Best in class ships?

[RobOda]

I was comparing some stats of the ships in their respective classes to try and see which ships were actually worth paying out for. It's not too bothersome for the Destroyers as most of them are £5mil anyway and most of them are identicle in terms of weapons/armour/hp/torps and depths.

Higher up the class list though and it gets a bit weird. An example, the Southampton class is pricier than the Edinburgh class yet, the Edinburg outmatches it in gunpower and hp... Which makes the Southampton a pretty overpriced duckling. >_>

Anyway what ships do you think is the best in the class types?

So far, (new game) I've worked out that for me they are;

Destroyer: Fletcher Class - if you're using Destroyers for sub hunting, they have 6depths, 5torps, 2 AA (5 range) and the single cannon.

If you're using DD's as a gun ship, then I suppose the Tribal/Porter classes as they have the two cannons, less torps and less depth charges. Porter can fire torps both sides, Tribal has to pick one, Porter gets the better AA and more speed so personally I'd go Porter, but otherwise for sub nuking, Fletcher's got the speed, crew and everything else.

Subs: Gato class

Technically, the T-Class beats the Gato in terms of weaponary at 4/1 to 3/1 and has superior anti-air cover but the Gato has the bigger crew and faster speed at 21knots vs 15.
Personally I want my subs up to speed and I'm thinking a better captain can wipe the floor with 3 torps if you keep them out of range of Destroyers.

Cruiser: Not sure, but I'm leaning towards the Brooklyn class.

Reason being; yes it has 6 inch guns but it has the most of them 3x6 along points A, B, X, Y and Q - I think it's the only cruiser with a Q firing point, plus it has 8/8 secondary guns.

I haven't compared them all yet, so I can't comment on the Battleships, Battlecruisers or the Carriers =(

Anyway, anyone else have a thought on the stat effective ships? Which would you pick and why?

[angeleyes]

I realize the original post is three years old, but there's always the possibility that someone else may benefit from my perspective.

The best destroyer is the Japanese Agano-class light cruiser. Which, of course, is not a destroyer but it can do all the work of one and better. After which comes the Atlanta-class, same thing and with radar, albeit missing 6-in guns.

As you have noted, there's two kinds of destroyers, we may call them light and heavy. The Fletcher is indeed the best of the light type - or the Benson or the Gleaves, which are nearly identical, only with a little less crew which may be a factor in a crew hit.

Of the two-gun heavy type, the Porter slightly edges out of the E&F class, but only because it has radar. Being able to fire a spread of three torpedoes is better than a spread of two, even if there's two for each side. The Zerstorer (Zerstörer 1936A) is a potent destroyer as well, even if it doesn't sport radar.

The best light cruiser is indeed the Brooklyn. It's many guns allows for more chances to hit the enemy often and hard. The best heavy is the Baltimore - larger ships seem to get more hitpoints. Battlecruisers aren't worth your time, and for BBs the Iowa edges out the Yamato with radar. None of the Japanese ships have radar as far as I've seen, but it's possible they'll come in at a later in-game date.

For carriers, the Essex slightly edges out the Yorktown but it's certainly not the most cost-effective choice. Number of aircraft weigh much more than any other consideration. For game balance, they also threw in the Graf Zeppelin-class, which was never built historically.

It's also worth knowing for a new player that you can bring a maximum of 20 ships into battle, but having more allows for loss replacements out of port as well as if you turn on no air attacks at night, carriers being selectively replaced by gun ships.

Also, the HQ hates me, especially the Japanese one, which gave a ******* sake cup as a reward after sending me to attack Pearl Harbour with two fricken destroyers and a LC. The Admiralty was no better though, sending me with a convoy to escort from Gibraltar to Cyprus over a thousand mile journey of nazi-infested waters and one lousy destroyer to guard it. Anyway... after gearing up your fleet to strength, you should go take ports.

Occasionally you may be granted enemy ships for free from HQ. I would have liked the opportunity to capture surrendering ships yourself, making it less random and something to work for.