HMS Queen Mary: Royalty at Sea

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

HMS Queen Mary is a one-off British battlecruiser design built in the leadup to WWI. Coming as part of the Seek & Destroy major update, HMS Queen Mary will soon reinforce the top ranks of the British Bluewater fleet with the introduction of a powerful new battlecruiser!

HMS Queen Mary: A Battlecruiser for Great Britain at Rank V
Features:

• Powerful primary battery!
  
• Mediocre protection.
  
• Exceptional mobility.
  
• No anti-air protection.

Vehicle History
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HMS Queen Mary was laid down in March 1911 under the 1910-11 Naval Programme as the sole ship of its class. Completed in August 1913, the ship would become the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy prior to the outbreak of WWI. The ship’s design drew heavily from the preceding Lion class, which featured a formidable arsenal and comparably good protection. Entering service in September 1913, HMS Queen Mary wouldn’t have to wait long for its first combat operation.

This came shortly after the outbreak of WWI, when the warship took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in which British and German forces clashed in the North Sea in August 1914. Under Admiral Beatty’s command, HMS Queen Mary along with other British warships sunk two German light cruisers during this battle. The next major operation saw HMS Queen Mary take part in the legendary Battle of Jutland in 1916. Being part of the largest naval battle of WWI, HMS Queen Mary managed to land several hits on German warships. In response however, the German battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger dealt HMS Queen Mary a lethal blow, causing the warship’s magazines to detonate. The major explosion which followed tore the ship apart and caused it to sink quickly. 
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Meet HMS Queen Mary!
In War Thunder, HMS Queen Mary will arrive at rank V of the British Bluewater tree as part of the Seek & Destroy major update, expanding this tree’s battlecruiser roster and smoothing out the progression to the current top British battlecruiser; HMS Hood. In today’s devblog, we’re eager to tell you all about this unique new imperial warship, coming to naval battles very soon!




Common for a battlecruiser, the warship combines superior mobility and firepower while featuring less impressive protection than battleships for example. The Queen Mary is is fitted with four twin 13.5’’ (343 mm) cannons, giving it ample firepower to comfortably engage any capital ship with relative ease, even at greater firing distances. Furthermore, the secondary battery of 16 4’’ (102 mm) cannons as well as two 533 mm torpedo launchers enable the warship to also engage smaller vessels or harass heavier opponents with their high rate of fire. Being a WWI era vessel however means that HMS Queen Mary didn’t receive any dedicated anti-air weapons. This makes the ship highly vulnerable to air attack, meaning it’s best to stick close to allies which can help fill this gap in the ship’s protection.

Interesting: HMS Queen Mary is the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the wife of King George V.




Speaking of protection, despite being fitted with less armor than a typical battleship, HMS Queen Mary still comes equipped with up to 229 mm of armor on its turrets, belts and barbettes. As a result, the vessel is well protected against shell fire from enemy cruisers but can not resist fire from battleships. HMS Queen Mary is by no means a sluggish ship. In fact, thanks to its very powerful propulsion system, HMS Queen Mary can reach an impressive top speed of 28.2 kts (52 km/h). This allows the vessel to easily keep up with more nimble allies and quickly respond to a changing tactical situation during battle.

In your matches by Keith (Scarper), Community Manager: “The guns of a battleship with the speed of a cruiser. When using this beastie, be the bully in the battle, pick on the smaller guys and manuever away from danger with the bigger slower ships like battleships. The lesser armour (to allow for speed) will not help when you meet something heavier so you cant slug it out. Keep ahead of any enemy firing turrets and think ahead before launching attacks - You aren’t a ‘Tank’. Air attacks will hurt as there is no dedicated AA, keep an eye on the sky.”

HMS Queen Mary has set course for War Thunder naval battles and is due to dock in player ports with the release of the Seek & Destroy major update. In the meantime, keep scanning the news section as we continue to release new info on the upcoming update. Until then, calm seas and good hunting captains!