An unusual cruiser appeared in the game.
She doesn't have torpedoes, her AA armament is unconventional
and the speed and trajectory of her shells require some time to get used to.
She challenges players' skills and allows them to feel the taste of fine English breakfast tea
with a faint note of absurdity.
Imagine morning mist rising over Devonshire marshes.
And an English gentleman, sneaking through the haze—thin, stiff
and a little awkward—who left his manor at such an early hour
with a rifle over his shoulder to hunt for waterfowl.
That's what the hero of this episode looks like.
Please welcome HMS Belfast — a loyal servant of Her Royal Majesty.
In reality, Belfast was conceived as the British answer to the Japanese Mogami-class.
In World of Warships she will appear at Tier VII.
Officially, Belfast was considered a light cruiser, but she was on par with heavy cruisers by many characteristics.
This Brit isn’t that easy to figure out.
Let's start with the main battery.
Twelve 152-millimeter guns are installed in four turrets.
A reload time of 7.5 seconds will be an unpleasant surprise for your opponents.
The fairly high trajectory of her shells will allow you to hit ships hidden behind an island
and a low probability of fire can be compensated for with the corresponding Commander Skills.
However, to fire her guns accurately you'll need to practice a lot
because the muzzle velocity is very low and requires a big target lead in order to score a hit.
Though Belfast can fire at 15.5 kilometers
her guns are meant for a shorter engagement distance.
This makes our hero similar to US cruisers like Atlanta and Flint.
One of the tasks of this ship is to protect allied destroyers
and sink the enemy ones.
And she has all the necessary tools for this.
Belfast is equipped with Surveillance Radar that has an effective range of 8.5 kilometers.
No opponent will be able to hide when her radar is active
not even in a smoke screen.
All you have to do is catch the enemy in your crosshair
gracefully send them to Port.
Any attempt to attack Belfast with torpedoes is also doomed
because she has Hydroacoustic Search, which makes her able to discover torpedoes at a distance of three kilometers.
Indeed, Belfast fits the role of a destroyer hunter well
but, unfortunately, the enemy team will run out of destroyers sooner or later.
However, this cruiser can cause some trouble outside her weight class as well.
Belfast can deal damage even to opposing battleships.
But keep in mind that an encounter with them at a distance shorter than 10 kilometers
most likely result in a one-way ticket to the Port for you.
The first thing you need to do in a situation like that
is put some distance between you and the enemy
and make use of your concealment—another trump card for Belfast.
By default, she can be spotted at 11 kilometers only.
But if you learn the Concealment Expert skill for your Commander
her detectability will drop to 9.7 kilometers!
As a last resort, Belfast has Smoke Screen up her sleeve.
The cruiser's struggle against heavy opponents might make you think of mice hunting for cats
but don't forget that in World War II
Belfast was a part of the convoy that discovered and sank the German battleship Scharnhorst.
All the features of this destroyer exterminator discussed earlier are characteristic of light cruisers.
Belfast inherited good AA defenses from heavy cruisers.
She doesn't have consumables like Defensive Fire or Catapult Fighter
and is not armed with any short range AA guns.
These shortcomings are compensated for by a very powerful medium and long range AA armament.
If you study Commander Skills that reinforce the AA defense
Belfast will be protected against air raids just as well as US battleships.
By survivability points, this cruiser is second only to Myoko
and only Indianapolis can boast better armor.
Belfast's citadel is completely hidden below the waterline
but its size doesn't allow you to effectively use this advantage.
Let's summarize.
We have a fairly well armored cruiser
armed with quick-firing guns and equipped with Smoke Generator and Surveillance Radar.
It's a Premium ship that has a permanent camouflage
brings in extra income, and can train commanders for any British ship without the need for retraining.
However, Belfast is quite demanding
like true nobility should be.
She doesn't excuse mistakes in combat situations and requires good gunnery skills.
Keep your distance, don't overestimate your strength
calculate enemy moves, and victory will be yours.