Five Epochs of the Navy

Some browsers may not be able to expand the tables below. If you have trouble viewing them there is a fully expanded version of this page here.

The “Five Epochs of the Navy” is a permanent campaign dedicated to the five year anniversary of World of Warships. Campaign stages require players to play at specific tiers as well as specific ships that were essential to the naval development of each nation. Unique to the “Five Epochs of the Navy” Campaign however is the focus on the low tiers, with two out of the five stages requiring players to play ships below Tier V. The final reward for each stage is a “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container, with each stage awarding one more than the previous stage. Each container contains collectibles for the ”Five Epochs Of The Navy”collection and the final stage also includes a linkable camo to any Tier IX ship except for AL Sov. Rossiya and AL Azuma.

Mission 1

At all times, the image of a ship had an aesthetic value to it that is incomparable to any other man-made creation. The immense, mysterious, and even charming presence of majestic sailing ships has fascinated people for centuries. Then came the 19th century — a new era of engineering and automation known as the Industrial Revolution that spurred the development of human technology onwards at an unprecedented rate. Graceful carved wood and woven cloth functioning in harmony with nature's breath were replaced at sea by metal and billowing steam.

At that time, and right up until the beginning of the space era, the ship embodied all outstanding scientific achievements that drove the development of our civilization. The 20th century brought with it unprecedented and ruthless world wars, and it was only natural that warships took center stage in shipbuilding at the time. Yet, people never ceased to admire the regularity and symmetry of their features, the complexity and deadly power of the weapons they carried.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Pins Earned	Reward
1	Earn any 210 ribbons.	Tier II-IV		1x "Five Epochs of the Navy" Container
2	Earn 750,000 Credits.	Tier II-IV		1x "Five Epochs of the Navy" Container
3	Cause 450,000 HP of damage to enemy ships.	Tier II-IV		1x "Five Epochs of the Navy" Container
4	Cause 120,000 HP of damage with main battery guns.	South Carolina, Wyoming, Gangut, Courbet		5x November Foxtrot
5	Earn 5 "Destroyed" ribbons	Kawachi, Dreadnought,Bellerophon, Kaiser, Nassau		5x India Delta
6	Earn 6500 XP (after modifiers are applied)	Chikuma, Kolberg, Weymouth, Nino Bixio		5x Mike Yankee Soxisix
7	Earn 5 "Destroyed" ribbons	Umikaze, Tatra		5x Juliet Charlie
8	Earn 10 "Torpedo Hits" ribbons	V-25, Derzki		5x Victor Lima

Final Task: Earn (8) from Mission 1 tasks to unlock; complete to grant access to Mission 2.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Reward
1	Earn 5500 base XP (before modifiers are applied)	Tier II-IV	1x "Five Epochs of the Navy" Container

Mission 2

During World War I, the evolution of warships of the major types revolved around the simple core idea of making them larger and stronger. The increasingly large caliber of their guns was complemented by their ever-stronger armor protection, which resulted in more significant water displacement and bigger proportions. For battleships, the race was initiated by the British when they designed a series of Queen Elizabeth-class warships with a sharp increase in their main gun caliber (up to 381 mm). Germany promptly responded with its Bayern-class super-dreadnoughts, which carried the same super-heavy artillery. The German ships, however, outmatched their rivals in terms of armor and combat durability. Their aim was to achieve superiority in quality, as it was impossible to compete with or match the sheer number of ships in the British fleet. Perhaps the only really important novelty in this race for world shipbuilding supremacy emerged when the Americans adopted 'all or nothing' armor, not typical of warships of the pre-dreadnought era, on their Nevada-class battleships. The new scheme involved heavily armoring the areas most important to a ship, while the remainder received significantly less armor to emphasize protection optimized for long-range engagement. By a twist of fate, the strongest battleships of that period were eventually built by Japan, a country that had, until that time, stayed away from the main theaters of military activity. Hardly any rival ship was on par with their Nagato-class warships in terms of speed, armor and armament combined.

