A Comprehensive Naval Guide - Advanced Tactics, Airstrike Strategies, Ammo Descriptions, and more...

Authored by: Der_Penguin and Skip_Waters. Skip has 38k Naval kills and is ranked 12th Worldwide for Naval Targets Destroyed in Realistic Battles. Penguin has been an avid Naval fan since the Closed Beta Test, and actively played ever since. We would like to share our knowledge gained from over 50k Naval kills and 5k hours played.

The Player Experience

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THIS GUIDE IS BEING REWRITTEN

The Tech Trees

The War Thunder Naval mode is divided into two separate tech trees, Coastal and Bluewater vessels. The Coastal tab is for smaller boats while the Bluewater tab is for Destroyers (DD) and anything larger. Coastal ranges in BR from 1.0-4.7, while the Bluewater tab ranges from 3.3-7.0. Both Coastal boats and Bluewater ships can play in the same matches if they are within 1.0 BR of one another. So the earliest you could start seeing Destroyers (DD) in a Coastal match is very early on, only a BR of 2.3.

I (Penguin) highly recommend starting with Coastal and getting it unlocked to 3.0-3.3 before moving onto Bluewater.

3.0-3.3 Coastal vessels start to become deadly to the starter Bluewater vessels, so having those unlocked first gives the player the ability to take out a fast craft to capture points and possibly kill weakened Destroyers (DD). Aircraft are able to spawn in all Naval matches, using SP points generated from actions in battle as well. The player can choose to bring out their own unlocked planes (Max of 0.3 BR above highest boat in lineup), or the game will provide a random fighter/bomber that is at an appropriate BR for the match in question. Three naval spawns are always guaranteed (Even in RB) and two air spawns are allowed, resulting in a five life maximum. Naval Enduring Confrontation is an exception, more on that below.

The Game-Modes

• Domination
  
• Battle
  
• Conquest
  
• Encounter
  
• Enduring Confrontation
  The newest, biggest and longest game-mode available for Naval. This mode features immense maps, starting at 86km x 86km. The match timer is 3 hours long, and spawns are completely reworked.

The Vessels

Ships and Boats in War Thunder are divided into many different categories, just like Tanks and Aircraft with Fighters, Heavy Tanks, etc etc. The vessels are divided as follows:

• Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) - These boats have both guns and torpedoes, are generally fast and agile but very fragile. They generally have good seaworthiness, meaning they ride high in the water and are less disturbed by rough waters.
  
  
• Motor Gun Boat (MGB) - The same as above minus the torpedoes. All guns and speed.
  
  
• Armored Gun Boats (AGB?) - Exact opposites to MTB's and MGB's. These boats are universally slow, not agile at all but have some actual armor. They have terrible seaworthiness, rendered near useless by rough waters due to the amount of bouncing and rocking the boat experiences.
  
  
• Sub-chasers (SC?) - The start of the "larger" Coastal vessels. Sub-Chasers are unique in that they have at least one of three characteristics; Naval mines, projecting depth charges, or they are much larger than other coastal boats with thicker (Often twice as thick) steel hulls. This class is the largest category of ships that can use the shallow spawn points. Some specific sub-chasers (M-802) are comparable to Frigates in armor and weaponry, but lack speed.
  
  
• Motor Torpedo Gun Boat (MTGB) - Very strange and specific category of ships present in the upper tiers of three nations so far; USSR, Germany and one boat from Italy. These boats, as the name implies, combine the first two categories into one. These are mostly modern boats that are fast and armed with torpedoes and advanced gun systems, or even missile systems. Think of them more as Modern Torpedo Gun Boats. The German MZ1 is the only exception, being a large and slow steel hulled boat with basic weaponry. (Should be SC but snail says otherwise...).
  
  
• Frigates (FG?) - Frigates have Destroyer (DD) hull thickness (16mm steel), making them far more survivable to small arms. Frigates often choose lighter primary armaments than Destroyers (DD), but make up for it with rate of fire. Universally slow, Frigates are the only Coastal boats that must spawn with the Bluewater vessels in the deep spawns, farther away from the capture points. While they may be slow and spawn the farthest from the battle, Frigates also have a lot of crew to help deal with sustained damage, and generally very strong AA. They truly are pocket-Destroyers (DD).
  
  
• Destroyers (DD) - Destroyers (DD) are arguably the most versatile of the Bluewater ships. They are fast, agile, and pack a punch. Armed with cannons ranging from 100mm to 152mm, DD are able to engage even Heavy Cruisers (CA) at all but the farthest distances. DD can be armed with long range rocket systems, radar detection systems, ample torpedoes, mines and in some cases even depth charges. This all comes at the cost of armor, as most DD are largely unarmored.
  
  
• Light Cruisers (CL) - Light Cruisers (CL) are basically DD 2.0. They are also generally fast, often being the same or similar speed to DD with thicker 19-25mm hulls. Due to the increase in size and displacement, agility is markedly worse than DD. Armor coverage and thickness is greatly increased, with some having armor up to 165mm in thickness. Guns are likewise increased in size, with the general being 152mm and ranging from 127mm - 180mm. CL can have many different configurations, from ships filled with 36 destroyer caliber cannons, to ships with just 4 hard hitting 180mm cannons. Warning: Higher tier CL (5.3-6.0) will still get matches with BB. Try to avoid the Battleships as best as possible, they will be aiming for you first.
  
  
• Heavy Cruisers (CA) - Heavy Cruisers (CA) are where things tend to get pretty slow. With the exception of some specific ships, CA are generally armed with heavy and slow firing cannons ranging from 190mm - 283mm. Accurate shooting becomes very crucial with these ships, as they are slower than anything but Battleships and Battlecruisers and thus cannot close the distance quickly. Furthermore, with the larger caliber cannons comes longer reload times, longer shooting ranges, more flight time of the shell, and much slower turrets. Unfortunately, CA do not have outstanding armor. Some are improved over CL counterparts, but the majority of the ships rely mainly on their higher crew counts and damage output to survive. CA require accurate shooting to be played effectively. They will almost always face BB or CB, or swarms of DD and CL. All of these ships can be deadly to an exposed CA, fire from cover and hit those shots. USSR also has 0 CA so far...
  
  
• Battleships (BB) - The big chonks. Floating hulks of armor and guns, abysmally heavy and horrible to maneuver, these are the slowest of all ships. Some BB go back as far as 1911, and have 0 Anti-Air coverage whatsoever. Others are from 1944 and decked with quite literally hundreds of AA guns. Learning the profiles of BB's is extremely important and can help identify easy ways to kill it. Naturally, BB covered in armor with lots of crew can take a LONG time to kill, and do a lot of damage before dying. Identifying the target and its weaknesses can be a quick way to end that threat and save the rest of your team. With ships this large and times to kill (TTK) this long, a player must think of the longer game. With this in mind, like CA, an exposed BB is a dead BB eventually. Firing from cover is advisable, especially since the rest of the match is faster than you. If the BB players can provide good cover for them by killing other BB before they do a lot of damage, the faster teammates can take care of capture zones and other smaller ships, thus securing a win.
  
  
• Battle-cruisers (CB) -
  
  
• Minelayers (MM) -
  
  
• AA Ferries/Naval Barges -

Survival Tips

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Summary

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The first lesson a player should learn is how to survive. Learn how to prioritize more vital repairs and exercise good damage control habits. A good rule of thumb is to focus on the most threatening problem one at a time. This often varies depending on vessel type, damage location, and your current situation.

Your priorities while out of combat or after disengaging should be threats to your immediate survival, such as fires near critical areas or breaches while your buoyancy is nearing zero. Upon entering combat or while engaged, you may need to focus on repairing if your main weapon systems become disabled to maintain combat effectiveness, while breaches with slow buoyancy loss can be left alone until more vital repairs are complete.

If you are in combat and repairing disabled main weapons, try suspending those repairs if a magazine catches fire, which often has a high chance of taking you out of action completely. Fires in turrets with ammo elevators can spread down into the magazine itself as well, resulting in a large detonation as well. In a combat scenario, repairing must be used very sparingly to prevent HE spam from killing your crew on AA turrets or other superficial components like torpedo tubes. Likewise, fires can spread extremely quickly and be constantly reset, so extinguishing them quickly is a good way to save both crew and a chance of ammo detonation. A small amount of flooding, or a small hull breach can be seen as the least worrisome, as it can sometimes help to put out minor fires and the flooding rate can be mitigated by slowing down.

Breaches with fast buoyancy loss or approaching zero should take higher priority than fire-prevention because when it reaches zero, you are sunk. If pumping time is excessive while fires are burning, it is possible to suspend fire prevention, close breaches and recover partial buoyancy, suspend breach repair, reactivate fire prevention, and resume pumping once the fires are out. Whether to do this can be a gamble, so use your discretion.

