You could argue it was theoretically the best. Richelieu put all its guns in the front which allowed the armored citadel to be shorter which meant either a faster ship for the same armor or a more heavily armored ship for the same speed. You don't lose too much because the rear turrets are not as important as the forward turrets in a battle line. (And in Richelieu's case, it was the fastest ship of its day so it also had the initiative of choosing its battles)
The British Nelson class (which were built in the 1920s) also did the "put all guns in the front" but they had issues with gun blast causing damage to the deck and interfering with each other because the turrets were placed too close together.
i maintain its cringe to name something after richelieu but that's an impressive boat. of course making the nicest battleship was ultimately completely pointless but nevertheless
It is a French boat so :france-cool: Richelieu was probably the most well balanced battleship of WW2 but Yamato takes home the prize of big gun boat becoming obsolete by the end of the war
im no navy guy but of these, Richeliu (good god is that fr*nch?) is the best on paper? lighter but big turrets and same size guns?
You could argue it was theoretically the best. Richelieu put all its guns in the front which allowed the armored citadel to be shorter which meant either a faster ship for the same armor or a more heavily armored ship for the same speed. You don't lose too much because the rear turrets are not as important as the forward turrets in a battle line. (And in Richelieu's case, it was the fastest ship of its day so it also had the initiative of choosing its battles)
The British Nelson class (which were built in the 1920s) also did the "put all guns in the front" but they had issues with gun blast causing damage to the deck and interfering with each other because the turrets were placed too close together.
i maintain its cringe to name something after richelieu but that's an impressive boat. of course making the nicest battleship was ultimately completely pointless but nevertheless
they named the other one after a pirate, Jean Bart, which is much cooler.
Pirate and the Hammer of the Prots
Based Battleship Names
spoiler
(i know i just said Riche was cringe, christian sectarianism is fun in either direction)
It is a French boat so :france-cool: Richelieu was probably the most well balanced battleship of WW2 but Yamato takes home the prize of big gun boat becoming obsolete by the end of the war