ;Skins | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=fr_destroyer_le_fantasque_class_le_malin Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.] | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
| Line 113: | Line 121: | ||
* [[wt:en/news/8232-development-le-malin-the-malign-destroyer-en|[Devblog] Le Malin: the malign destroyer]] | * [[wt:en/news/8232-development-le-malin-the-malign-destroyer-en|[Devblog] Le Malin: the malign destroyer]] | ||
| + | * [[Wikipedia:French destroyer Le Malin|[Wikipedia] French destroyer Le Malin]] | ||
| + | * [https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6048.html <nowiki>[uboat.net]</nowiki> FR Le Malin] | ||
| + | * [https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?283930 <nowiki>[Wrecks-Site]</nowiki> Le Malin (1956~1964) Le Malin (Q359)] | ||
{{Manufacturer FCM}} | {{Manufacturer FCM}} | ||
{{France destroyers}} | {{France destroyers}} | ||
Latest revision as of 10:02, 20 April 2024
Contents
Description
Le Malin was the first of the Le Fantasque destroyers to be launched off slipway in 1933. With the beginning of World War Two, she was delegated to hunting down German commerce raiders in the central Atlantic. Following the fall of France, she avoided British attack on Mers-el-Kébir, and escorted surviving French ships to the mainland, fighting for Vichy France. In 1942, she underwent refit in Casablanca until the port was attacked by the US Navy. A near-miss from the battleship USS Massachusetts blew a hole in the hull of the vessel, killing 7 crewmen, disabling one of the boilers, and causing a significant list to the port. The vessel was captured by Americans and passed on to the Free French, but due to the lack of facilities she received only temporary repairs and was rebased to Boston, where she received repairs and refit (as modelled in-game). In service of the Free French, she participated in the Battle of Ist and numerous minor duties across the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Post-war, she served as an escort vessel for French carriers, later being delegated to the role of a stationary training vessel and eventually a floating jetty before being stricken off in 1964.
Le Malin was introduced in Update "La Royale" and, typically for French destroyers, she features a combination of excellent speed with great firepower. However, her main guns suffer from being unable to rotate fast enough to keep up with the turn rate of the vessel, having horizontal targeting speed slower than most heavy cruisers. She's best used as a somewhat limited destroyer - to deal with enemy vessels (including light cruisers), and capture the points, preferably always keeping the enemies on one side of the vessel to ensure they remain within firing angles for as long as possible.
General info
Survivability and armour
The vehicle's survivability is mediocre at best. While the vehicle has a fairly sized crew and lots of empty space to absorb shells, it also has a huge silhouette which makes it easy to get hit. Additionally, the large unarmoured bridge can be taken out with ease, which can negate one of your most powerful advantages- your potent mobility. This can be especially crippling as your turret traverse is extremely poor, which means if you get stuck in a turn with your bridge destroyed, you are highly unlikely to be able to return fire to the enemy.
Mobility
The ship has good manoeuvrability. It is exceptionally fast in a straight line and it is quite agile, with a reasonable rudder shift speed and turn rate. Compared to Tashkent, which has nearly identical maximum speed, it has a ~20% smaller turn radius, making it much easier to avoid torpedoes or throw enemy aim off. Its reverse speed is average, although it does take quite a while to stop from full speed.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | Turn Time (s) | Turn Radius (m) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||||
| AB | Stock | 70 | 23 | ~122.55 | ~265.48 |
| Upgraded | 96 | 31 | ___ | ___ | |
| RB/SB | |||||
| Upgraded | 78 | 25 | ___ | ___ | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armament
Primary armament
The main guns of this ship are generally very potent, but in a few situations they can be near useless. They have a fast reload and high-yield SAP which will deal plenty of damage and will overpenetrate less than pure AP or APCBC rounds. However, they have limited capability against larger ships with more armour, because they have very little penetration. The guns also have a slow traverse rate, which can make getting guns on target quite difficult, especially when a target is moving.
| 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 | ||
| OEA Mle 1928 | HE | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| OPFA Mle 1924 | SAPBC | 77 | 67 | 54 | 43 | 36 | 30 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| OEA Mle 1928 | HE | 800 | 40.2 | 0 | 0.1 | 3.41 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| OPFA Mle 1924 | SAPBC | 800 | 39.9 | 0.05 | 6 | 2.53 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Secondary armament
The 40 mm Bofors guns are powerful against small coastal vessels, and using AP clips gives them increased potency against more armoured vessels. They can be used with some success against early destroyers, although this should be a last-ditch effort, in case the main armament is unable to fire for some reason.