Mobility, steering, secondary weapons, and AA batteries are lower priorities when conducting damage control because damage to any of these are less threatening your vessel. These still should be addressed during combat, especially if you feel your combat capabilities have been significantly impaired, but should be suspended if your vessel is threatened by serious breaches or fires near critical areas.

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Detailed Tips

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1. Evaluate the need for Repairs(6) at all times, it will use remaining crew.
   I do not repair here, all turrets are firing and engines are ok. Bridge is undamaged. I have lost a single engine.
   Now I repair, I have lost a main turret and my bridge and subsequently control of my vessel. Repairs can also be cancelled at any time, so save crew by cancelling once main repairs are done.
   

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2. Repairing/Extinguishing(7)/Breach repair(8) all take longer when done simultaneously. Do them 1 at a time, usually in this order; Fire extinguish (Causes crew loss over time, can spread, can detonate ammo), Repair Breaches/Pump Water(Can do first if buoyancy critical), and repair last (Unless critical, see above).
   
   
   You can see the difference in time when I stop the repairs, and this is with a very skilled crew. Try to prioritize your self-care.
   

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3. Breach Repair/Pumping water(8) is done in 2 parts, first the hole is repaired then the water is pumped out. You can repair just the hole, and cancel the pumping. This can save a lot of time, keep an eye on buoyancy level.
   

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4. You can set all self-care options to automatic. I recommend having Fire Extinguishers set to automatic, as fires are very dangerous and often overlooked.
   

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5. Figure out how much ammo you need. Naval vessels are capable of carrying thousands of rounds of ammunition and it can all be set on fire and blown up.
   
   Most naval matches in War Thunder may run around 10-20 minutes, while some might last upwards to 30 minutes. You can determine the max amount you can fire by calculating how many rounds a given weapon group can fire off by multiplying the rate-of-fire by match-duration and barrel count. For example, if your heavy cruiser has a capacity for 1500 rounds, but your main artillery can only fire off 700 of those combined for a 20-minute match, there is absolutely no reason to bring the extra 800 rounds. You'll typically need less ammunition than this anyway, though there is some lee-way where different ammunition types are involved.
   
   An alternate way to determine ammo count is load full ammo for a few matches, and note how much is left when you die/end the match and adjust from there. This can change with time and skill, so recount when needed.
   

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6. Keep AI On for Naval and Air targets as much as possible. AI AA is very deadly, it will save you or a teammate often. Sometimes the AI won't shoot the closest target or the target you want. You can specify a target for each weapon group by pressing your target key and the corresponding group number 1-3. This allows a player to engage a target and designate 2 other targets for the AI to attack.
   
   
   Icons showing AI will target both surface and air targets.
   
   
   A plane I have told my gunners to track. It is a good idea to check what your gunners are targeting every once in awhile, better targets may be available.
   
   

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7. Similar to other modes, knowing the geometry of other vehicles is extremely helpful. When looking at a ship, try to identify it by its main turret layout, smoke stack configuration, and overall superstructure or silhouette. Some ships are very deceiving, having a thin hull but very thick interior armor for example, so knowing what you are shooting can really help you defeat them.
   

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8. Just like in tanks, proper angling can save your crew and your vehicle from getting its ammo detonated. Ships have very curved hulls, and later designs have rather thick armor. Furthermore, incoming fire is, by nature, already at a high angle. This leads proper angling to increase your survival greatly. See Armor Shattering and Degradation for more info.
   

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Killing other Vessels

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Summary

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There are a couple ways to kill other ships, and some take much more time than others. The quickest kills are from ammo racks, bombs or torpedoes. The slowest times to kill are bleeding a ships crew until there is none left, or sinking the ship. Often times kills will result in a combination of the above, not a single source of damage. Ships are large and full of crew, so times to kill are inherently longer. Below I will lay out some tips and tricks to getting kills faster, or doing more damage in general. Doing damage is one of the best ways to earn more in a match, as well as helping the team to win the match and make even more.

Here are some very general rules to follow:

• If the target ship is at extremely close range (below 5km), load AP and aim for turrets. If unable to do to damage/ammo rack, spam HE/SAP on top decks/turrets/cannon barrels.
  
• If the target ship is much smaller than you, load HE.
  
• If the target ship is same or similar size at medium-close range,use HE first to help Identify the target and/or start fires, or start with SAP/AP if target is known. Stick with SAP/AP if penetrating, back to HE if not.
  
• If the target ship is larger, start with HE/SAP to start fires, switch to best AP when burning. Go back to HE/SAP to reset fires.
  
• If the target ship is clearly much bigger and more armored (And you just have to engage), use HE. Sometimes smaller AP rounds will do nothing, but HE can always set fires. Best to avoid engagements like this, but remember damage can always be done.
  
• If you know the target ship geometry well and that your AP/SAP can penetrate, you can load AP/SAP and go for the ammo rack or sinking them.

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Detailed Tips

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1. Soften a target with HE. Ships generally have thicker armored main turrets, hulls and ammo magazines, but the top decks and superstructures are often left with much thinner armor, or no armor at all. Using HE can repeatedly set fires on the decks, take out AA guns and auxiliary turrets with less armor, and destroy rangefinders and bridges. This forces your opponent to repair and use more crew, and can severely hamper normal operation of the ship. Once you notice the opponent either stops repairing or starts taking a lot less crew loss, switch to AP to kill the crew deeper in the ship. HE in large enough quantities will also damage/shatter armor, so keep that in mind too. See Armor Shattering and Degradation for more info.
   

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2. Use ranging fire. Main caliber weapons are able to be fired per barrel, this is very handy in aiming your salvoes. Furthermore, sustained fire is more likely to set or reset fires, causing even more crew loss and the opposing player spends more time extinguishing fires. It can also help you acquire the range of the target quicker, and spreads damage across all of the compartments and modules of a ship.
   
   Ranging fire from ships with numerous barrels can be incredibly potent, especially when a battle has moved into the mid to short ranged brawling phase. Some ships like the Atlanta or Brooklyn sometimes cycle back to the first barrel before all guns have had a chance to fire, in which case you only need to press and hold the fire-button as your first gun re-fires to ensure no guns remain idle. For other ships and even some coastal vessels, you can use the firing timers to get a sense of how much time should pass between shots. Two disadvantages of this tactic is that it has lower burst damage, and it also might mark you as a more serious threat and attract more enemy fire in your direction.

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3. Mixed salvoes can be deadly. Using the aforementioned ranging fire, it is possible to load multiple ammo types very quickly, resulting in a mixed volley until the remaining turrets change to the currently selected ammo.
   
   My next full salvo will have both ammo types. If I were to continue firing by barrel and switching ammo, I could have 3 ammo types at once.
   

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4. Chain Main and Auxiliary cannons together. You can now fire a ships main and auxiliary cannons together. This is a really good way to bring all of your ships firepower to bear on a single target under direct player control (Minus the AA armaments.) This allows the player to load HE on main cannons and AP on secondaries for example, or vice versa. Note that some ships only have Flak or HE rounds available for the secondary cannons, so use this setting cautiously. I would recommend letting the AI control Flak cannons, as they will wipe out any aircraft for you automatically. See Advanced Tips for more info.
   

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5. Spread damage across ship sections. Ships are split into sections, with more sections being added as ships get larger. These sections contain crew, and 'killing' a section will kill all crew in that section. A section is considered 'dead' when it is all black. Killing all sections won't automatically kill the ship, but it will kill so many of the crew that most targets will not be able to recover, except maybe level 100 ace crew on ships with the highest crew counts.
   

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6. Use AP rounds to pass through already destroyed sections. Some targets may sail directly toward you as a defensive tactic, presenting a single front section that can detonate HE rounds. If a section is destroyed in the front, use AP to penetrate through the 'dead' section and damage the sections behind. Using HE will detonate on the destroyed bow section and unless the HE round is big enough to pass through the entire ship, or put a large hole in the hull, not much damage will be done. Using AP will negate this issue, ensuring damage is done past any destroyed sections.
   

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Armor Shattering and Degradation

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Summary

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For Naval vessels, armor can be generally viewed in 3 categories; Thickness, Coverage, and Layers. A ship with high values in all 3 categories is considered well-armored. Thickness refers to the raw thickness of the plate, not accounting for angling. Coverage refers to how much of the exterior of the vessel is 'covered' in armor. Layers refers to the amount of armor behind the exterior armor/hull of the vessel, otherwise known as interior armor layers. The USA Destroyers, for example, exhibit great armor coverage and class-leading thickness, but no interior layers at all. Moving up in the tiers results in US ships heading toward less armor coverage in favor of thicker and more layered armoring in more crucial areas, whereas German Bluewater counterparts are generally covered in thin-medium thickness armor combined with many thinner interior armor layers.

