Ship:Richelieu

14.8

Richelieu

Battleship | France | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price136000 exp

Purchase price10,500,000

Hit Points54,500

Main Battery

380 mm/45 Mle 1935 in a turret2 х 4 pcs.

Rate of Fire2 shots/min

Reload Time30 sec

Rotation Speed5 deg/sec

180 Degree Turn Time36 sec

Firing Range23 km

Maximum Dispersion313 m

HE Shell380 mm HE OEA Mle 1945

Maximum HE Damage5,400

Chance of Fire36 %

Initial HE Velocity830 m/s

HE Shell Weight884 kg

AP Shell380 mm AP OPfK Mle 1943

Maximum AP Shell Damage11,900

Initial AP Shell Velocity830 m/s

AP Shell Weight885 kg

Secondary Armament #1

152 mm/55 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1936 mount3 х 3 pcs.

Firing Range7.6 km

Rate of Fire5 shots/min

Reload Time12 sec

HE Shell152 mm HE OEA Mle 1937

Maximum HE Shell Damage2,200

Initial HE Shell Velocity870 m/s

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell12 %

Secondary Armament #2

100 mm/45 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1931 mount6 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range7.6 km

Rate of Fire15 shots/min

Reload Time4 sec

HE Shell100 mm HE OEA Mle 1928

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,400

Initial HE Shell Velocity780 m/s

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell6 %

AA Defense

20 mm Oerlikon on a Mk.4 mount48 х 1 pcs.

40 mm Bofors on a Mk.1 mount14 х 2 pcs.

100 mm/45 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1931 mount6 х 2 pcs.

152 mm/55 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1936 mount3 х 3 pcs.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed30.4 knot

Turning Circle Radius850 m

Rudder Shift Time21.5 sec

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range16.2 km

Air Detectability Range10 km

Battle Levels

12345678910

14.8

Richelieu

Battleship | France | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price136000 exp

Purchase price10,500,000

Hit Points63,700

Main Battery

380 mm/45 Mle 1935 in a turret2 х 4 pcs.

Rate of Fire2 shots/min

Reload Time30 sec

Rotation Speed5 deg/sec

180 Degree Turn Time36 sec

Firing Range25.3 km

Maximum Dispersion313 m

HE Shell380 mm HE OEA Mle 1945

Maximum HE Damage5,400

Chance of Fire36 %

Initial HE Velocity830 m/s

HE Shell Weight884 kg

AP Shell380 mm AP OPfK Mle 1943

Maximum AP Shell Damage11,900

Initial AP Shell Velocity830 m/s

AP Shell Weight885 kg

Secondary Armament #1

152 mm/55 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1936 mount3 х 3 pcs.

Firing Range7.6 km

Rate of Fire5 shots/min

Reload Time12 sec

HE Shell152 mm HE OEA Mle 1937

Maximum HE Shell Damage2,200

Initial HE Shell Velocity870 m/s

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell12 %

Secondary Armament #2

100 mm/45 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1931 mount6 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range7.6 km

Rate of Fire15 shots/min

Reload Time4 sec

HE Shell100 mm HE OEA Mle 1928

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,400

Initial HE Shell Velocity780 m/s

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell6 %

AA Defense

20 mm Oerlikon on a Mk.4 mount48 х 1 pcs.

40 mm Bofors on a Mk.2 mount14 х 4 pcs.

100 mm/45 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1931 mount6 х 2 pcs.

152 mm/55 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1936 mount3 х 3 pcs.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed32 knot

Turning Circle Radius850 m

Rudder Shift Time15.4 sec

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range16.2 km

Air Detectability Range10 km

Battle Levels

12345678910

VIII

10,500,000

Richelieu — French Tier VIII battleship.

One of the most successful and well-balanced "new generation" battleships in the world. The ship was equipped with 380 mm guns, had a high speed, strong armor and very good torpedo protection. The disadvantages of concentrating the ship's main guns on the bow were compensated by the favorable turret traverse angles.