During the war, only two European states could afford to build large series of new cruisers — Germany and Great Britain. The trends were the same: when the main caliber of the German cruisers reached 150 mm, the British designed ships of the Hawkins-class with 190 mm guns, which became the prototype of a totally new subclass of ships—the heavy cruiser. The Americans and Japanese, in turn, carefully considered their military experience in relation to their own objectives. Built to scout for a fleet of U.S. battleships, the Omaha-class light cruisers featured high speed for cooperation with allied destroyers, and 152 mm guns to fend off any enemy destroyers that might be sent their way. The Japanese, in turn, reinforced their fleet of warships with several series of Kuma- and Nagara-class 5,500-ton light cruisers. Any of the them could be used as both a reconnaissance ship, and also as a command vessel for destroyer flotillas during massively overwhelming torpedo attacks.

Destroyers were undoubtedly the most active fighting ships during World War I, which is why they would generally be considered the navy's expendable assets. In addition to raiding operations, patrolling and mine laying, this type of ship assumed another military role — anti-submarine warfare — which resulted in corresponding changes being made to their design and armament. The general trend, however, was the same: destroyers received ever more weapons, and the caliber of their guns grew, along with their displacement and speed. During the war, for the first time in the Royal Navy, a new sub-type of ships appeared: destroyer flotilla leaders, the role of which approached light cruisers in terms their characteristics and objectives.

World War I demonstrated clearly that, during a global conflict, only a few economically powerful countries that had steered clear of direct combat were capable of building the major ship types on a massive scale. But it was clear even to them that the uncontrolled naval arms race was accelerating beyond their capabilities.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Pins Earned	Reward
1	Win 5 battles	Tier III-VI		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
2	Earn 2,000,000 credits	Tier III-V		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
3	Earn 24 “Destroyed” ribbons	Tier III-V		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
4 |	Earn 15 “Set on fire” or “Hits to citadel” ribbons	Bretagne, Iron Duke, Fuso, Kongo, Kongo, Queen Elizabeth		x6 November Echo Setteseven
5	Receive 7,000,000 HP of potential damage	New Mexico, Izmail, Bayern, New York		x6 India Yankee
6	Earn 5400 base XP (before modifiers are applied)	Tenryu, Kuma, Svietlana, Karlsruhe		6x November Foxtrot
7	Earn 360 “Main battery hits” ribbons	Omaha, Danae, Hawkins, Duguay-Trouin, Java		6x Juliet Charlie signals
8	Earn 8 “Captured” or “Assisted in capture” ribbons	Minekaze, Clemson, Izyaslav		6x India X-Ray signals
9	Earn 14 “Torpedo hits” ribbons	V-170, Valkyrie, Wakeful		6x Juliet Whiskey Unaone signals

Final Task: Earn (10) from Mission 2 tasks to unlock; complete to grant access to Mission 3.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Reward
1	Earn 40,000 XP (after modifiers are applied)	Tier III-VI	2x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Containers

Mission 3

The economic consequences of World War I were so devastating that even the greatest winning states had to commit to something they once thought impossible — conclude a treaty on the limitation of naval armament. From 1922, for the first time in history, naval officials and shipbuilders had to be guided not by operational or strategic considerations, or optimal technical solutions, but primarily by the articles of the Washington Naval Treaty. This treaty contained restrictions on the number, displacement, and armament for the major types of the vessels of war. In addition, Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary ceased to rank among the naval powers at that time. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Washington Treaty period in the history of military shipbuilding turned out to be a rather difficult one.

Firstly, no capital ships were allowed to be built for a period of ten years. At the signing of the treaty, the contracting powers retained their most advanced capital ships in their respective navies. The only exception was the Nelson class of British battleships built during that period. To comply with the limitations of the Washington Treaty, these ships were of an unusual design with all three main battery turrets carried forward of the ship's bridge, an arrangement unlikely to be used under normal circumstances.