Recently Armor was updated, for better or for worse. Below are the two updates in question, starting with Winds of Change. That update was very controversial and mostly hated by the community, as Battleship armor was divided into segments that could be "destroyed" with enough damage. Sounds realistic, except that the entire segment of armor would just vaporize. When a 200 meter long, or more (mostly more), ship is divided into 8 segments, an entire 25 meter long segment of 300mm armor can just "disappear"...?

The second update changed that mechanic and prevented a full destruction of the plate, but damage could still be inflicted to a point. They also added this mechanic to both light and heavy cruisers, a controversial choice among the community once again.

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Update "Winds Of Change" (2.15)"

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Armour belts and vertical armoring of battleships have been separated into destructible plates. Armour belt plates and internal vertical longitudinal armour in battleships can now be destroyed by kinetic and explosive damage. For example, to destroy a 350 mm armour plate, 2-4 direct hits with a 305 mm armour-piercing projectile will be required. The lower the kinetic energy of the projectile, the less damage it can cause to the armour plate. Projectiles with relatively low energy are not able to destroy the armour plate. After destruction, the armour plate will be considered destroyed and passes the shock wave and some of the fragments behind, and can also pass the armour-piercing projectile, which will nearly not lose its penetrating capability." - Snail

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Update "Drone Age" (2.19)

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"Armoured plates for bluewater ships. In previous updates vertical armour on battleships was divided into plates. Each plate received separate damage from hits, could be damaged and as a result might lose its properties.

• In the "Drone Age" update the division to the plates have received vertical armour for light and heavy cruisers.
  
• This mechanic has also been changed. No plate can now be destroyed and no longer be part of the damaged model but it can be weakened by taking enough damage.
  
• Damaged plates still remain in place. Every subsequent shell that hits the plate can either penetrate behind the armour without interacting with it or explode on the armour with penetration of HE damage and/or fragments - fully or partly.
  
• The calculation of the armour plate damage is based on the ratio of the shell's armour penetration and the thickness of the armour at the point of impact. The plate may begin to receive damage that will result in a partial loss of its properties if the shell almost succeeds in penetrating it. Shells whose penetration is much less than the thickness of the plate (by taking into account the given thickness) are not able to cause such damage to it.
  
• The degree of the damage to the plate depends on the kinetic energy of the shell and the thickness of the plate itself. The smaller the difference in these values, the more likely the armour plate can be damaged. For example 152mm semi-AP shells at the distance of 8-10 km will not be able to do damage to armour plates of 110-120mm thickness if the ship is at an angle to the fire. Same shells will have a chance to damage if the ship is facing the fire with its side flat. And with the reduction of the distance to 5-7km such plates would be almost guaranteed to take damage and penetrate if a particular shell has enough armour penetration."

- Snail

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Tips to preserve Armor

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1. Angle, Angle, Angle. If you thought angling was important for tanks, think of a tank but 200 meters in length. If you don't angle, that could be the difference between showing a full 200 meter rectangle to shoot at, or a small 50-60 meter stretch of angled armor. Increase the effective thickness of armor by angling, it will reduce damage taken to the armor plates greatly.
   
2. Switch sides if needed to present new armor. If you are taking lots of damage on one side of the ship and start to lose some armor integrity, try relocating your ship so that new armor is facing the enemy. Weakened armor is a liability, you want to always present the newest armor towards the most threats.
   
3. Try alternating speeds/heading to spread damage along the armor. This can be a gamble, as you cannot always predict where enemy fire may land. Taking consecutive hits in the same place will inevitably degrade that armor quicker, simple changes in speed can cause different armor plates to be hit and mitigate this effect.
   
   Here is an Admiral Hipper, a German Heavy Cruiser with a large crew and decent armor on both the insides and outside. As you can see, the ship has received extensive damage and lots of armor has been outright destroyed, but the ships still lives on. If this damage were all focused on a smaller or more crucial area of the ship, that may not be the case.

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Crew Skills

Below I have listed the default crew skills with the descriptions taken from the Wiki. Underlined are my summaries afterwards. Generally, it is a good idea to research Damage Control first, specifically fire prevention and extinguishing and then breach repair/pumping speed. Then, Crew Interchangeability is a great way to directly boost your health pool. While more HP may sound more important than damage control, for smaller vessels with low crew the effect is not as noticeable as quicker repairing, fire extinguishing or flooding. Really low crew counts will often not having any benefit at all, hence focusing damage control first is a better idea. If you are in a faster ship, perhaps a coastal vessel, try saving engine control and detection distance for last, as weapon reload speeds and AI accuracy are far more important. For slower Bluewater vessels, I recommend going for ship control and detection distances after damage control and crew interchangeability as aircraft will target you, as well as smaller vessels with higher rates of fire. Reload speeds are useful, but sometimes getting behind cover and using all your crew to repair is the only way to save yourself. Self-preservation should always come before damage output, as staying alive longer is the best way to put out more damage xD

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Ship commander

• Leadership - Improves all crew member's skills by up to 5%. Increases crew efficiency across the boards.
  
• Crew interchangeability - Lowers the required number of crew for your vessel to remain seaworthy. Increases HP pool.
  
• Radio Communication - In Arcade mode, it highlights all enemies around the player on the minimap. This happens if any allied vehicle sees them (including aircraft), with a default range of 250 m. This is very helpful during and against flank attacks. In Realistic mode, it increases the range at which the enemy players detected by the allied team are displayed (through red arrows pointing downward on the borders of the screen). Either effect can be increased up to 500 m.

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Observers

• Air targets detection distance - Increases the distance at which aircraft will be outlined by a marker. Increases the range at which AI will engage aircraft with AA.
  
• Surface targets detection distance - Increases the distance at which ground and naval vehicles will be outlined by a marker. This skill also increases the distance at which the full vehicle name is displayed (otherwise, simply the class of the vehicle is displayed instead). Increases the range at which AI will engage other surface targets.
  
• Enemy torpedoes detection distance - Increases the distance at which torpedoes and their trails are marked.

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Engine room

• Ship control - Reduces the time between sending a command for engine speed mode or rudder turn and applying the change.
  
• Fire prevention - Reduces the chances of a fire in the engine room, engine compartment, or transmission house. Reduces the percentage chance of a round starting a fire on a module (ammo racks, torpedoes and torpedo tubes, and turrets are excluded).

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Gunners

• Main caliber reload speed - Reduces the reload time of the main guns. Can greatly reduce reload times for main caliber. For later ships, this can be a really useful skill and shave off 6 seconds or more of reloading.
  
• Auxiliary caliber reload speed - Reduces the reload time of the auxiliary guns.
  
• AAA caliber reload speed - Reduces the reload time of the AAA guns.
  
• AAA gunner accuracy - Improves the accuracy of the AI gunners when firing the AAA guns. This skill has no effect when the AAA guns are being manually aimed.
  
• Auxiliary gunner accuracy - Improves the accuracy of the AI gunners when firing the auxiliary guns. This skill has no effect when the auxiliary guns are being manually aimed.
  
• Distance fuse set accuracy - Improves the accuracy of the distance fuse when using an airburst-capable shell. Increases the accuracy of Timed Fuse AA rounds. Proximity fuse rounds are not effected by this skill.

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Damage control

• Unwatering time - Reduces the time required to remove water from the vessel. Reduces water pumping time.
  
• Fire extinguishing - Reduces the time taken to extinguish a fire, reducing the damage received from a fire.
  
• Breach repair - Reduces the time required to repair the hull of the vessel. Reduces repair time.
  
• Survival leadership - Reduces the penalty gained for attempting to unwater, extinguish fires, and repair the vehicle simultaneously.

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Ammo Selection

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Ammo selection in Naval is crucial, and often required to kill certain targets. The main types of ammunition are as follows:

• HE - High explosive round that detonates on impact. General purpose round, comes stock on many vehicles, good at setting fires and killing exterior crew. Struggles to kill crew deep inside ships.
  

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• Base Fused HE (Aka Fused HE) - HE but explodes after a certain amount of armor is defeated. Very good round for killing crew and starting fires, or destroying components behind armor. Unlike HE, it has some AP capability and can penetrate armor before detonating, increasing the severity of fires and ammo detonations. This round is wicked strong and used extensively by USA Light Cruisers with devastating effects. Unlike HE, it excels at killing crew behind armor...
  

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• Shrapnel HE - Fused HE round with very little HE filler, but lots of shrapnel filler. Very low pen. Uncommon round used only by the British tech tree, it detonates its small HE filler and spreads the shrapnel in a conical shape in front of the round. This would be quite effective if not for the horrible HE filler and 5mm of penetration. Oddly, the round seems to be timed fused or proximity fused, but the stat card does not reflect this. This round is only effective against the very lightest of boats and nearly useless against aircraft. Save SL and use HE instead...
  

