The Des Moines is a Tier X heavy cruiser; the top of its branch.
It carries no torpedoes,
but its main battery makes everyone-even battleships-respect it.
Its AA guns force aircraft carriers to go looking
for other targets in some other part of the map.
Well, if aircraft carriers want to sink Des Moines out of principle, they can do it.
But it will cost a lot.
It may be a hollow victory.
When you play the Des Moines, you can hear music playing inside of you.
Not the Bach you hear when playing battleships,
nor the “The Flight of the Bumblebee” of destroyers.
This is hard rock! Powerful and fast!
The guns of the Des Moines set the tempo.
The ship carries a main battery of nine 203 mm guns in three turrets.
Each gun has a rate of fire of ten shots per minute.
So in total you'll be firing up to 90 shots every 60 seconds.
No other warship within several tiers can match that rate of fire.
Its counterpart, the Japanese Zao cruiser,
carries an additional three guns,
but can fire only 55 shots per minute,
barely more than half of what the Des Moines can dish out!
This torrent of shells gives the Des Moines a distinctive gameplay style.
If a Des Moines-class cruiser is not stopped in time,
destroyers will evaporate under its fire, cruisers will struggle and sink,
and battleships will nervously check their hit points.
And, in fact, this has an interesting historical background.
The Des Moines was laid down in May of 1945.
Its design incorporated the experience of the Pacific War,
during which cruisers became the most versatile
and indispensable class of warships.
The main guns of the Des Moines featured full automatic loading.
Twenty years later, the Soviet Union created tank gun autoloaders
using the same principle.
Thanks to this innovation, the Des Moines
could send 13.5 tons of steel per minute to the enemy.
In addition to its great firepower,
the Des Moines is also well armored for its type.
Its main armor belt is 152 mm thick.
Apart from the traditional 20 mm automatic AA guns,
the Des Moines also carried 12 unique automatic quick-firing coaxial 76 mm mounts.
Their shells could be equipped with a proximity fuse for use against aircraft.
The war had shown that only such powerful guns
could protect a warship from kamikaze attacks.
There was also an innovative automatic radar guidance system.
Additionally, the cruiser's secondary battery of 127 mm guns was versatile
and could deliver accurate fire at enemy aircraft if necessary.
So, how does the Des Moines perform in the game?
No ship is better than the Des Moines at sweeping enemy aircraft from the sky.
Enemy squadrons will probably try to stay away from it.
Even a focused attempt to sink a single Des Moines cruiser
can lead to significant aircraft casualties.
When these cruisers operate in a group,
they will be nearly impregnable to attack from the air.
To sum up the Des Moines, it's a highly versatile, extremely powerful warship.
It can provide reliable protection to allied aircraft carriers and battleships,
parrying attacks from enemy aircraft or destroyers.
Great rate of fire and accuracy allow the Des Moines
to win cannon skirmishes against warships of the same type.
The most important rule is to maintain distance and avoid torpedo attacks.
The Des Moines can even come out on top in a duel with a battleship.
In a clash against an armored monster,
Des Moines can manage to secure a victory
thanks to its outstanding rate of fire and good maneuverability.
At long and medium range,
Des Moines is maneuverable enough to dodge enemy salvos.
At short range, the battleship's main battery will likely tear it apart.
But there's still a chance that that Des Moines will have time to finish off its opponent.
But what's really fun is to go into battle with a group of friends in Des Moines cruisers.
That 270 shots per minute can annihilate any target.
The monstrous firepower of those concentrated AA guns,
combined use of Defensive Fire, can turn a tight group
of three Des Moines into an almost invincible unit.
Only battleships will be able to deal with them.
However, there's really no use describing it -
you need to experience it for yourself.