Modules

	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 ()
380 mm/45 Mle 1935 in a turret	2	36	313	5,400	36	11,900		0	1,300,000

	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 ()
Richelieu (A)	54,500	19	430	2	3/6	48/14/6/3				0	1,100,000
Richelieu (B)	63,700	19	430	2	3/6	48/14/6/3				39,000	2,300,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
PCA n° 8 Mle 1		0		0	640,000
PCA n° 8 Mle 2		0		22,500	1,300,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 140,000 hp	30.4		0	440,000
Propulsion: 155,000 hp	32		12,500	900,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5

Player Opinion

Performance

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

Tier VIII's Richelieu possesses more than a passing similarity to Tier VI premium Dunkerque, but provides greater flexibility. Richelieu is one of the fastest battleships in the game, has good relative immunity to catastrophic damage due to her armor scheme and ability to angle well, and her anti-aircraft armament allows for greater independent operation than many of her same-tier counterparts.

Captains will find Richelieu to be an excellent flanking ship even when there exists little support. Even in Tier IX or X battles the basic fundamentals of the ship do not change, but simply require greater caution. With proper map awareness, Richelieu can remain a threat in nearly any battle. Players should actively seek opportunities to gain the flank of potential targets and use the superior speed of Richelieu to displace if subject to too much attention, taking advantage of the turret's wide rotation angle to kite away while still using 100% of the Richelieu’s firepower.

The main battery is a massive shift from Lyon’s 16-gun broadside: Richelieu’s guns are mounted in an an all-forward super-firing configuration that allows 100% of her firepower to be deployed in any direction other than directly aft, allowing full effectiveness when bow-tanking as well as flexibility when on the move. The shells are larger, heavier, and faster; this makes it easier to lead and penetrate targets at range, though against cruisers the penetration can be often be excessive, resulting in low-damage over-penetrations. The accuracy of her main battery is somewhat questionable, which is not helped by having only half the number of barrels as her predecessor.

Similar to her slightly smaller Tier VI cousin, Richelieu’s armor scheme encourages captains to keep her bow pointed at the enemy. Her citadel extends above the waterline and she has quite a bit of freeboard; ships that get a free shot at her broadside with armor-piercing rounds are all but guaranteed to do extreme damage. Fortunately, Richelieu’s anti-aircraft defenses are stronger than most of her French contemporaries: Hull (B) represents her summer 1943 refit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and packs on copious quantities of the 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon cannons favored by Allied navies of the era. The end result is that her long-range AA bubble remains far weaker than her American and British counterparts, but her mid- and short-range bubbles are essentially equivalent in power.

Though the play style demanded by her unique turret arrangement is different from the other ships in the French battleship branch, Richelieu combines speed, above-average AA, and hard-hitting guns into a comfortable-to-conn package that will remind players strongly of a better Dunkerque.

Pros:

• All-forward main armament provides excellent angling potential.
• Superb medium and close range AA suite.
• High penetration and fast shell travel times.
• When Sierra Mike () is equipped and with Engine Boost  active, becomes one of the fastest battleships in the game.
• Well protected citadel.
• Good maneuverability.
• Superb main battery range.
• Turret traverse is better than Lyon

Cons:

• Poor aft coverage for main armament.
• Poor forward coverage for secondary armament.
• Poor concealment compared to same-tier counterparts.
• Turrets tend to get incapacitated and/or destroyed often, with catastrophic consequences since losing one turret means losing 1/2 of the firepower.
• Most of the AAs are open mounted, easy to lose them under HE fire
• Questionable dispersion.
• Extensive coverage of Tier VIII common plate (32mm) means high vulnerability to 150mm and larger high explosive shells.
• Other Tier VIII battleships with 15-inch guns sport no more than 26 second reload; Richelieu is stuck with a 30 second reload as the price for her turret arrangement allowing her to keep all her firepower on target and still present a small profile to enemies.

Research

Availability of researchable upgrades for Richelieu is as follows:

• Hull: Upgrade to Hull (B) for significant increases in health, anti-aircraft firepower, and rudder traverse time. Research of this module unlocks progression to Alsace.
• Gun Fire Control System: Upgrade to PCA n° 8 Mle 2 for an extra 10% range on the main battery.
• Propulsion: Upgrading this module adds an additional 1.5 knots of top speed.

Given her excellent main battery range, players will likely want to prioritize Richelieu’s Hull (B) upgrade for increased AA defenses and greater maneuverability followed by the Engine upgrade for her excellent speed. Her Fire Control System upgrade is neither particularly necessary or even needed.