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• APC (Shot) - Solid metal AP round with no HE filler, high velocity. Another UK exclusive, this is a 57mm round found on 1 boat in game so far, the Fairmile H LCS (2). While the 57mm Shot Mk.8 has decent penetration for an AP round at this BR, the lack of HE filler makes it nearly useless as most threats it will face are unarmored or very lightly armored. Use HE instead, save SL...
  

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• AP (APCBC) - Armor penetrating round with the greatest penetration, but lowest HE filler. This round is the one to choose for long ranged fights against any amount of armor. While the HE filler is generally small, the armor penetration and delayed detonation can send that HE deep into an armored target, wreaking havoc and potentially detonating ammo or causing hull breaches.
  

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• APHE - Weaker armor penetrating round with a small HE filler. USSR boats make use of this round frequently. Usually APHE rounds perform with slightly less penetration than APCBC rounds. The HE filler is the saving grace, at times twice or more the amount found in APCBC counterparts.
  

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• SAP (SAPCBC) - Semi Armor Piercing round with a medium HE filler and medium penetration. Sometimes multiple variants available. Each faction has slightly different performing SAP rounds with varying HE fillers. Details will be discussed in the individual faction breakdowns. If you do not have access to Base Fuse HE, this is the next best thing. A round in-between APHE and Base Fuse; it has less HE than Fused HE but more penetration, and vice versa for the APHE.
  

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• HE-TF - HE round with timed fuse for AA. Fuse is set on a timer. Timer accuracy is based on crew skill.
  

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• HE-VT - HE round with proximity fuse for AA. This round will explode when any plane passes within a set radius of the round. The downside is that the rounds all have a minimum arming range, meaning a plane too close will not detonate the round. Minimum arming ranges are all below 1km, making this the best and most deadly AA round at most operating ranges.
  
  

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• APDS - Solid AP round often found in coastal vessels and smaller munitions. These rounds have no explosive mass, generally travel at extreme velocity, and have very high armor penetration for the size of the round. Due to no explosive mass, setting fires and killing crew can be difficult in larger targets, as only direct module hits will cause damage. Less armored vessels with low crew are very vulnerable, however.
  

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Advanced Strategies and Tips

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Hopefully at this point you have learned how to survive, what faction(s) you prefer, and how to properly aim and shoot. With time and practice, you will eventually become proficient at all of these, and your naval effectiveness will increase steadily. The next step in your progression is to learn the less common caveats, the information that is not readily available to witness for yourself in-game.

Lets begin:

1. Slowing down will decrease the speed at which your hull floods, and will decrease the repair timer. Once your hull is breached significantly, immediately slow down ASAP and start Breach Repair/pumping.

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2. You can adjust the range manually within your rangefinder with middle mouse wheel scrolling. Furthermore, in the game settings you can adjust the multiplier for the mouse wheel. Increasing or decreasing this value will increase or decrease the speed at which you adjust the range in your scope. Fine tune this setting to your liking, it can help you land hits on moving targets at range greatly.
   

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3. Knowing your targets relative direction and speed are crucial to landing hits at range, but even more crucial in close to medium range engagements where armor can be overcome by sheer firepower. Ship targeting systems take time to calculate a firing solution, here are some ways to land accurate hits without needed a full lock, lead indicator or even accurate range. Looking at a ships nose is the obvious way to tell direction, but the heading and speed both factor into your aiming. Observing the smoke trail from a ships funnel is a dependable way to tell both heading and current speed. The longer the trail, the faster the ship is moving. No trail means no power to the engines, and the ship is either stopped completely or will be soon. This table will attempt to explain some real-world scenarios and how best to land hits accurately and quickly. This table should apply for most calibers and gun types in Naval:
   

   Target Heading	Target Speed	Horizontal Aim Correction	Range Correction
   Same direction as player	Same speed as player	None . Same or similar speed targets aim for what you want to hit	Range as Normal . Using ranging fire you can tell if they are not completely perpendicular and minor range adjustments may be needed.
   Opposite direction as player	Same/Faster speed than player	MAX . Same or faster speed targets require you to aim far in Front of the target.	Range as Normal . Using ranging fire you can tell if they are not completely perpendicular and minor range adjustments may be needed.
   Same direction as player	Slower Speed than player	MEDIUM . Slower speed targets in the same heading require you to shoot Slightly Behind where you want to hit.	Range as Normal . Using ranging fire you can tell if they are not completely perpendicular and minor range adjustments may be needed.
   Opposite direction as player	Slower Speed than player	MEDIUM . Slower speed targets require you to aim Slightly in Front of where you want to hit.	Range as Normal . Using ranging fire you can tell if they are not completely perpendicular and minor range adjustments may be needed.
   Directly Towards player	Same/Faster Speed than player	None . You can try to aim slightly to the left or right depending on where your cannons are physically located on your ship and how your salvo lands if need be.	MAX . Same/Faster speed targets heading directly towards the player are closing the distance quickly, requiring you to Shoot Shorter than where you want to hit.
   Directly Away from player	Same/Faster Speed than player	None . You can try to aim slightly to the left or right depending on where your cannons are physically located on your ship and how your salvo lands if need be.	None . Same/Faster speed targets heading directly away from player are may be keeping the distance between relatively similar, so Range as Normal .

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4. Instant fire option for both main and auxiliary calibre guns has been added. By activating this option, main calibre guns fire first, the auxiliary guns fire by pressing the fire button until the main calibre is reloaded. This is a very good way to maximize damage output on a single target, and can be particularly deadly when the auxiliary guns in question have deadly ammunition; or lots of barrels to pump out fire. Furthermore, when particular ships have sparse AA the player may be able to compensate with direct fire on air attacks.
   
   
   Option can be enabled in the Controls > Naval > Weaponry > Fire of the main and auxiliary calibres by one button > Yes. Toggling this on and off during a match can be an effective way to switch from engaging multiple targets with inaccurate AI fire to prioritizing a singular target with the full force of your main and aux cannons, under direct control.

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Aircraft in Naval

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Flying aircraft in Naval is both challenging and rewarding. Boats have lots of AA, controlled by AI, with multiple types of flak and firing patterns to worry about. Generally speaking, AA guns can be classified in 3 categories based on range: Close, Medium and Long range. Close range AA guns are generally machine-guns and auto-cannons in the 6.5mm-25mm range. The most common close range AA guns you will face are 20/25mm auto-cannons and .50-cal machine-guns. Medium range AA guns are generally 25-45mm in caliber, with the most common being 40mm and 37mm. Long range AA guns are anything larger than 45mm, usually 76-152mm with the most common being 127mm and 100-105mm.

Speed is your best defense in the air. Second to this is your current direction, and not just approach direction. If you have speed and can constantly change your direction, you have the best chances to confuse Ai AA. Large changes in heading/direction should only be used to change direction after an attack run. The AI is good at predicting big turns so very small micro movements are actually better. Combined with very high speeds (600km/h or more), these micro changes in direction will translate to much larger movements to the AI, and throw off their aim accordingly.

If sufficiently high speeds cannot be attained, micro-movements and the approach direction/angle will be crucial. Attempt to first identify the target you plan to attack from the air, noting its current heading and speed. Higher angles of attack will generally be more survivable (Unless using terrain to cover approach), and allow more speed to be accumulated. Choose a high enough initial altitude so that when you start to dive, you still have both a steep angle to the AA guns and enough space to maneuver/gather speed.

Also important is examining and selecting your targets based on their behaviour, positioning, and proximity to other assets. Most of the time, you will be facing vessels where some of its armaments are under AI control, which will usually be the secondary or AA weapons set to attack both surface and aerial targets. The effect of this is multiplied by the presence of allied surface vessels, which means the most vulnerable targets are usually found towards the periphery of the engagement zone, or isolated altogether.

Surface vessels alerted to aerial threats will often throttle up and start maneuvering hard to either meet\evade the threat or find cover. Land masses limit where ships can go, and some maps have multiple locations where ships have limited movement options. Ships approaching or caught in these locations are more vulnerable to aerial attack.

Take some time to familiarise yourself with the armaments, layouts, and capabilities of the ships in your BR range. Many ships may have exceptional coverage and AA armaments, and may require significant help from your allies to distract or weaken if you want any chance of penetrating their defences. Other ships may have poor armaments and coverage, or lack AA capabilities altogether. Some ships even have blind spots that can be exploited with some foresight and planning.

When possible, try to coordinate aerial attacks on surface targets with your teammates. They can draw attention away from you or weaken your target's defensive capabilities. Giving your target multiple attack vectors to worry about will divide their attention (human or AI) and significantly improve your chances of success.

