The U. Des Moines-class cruisers were a class of cruise ships built as heavy cruisers for the United States Navy during the late s and early s. Famous for their powerful armament and design innovations, as well as their long service life, they represented a remarkable achievement of naval engineering during the Cold War. This was the last heavy cruiser class commissioned by the United States. That being said, they provided an important role within the Navy for decades. When the Soviet Navy needed to replace their aging Svetlana-class and Admiral Nakhimov-class cruisers, they recognized a lack of expertise and infrastructure to construct large cruisers independently.
As a result, they sought foreign assistance to design and build a new light cruiser. This new vessel would later serve as an influential model for Soviet shipbuilders to develop more advanced cruisers in the future. It saw the sinking of German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and is often touted as an early success for the Royal Navy, though the actual facts of the battle somewhat muddle that case.
The story of this famous battle actually starts a few months before the day it took place on December 13, Contrary to public belief, the mm OPf Mle shell was not classified as a Semi-Armor Piercing type of ammunition.
Historically, the Dunkerque class was designed to counter ships like the Graf Spee , which were lightly armored compared to other capital ships. There are currently two claims that attempt to support the classification of the mm OPf shell as SAP: the burster cavity was too large and the hardened cap was too thin compared to typical AP shells. However, additional historical and technical context disproves these claims and instead suggests that the mm OPf shell was designed as AP.
The historical context will be first established before addressing each of these claims. Dunkerque can best be described as a ship that excels in downtiers but struggles significantly in uptiers. While she may be an exciting vessel to unlock, being the ultimate French ship in the game at the time of her release, it is important to moderate expectations. Like all other vessels at BR 6. Dunkerque's history was not filled with epic victories in combat or spectacular achievements; nonetheless, she participated in two major historic events that changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, making her an important vessel from an historical perspective, even if she did not sink any hostile vessels in anger.