Optimal Configuration

Richelieu is best configured to augment her main battery and AA suite, with any remaining slots dedicated to concealment and damage control.

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Richelieu are as follows:

• Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
• Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1 
• Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
• Slot 4: Damage Control System Modification 2
• Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1 

Commander Skills

The following are recommended commander skills for Richelieu.

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack			Defense
1	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type.	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance when firing at submarines.	Consumable Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except:  Damage Control Party ,  Repair Party . ★★	Emergency Repair Specialist -3% cooldown time of Damage Control Party  and Repair Party .	Incoming Fire Alert Receive a warning about a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5 km.	Preventive Maintenance −30% chance of main armament, engines, steering becoming incapacitated +15% to HP of secondary and AA guns. ★★
2	Grease the Gears +20% main turret traverse speed.	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells. Base fire chance reduced by half.	Brisk So long as the ship remains undetected: +10% ship speed.	Vigilance +25% detection range of enemy torpedoes +7% damage reduction of Torpedo Protection System. .	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery.	AAA & ASW Expert +15% continuous AAA and flak damage . +10% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −40% ship consumables reload time.. ★★
3	Super-Heavy AP Shells +7.5% AP shell damage −10% fire and flood damage received +25% fire and flood duration.	Long-Range Secondary Battery Shells +20% secondary battery firing range.	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★	Basics of Survivability -15% repair, fire, and flooding duration. ★★	Improved Repair Party Readiness −0.8% reload time of Repair Party each time your ship receives potential damage equal to 100% of the ship's base HP. After receiving 2M HP potential damage: +1 charge of Repair Party ..	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.. ★★
4	Furious 1st fire / flood   −10% Main battery reload time 2nd etc. (up to 5), each   −5% Main battery reload time	Manual Secondary Battery Aiming −10% secondary battery reload time. −10% secondary battery dispersion. When firing at a manually selected target: dispersion gradually improves from -25% to -50%.	Close Quarters Combat -10% reload time of main battery if an enemy ship is spotted within secondary range.	Emergency Repair Expert Damage Control Party  and Repair Party : +1 charge (each). +10% action time . ★★	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship.	Fire Prevention Expert -10% risk of fire. Three fires maximum. ★★
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful      ★★ - Frequently Useful      ★ - Occasionally Useful     No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

Richelieu can equip the following consumables:

• Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
• Slot 2: Repair Party 
• Slot 3: Engine Boost 

Signals

The following are recommended combat signals for Richelieu.

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 .