Faction Breakdowns and Selection

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Before you begin, the first step is to select what nation you want to play as. This is of course largely up to the player, but there are some definite gameplay differences between each nation. Faction selection determines some general traits such as turret rotation speed, average explosive kg in ammunition, fire rates, top speeds, torpedo configurations and amounts, and of course the air support that faction has access too. That being said, each tech tree of each nation will have what I call "Unique Ships" that alter the normal way that nation plays. Read the Unique Ships page for more information on those ships and how they differ from the normal play-style.

TL;DR. Please note, this will not include any input from Aircraft support that each faction has access too. Described first is the Bluewater fleets, then the Coastal boats. From my experience, the different nations generally play as follows:

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USA - Good handling, average-high crew counts, All-or-nothing armor. Fast firing powerful HE, low HE in AP rounds, decent and widespread SAP. Fused HE rounds are deadly crew killers. Low muzzle velocity. Uniquely advanced and armored destroyers. Coastal vessels lack large calibers and good torpedoes, widespread use of 20mm and 40mm cannons.

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BRITAIN - Good - Very good handling, lowest average crew count, typically very thin All-or-nothing armor. Many Turrets, good SAP, USA level fire rate and velocity. Unique HE rounds have more filler than comparable calibers, leading to big HE rounds and the largest by kg in all naval. Unfortunately, a lot of ships are under-caliber for the class and SAP is better to use. Coastal vessels have good torpedoes, but are generally inferior to all other nations but Italy until the highest tiers.

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Germany - Average handling/fire rates, high crew. Turtle-back armor and medium thickness incremental armoring. Uncommon but good AP, average HE, very good SAP. High muzzle velocity. Unique ship designs lead to many one-of-a-kind vessels and complex armor layouts, giving exceptional survivability when combined with the high crew amounts. Coastal vessels have a great variety to choose from, and some are capable destroyer killers.

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USSR - Bad handling, low-average fire rate, average-high incremental armor and crew count. Best AP, very good HE/SAP. Average-High muzzle velocity, large but limited selection of caliber cannons. Unique ship designs lead to many ships riding very low in the water, exposing very little hull and making them harder to hit, especially when sinking. Coastal vessels are very deadly and modern in later tiers, easily capable of killing destroyers if need be.

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Japan Very good handling, low-medium crew and armor. Good but uncommon AP/great SAP, Best HE. Average - High muzzle velocity. Unique Shimose HE does extra damage (See faction below for more details). Coastal vessels are second in deadliness to USSR, but much faster and with more torpedoes.

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Italy - Usually fastest and best handling ships in class, low crew count and armor thickness. Low HE in AP. Average HE, high muzzle velocity. Unique high velocity, low HE rounds lead to greater penetration at closer ranges, at the expense of damage and ranged penetration. Coastal vessels are very hard to use and not very good in general. Randomly, they have the only normal tech-tree ship with Anti-Ship player guided missiles...

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For a more detailed look into how each faction plays, read the Breakdowns below

USA

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Fast and hard hitting, try to prioritize maneuver warfare and fleet tactics. Few vessels thrive alone, though combined in a fleet the AA is nearly unbreachable. Very advanced and easy to use destroyers with some of the most versatile destroyer caliber cannons in the game. USA DD's are THE MOST versatile ship of the class, able to lay down a withering 15-22rpm of main caliber ammo at up to 15km effectively with a properly trained crew. Turrets generally turn fast and have high traverse angles. Lower than average crew count and armor thickness mean players should avoid engaging multiple targets alone, and if so, try to use your superior fire control systems and fire rate to quickly overwhelm a target and move on to the next. Players should avoid going in Solo at most times, as only a small selection of USA vehicles are capable of this effectively, and the threat you pose will result in a lot enemy attention.

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Coastal Vessels

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Pro	Con
High top speeds and good handling	Mostly wooden hulls
Good seakeeping ability	Low to no armor protection
Lots of firepower early on	Relatively low crew amounts
All coastal vessels have at least 2 turrets	No Tiny boats

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Bluewater Vessels

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Pro	Con
High top speeds and good handling	Lower velocity ammo combined with higher speeds/longer ranges can make landing hits more difficult.
Good seakeeping ability	Average - slow muzzle velocity
Large ready racks and high rates of fire	Slow and small torpedoes
Heavy use of 127mm cannons, effective dual-purpose cannons for AA and surface engagement. Very high rate of fire.	127mm calibers lack AP capabilities at range and struggle to do HE damage against thicker armor targets.
"All-or-nothing" armor scheme. Armor is thicker in crucial areas and sometimes uses anti-frag armor elsewhere. Helps stopping AP, anti-frag really helps against HE damage.	"All-or-nothing" armor . Thinner areas prone to HE damage if no anti-fragmentation armor available and very vulnerable to smaller calibers.
Brooklyn Class Light Cruisers are the best Light Cruisers in the game currently. They have thick armor in crucial areas and lots of anti-frag armor everywhere else. 12-15 main caliber cannons in 4-5 triple turrets make this a lethal and tanky class.	6.0 BR means you will get Battleships/Battlecruisers and Tiger Syndrome, they know you and want to kill you first

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Unique Traits
*Bluewater vessels use destroyer caliber (127mm) auxiliary cannons almost exclusively.
*Lack of advanced ammunition (SAP, APHE with large HE mass) at the highest tiers.
*Aircraft are well-suited for Naval support.
*Destroyers are very advanced with great ammo selection. Good solo-play potential (experienced players), Great for fleets.
*Strong proximity flak rounds, including the largest proximity flak round in the game at 152mm.
*Many US vessels have armored hulls and/or a combination of anti-fragmentation armor, these are very good at blocking HE damage.
*US ships are easy to become overconfident in. Although you are fast and can lay down some serious damage, you have less crew and armor coverage (Destroyers aside). Volume of fire will eventually damage your armor enough to kill you quickly, so don't be brash. Use cover, fire over islands, relocate, drop smoke, angle, use teammates; do whatever you can to not get hit, but still remain shooting. Always try to keep shooting at an angle with US ships, you want to maximize the thicker armor but not expose the lesser armor coverage that is common in this faction.

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Lineups

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Summary

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Here will be some recommended lineups at competitive BR's only, taking into account the aircraft support available to that faction. Setups will be provided for both premium and non-premium lineups, using 5 crew slots, with extra recommendations in case more crew slots are unlocked, or if you want to play Arcade..

Naval RB has 5 gamemodes so far: Conquest, Domination, Battle, Encounter and Enduring Confrontation. Battle is only for boats, meaning anything that uses a Bluewater spawn point (Frigates and up) are banned and will never play a Battle map.

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USA Coastal Lineup (WIP)

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BR 1.7 Rank I or II (Click to enlarge picture)

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The earliest effective BR for US coastal, 1.7 provides 3 boats available to use, 2 at Rank 1.

1. PTF-7 - The first and most highly recommended boat to unlock is the PTF-7, a very fast wood PT boat sporting a 40mm on the back and dual front facing 20mm autocannons. Best option at this BR for USA coastal vessels.
   
2. PT-20 - Used to start second vehicle chain. Has torpedoes and 2 dual 50 cal turrets.
   
3. PT-103 - Used to start research of second rank more efficiently. Retains MG's of preceding ship, but adds a 20mm on the back and halfs the torpedo count.

Aircraft and Torpedo Usage
As for aircraft, at this BR .50 cal guns do decent damage to most vessels. Bombs are deadly, and AA coverage is as light as it will get. The SB2U-3 and PBY series of planes both have ample choices between multiple small bombs, or larger and less numerous bombs. The SB2U-3 also has a naval mine with a hefty explosive mass, and one of the PBY models can land on water and capture naval objectives. Torpedo use at this BR will be very challenging. For planes, US improved torpedoes, once unlocked, have very fast and high drop speeds/altitudes. Unfortunately, the Catalina bombers are the only planes that get them. As for boats, torpedoes are very very slow and not that powerful. Extremely close range engagements, or catching a target completely unaware are the best ways to get a torpedo kill. Torpedo upgrades are also unavailable for boats at this BR.

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BR 2.3 Rank I-III (Click to enlarge picture)

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The next effective BR for US coastal, 2.3 provides 3 boats available to use, 2 at Rank 2 and 1 Rank 3.

1. PC-451 - The first boat to unlock is the PC-451, a slow but steel hulled vessel armed with a front facing 76mm cannon, 2 dual 20mm turrets and 2 single 20mm turrets. The steel hull paired with the 46 crew aids greatly in survival, especially at this tier. Switching to the 20mm turrets and using the tall height of the ship to shoot over terrain can be very effective.
   
2. SC-497 - The second and most highly recommended boat to unlock is the SC-497, a rather slow but deadly sub-chaser. It is armed with a front facing 40mm and a trio of 20mm on the back with great firing angles, front-projecting mortar charges and a decent crew size of 22.
   
