USS Cyclone

Description

The Cyclone-class, USS Cyclone (PC-1) is a rank American motor gun boat with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Drone Age".

General info

Survivability and armour

Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.

Mobility

Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.

Modifications and economy

Armament

Primary armament

The 25mm/87 Mk.38 is a navalized copy of the ground 25mm M242 cannon (mounted on M3 Bradley) in term of the gun performance and ammo characteristics, though the naval version has its ammo belt slightly re-adjusted with pure HEI-T and APDS belts as researchable modifications. Notice that in naval battles, APDS doesn't create secondary shatters (the spalling in ground battles); it's a pure kinetic-damage ammo. The gun fires at 3 round per second and overheats in 17 seconds. In naval scenarios, APDS is the only option for Cyclone. The self-destroying property of HEI-T renders this type of bullet almost completely useless because boats at this tier and BR often carry punchy 40 mm and above autocannons and fight beyond 2 km.

• Universal: HEI-T* · APDS
• 25 mm HEIT belts: HEI-T*
• 25 mm APDS belts: APDS

Secondary armament

There are a pair of 12.7 mm AN-M2 machine guns each mounted on one side of the ship's bridge. Each machine gun only covers a sector less than a quadrant.

• Universal: API-T · AP · I · AP
• .50 AP belt: API-T · AP · AP · AP
• .50 APIT belt: API-T · API-T · API-T · I

Usage in battles

The USS Cyclone is a quick vessel fitted with guns that can do short work of most coastal ships it'll encounter. She must stay in the coastal area hunting for them, using her good top speed to her advantage. However, she must stay away from frigates and destroyers that can be encountered at this BR. The 25 mm guns are indeed, very powerful against patrol boats, but they are lacking punch and can hardly significant damages to bigger targets. In addition, the USS Cyclone can hardly withstand a hit from a high-calibre round. Try to engage big vessels while they are already engaged by somebody else or already heavily damaged without overexposing yourself.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very survivable against low-calibre rounds
• APDS rounds have enough penetration to damage other armoured boats, such as MPK.161, HMS Peacock, or M-802
• 25 mm guns are decent against low-flying aircraft
• Decent top speed and mobility
• Has access to a radar system
• APDS rounds have decent velocity and easy to aim even against air targets.

Cons:

• Large profile
• Guns overheat quickly
• Main guns lack punch against frigates and bigger ships
• High-calibre machine guns have limited fire arc and aren't very effective even against small PT boats
• Can't sustain hits from high-calibre guns (102 mm and above)
• Can't track targets with her radar

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the USS Cyclone from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

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• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.