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Historical Info

Richelieu, 1943

Construction

Arsenal de Brest, Brest, France

Laid down: 22 October 1935

Launched: 17 January 1939

Commissioned: 15 June 1940

---

Specifications

35,000 tons displacement, standard

247.9m length

33m beam

9.7m draft

---

Machinery

Six Indret Sural boilers, four Parsons geared turbines

---

Performance

32 knots at 155,000 shaft horsepower

9,850 nm at 16 knots

---

Armor

Main belt: 330mm

Torpedo bulkhead: 165mm

Decks: 170mm-150mm

Bulkheads: 355mm-150mm

Barbettes and Turrets: 430mm-405mm

Conning tower: 340mm

---

Armament

Main

Eight (2x4) 380mm/45 Mle 1935 guns

Secondary

Nine (3x3) 152mm/55 Mle 1930 guns

Twelve (6x2) 100mm/45 Mle 1933 DP guns

Anti-aircraft

Fourty-eight (48x1) 20mm/70 Oerlikons AA guns

Fifty-six (14x4) 40mm/56 Bofors AA guns

---

History

Design

The announcement by the Italian Press that two new 35,000 ton battleships would be ordered shattered the fragile balance of the naval arms race in Europe. The construction of Dunkerque, although intended to counter the German Panzerschiffe, the new French capital ship outgunned and outclassed all of the older Italian capital ships. The Italians retaliated with the Littorio-class, and the French needed a response. Less than two weeks after the characteristics of the new Italian battleships were announced and only eight days after the order for Strasbourg, Dunkerque’s half-sister-ship, the defined characteristics were laid out for the new French battleships. They would displace 35,000 tons standard, have a main armament of eight or nine guns of the 380mm or 406mm caliber, be capable of a speed of 29.5-30 knots and be armored enough to resist 15” shells. It was envisaged that these new French battleships would be constructed in the same all-forward style as Dunkerque, to speed up the planning and design of these new battleships and create homogenous combat groups, as well as saving weight that more turrets would add. Early calculations quickly established that 406mm guns simply wouldn’t fit the design – 380mm was judged the maximum that could be successfully accommodated in a quadruple turret, and alternative three-turret designs using 406mm guns all came out at well over 35,000 tons. Six preliminary designs were submitted for consideration, and Project 1 was accepted, as it was, simply, an up-scale of Dunkerque.

An early concern with Project 1 was that her secondary armament of 20 130mm guns in five quadruple turrets were insufficient on a battleship of such a size; even the older Courbet and Bretagne classes had 138.6mm secondary batteries. A following request was made for studies of 152mm guns to investigate the number which could be accommodated and their proposed locations. Originally, the 152mm turrets would be complemented by six separate high-angle single 75mm guns for heavy AA purposes similar to the undertakings of the German and Italian navies, but such a plan would take Project 1, which was already 350 tons overweight, would only increase her tonnage. The 75mm guns were dropped, and instead the new 152mm turrets would have a dual-purpose function. To try and reduce weight to an acceptable 35,000 tons, new Sural boilers were accommodated into the design, which were substantially less wide than the boilers used in Dunkerque and Strasbourg, and the wider 33m beam of Project 1 meant that three boilers could be accommodated side-by-side, reducing the necessary boiler rooms from three to two, shortening the armored citadel by 4.85m and substantially saving weight. Weight was further reduced by cutting down armor on several areas of the ship, notably the belt; which was reduced to 330mm, but the angle of inclination was increased by 4 degrees to compensate.

With the secondary armament and weight issues resolved, the last major project was the anti-aircraft suite. The positioning of the five 152mm turrets made it difficult to arrange the 37mm AA guns, as both the existing Mle 1925 and projected Mle 1933 guns were in open mountings. This prompted the development for a new dual-mount 37mm weapon in a fully enclosed and automated mounting. While this 37mm/70 ACAD Mle 1935 gun turned out to be a very successful weapon, the complexity of the design meant that they would not be production-ready until 1940, so the inferior 37mm/50 Mle 1933 was used as a stop-gap. These six dual 37mm mountings were complimented by a set of eight quad 132mm/76 Mle 1929 AA guns. Finally, there was enough space on the stern quarterdeck for two aviation catapults, one positioned to starboard and the other to port, and the design could easily accommodate two aircraft in the hanger, one on each catapult, and a fifth atop the hanger.

The design was finalized, and two ships based on the Project 1 design were ordered and were subsequently named Richelieu and Jean Bart. Richelieu and her sister were essentially an enlarged Dunkerque and Strasbourg. Their hulls were virtually identical, with the 330mm quadruple turrets upgunned to 380mm in the same layout, and the 130mm dual-purpose quad/twin secondary turrets were replaced with 152mm DP guns all in triple turrets. The key difference was beneath the hood; Richelieu made use of the new and revolutionary Sural boilers, with six on-board separated into two boiler rooms with three boilers each. This allowed Richelieu to attain a greater speed of 32 knots than Dunkerque’s 30 knots, despite the fact that Richelieu displaced 8,500 tons more, her boilers managed to attain 179,000 shaft horsepower on trials.

Richelieu was laid down at the Brest Navy Yard under the Arsenal de Brest shipyard at Brest, France, on the 22nd of October 1935. She was launched on the 17th of January 1939, and was commissioned into the Marine Nationale on the 15th of June 1940, a mere seven days before the signing of the French Armistice in World War Two.