3. PT-314 - The first Rank 3 boat. On the front it has a 37mm autocannon and a 20mm autocannon, in the middle it has 2 dual AN-M2 .50 cal turrets, and on the rear a 40mm autocannon. It can also equip 4 torpedoes and reaches a max speed of 75km/h. Fast, deadly, but very fragile with a wood hull and only 12 crew.

Aircraft and Torpedo Usage
At this BR the USA aircraft start to become even more deadly with more .50 cals and bigger bombs. The SBD-3 can equip gunpods, 1000lb bombs, or a large naval mine. The PBM-1 mariner is a direct improvement of the Catalina bombers, adding more .50 cal turrets and bomb configurations as well as speed. It is also a hydroplane, allowing the player to "land" on water and capture objectives. As for torpedo usage, the aircraft are still lacking in improved torpedoes with only the TBF-1C having access to them, aside from the previous Catalina's. Boats do not start to get better torpedoes until rank 3 with the PT-314, and then only an upgrade of 6 km/h and about 30kg explosive mass. Still anemic and sluggish torpedoes, usage will be difficult.

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BR 3.0 Rank II-IV (Click to enlarge picture)

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Germany

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Germany has an incredible variety of vessels to choose from, resulting in at least 1 ship for nearly any scenario. From little-tiny boats with only 1 turret and 7 crew to massive battlecruisers with 1900 crew, or even giant river-barges decked out with cannons and plated with armor, Germany has it all. Downside to this? Fleet tactics are harder to coordinate with so many ships with vastly different speeds, weaponry and armor thickness. German vessels often have complex armor layouts, resulting in more players going in solo. This is both good and bad, as they will eventually be singled out and killed, but can cause serious damage to the enemy team. A coordinated German fleet, however, is something to be feared. Turrets tend to be more armored than other nations and cannons have longer barrels, resulting in flatter trajectory ammunition and more accuracy at range, but slower rotating guns. Rate of fire is average and ready rack ammo is generally low. Players should try to stick together with another vessel and focus fire a target at range to utilize your thicker armor and good cannons. German rangefinders are less accurate and FCS are slower, so the other option is trust in your armor and attempt to charge cap a point or close the distance and brawl. Unlike the USA or Japanese ships, you can't rely on your fire rate and superior FCS/Rangefinders to overwhelm enemies. Accurate, damaging shots from protected cover or a supporting fleet are efficient moves, while solo play should be a last resort but viable option.

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Coastal Vessels

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Pro	Con
Lots of steel hulled ships	Lower top speeds
Tiny boats!	Some boats have only 1-2 turrets
Medium - High crew amounts	Slow turning turrets
Good turret firing angles/placement	Sluggish handling for many vessels
Torpedoes widely available	Fires and ammo detonations are more likely
Lots of unique vehicles with specific advantages.	Unique vehicles may require a different strategy than more standard vehicles, increasing difficulty of use.

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Bluewater Vessels

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Pro	Con
High crew counts	Inaccurate and slow fire control and rangefinders
Turtle-back armor combined with incremental armoring leads to superb armor coverage	Some critical components may have thinner armor compared to All or Nothing armor layouts.
Lots of AA coverage	Small, widespread ammo ready racks and greater vulnerability to fires/crew loss
Semi - long range torpedoes widely available	Torpedoes are slow
Complex armor designs generally include both hull armoring and interior armoring of decent thickness and curvature.	No anti-fragmentation armor at all.

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Unique Traits

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*Bluewater vessels use cruiser caliber (150mm) auxiliary cannons almost exclusively. Access to wide variety of ammunition.
*Certain bombers have access to guided bombs.
*Cannons tend to have longer barrels, resulting in a flatter firing trajectory and greater accuracy.
*FCS and rangefinders are less accurate and slower than other faction counterparts.
*Good armor coverage makes angling very effective at ricocheting AP, but the lack of anti-fragmentation armor makes HE more damaging.
*Germany as a nation plays very well, having a diverse lineup of coastal vessels and deadly bluewater ships. Air support can be weak at certain tiers, but the addition of guided bombs to certain planes helps slightly. Many German vessels are survivable and deadly enough to play solo and away from the rest of the fleet, if the player and crew are experienced enough. German fleets operating together and in coordination, however, are very deadly and the optimal way to use these vessels.

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USSR

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USSR is probably the most unique nation to play, as the ship designs used are nothing like the rest of the nations. The majority of vessels in this nation are incredibly slow and sluggish, and have a unique disadvantage in seakeeping. Rough waters and sinking will effect this nation severely. On the flip side, the USSR has the best balance between armor, crew count and deadliness. They have less overall rate of fire than the USA or Germany, but the ammunition they use is much more potent and has more HE. Ships in this nation tend to get access to higher caliber weapons much earlier than other nations. AA coverage is good across the boards, with numerous but slow gun mounts. Players should play this nation as quite literal tanks on water. Turrets are generally super slow to rotate, fire rates are low, but armor coverage and thickness is good. Angling should be a major strategy, as well as firing from cover. Solo playing will be doable due to the combo of armor and crew count, but because of the lack of speed or maneuverability, it is very easy to get caught out alone and overwhelmed. Try to stick with another USSR ship, or engage from cover if going in alone.

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Coastal Vessels

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Pro	Con
High caliber cannons (76-85mm) and steel hulls	Super slow and sluggish
Tiny boats!	Some boats have only 1-2 turrets
Lots of ships extremely low in the water, hiding most of the hull underwater and making them harder to hit	Lots of ships extremely low in the water, vulnerable to sinking or torpedoes/mines.
Unique munitions such as rockets/mines/depth charges more available	Bad turret placement and firing angles
Absolutely deadly Frigates and higher tier vessels	Torpedoes not widely available
Medium - High Crew Counts	Bad seakeeping can make it impossible to aim in bad weather or high seas

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Bluewater Vessels

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Pro	Con
Medium - High crew counts	Inaccurate and slow fire control and rangefinders
Layered incremental armor. Good armor coverage, medium thickness	Some critical components may have thinner armor compared to All or Nothing armor layouts.
Lots of AA coverage	Small, widespread ammo ready racks and greater vulnerability to fires/crew loss
Big and fast torpedoes widely available	Torpedoes are short range
HE fillers generally larger and more potent than most nations.	Vulnerable to sinking

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Unique Traits

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*Certain bombers have access to some of the largest bombs in the game.
*Frigates and later coastal vessels can be used effectively against Bluewater vessels in certain circumstances.
*FCS and rangefinders are less accurate and slower than other faction counterparts.
*Good armor coverage and exterior armor thickness makes angling very effective at ricocheting AP, but decks and interior spaces are less armored and more vulnerable to damage once penetrated.

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Japan (WIP)

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Japan has a very unique play-style when it comes to naval. The Bluewater ships they have to offer are generally lightly armored, not as thin as British or Italian ships but on average thinner than USSR, German or US ships for certain. They share similar fire rates to that of the US, but are more similar to the USSR in how large the guns they use are on average. This leads to many "glass cannon" like ships that are capable of striking hard and fast, but should not stick around for long enough to take the return fire. Coastal vessels are a mixed bag, offering a wide variety of small river boats, larger sub chasers, and a large swathe of frigates to choose at the highest tiers. As a bonus, both Bluewater and Coastal vessels benefit from highly advanced and deadly torpedoes. Harassment tactics and solo gameplay can be utilized effectively with this nation. Use the high top speeds to outpace opponents or reach areas of the map first, then turn and unleash a torp wall to block off entire sections of maps. Turn and retreat, utilize the typical great Japanese handling to dodge incoming rounds and return fire. Rinse and repeat.

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Coastal Vessels

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Pro	Con
High caliber cannons early on and steel hulls throughout	Early vessels are slow or unusable designs
Tiny boats!	Some boats have only 1-2 turrets
Mid-Late tier ships are large and usually steel hulled, with 25mm and 40mm cannons used extensively.	Mid-tier ships are only 6mm of steel and lack any high caliber cannons. Likewise, only later ships get access to 76mm or above cannons, and 16mm steel hulls.
Later tiers have the most Frigates out of any nation, with multiple 76mm-120mm cannons.	Bad turret placement and firing angles

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Bluewater Vessels

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Pro	Con
Medium - High crew counts	Inaccurate and slow fire control and rangefinders
Ammo and critical components are usually hidden under the waterline or cleverly armored.	Armor is usually thinner, and coverage is low on average.
Obscene amount of AA gun mounts.	AA of choice is the 25mm, which is unfortunately not the best at medium ranges and far inferior to the 20mm, 37mm and 40mms of the other nations.
Big and fast torpedoes widely available and in large quantities.	Torpedoes are so prevalent and explosive that they act as multiple ammo racks spread across the deck.
Amazing acceleration, top speeds and turning radius.	Really large and numerous engines are easy to hit and catch fire.