- Universal: AP-T · HEFI-T
- 40 mm HE clips: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · AP-T
- 40 mm AP clips: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEFI-T
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| HEFI-T | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| AP-T | 81 | 78 | 68 | 58 | 49 | 41 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| HEFI-T | 874 | 0.9 | 0 | 0.1 | 67.13 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
| AP-T | 874 | 0.89 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
Anti-aircraft armament
The AA suite of this vessel is quite powerful. It consists of the ubiquitous 40 mm Bofors and the 20 mm Oerlikon guns. The fast-rotation rate of the Oerlikons provides a useful close-defence against small torpedo boats, which is a real weakness of the ship at close range because of the slow rotation speed of the main batteries. The AA is very effective against all sizes of planes, being able to produce a large screen of lead that will take down even the most manoeuvrable fighters at quite impressive ranges.
Additional armament
The ship has a triple torpedo tube on either side of the superstructure amidships near the funnels. These torpedoes are often of limited use as they are quite slow, but can be useful in a pinch at close range or against larger ships which the high-yield SAP of the main armament will struggle to penetrate. The location of these tubes can be somewhat annoying, as unlike on other ships, each set of tubes can only fire to one side. This means only one will be able to bear on a target at a time.
Usage in battles
Le Malin is best characterised by its excellent firepower and speed, at the expense of a lack of flexibility, due to the slow turret traverse. This makes it difficult to switch between targets when manoeuvring, and especially tricky to deal with any surprises or when moving between islands (such as is common on Palau islands or some portions of South Kvarken). This makes it necessary to get used to switching manual control to the secondary or even anti-air guns in order to deal with enemy Motor Torpedo Boats and other coastal vessels, or even to quickly disable enemy primary guns.
That said, when Le Malin has an opportunity to dictate the encounter it will outgun most of the enemy destroyers, often being able to one-shot aft magazines with the large explosive filler of the guns.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Fast
- Average agility
- Excellent firepower
- SAP has plenty of explosive filler
- Potent AA armament
- Fast reloading main guns
Cons:
- Large profile
- Unarmoured
- SAP shells have very little pen- will struggle to deal with more armoured vessels
- Very slow turret traverse
- Somewhat awkward position of torpedo tubes
History
The Le Malin was a member of the Le Fantasque class of contre-torpilleurs that were built in the 1930s. The Le Malin herself entered service in 1935. The class was built to counter the Condottieri-class light cruisers of the Italian Navy. The ships were extremely fast (Le Terrible set a new speed record for a conventionally hulled boat of 45 knots during her trials) and had a powerful armament of five 138.6 mm/50 model 1929 (138.6 mm) guns in single mounts. They had a range of 2,900 miles at 15 knots. The ship was a member of the Force de Raid at the start of WW2, and engaged German units in Norway in April 1940. She escorted convoys evacuating personnel from France to French North Africa, and stayed with Vichy France after the French surrender.
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
- [Devblog] Le Malin: the malign destroyer
- [Wikipedia] French destroyer Le Malin
- [uboat.net] FR Le Malin
- [Wrecks-Site] Le Malin (1956~1964) Le Malin (Q359)
| Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée (FCM) | |
|---|---|
| Ships | |
| Destroyers | |
| Aigle-class | Vautour |
| Le Fantasque-class | Le Malin |
| Battleships | |
| Courbet-class | Paris |
| Tanks | |
| Light tank | FCM.36 |
| Heavy tank | 2C · 2C bis |
| France destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Bourrasque-class | Bourrasque · Tornade |
| Chacal-class | Chacal · Leopard · Panthere |
| Aigle-class | Aigle · Vautour · Milan |
| Vauquelin-class | Vauquelin |
| Le Fantasque-class | Le Malin · Le Triomphant |
| Mogador-class | Mogador |
| Hunt-class | La Combattante |
| Trophies | Germany |
| Desaix-class¹ | Kleber |
| Type 1936 | Marceau |
| Italy | |
| Chateaurenault-class² | Guichen |
| Modified: ¹Type 1934A-class destroyers · ²Capitani Romani-class cruisers | |
