Great Britain has always considered their navy
to be the backbone of power of their empire.
In addition to powerful battleships and aircraft carriers,
the Royal Navy needed numerous cruisers of various specializations—
both for protecting British sea communications
and for serving as part of squadrons.
Squadron cruisers' main tasks were to support allied light forces,
counter enemy destroyers, and provide AA support for the main fleet forces.
At the same time,
cruisers needed to be compact enough so they could be built in large numbers
but also big enough to operate in harsh weather conditions
together with heavy ships.
In addition to that, they needed to have the maximum firepower
that could be facilitated by their dimensions,
as well as high speed and maneuverability to operate jointly with destroyers.
The task wasn't easy, but British shipbuilders found a solution—
Dido-class light cruisers— the first cruisers in the world
to be built with dual- purpose main battery guns.
The ship's main armament comprised
ten 133-mm rapid-firing dual- purpose guns housed in five turrets.
With this weaponry,
she could effectively fight against enemy destroyers.
The ships could reach decent speeds of up to 32 knots.
Warship Dido was named
in honor of the legendary founder and first queen of Carthage.
The cruiser spent the entirety of World War II in raids—
she escorted convoys to Malta,
participated in other combat operations in the Mediterranean Sea,
and fought in the Arctic from the fall of 1944 until the end of the war.
In 1947, Dido was sent to the reserve, and she was scrapped 10 years later.
Let's take a look at how well the ship is performing in our game.
In addition to her dual-purpose guns,
cruiser Dido is armed with powerful torpedoes
that have decent cruising speed, reload quickly,
and can be launched individually, tube-by-tube.
The ship comes equipped with the Defensive AA Fire consumable,
has good concealment characteristics, great maneuverability,
and improved engine parameters— she can quickly gain or drop speed.
But keep in mind that you can't install
the Propulsion Modification 1 upgrade in the fourth slot on Dido.
Dido is a great fighter in artillery battles at medium and close ranges.
She's also effective against spotted enemy destroyers, and even cruisers,
while fighting for Key Areas.
Thanks to her concealment characteristics,
she can get up close to the enemy
and catch them off guard with a burst of heavy fire.
The arcing trajectory of her shells
means that she can fire from behind islands with confidence.
However, don't forget that Dido's firing range isn't that impressive.
Moreover, it takes a long time for her shells to fly over the maximum range,
which is why the priority targets for our heroine
should be large, slow-moving warships.
The cruiser has the Short-Burst Smoke Generator consumable at her disposal—
the smoke dissipates quickly and the consumable has a short action time,
but it also has numerous charges and a fast cooldown.
The consumable will allow you
to launch close-range surprise attacks with powerful torpedoes
or intensely fire at enemies from under the cover of a smoke screen.
When the fates seem as though they may be conspiring against Dido,
she can retreat from focused enemy fire under the cover of smoke.
By the way, when playing Dido,
you should be aware of enemy focused fire above everything else—
if several enemies aim their guns at you at the same time,
her modest armor and small HP pool suddenly become critical factors.
Always keep in mind that wise positioning and active maneuvers
are the key to staying alive.
Now, a couple of words about upgrades.
We recommend using Main Armaments Modification 1, Engine Room Protection,
Main Battery Modification 2 or Aiming Systems Modification 1,
and Steering Gears Modification 1.
It's time for our traditional raffle!
The main prize is the Admiral Pack that holds cruiser Dido,
a 10-skill-point Commander, the Atlantic permanent camouflage, and a Port slot.
This trophy will go the winner
who subscribes to our channel, hits the "Like" button under the video,
and answers the following question correctly—
"In whose honor was cruiser Dido named?"
Don't forget to share your nickname in the game and the server you play on
in the comment with the answer.
Participate in the raffle, answer the question carefully,
and good luck, Captains!