Ship:Belfast '43

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14.8

Cruiser | U.K. | Tier VIII

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VIII

Special

Belfast '43 — British special premium Tier VIII cruiser.

Commissioned in 1939, the second ship of the Edinburgh class, HMS Belfast, struck a German mine at the beginning of World War II and was subsequently under repair until 1942. After that, in 1943, the ship escorted northern convoys and participated in the sinking of Scharnhorst in the Battle of the North Cape. In 1944, she covered the landing of Allied troops in Normandy. Between 1950 and 1952, the cruiser participated in the Korean War. Since 1971, Belfast has served as a museum ship and, since 1978, as a branch of the Imperial War Museum.

First sold November 8th, 2020.

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Dispersion (m)	Maximum HE Shell Damage (HP)	Chances of HE shells causing a fire on target (%)	Maximum AP Shell Damage (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
152 mm/50 BL Mk.XXIII on a Mk.XXIII mount	7.1	22.5	139	2,450	11	3,100		0	0

	Hit Points (HP)	Armor (mm)	Armor (mm)	Main Turrets (pcs.)	Secondary Gun Turrets (pcs.)	AA Mounts (pcs.)	Torpedo Tubes (pcs.)	Hangar Capacity (pcs.)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Belfast (1943)	38,400	6	114	4	6	8/5/2/6	2			0	0

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	Torpedo Tubes Reload Time (sec)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Damage (HP)	Torpedo Speed (knot)	Torpedo Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
533 mm Mk IX*	0.8	72	7.2	15,866	61	8		0	0

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Mk VIII mod. 1		0		0	0

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 80,000 hp	32.5		0	0

Warning: The data presented in the AA Defense sidebar section may be incorrect.
Refer to the in-game Port screens for more useful data.

Belfast '43 is a variation of Tier VIII Edinburgh, maintaining good maneuverability, a large 114mm armor belt, and unique set of consumables; Short Burst Smoke Generator, Surveillance Radar and Hydroacoustic Search. Belfast '43 is one of the few ships to mount both a Smoke generator and Surveillance radar. Although this is a powerful combo, her smoke is the Short Burst Smoke Generator, and she lacks access to any form of Repair party, which severely limits her potential compared to Tier X Plymouth, or to a lesser extent Tier VII Belfast.

Belfast '43 is built around her consumable suite. Her Short Burst Smoke Generator lends itself well to ambushing low health ships while remaining detected or for quick escapes if an enemy closes the distance too quickly. But it does not allow captains to shoot undetected for long periods of time; it will disperse quickly, as well as recharge quickly to use again. Her Surveillance Radar is an excellent tool for spotting enemy destroyers and submarines up to 9km away. And her Hydroacoustic search is useful for spotting torpedoes and enemy ships that stray too close. These all add up into a strong package that specializes in area denial and destroyer hunting.

Belfast '43 is covered by mostly 16mm armor, which can be overmatched by 229mm shells and larger. This protects her from ships like Baltimore and Charles Martel, but is still prone to damage at any angle from Battleship caliber guns such as Colorado and Bismarck. Although she has a 114mm armor belt and midsection which is thick enough to bounce any AP shell in the game when angled correctly, and shatter Conqueror HE shells. She still is a fragile light cruiser and captains must be careful to use cover and her smoke wisely as to maintain stealth for most of the game. In support of this stealthy playstyle, she has a very low detection radius, and when built correctly can radar ships a couple hundred meters before she herself is spotted.

Belfast '43 carries twelve 152mm guns, housed in four triple turrets. These guns are accurate and differ from most in-game British Light Cruisers in that they can load HE shells. This is a side grade to the tech tree guns; the change of the Specialized AP to normal AP shells is somewhat compensated for by the HE shells, with slightly improved penetration and damage are still strong against most ships. Her guns also have comfortable ballistics; they have effective trajectory at the limits of her range, while still being able to lob shells over islands. Belfast '43 has a longer reload time than her counterpart, Tier VII Belfast, this severely limits her DPM, though individual salvos still pack a punch. Belfast '43 has a secondary armament, which can be useful for setting the odd fire if captains find themselves too close to a battleship, but cannot be relied upon as the dispersion is poor. Belfast '43 also carries two triple, 8km torpedo racks, one on each side, which are slightly faster and more damaging, but shorter ranged than her sister ship Edinburgh. One rack of torpedoes will not do enough damage to sink a healthy battleship at her tier, so captains should keep in mind that these are best used as a deterrent.

The anti-aircraft armament on Belfast '43 leaves a lot to be desired; its overall damage is reduced by about 30% from her sister Edinburgh, though maintains a range of 5.8km on the long end, with medium and short ranged guns coming online at 2.5km and 2km respectively. This will generally not discourage even lower tiered carriers, therefore captains will rely on teammates and smoke to protect them from being focused by a CV. Furthermore captains will rely on allies to help kill submarines, though she can spot them fairly efficiently through the use of her consumables, and drop depth charges over her stern.