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Unique Traits

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*Battleships are numerous and very well armed with 356mm cannons and massive 25mm AA batteries.
*Frigates and later coastal vessels can be used effectively against Bluewater vessels in certain circumstances.
*FCS and rangefinders are less accurate and slower than other faction counterparts, as well as being less numerous.
*Premium coastal vessel PG-02 is absolute cancer, check Premium ships section for more info.

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Britain (WIP)

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Britain plays very similar to the US tech tree, but with less raw firepower output. Typically British coastal vessels play like slightly slower and less deadly US vehicles, and should be played accordingly. Use ambush tactics, terrain cover and torpedoes. As for Bluewater, they are a mixed bag of vessels. Early on, Destroyers are generally well armed and crewed but lack armor. Mid-tier DD and cruisers start to show typical extensive armor coverage, but much thinner than other factions. Interior armor layering is prevalent, and as the ships reach high tier some of the cruisers like the Belfast get some decent armor thickness. Guns generally shoot slower but at higher velocity than US counterparts, and sometimes will be higher caliber earlier than other factions. Ammunition across the boards is advanced and deadly, with generous HE fillers and penetration values alike, and it carries into the higher tiers as well(Unlike the US.).

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Coastal Vessels

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Pro	Con
Good handling and numerous gun mounts	Mostly wooden hulls and average top speeds
Good seakeeping ability	Low to no armor protection
Torpedoes used widely	Medium-low crew amounts
Higher tier frigates are deadly	Mid-tier coastal is pain

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Bluewater Vessels

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Pro	Con
Average top speeds and good handling/acceleration.	Early vessels lack armor
Mid-late tier ships have great armor coverage and a multitude of thick interior armor layers.	Generally thin armor, with very short thick segments.
Ammo stores usually placed below waterline or cleverly armored	Low crew counts
Heavy use of 102/114mm cannons, semi-effective dual-purpose cannons for AA and surface engagement.	102mm calibers lack all AP capabilities at range and do little to no HE damage.
Advanced ammunition readily available, access to SAP and HE-VT flak rounds (later models).	Not as effective long or medium range AA as other factions. Top tiers have very little effective AA.
Top tier vessels have very large cannons with deadly ammunition, including the largest HE round by kg mass in the game.	Top tier is generally outclassed, with not enough thick armor over crucial areas or crew to survive prolonged damage.

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Unique Traits
*Britain loves multi-barrel AA gun mounts, featuring quad and even quintuple (8) barrel gun mounts heavily. Good volume of fire once on target, but slow to traverse and get on target.

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Unique Vehicles

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In this section, we will cover vessels that are part of the normal tech trees, but unique in some way and require a different play-style because of it. Whether or not this uniqueness is viewed as an advantage or disadvantage is entirely dependent on the player, and how well they use the vehicle in question. Read on to see the strangest vessels naval has to offer.

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SF40 (Light/Heavy)

Referred to as the "Party Barge" by some (Note the beer kegs on the back.), the SF40 Light is one of the most potent AA platforms at its BR. That said, this barge is wide, slow, and deathly allergic to fires. The 4x4 20mm guns are quick to aim and incredibly effective against soft and lightly-armoured targets, but the barge itself is quite vulnerable, especially between reloads. The key to playing well in this boat is to avoid getting too close to the front lines and support your allies from further back. As it is very slow, try to get towed or pushed into a better position earlier. When aiming, try moving or jittering the reticle left and right to increase chances of hits. Because the reloads are somewhat long, empty the mags between engagements so you can start the next encounter with guns at capacity. Lastly, always prioritise fire prevention above all other considerations.

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The SF40 Heavy shares many similarities to the SF40 Light above. The main armamanent is 4x 88mm cannons, which are more effective against moderately armoured targets and some low-level destroyers. The aiming speed of these cannons are much slower than the quad 20mms, which sort of makes this the "Hangover Barge," (Note the complete lack of beer kegs.) and requires some finesse to bring to bear. While the play style is similar to the SF40 Light, the 88mm guns are more sensitive to swells under some conditions, which may require more attention to the timing. The firing rate is fairly slow, but this can be mitigated by using ranging fire to trigger them sequentially, which aids in damage application and distribution. Like the SF40 Light, the Heavy tends to perform best from a supporting position.

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Soukou-Tei/Soukou-Tei No.4

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The Soukou-Tei (above) and Soukou - Tei No. 4(below) are rank 1.0 and 1.3 respectively, steel hulled Armored Gun Boats found in the Japanese Coastal tree. They are unique in that they could be considered the worst vessels in game. The first variant has the honor of mounting the smallest caliber weapon known to War Thunder, 2x 6.5mm Type 38 MG from 1907, and a rather useless slow firing 37mm cannon. Its saving grace is a 6mm steel hull and 6mm armor on the turrets, but that armor only protects about 10 crew, and poorly at that. The No.4 variant gets an armament upgrade to a single 57mm and 2x dual 7.7mm Type 89 MG, but uses only 2mm of hull armor and even gets a reduction in max speed from 22.2km/h (26 upgraded) to a mere 18.5km/h (22.2 upgraded). The superstructure on the No.4 is 4mm, twice as thick as the hull for some reason...leading to a very very weak, slow and relatively non-lethal vessel.

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LS-3

The LS-3 is a 1.0 BR Reserve Motor Torpedo Boat available to the German Coastal tech tree. It is arguably the best reserve boat in the game, combining a 15mm MG151 cannon with two interior-tubed 450mm torpedoes and a top speed of 79km/h. The cannon is capable of loading HEF or APIT rounds and has 7-33mm of penetration. All of this is contained within a very compact 5mm steel hull, allowing the LS-3 to quickly harass targets and likewise disengage. The torpedo tubes are contained within the hull between the engines, decreasing the chances of detonation. It is hard to stress just how small this boat is, hence why I came up with my own term for boats like this: 'Tiny-Boats.' The LS-3 may in fact be the smallest boat in the game, but I have not tested this myself.

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PT-59

The Elco 77 ft PT-59 is a rank III USA motor gun boat with a battle rating of 3.0. It has an armament of 2x 40mm Bofors L/60 Mark 3 guns and a whopping 10 AN-M2 turrets, with 4 being dual mounts for a total of 14 AN-M2 barrels. The PT-59 has a max speed of 72km/h upgraded, and 20 crew.

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Premium Vehicles Good for Naval Use

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USS Helena

The USS Helena is a 6.0 BR rank 4 light cruiser found in the USA Bluewater tech tree. The Helena is a unique ship for a number of different reasons, which will be listed below.

• 5 center-line mounted 152mm triple turrets for a total of 15 main cannons, each able to shoot 10rpm. When firing per barrel, the Helena can keep a constant stream of 152mm with 10 of the 15 barrels, and leave the last 2 turrets to fire together. With this fire cycle, the Helena can put out 152mm rounds at 90rpm.
  
• 2 main turrets and 2 dual 127mm can aim directly forward, allowing decent firepower with a small silhouette.
  
• Entire hull is 16mm thick anti-fragmentation armor, resulting in less crew loss from HE.
  
• Midsection protected by 127mm upper belt and 82.55mm lower belt, further aiding in protecting machinery.
  
• Front magazine (Turrets 1,2,3) is sunk deep beneath the waterline and covered by 51mm of armor, making it very hard to hit.
  
• Rear magazine (Turrets 4 and 5) is set within the anti-frag hull and protected by a 120mm upper belt and 76.2mm lower belt and framed on either side by the propulsion shafts, making it nearly impossible to detonate and not that damaging if managed.
  
• Turret faces are 165mm thick angled at 27 degrees.
  
• Turret barbettes are 152mm thick cylinders on top of 127mm thick armored cylindrical ammo elevators, also very hard to ammo rack.
  
• 1188 Crew, 2 scout planes, 4 dual mounted 127mm, 4 quad 40mm and 12 20mm cannons makes it the most survivable and armed US light cruiser.
  
• Unit system (engines and boilers are alternating inside the hull) makes it very hard to outright disable propulsion.

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Prinz Eugen

The Prinz Eugen is a 5.7 BR Rank 4 Heavy Cruiser found in the German Bluewater tech tree. As far as premiums go, this ship is considered to be the German equivalent to the Helena, with a focus on thicker armor and bigger guns over DPS and speed.

• 4 twin mounted 203mm cannons, each firing 5rpm for a combined broadside of up to 40rpm. Excellent ammo selection for both main and auxiliary cannons, 203mm SAP round packs 5.35kg of explosives and the AP round can penetrate over 200mm of armor at 10km. HE is a whopping 8.88kg.
  
• Main and Auxiliary ammunition are very high velocity, making aiming and firing at range a lot easier.
  
• Large AA battery spread across the entire ship, with a good selection of different calibers. 6 dual 105mm aux, 18 4cm Bofors, 6 quad 20mm and 2 dual 20mm.
  
