Armada U.S. Cruiser Congress
A couple of years prior to the beginning of World of War II,
U.S. intelligence managed to acquire information
that their most probable future enemy—Japan—
had been designing a super cruiser.
Armed with 310-mm main battery guns and coated in strong armor,
she would have surpassed all of her counterparts in the world at that time.
The U.S.A. weren't going to surrender the initiative
and started preparing a symmetrical response.
That task could have been accomplished by following the German way—
the Germans designed their Scharnhorst-class ships as battleships,
but they had lighter armor and guns of a smaller caliber
to somewhat increase their speed.
However, the American designers decided to create
their own original variant— an unprecedented large heavy cruiser
with high speed and enhanced main battery firepower, but light armor.
In accordance with the U.S. Navy classification methodology,
their new ship belonged to a special warship type
that hadn't been seen either before
and would never be seen again afterward—"large cruisers."
At the end of 1941, the lead ship of the series, Alaska,
was laid down at a shipyard in New Jersey.
A preliminary draft of the cruiser— CA 2F—had a curious combination
of main turrets that housed different numbers of 305-mm guns.
That layout was used as the basis
for what would become a new Tier VIII ship in World of Warships.
Please welcome U.S. cruiser Congress!
Compared to other cruisers, she was a true steel monster
armed with seven 305-mm main battery guns housed in three turrets,
six 127-mm twin-gun secondary mounts, and decent anti-aircraft defenses
presented in the form of fourteen 40-mm coupled Bofors mounts
and twenty 20-mm Oerlikon automatic guns.
The warship has two primary combat tactic variants…
The first one is to fire from afar— Congress has decent accuracy,
a good firing range, a heavy salvo weight,
and she's capable of dealing high damage
with both her high-explosive and armor-piercing shells.
The Spotting Aircraft consumable
will also come in handy to those who helm her.
The second variant is to support your allies in their fight for Key Areas.
Her decent HP pool will help you sustain a few hits,
while her effective anti-aircraft defenses
will easily deal with any incoming enemy aviation.
The Defensive AA Fire and Fighter consumables
will also contribute to making the second combat tactic more effective.
In addition to the aforementioned consumables,
Hydroacoustic Search and Surveillance Radar are also available.
However, any Captain at the helm of Congress
should remember that her shells take some time to reach their target.
That aspect should particularly be taken into consideration when firing from afar
if you want to deal damage effectively.
You should also avoid being hit with high-explosive shells,
because the ship has low maneuverability
and extinguishing fires takes some time—60 seconds to be precise.
Let's talk about upgrades.
We recommend installing Main Armaments Modification 1,
Damage Control System Modification 1, Aiming Systems Modification 1,
Damage Control System Modification 2, and Concealment System Modification 1.
To finish up, it's time for the traditional Armada raffle.
To take part in the raffle, you need to do three things:
subscribe to our channel, like this video,
answer the following question correctly:
what was the name of the preliminary draft of the large cruiser
that served as the basis for Congress?
Don't forget to specify your nickname and the server you play on
in the comment with your answer.
We'll randomly draw the winner and announce them by the next Armada episode.
The winner will receive an Admiral Pack
that includes cruiser Congress, a 10-skill-point Commander,
a commemorative flag, and other great items!
Participate in the raffle and good luck, Captains!