Through the Spy Glass: Picardie

Picardie is based on a design conceived by French engineers to meet the need for ships with more advanced main battery guns. By 1912, when France began constructing larger docks at shipyards in Toulon and Brittany, the world's leading naval powers were building ships with main guns far superior to those of earlier designs. France, too, considered upgrading to a 370–380 mm (14.6–15 inch) caliber, but such naval guns were not yet available. Instead, French engineers decided to enhance firepower by increasing the number of smaller-caliber guns, resulting in a design featuring 16 guns distributed across four turrets. 

Picardie, a true warrior in the heat of battle, boasts 16 main guns designed for short-range combat, complemented by the Main Battery Reload Booster. She also features a powerful secondary battery that fires HE shells with excellent penetration. Activating the Enhanced Secondary Targeting II consumable further enhances the secondary battery's accuracy and reload time, making Picardie even more dangerous in close encounters. 

Émile Guépratte is a perfect candidate to command Picardie. He'll improve the ship's survivability and boost the effectiveness of both the main and secondary guns. 

His Expeditious base trait improves the maximum ship speed by up to 6.5%. For the skill selection: 

• Not the One for Nuisance, reducing the risk of fire, flooding, and torpedo damage to the citadel by up to 8%. 
• Porcupine, improving secondary gun range, shell grouping, and dispersion by up to 12%, 15%, and 18%, respectively. 
• Megalomania, reducing main battery reload time by up to 10% and the ship's increased detectability time after firing main guns by up to 25%. However, it also reduces the ship's maximum HP by up to 5%. 
• Master Mechanic, increasing the amount of recovered HP by up to 10% and the number of Repair Party charges by up to 2. 
• Fight Fire with Fire, reducing the fire damage your ship takes over time for each active fire by up to 15%. It also removes all damage-over-time effects (including flooding) from your ship when you receive three concurrent fires while your Damage Control Party consumable is on cooldown or fully depleted. 

Inspirations: 

• Angelo Iachino, improving your battleship's main battery shell grouping when shooting at battleships, cruisers, and destroyers by up to 3%, 7%, and 3%, respectively.   
• Franz von Hipper, improving the range of your secondary guns by up to 15% and their shell grouping by up to 5%. 

Shine in battle and turn the tide with Picardie!