• Can carry 26 Deadly torpedoes in articulating torpedo launchers with excellent firing arcs.
  
• Turtle-back armor design. Very advanced armor layout with multiple inner layers of thinner armor. The exterior belt starts at 80mm, then an angled plate (30°-46°) of 40mm of armor, and lastly a vertical plate of 20mm. This armor system extends the entire length of the ship, and is very protective for as long as the armor remains intact (See Armor Shattering section).
  
• All ammo magazines, engines, most pumps, and transmissions are encased within the turtle-back armored citadel.
  
• Armored superstructure (14-20mm) helps to reduce crew loss in the case of HE spam/Fires.
  
• Armored deck (14-30mm) helps protect against plunging fire, bombs and fires.
  
• Main turrets are small and flat, resulting in a small silhouette and hard target to hit.
  
• 1776 crew, 1 scout plane.

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PG 02

The PG 02 is a 3.3 BR Rank 4 Hydrofoil Motor Gun Boat found in the Japan Coastal tech tree. This devilish little ship is an absolute pain for other coastal vessels, combining very high top speed with a 20mm rotary cannon with an insane rate of fire. If you want to grind Japan Coastal vessels, this is the ship to do it in. Very meta as of 11/28/2022.

• Hydrofoil with a top speed of 96km/h. Combined with the JM61 20mm rotary cannon, a licensed version of the M61 Vulcan, this ship is deadly and easy to dodge incoming fire in.
  
• 12 130mm smoke canisters that fire upwards...kinda odd but when the ship turns at high speeds, you can tilt the deck at such an angle that the smoke coverage can be used in conjunction with the normal smoke trail to create a "stacked" smoke screen. This can be used to hide taller ships. Of course firing these normally can create a smoke screen above the water to cover from air attack as well.
  
• Great ammo selection, with choices between API-T, HEI, and APDS belts.
  
• The ship has only a single version of every critical module, and often they are extremely small and hard to hit. One fuel tank, engine, steering gear, propeller, ammo rack, bridge, transmission, etc.
  
• Steel 8mm hull, just enough to survive most coastal vessels, higher caliber rounds or high volumes of fire should still be avoided or prioritized for destruction first.
  
• JM61 cannon has a built in Tracking Radar Director, which means it can track air targets the gun is facing once activated by the user and within range. It is fairly accurate and capable of taking out air targets with some practice.
  
• JM61 cannon really does have an insane rate of fire. Any coastal vessel with a steel hull 8mm or less will be shredded by this boat in a matter of seconds at best, wood boats don't stand a chance.
  
• Tall silhouette and forward set front turret can be used to create some interesting firing positions. Rock outcroppings can be safely hidden behind and fired from without exposing any of the fuel tanks, control systems or propulsion systems.
  
• JM61 cannon can be switched to a lower rate of fire version if the user prefers a more tame and controllable experience, or finds themselves constantly out of ammo(Surprisingly easy to do with this boat).
  
• 11 Crew, Artillery Support available.

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M-802

The M-802 is a Rank 4 3.7 BR Sub-Chaser found in the German Coastal tech tree. This large, armored fortress is a force to be reckoned with in the hands of an experienced player. The large 105mm main cannons have enough HE to damage early destroyers, and hull-break many smaller coastal vessels in 1 shot. The auxiliary/AA gun complement is enough to eliminate most threats in the air or other coastal vessels. The M-802 is also able to equip 2 torpedoes in an angled fixed frontal launcher on either side of the ship, and 2 depth charges.

• Dual 105mm main cannons are deadly when landed on target, with armored turrets and 15rpm each. These cannons are relatively effective at damaging or outright annihilating nearly all surface targets it would face at its BR, except for the most armored/high crew destroyers or SKR frigates.
  
• Dual 37mm Flak C/36 cannons, 2 twin 20mm and a single quad 20mm provide for ample AA coverage, and effective surface target destruction.
  
• 2 G7a Torpedoes, 81 km/h max speed at 6km range. Effective payload of 358.4 kg, these torpedoes are deadly. Can also carry 4 100kg depth charges in addition.
  
• 16mm steel hull is as thick as a destroyer. Engines are steam (No fuel tank) and encased in a 10mm armored citadel that is sandwiched between its coal bunkers. Coal bunkers act as spaced armor, and further aid in the survival of this ships engines.
  
• Bridge is lightly armored with 10mm of armor, and all gun mounts have armor ranging from 8-12mm in thickness.
  
• 1 105mm cannon, 1 37mm and the 2 twin 20mm can fire straight forward.
  
• Front guns are placed high up and the ship is rather tall, allowing the user to hide behind and fire over terrain while providing a very small and protected target.
  
• Coastal vessel spawn, so the slow speed isn't as much as an issue.
  
• 107 Crew, 37 km/h max speed.

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Roadmap

Currently I plan on explaining the following subjects/terminology:

1. Survival Tips
   
2. Killing other Vessels
   
3. Armor Shattering and Degradation
   
4. Crew Skills
   
5. Ammo Selection
   
6. Aircraft in Naval
   
7. Advanced Strategies and Tips
   
8. Faction Breakdown/Selection
   
9. USA
   
10. Germany
    
11. USSR
    
12. Japan (WIP)
    
13. Italy (Coming Soon)
    
14. Britain(Coming Soon)
    
15. Lineups for USA (Coming Soon)
    
16. Lineups for Germany (Coming Soon)
    
17. Lineups for USSR (Coming Soon)
    
18. Lineups for Japan ((Coming Soon)
    
19. Lineups for Italy (Coming Soon)
    
20. Lineups for Britain(Coming Soon)
    
21. Unique Naval Vehicles
    
22. Best Naval Premium Vehicles

This guide is for the community to use, so please leave comments for what you would like to see added or changed. Something you don't understand? Leave a comment and I will do my best to respond and add the explanation to the guide for future use. Please remember to rate up if this helps you, and instead of rating down leave a comment on what you would like changed. Thanks and enjoy :)

[PsychosocialPenguin]

Sorry I misunderstood you slightly, you are correct O will only show modules in the player ship. I do not know if there is currently a way to view the crew compartment status on the player ship, only the overall crew percentage...Keep in mind your crew will also redistribute to keep the ship running, sending crew to destroyed modules (Turrets, Engines) once you repair.

[bearisland]

I'm using rank 2 british destroyers at the moment. 3kg HE with 35mm of pen seems like a lot more compared to the 900g in the SAP. Though practicing with SAP ive found it a bit easier to get those ammo denotations like you said now, thanks. And with the crew compartments, I can only see those when I hit an enemy right? When i score a hit i see a rectangle inside the enemy ship and the damage indicator says I hit a compartment. but I can't see my own or how many are destroyed just by pressing O

[PsychosocialPenguin]

USSR has extremely good HE, and the Brits do as well. Japan and Germany have very effective fused HE for deeper detonation and damage.

[PsychosocialPenguin]

If you are struggling to hit SAP in critical locations, HE spam will still do the trick. Holding the letter key "O" will show an X-Ray view of the player ship. Enemy ship damage model can only be seen by scoring hits. Use ranging fire to consistently get hits and an accurate picture of the target damage.

[PsychosocialPenguin]

@bearisland That depends on the amount of HE in the round in question and its rated penetration (HE fillers behave differently). As for SAP, same thing; rated penetration combined with HE filler. Some examples; USA SAP is very high penetration, low HE filler. USA HE on the other hand have great explosive mass = better penetration and damage. So for USA, to answer your question, firing against lightly armored targets with HE as an opening barrage is a great way to get a lot of net damage early on. If at extreme ranges, stick to HE to kill crew more reliably. If/when the engagement closes distance, you can try switching to SAP. Aim for ammo, engines, and the hull. You can HE a target to death with low armor, but it can be much slower.

[bearisland]

if im fighting early destroyers with no armour, should I be using HE or SAP on the hull, or should HE just used for damaging the deck? will the HE not pen deep enough still even on no armour targets? Also is there a way to see which crew compartments are damaged on both mine and the enemy ship? Thanks for the guide

[Lucy]

Thank you for the updates! I enjoy reading this guide. :)

[PsychosocialPenguin]

Thank you for reading this guide and looking at the comments, feel free to add any suggestions or changes you would like to see. I am currently in the process of rewriting and reformatting this entire guide for a cleaner look and to fit more information. Things may change or look incomplete in the meantime, I apologize for this.

[Lucy]

Very interesting

[PsychosocialPenguin]

I deliberately left both Italy and Japan out for now. I will add Japan soon, just need a little more time experiencing all they have to offer before I make any conclusions. As for Italy, they have a distinct lack of bluewater vessels and non-competitive coastal vessels, and I need to unlock many more before I can consider summarizing them. I apologize for the delay.