Dallas

Tier V \| Type: Cruiser
Preceded by	Succeeded by
Pensacola	Helena Cleveland
Cost	2 400 000
XP Required	55 000

Dallas — American Tech Tree Tier V Cruiser.

A design version of a small light cruiser development which preceded the creation of Helena-class cruisers. She had features characteristic of most subsequent ships of this type in the U.S. Navy: moderate speed, the absence of torpedo armament, and the availability of dual-purpose guns complementing the 152 mm main battery mounted in the turrets.

Year of Design: 1934

Ship Traits

Surgical Shells: A short shell fuse time results in lower chance of over-penetration.	Reloader: Above average main battery reload time.	Sluggish Shot: Difficult to aim at long distances, but the trajectory allows for effective fire from cover.

Modules

	Hit Points	Min Armor (mm)	Max Armor (mm)	Torpedo Damage Reduction (%)	Main Battery Turrets	Rudder Shift (s)	Purchase Price
Stock	24 000	6	89	4	2x2	11.1	0
Hull B	28 300	6	89	4	2x2	8	480 000

	Turret Arrangement	Reload Time (s)	180° Turn Time (s)	Max HE Damage	HE Fire Chance (%)	Max AP Damage	Purchase Price
152mm Mk16 Twin	2x2	9.5	22.5	2200	12	3200	0
152mm Mk13/16 mod. 1 Twin	2x2	8.5	20	2200	12	3200	60 000

	Firing Range Increase (%)	Main Battery Firing Range	Purchase Price
Stock	0 %	13.3 km	0
Targeting System: Mk5 mod. 2	10 %	14.6 km	60 000

	Maximum Speed
Stock	32.5 kn

History

Dallas is based on a US Navy proposal for a 7000 standard ton light cruiser, dated from late 1934 : more accurately, project 389 design 4-C. The project was designed to round up the total displacement of the US Navy cruiser to the maximum allowed by the Washington Naval Treaty : at the time of the design phase, they had only 17,600 tons left, of the 143,500 allowed by the treaty. It wasn’t enough to allow the construction of two more Brooklyn class (represented in-game by the premium ship Boise) vessels, the latest light cruiser class in the navy, displacing 10 000 tons each. Design 4-C was one of the proposals to fill that gap, proposing a 7000 standard ton cruiser, armed with 8 6 inches/152mm rifles, a 88mm/3.5 inches belt and a speed of 32.5 knots.

In World of Warships Legends, the ship is named after the city of Dallas, following the US Navy tradition of naming cruisers after the capital city of states.

It is unlikely that the US Navy would have given this design the name Dallas as it conflicts with a Clemson class destroyer (DD-199) which also carried the same name and was in active service from 1920 to July 1945. It was renamed Alexander Dallas in March 1945 as the name Dallas was being reserved for a planned Des Moines-class cruiser.

Dallas is loosely based on the design 4-C, being in reality an amalgam of multiple US Navy cruisers in the game. To quote Wargaming article about the historical basis of Dallas :

«The shafts, propellers, rolling keels, and rudder are taken from Cleveland-class cruisers» ;
«Masts, equipment, piping, and small details are borrowed from cruisers St. Louis and Helena, as well as Atlanta and Cleveland-class cruisers.» ;
«The triple turret is taken from Brooklyn/Cleveland, but its armor is lighter (which can’t be seen, it only influences the parameters and weight, and weight is everything to us)».
«The main battery guidance system is similar to those of Brooklyn/Cleveland, there are only 7.35 m rangefinders in turrets №2 and №3.»

The bridge is built around a large armoured conning tower. However, the forward main battery Mk. 34 fire director sits just on top of the tower, which is an issue since the director needs one level of deck penetration. The aft Mk. 34 director has the same issue.

The Mk. 33 directors for the secondary armament control sits on a structure above the bridge. Design practice of the time of the design of the ship (1934) dictated to put the main battery director above : here, it’s the secondary one which is above. War experience proved the advantage of the secondary directors above for better AA fire angles ; it’s unlikely that such a war-time experience was taken in consideration in an early 30’ design.

One of the radars fitted is an SA air radar, which was a kind of radar that wasn’t fitted to a larger unit than a destroyer.

Finally, the amidship aircraft facility doesn’t show any hangar, where the experience with the Pensacola class and following design showed the importance of protecting the vessels floatplanes, considered as the “eyes” of the ship during the pre-radar era.

Both her AA suits are fictional, the A hull presenting her in a theoretical 1940 condition, the B hull presenting her in a 1943 condition.

Sources :

The Project 389 Dallas Light Cruiser, World of Warships, https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/history/paper-ships-dallas/

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