World of Warships American US Navy Cleveland Class Cruiser - DPM Central Ship!

Hi and welcome back for my fortnightly World of Warships Ship review!

For this weeks review I will be taking a look a at one of the best ships for its tier in the game. This is non other than the Cleveland class cruiser. The Cleveland is one of the highlights of the US cruiser line. This ship doesn't seem to have any major weaknesses and does everything that you would expect from a cruiser very well. Having a total of 12 rapid firing guns, fast turning turrets, dangerously formidable AA defence combined with a strong mixed of all round manoeuvrability and armour, the Cleveland really something to write home about. When captained right this ships DPM put out some serious hurt to any and all ships and is able to take considerable punishment in return. Being a capable chip is not the only talent of the Cleveland, its also very charismatic, being one of the best looking ships on World of Warships. A sexy little addition of warship porn to any captains harbour.

Cleveland Class Cruiser on Patrol

The Cleveland is the first fully Second World war design in the American Cruiser Tree. The Cleveland was commissioned in 1942 and remained in service till 1979. The American Navy completed 27 Cleveland Class Cruisers from the originally planned 52. Nine of these 27 completed Cleveland cruisers were completed as Independent light aircraft carriers which is also in World of Warships. The Cleveland Served mainly in the Pacific Fleet throughout the Second World War in fast carrier task forces but some were stationed in and around Europe and Africa. Throughout the all the fighting in Second World War non of the Cleveland Class Cruisers were destroyed, some were heavily damaged in combat but were never sunk as a result of it.

Main Battery Fire

The Cleveland's cruiser were the back bone of the US Navy. They bared the brunt of Kamikaze strikes, torpedo hits and naval gunnery battles, even one (the Columbia Cleveland Class Cruiser)  played a part in the sinking of the Fuso Class Battleship at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Anti Air was so fierce that the Cleveland's could put up almost impenetrable walls of flak against incoming aerial attacks which saved many a escorted ship. One such example is the 'Cleveland' cruiser, even after suffering a direct bomb hit she was able this take down 7 attacking planes in a furious AA response in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay. The Cleveland Class Cruisers served the US Navy throughout the whole WW2 up untill most of them were scrapped between 1959 and 1961. Six of the Surviving cruisers were converted to guided missile cruisers and were reactivated during the 1950s and served into the 1970's. The last of the Cleveland Class Cruisers, Oklahoma City, was finally decommissioned on 1979 ending its 37 years of service. Its a testament to just how good these ships were in real life.

Ship Porn, The Cleveland Class Cruiser

Considering the ships history its no wonder this ship is such a formidable foe to face in World of Warships. The more service history you read from the achievements of the Cleveland's the more you begin to realise the awesome potential of this ships fire power and defensive armaments. The Cruiser was very robust being able to take large amounts of damage whilst still maintaining a effective fighting standard in the heat of battle. This seems to be modelled pretty well into the games as anyone that underestimated a Cleveland will definitely regret it when subjected to its hellish rapid firing guns.

Shells Away

Its 4 Turrets each mount triple 152 mm guns which each fire 7.5 rounds per minute. These guns have the potential to do 198000 hp damage per minute with HE alone. The damage potential of its AP rounds is a staggering 288000 hp. This is just what makes the American Cruisers so much fun to play. Destroyers will be taking detours to avoid you in this rapid firing ship as you can really ruin their day in just one well aimed salvo. The ship also has 12 dual purpose AA and anti ship 127mm secondary guns with a 4km range. Mixed with its 13x20mm, 12x40mm the combined fire power with the 12x127mm guns is truly terrifying for carrier captains. I actively screen for the rest of my fleet in this ship rather than run away from incoming air attacks. The Cleveland also has access to the defensive fire cool down, increasing its anti air power and decreasing all air attack accuracy for any air squadrons caught in its flak barrage. To top this is also has a deployable fighter aircraft for added measure... need I really say more about this ships huge anti air capabilities other than its just a power house!

More Ship Porn

Having a rudder speed of 9.4 seconds means this ship is no slouch in have to respond to dangerous situations, and is small turning circle (660m) means you will be dodging fire like a boss. The ship has a solid top speed of 34 knots meaning you will be able to effectively kite battleship's and keep them at range. I for one have been caught out whilst sailing my Warspite and chasing one of these ships and underestimating its ability to dodge incoming fire and put out some serious damage. The Cleveland also has a respectable health pool as well of 35.2  thousand hp. When the Aoba has 30k with less armour and even the proceeding Pensacola (pepsi cola... definitely a better name for this ship), you get a understanding of this ships ability to take on more than you would expect.

Cover Your Eyes Even More Porn!

I don't normally talk about my choices in upgrades that I put on my ships as this is mostly down to personal preference which I should really start to incorporate into my reviews but I think that the Cleveland is as good a ship as any to start with telling you how I set my ship up. With the Cleveland the main focus of this ship is its pure gunnery action, so with my first upgrade I went for the Main Battery Mod 1 to lower the chances of turret detonation or them being knocked out of a fight. For my second mod I went for the Main Battery Mod 2 so increase my turret traverse speed and firing speed. These first 2 mods are just to accentuate the main strengths of the Cleveland to their full potential. I may have choose the accuracy mod in the second upgrade slot  or the AA upgrade but I thought the added rounds per minute mitigated the increased accuracy and the defensive AA cool down made the need for the AA buff unnecessary. For my third upgrade I went with the Damage Control mod to prevent fires and reduce the risk of flooding. The Cleveland is still a cruiser and does still have a limited health pool, so as to avoid loosing extra health from taking fire damage, I choose this upgrade. You can still suffer from your engine being knocked out and rudder being jammed but I feel with most people firing just HE in this game rather than switching between AP and HE (dependant on situation) its better to take fire/flood prevention mod. For my Final Mod I took the rudder shift time improvement. I like my ships to be responsive as possible and this increases my rudder shift time by 10% which gives me an added edge in dodging and turning away from fire and torpedoes. I feel this ship doesn't take a long time to reach full speed so really doesn't need the added help reaching top speed as much as the added  rudder shift time.

Possibly the Most X Rated Review Ever

In conclusion for this ship, use its great DPM to bully cruisers and destroyer with high explosive and armour piercing rounds. Battleship drivers can also panic when they start to recieve the numerous hits you can put out so use this to your advantage. This ship performs best at around 10 to 12 km distance where its high firing arch can give good damage potential for your AP rounds and give you the time necessary to change course and dodge incoming fire. Learn to kite enemies toward your fleet whilst using your quick turning ship and turrets to rain down the pain on your pursuers. The health pool is good so you can withstand some punishment but try not to put your self in situations where you can be focused down. You are a AA powerhouse in this ship so recognise when you will need to play escort to save less fortunate ships on your team. Battleships will love your close support as much as your solo allied aircraft carrer when they are outnumbered by the enemy teams aircraft carriers. Use your strengths to bolster your team and support them when and where you can as this ship shines when played as part of a team. It's fast firing potential makes it a good money earner and a extremely fun ship to play. My advice is get one of these ships as fast as possible and just learn to love it, in all its sexy ship porn glory.

Quick Co-op battle screen shot. The amount of hits shot the DPM potential!

That's all for this week, I look forward to seeing you back here later week for a update on my Tiger tank progress.