Service

Historical Inaccuracies

• Hull (A) depicts Richelieu as it was supposed to be built by the original design, equipped with five triple 152mm turrets, six semi-automatic coaxial 37mm ACAD guns, and eight quadruple mounts of 13mm machine guns. However, none of the AA refits Richelieu actually received from 1940 to 1942, when the ship was under Vichy control, appear in the game.
• The quadruple turrets mounted on the Richelieu were split into two internal compartments separated by a bulkhead, preventing the turrets from being totally incapacitated if a shell were to penetrate them. This doesn't work in the game, as a single shell will incapacitate the entire turret.
• The 37mm/70 ACAD Mle 1936 had numerous development problems, resulting in delays which led to its cancellation in 1940. Only one was mounted on the patrol sloop Amiens. As a result, Richelieu was equipped with the 37 mm/50 Mle 1933 gun instead. In total there were eight twin mounts, of which none appear on either hull modules.
• Richelieu's August 1945 refit is also not represented. Nine 20mm Oerlikons were replaced by 11 single 40mm Bofors.
• In Spring 1945, Richelieu's Measure 32 camouflage was replaced with the British Standard Admiralty Scheme. This is currently missing.

Historical Gallery

• 
  U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence line drawing of Richelieu.
• 
  Richelieu at Dakar, in 1941. There were three fire control directors atop the fore tower, and neutrality tricolor bands on Turret B.
• 
  HMS Hermes, whose aircraft torpedoed Richelieu at Dakar on 7 July 1940, and in the background, HMS Dorsetshire.
• 
  Richelieu arrives in New York with her damaged turret. The uppermost fire control director on the fore tower had to be dismantled for her to pass under the Brooklyn Bridge to the New York Navy Yard.
• 
  Richelieu in September 1943, after refit. Aircraft equipment has been removed from the aft deck and replaced with anti-aircraft artillery.
• 
  Richelieu in the Indian Ocean on 18 May 1944. Photo taken from aboard USS Saratoga, which was leaving the Eastern Fleet to return to the Pacific Ocean.
• 
  One of the two remaining 380 mm guns of Richelieu, by the Penfeld river in Brest.

Video

Load video

YouTube

YouTube might collect personal data. Privacy Policy

Continue Dismiss

References

1. French battleship Richelieu - Wikipedia
2. Richelieu-class battleship - Wikipedia

Ship Change Log

Testing Changes

• November 7, 2017:
  • Preliminary characteristics.
• November 22, 2017:
  • Torpedo damage reduction increased from 19% to 32%.
• December 12, 2017:
  • Torpedo damage reduction increased from 31.82% to 34.24%.
• December 27, 2017:
  • Secondary battery firing range was increased from 5 to 7 km.

• Available for testing by supertesters in the game starting from Update 0.6.14.
• Update 0.7.2:
  • Introduced into the game as a researchable ship.
• Update 0.7.3:
  • The "Engine Boost Modification 1" upgrade became available to slot.
• Update 0.7.7:
  • Minor fixes to geometry and textures on the ship and camouflage.
• Update 0.8.5:
  • Credit earnings decreased by 5%.
  • Experience earnings decreased by 5%.
• Update 0.9.5:
  • Small changes to geometry and textures.
• Update 0.9.7:
  • Hull A: the positions of the "Engine Boost" and "Spotting Aircraft / Fighter" consumables were swapped.
• Update 0.9.10:
  • The distribution of HP in the hull was slightly updated.
• Update 0.10.0:
  • The firing range of the secondary battery was increased to 7.6 km.
• Update 0.11.6:
  • Minor fixes to the model and textures of the ship.
• Update 0.11.9:
  • Minor fixes to geometry and textures of the King of Primitives permanent camouflage.
• Update 12.2:
  • Improved the geometry and textures of the ship.
• Update 12.4:
  • The stock hull has been replaced with a new one, created on the basis of the researchable hull with a changed composition for the AA guns. Thus, when the new hull A is installed, the ship can't use the Fighter and Spotting Aircraft consumables.
    • New characteristics of Richelieu's AA A hull:
      • Composition: 48х1 20 mm, 14x2 40 mm, 6х2 100 mm.
      • Short-range AA guns: Permanent damage per second— 357; hit probability—70%; range—2.0 km.
      • Mid-range AA guns: Permanent damage per second— 273; hit probability—75%; range—3.5 km.
      • Long-range AA guns: Permanent damage per second— 77; hit probability—75%; range—5.8 km.
      • The radius of an area within which AA explosions can appear—3.5–5.8 km; the number of explosions in a salvo—4; damage within the explosion radius of shells—1,330.

Ships of France

Battleships