Belfast '43 is an odd ship compared to her relatives in the British light cruiser tech tree line. She shares the same hull, turrets and Hydroacoustic Search as her sister Edinburgh, but that's where the similarities end. Her guns, smoke and play style are much more comparable to an oversized Lightning with a Surveillance Radar; she shoots improved HE shells, has a Short Burst Smoke Generator, but lacks any Repair Party and the Specialized AP shells of the British light cruiser and destroyer tech tree lines. Captains should utilize her low detection radius to gain position behind island cover, where they can limit line of sight from enemy ships while utilizing shell arcs to remain undetected and provide fire support to friendly destroyers. Captains should remain undetected for as long as possible, thus making her lack of armor moot. When it comes to her role as fire support, it looks very different from Edinburgh. Belfast '43’s smoke has a short duration and fast reload times, making her well suited to ambushing unsuspecting destroyers in combination with her radar before disappearing again. Her smoke is also useful for breaking line of sight for emergency retreats.

Good consumables suite (Hydroacoustic Search, Short Burst Smoke Generator, and Surveillance Radar in their own slots).
Great concealment.
Good maneuverability.
Twelve main battery guns, and six torpedoes.
Strong HE shells; Improved penetration & damage

Light armor.
No Repair Party.
Slow reload time for a light cruiser.
Below average health pool.
Only three torpedoes per side.
Poor main battery range and firing angles.
Weak AA battery and ASW.

As a premium ship, Belfast '43 has no module upgrades to research.

Belfast '43 is well suited to controlling vision, commanders should seek to improve consumable action time, concealment, reload time, and take Radio Location finder to increase utility.

The recommended upgrades are:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Surveillance Radar Modification 1 or Hydroacoustic Search Modification 1 or Engine Room Protection *
Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
Slot 4: Steering Gears Modification 1
Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1

*In Slot 2, Captains should decide if they want to improve the duration of the Surveillance radar, or Hydroacoustic search, if those upgrades are not available then they should take Engine Room Protection to decrease the likelihood of losing control of the ship .

The Commander Skills chosen are intended to improve the survivability of the ship, and her utility.

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack				Defense
1	Grease the Gears +15% main battery traverse speed. ★★★	Swift Fish +5% torpedo speed. ★	Consumable Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except: Damage Control Party  Repair Party .	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type. ★★★	Incoming Fire Alert Receive a warning of a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5km. ★★	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver - slowly - while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated. ★★
2	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire. +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance fired at submarines. ★★	Fill the Tubes -10% torpedo tubes reload time. ★	Consumables Enhancements +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search, Surveillance Radar, Smoke Generator, & Engine Boost. ★★★	Eye in the Sky Spotting Aircraft: • +2 charges • -50% cooldown time.	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery. ★	Focus Fire Training In an active priority AA sector: • +1.5% (to 5%) immediate damage. • +25% continuous damage. • +1 flak burst per salvo. −10% aircraft preparation time. −15% reload time of Airstrike armament.. ★
3	Heavy HE and SAP Shells +10% HE and SAP shell damage. +15% ship detectability guns 149mm and up.	Pack a Punch +15% torpedo damage. +20% secondary battery range.. ★	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★	Heavy AP Shells +5% damage for AP shells 190mm and larger. ★	Superintendent +1 charge to all consumables. ★★★	Survivability Expert +450 HP per ship tier. ★★
4	Top Grade Gunner -10% reload time of secondary batteries If enemy ship is spotted within detectability range, -8% reload time of main battery. ★	Outnumbered If there are fewer allies than visible enemies within the ship's base main caliber firing range: +8% ship speed -10% main battery dispersion. ★	Radio Location Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.. ★★	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells Base fire chance reduced by half.	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	AAA & ASW Expert +25% continuous AA and flak damage. +15% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −50% ship consumables reload time.. ★
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Belfast '43 equips the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Hydroacoustic Search 
Slot 3: Short-Burst Smoke Generator 
Slot 4: Surveillance Radar

As a premium ship, Belfast '43 comes with Default permanent camouflage and a set of permanent combat bonuses.

The signals are chosen to improve her damage output, reduce the damage she takes from fires and floods, as well as removing the chance of detonating.

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Charlie Kilo +5% ship HP; +2.5% squadron HP.	Juliet Yankee Bissotwo -20% to flooding duration. ★★	India Yankee -20% to fire duration. ★★	Hotel Yankee -20% to damage received when ramming the enemy. +50% to damage dealt when ramming the enemy. ★	Victor Lima +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +4% chance of torpedoes causing flooding. ★★	India X-Ray +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. ★★
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. ★	Mike Yankee Soxisix +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range. -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells. -5% to secondary battery loading time. ★	November Echo Setteseven +5% continuous AA damage at all ranges. +5% damage from flak bursts. ★	Sierra Mike +5% to the ship's maximum speed. ★★★	November Foxtrot -5% reload time on all consumables. ★★★	India Delta +20% to the amount of HP recovered when Repair Party  is used.
X-Ray Papa Unaone +10% action time of a Smoke Generator . ★★	Sierra Bravo +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search  -10% reload time of Defensive AA Fire . ★★★

Wargaming

Armada: Belfast 1943. 6 Nov 2020.

Ships of U.K.

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