Supertest: Spanish Tier IX Premium Cruiser Aragón
With Update 15.8, we are also getting a new Spanish large cruiser. Aragón is, in a sense, the sister of Andalucía and Almirante Oquendo, as they all originate from the same design.
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Historical background
In 1938, following the end of the Spanish Civil War, Franco sought to build a powerful navy, equal to those of other nations with a hand on the Mediterranean Sea. As such, various projects were started, and among them was a project of heavy cruisers meant to royally ignore the Washington Naval Treaty. The theory was that it would outgun any treaty cruiser from nations like Italy or France while being able to outrun any of their battleship with an expected maximum speed of 36 knots. This Project was labeled as Project 138.
Three variants of the project were brought up throughout its development:
- 138A was armed with four triple turrets with 203 mm guns (the ship that we know as Almirante Oquendo)
- 138B was armed with three twin turrets with 305 mm guns. These would have been turrets taken from the España-class battleships and, in theory, would have given these cruisers the edge in firepower over cruisers from rival nations.
- 138C was armed with two triple turrets with 283 mm guns. These would have been turrets bought from Germany, more specifically from the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as their main batteries were planned to be replaced with the same twin turrets with 380 mm guns as the Bismarck-class.
As for Andalucía, technically, she is also the 138B variant but with Wargaming giving it a what-if main battery.
In the end, it turns out that you can't magically get yourself a big shiny navy when your country just came out of a particularly bloody civil war, and so, the project was abandoned.
In World of Warships, Aragón represents the 138B variant as it would have been completed by 1948 according to the game files. Its secondary battery and anti-air are of Italian origin.
Ship's preview
Ship's permanent camouflage
As a reminder, this is a ship in testing; anything can change, so don't look at her like she would already be released.
Modules
|
Hull |
Engine |
Gun Fire Control System |
Main battery |
Torpedoes |
Aragón |
Propulsion: 170 000 HP |
SCI Mk IX Mod. 1 |
305 mm/50 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.H in a turret |
533 mm MkIV* ES
|
General Characteristics
| Tier | IX |
| Health | 48 300 HP |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction | 16 % |
| Displacement | 20 570 tons |
| Dimensions | |
| Overall length | 225.66 m |
| Beam | 23.63 m |
| Overall height (keel to the highest point on the ship) | 21.11 m |
| Freeboard | 5.8 m |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 18.600 km |
| 305 mm/50 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.H in a turret | 3 x 2 305 mm |
| Secondary Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 6.950 km |
| 135 mm/45 Model 1938 on a Model 1938 twin mount | 6 x 2 135 mm |
| Torpedo Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 8.000 km |
| 533 mm Triple | 2 x 3 533 mm |
| Maximum speed | 36.0 knots |
| Turning Circle Radius | 840 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 11.3 s |
| Surface Detectability | 14.700 km |
| Air Detectability | 10.000 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke | 11.760 km |
| Consumables | ||||
|
Slot 1 |
Slot 2 |
Slot 3 |
Slot 4 |
Slot 5 |
|
Damage Control Party
 Cooldown: 80 s |
Repair Party  Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 33% |
Auxiliary and Torpedo Weaponry Coordination  Number of charges: 3 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 120 s Secondary shells damage: +10% Torpedo reload time: -20% Airstrike reload time: -20% |
Spotting aircraft  Number of charges: 4 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 240 s Main battery firing range: +20% |
Engine Boost  Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Maximum speed: +8% |
|
|
|
|
Fighters  Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Patrol radius: 3.0 km Number of fighters: 4 |
|
Alternative firing mode |
 |
| Reload time | 28.0 s |
| AP shells Krupp value | +40% |
| Main battery maximum dispersion | -25% |
| Number of salvoes | 1 |
Armor penetration of Aragón's AP shells with and without the alternative firing mode
Main Armament
| 3 x 2 305 mm/50 Vickers-Armstrong Mk.H in a turret | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 18.600 km |
| Reloading Time | 12.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 25.7 s |
| Optimal firing angles at the front | 32° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear | 30° |
| Sigma | 2.05 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 204 m (battlecruiser dispersion) |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE - 305 mm proiettili HE Mark IIa  |
| Alpha Damage | 4 300 |
| Penetration capacity | 51 mm |
| Fire chance | 27 % |
| Projectile Speed | 894 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.3 |
| Projectile Mass | 386.0 kg |
| Type of Projectile | AP - 305 mm proiettili AP Mark VI  |
| Alpha Damage | 8 200 |
| Projectile Speed | 894 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.3 |
| Projectile Mass | 386.0 kg |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 530 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.033 s |
| Detonator threshold | 51 mm |
| Ricochet Angles | 45° - 60° |
Secondary Armament
| 6 x 2 135 mm/45 Model 1938 on a Model 1938 twin mount | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 6.950 km |
| Reloading Time | 10.7 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 3.0 s |
| Sigma | 1.0 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 426 m (standard secondary dispersion) |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE - 135 mm proiettili HE 1938 |
| Alpha Damage | 1 950 |
| Penetration capacity | 23 mm |
| Fire chance | 9 % |
| Projectile Speed | 875 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.29 |
| Projectile Mass | 32.7 kg |
Torpedo Armament
2 x 3 533 mm Mk VIII ES |
|
| Reloading Time | 115.0 s |
| Maximum Distance | 8.000 km |
| Optimal firing angles at the front | 45° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear | 25° |
| Damage | 16 633 |
| Flooding Chance | 279% |
| Speed | 62 knots |
| Surface Detectability | 1.3 km |
Anti-air Armament
| 6 x 2 135 mm/45 Model 1938 on a Model 1938 twin mount | |
| Sector firing range | 0.1 km - 5.2 km |
| Hit chance | 90 % |
| Sector's damage | 16 |
| Sector's damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector's damage per second | 56 |
| Flak clouds number | 3 |
| Flak cloud damage | 1540 |
| 20 x 1 37 mm/54 Model 1939 on a Model RM1939 mount 4 x 2 37 mm/54 Model 1938 on a Model 1938 mount |
|
| Sector firing range | 0.1 km - 3.5 km |
| Hit chance | 90 % |
| Sector's damage | 114 |
| Sector's damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector's damage per second | 399 |
ASW Airstrike
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor - Depth charge airstrike
650 lb bomb |
|
| Reloading Time | 30 s |
| Number of charges | 2 |
| HP per plane | 2 000 |
| Attack range | 0.5 km - 7.0 km |
| Number of planes in the squadron | 1 |
| Number of bombs in payload | 2 |
| Damage | 4 200 |
| Detonation timer | 3.5 s - 4.5 s |
| Explosion radius | 375 m |
| Fire chances | 24% |
| Flooding chances | 300% |
The Armor
External armor protection:
Citadel armor protection:
Turrets protection:
Hidden armor protection inside the stern and bow:
Personal Opinion
On paper, I do like the idea of this ship's alternative firing mode. It effectively turns her into a lethal sniper that can punish the broadside of cruisers and even potentially battleships, as you get roughly the same penetration as Stalingrad in that mode. It also pairs well with her high speed to quickly take position on flanks and catch targets off guard. Technically, the 28-second reload would play in your favor as it will allow you to get unspotted between each salvo and reposition.
Outside of that alternative firing mode, though, she doesn't seem to be anything crazy, with only 6 305 mm guns at tier IX and unremarkable armor protection. We will have to see how it goes.
Regardless...
Thank you for reading this article!
Have a good one and see you soon!
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