The Wickes-class destroyer is an Allied destroyer of US origin.
Description[]
First launched in the eve of World War I, the Wickes-class destroyers' primary role was to protect larger warships from torpedo boats and submarines, as well as reconnaissance. The design focused on speed instead of heavy artillery armament, so the Wickes sported just four single mounted four-inch guns and a single three-inch gun. Additionally the ships carry a strong torpedo battery with 12 tubes of 21-inch torpedoes. 111 ships of the class were built, and with many still in service when World War II broke out. As their original armament were already obsolete by then, they were mainly used as escorts for merchant shipping. The Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy received 22 and 5 ships of the class respectively, where they also mainly served as escorts. A number of the Wickes-class ships were also converted to troop transports (APD), minelayers (DM), minesweepers (DMS) and seaplane tenders (AVD). Depending of the role, they got a modernised armament and lost their torpedo launchers in order to get more transport capacity and endurance. 13 Wickes ships were sunk throughout World War II.
Due to their intended role, the Wickes-class destroyers are no match against newer destroyers, especially in terms of armaments. Instead, they were used as escorts and submarine hunters and in BattleGroup42, the ships are armed with three four-inch guns, a dual 40mm anti aircraft gun, two torpedo launchers, and depth charges.
The Wickes-class can be found in 4209-Wolves at Night, 4210-Wolfpack, and in Conquest mode of 4208-Operation Herkules.
Trivia[]
The Wickes-class has a high-speed transport variant, which also appears in the mod.
Gallery[]