The Washington Treaty had a more profound effect on cruiser building. Cruisers were limited in terms of quality, but not numbers. Since battleships were no longer allowed to be built, the major naval powers began a competition to build treaty cruisers using the maximum values for technical specifications allowed by the treaty. To obey the limits on total cruiser displacement established for each navy, designers were forced to make compromises which normally affected armor protection. As a result, during the second half of the 1920s, Great Britain, France, Italy, the U.S.A., and Japan possessed ships boasting a high speed, a 203 mm main battery, and good seaworthiness, all at the cost of very weak armor. Warships of this new sub-type, the need for which was never dictated by any objective naval warfare needs, were collectively known as the Washington Treaty Cruisers.

The treaty for the limitation of naval armament likewise had an effect on the brand new type of warship — aircraft carriers. In 1922, the number of capital ships employed on fleet duties was sharply reduced. The hulls of the newest battleships and battle cruisers, which were being outfitted at shipyards, could either be scrapped, or converted into aircraft carriers. This way, by the end of the 1920s, the U.S.A., Japan, and Great Britain came to own large, high-speed aircraft carriers that were used to work through basic design solutions and tactics that were later adopted on this type of massively produced, purpose-built ship.

The trends in the development of destroyers in the post-war years did not change — their size grew, and their armament became deadlier. France and Italy competed in creating ever larger and faster warships, equipped with increasingly more powerful artillery, eventually blurring the line between these ships and light cruisers. During the years of forced enthusiasm for the construction of Washington Treaty warships, only a few ships of this sub-type were built. However, the real breakthrough came with the appearance of the Japanese destroyers of the Fubuki-class and their successors — the Hatsuharu-class. Powerful artillery, and most importantly, the crippling long-range 610 mm torpedoes coupled with a unique system of fast reload right at sea, propelled the destroyer forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy to a leading position in the world.

Meanwhile, as the shock from the world war passed, Germany and the U.S.S.R., the heir to the Russian Empire, again sought to join the ranks of the world's leading powers on land and at sea. For many signatories of the Washington Naval Treaty, naval arms limitations became increasingly difficult to put up with.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Pins Earned	Reward
1	Cause 400,000 HP of damage to enemy ships	Tier V-VIII		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
2	Earn 50,000 XP (after modifiers are applied)	Tier V-VIII		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
3	Rank 14 times among the top 5 XP earners on your team	Tier V-VIII		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
4	Help your team cause 250,000 HP of damage upon your spotting	Furious, Lexington, Ranger, S-1		7x November Foxtrot
5	Cause 500,000 HP of damage to enemy ships	Nagato, Colorado, Nelson, Salmon		7x India Delta
6	Cause 250,000 HP of damage with main battery guns	Pensacola, Trento, Indianapolis		7x Mike Yankee Soxisix
7	Cause 60,000 HP of damage to ships by fire	Aoba, Myoko, Devonshire		7x Juliet Charlie
8	Earn 20 “Torpedo hits” / “Set on fire” ribbons	Acasta, Guepard, Jaguar, Aigle, Icarus		7x Victor Lima
9	Cause 150,000 HP of damage to enemy ships with ship torpedoes	Fubuki, Akatsuki, Shinonome		7x November Echo Setteseven

Final Task: Earn (12) from Mission 3 tasks to unlock; complete to grant access to Mission 4.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Reward
1	Earn 1,800,000 credits	Tier V-VIII	3x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Containers

Mission 4

In the first half of the 1930s, Great Britain went to great lengths to maintain and strengthen the system of international treaties for the limitation of naval armament. Not because Great Britain had a natural leaning towards pacifism, but rather because the weakening British Empire could no longer confidently "hold the trident of Neptune". The two conferences that took place in London in 1930 and 1936 modified the terms of the Washington Treaty of 1922 by imposing additional limitations on the size of, and on armament carried by, warships. Apart from that, a number of new limitations were adopted which would, from then on, be applied to aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines, and all cruisers.

