IJN Yamato Avaible on the IJN blueprint tree
The hulls are the main body of the ship. There are 5 classes of ship hulls, Destroyer ( DD ), Cruiser ( CC ), Battleship ( BB ) Aircraft Carrier ( CV ) and Battle Carrier ( BC ).
These categories differ in their load-carrying capacity( weight of armor, weapons, and systems), maneuvrability ( turning ability ), Aircraft carrying capacity ( catapult-launched aircraft, or flight Deck launched aircraft), weapon Type restrictions ( anti-submarine weapon restricted to destroyer and cruisers, Heavy Turret guns only on battleships)
The ship classification can also be viewed as a reflection of their intended role.
Destroyer: Scout, Escort, and light duty.
Cruiser: General workhorse of the navy
Battleship: Ship of line meant for heavy action.
Aircraft Carrier: Dedicated aircraft cover
BattleCarrier: a weird artifact of Japanese navy?
Battleship BB[]
A, customized battleship, armed with 65.0 caliber guns.
Traditionally the Battleship is considered the most powerful hull. Also known as the "Floating Castle" they are capable of carrying the biggest weapons and having the thickest armor of all ship's classes. Its weakness is the inability to carry anti-sub weapons. (Until you develop, Anti-Sub VLS missile), They can be equipped with a small number of floatplanes.
Heaviest armor. Heaviest and longest range gun mountable. Able to fight prolonged combat. Can also launch 2-4 catapult aircraft. Due to its massive weight, the ship class is slowest, with the largest turning radius simply due to momentum. As such the ship is unable to launch anti-submarine weapons like depth-charges.Therefore the ship is weak against submarines. With sufficient advance in research, missiles are unlocked, and anti-submarine missile Verticle Launch system, along with the AEGIS system, can completely remove the threat of submarine.
Aircraft Carrier CV[]
The Aircraft Carrier is capable of carrying many planes. By using its planes, it can attack targets at long range. In direct combat, it will sink quickly because it is unable to carry any big weapons and armor.It has traded close combat capability fro long-range strike capability.
Cruiser CC[]
The cruisers are medium-sized multirole ship capable of being used in Anti-Ship, Anti-sub, and Anti-Air and anti-land roles. It is a generalist and is the easiest to use. However, it cannot carry the heaviest of weapons and armor. Like the battleship, they can also carry and launch a small number of floatplanes. Can launch two to four catapult based aircraft. Armed with medium weight guns, they are effective in multirole missions as a general-purpose ship. Average speed and turning ability. Average Armor capability.
Destroyer DD[]
A customized, Destroyer armed with a...Super laser....
The destroyers are the smallest playable ship and considered the weakest of all ship classes in direct combat. Due to their weight limitation which results in high speed and agile movement, this type of ship is most capable of "HIT and RUN tactic". Loading a destroyer with heavy torpedos and fast engine, a player can easily evade the long-range bombardment of the heavy guns of battleship and sink them with a volley of torpedos in a single run. They are also most efficient in combating submarines. Good for the anti-submarine and anti-air role. Fast and Nimble, carrying Light Naval gun that are fast firing. Torpedoes and depth-charges help these ships attack other Capital ships and submarines. They can dodge long-range shots from big guns by doing zig zag. Their armor capability is smallest, so against heavy damage weapon, even a single hit may sink the ship.
Battlecarriers BC[]
Screenshot of a battlecarrier showing its landing deck and forward bridge
The Battlecarriers is a hybrid of a Battleship and an Aircraft Carrier. Armed properly, it can be one of the most powerful of all ship classes. The front half of the hull is a battleship and can load all the big weapons available for that type. The back half is from a traditional aircraft carrier, and so can launch the typical carrier aircraft. It can load the armor of a battleship which mitigates the weakness of a carriers hull.
Special hulls[]
A players customised drillship armed with a wave gun
These hulls are not unlocked by the research in the tech tree but awarded as loot or reward for accomplishing various things in the game. Example the Drillship hull is a battleship type hull but with a drill attached to the front and saws in the side just like the supership Arahabaki
NOTES
--U.S Aircraft Carriers are the best of the 4 nations.
--German Battleships are the most powerful of all 4 nations.
--Japan Destroyers are the most well-armored of all 4 nations.
--United Kingdom hulls are the most well balanced of the 4 Nations
Hull Stats[]
The key stats of hulls are-
Weight limit- The maximum loaded weight of the hull once all weapons, equipment, armor engine, etc. has been attached. The closer you come to the limit the slower the ship will be to the point where even adding extra engines may not increase the speed.
Weight- The empty weight of the hull itself. This can be a significant portion of the weight limit and shouldn't be ignored when choosing the right hull for the job. If this weight takes too much out of the weight limit then a different hull may be better for the job.
Defense- The hulls 'natural' defensive rating before any armor has been applied. This usually increases with hull size but not always meaning that the bigger ship may not always be the stronger. While leaving for a mission with no armor at all is very risky some hulls have a high natural defense which can allow the player to get away with carrying slightly less armor than would be ideal.
Turn rate- The ship's maneuverability rating, essentially how tight that ship can turn. In a heavy firefight, evading enemy artillery, torpedos and aircraft launched bombs can make the difference in surviving if your ship has damaged armor. This is done using short alternating turns in the opposite direction. You can also visually see the track of enemy heavy artillery and torpedos and turn your ship to evade the impact point. The higher the turn rate of the hull, the easier it is to do these evasive maneuvers and thus tactically raise your survivability.
Aircraft- The maximum number of aircraft a hull may carry. While a much more important stat for the carriers, warship launched floatplanes can be useful at times and shouldn't be taken too lightly. For example, battleship hulls cannot carry anti-submarine weapons, but they can carry floatplanes that can attack submarines at long range, thus mitigating the battleships vulnerability to submarine.
The game also includes a number of special hulls that dont always fit in the mostly linear progression of the standard units giving the player a much wider array of options when choosing a ship to build.