All agreements reached earlier lost weight in many respects. Italy refused to sign them, and Japan went as far as to withdraw from the naval treaties entirely. Even attempts to include Germany and the U.S.S.R. in bilateral agreements (based on the Washington/London Treaty system) also failed, despite these countries striving to open an outlet to seas and oceans since the mid-1930s.

Nevertheless, the London Naval Treaties had a noticeable effect on military shipbuilding. As Japan and Italy refused to join the Treaty of 1936, the United States, France, and Great Britain added an escalator clause to provide for a higher displacement limit to be applied to capital ships allowed for construction. The limit on the caliber of the main battery guns was also increased from 356 to 406 mm. However, the British designed and laid down their new King George V-class battleships with the previous displacement limit and 356 mm guns. The United States, consistently moving towards the concept of fast battleships, managed to equip their new North Carolina- and South Dakota-class battleships with 406 mm main battery guns. But the most well-balanced ships of this type, taking into account the treaty limitations, were built in France. Those were the ships of the Richelieu class, equipped with 380 mm guns—a tit-for-tat response to Italy for building its new Littorio-class battleships. Finally, the second half of the 1930s saw Germany rushing into the select club of owners of full-fledged modern battleships with its excellently protected ships of the Bismarck class.

Cruiser building suffered the most from the London Treaties. Sub-types of heavy and light cruisers were identified, and the construction of the former was initially limited, and later completely prohibited. This allowed Great Britain to focus on the creation of light cruisers of the new generation with a 152 mm main battery: the British Empire needed a large number of such ships. However, the appearance of the most powerful Japanese cruisers of the Mogami- and Tone- class with 155 mm guns, which, in fact, could easily be replaced with 203 mm guns, urged the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy to boost the combat capabilities of their light cruisers. Perhaps the most advanced heavy cruiser of the 1930s was the unique French Algérie, while the most protected were the Italian Zara-class heavy cruisers. Among light cruisers, the French ships of the La Galissonnière-class were considered the best in terms of cost and combat efficiency.

As for the destroyers, in the second half of the 1930s, as well as the powerful Japanese destroyers and fast French flotilla leaders, quite large and well-armed new German destroyers emerged. Due to the existing treaty limitations, the United States and Great Britain responded by creating lighter ships with less remarkable characteristics and armament, but the powerful shipbuilding industry made it possible to build them in incomparably larger numbers.

By the late 1930s, the treaty limitations were no longer effectively complied with. The great powers were kept from an open, full-scale naval arms race only by the bounds of diplomatic decency and budgetary restrictions of peacetime. Those bounds, however, were abandoned with the outbreak of World War II.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Pins Earned	Reward
1	Cause 600,000 HP of damage to enemy ships	Tier VI-IX		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
2	Earn 4,800,000 Credits	Tier VI-IX		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
3	Earn 32 “Destroyed” ribbons	Tier VI-IX		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
4	Earn 100 “Secondary battery hits” ribbons	Tirpitz, Tirpitz B, bismarck, Richelieu		8x India Yankee
5	Earn 550 “Main battery hits” ribbons	King George V, North Carolina, Duke of York		8x India Yankee
6	Cause 540, 000 HP damage to enemy ships with the main battery guns	Wichita, Helena, Fiji, Edinburgh, Mogami		8x Juliet Charlie
7	Receive 8,000,000 HP of potential damage	Zara, Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper, La Galissonniere, Algerie		8x India X-Ray signals
8	Hit enemy ships with the main guns 650 times	Gnevny, Leberecht Maass, Sims, Sims B, Benson		8x Juliet Whiskey Unaone signals
9	Earn 30 “Torpedo hits” ribbons	Kagero, Jervis, Le Fantasque, Asashio, Asashio B, U-190		8x November Foxtrot

Final Task: Earn (14) from Mission 4 tasks to unlock; complete to grant access to Mission 5.

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Reward
1	Earn 60,000 Commander XP	Tier VI-IX	4 “Five Epochs of the Navy” Containers

Mission 5

World War II overturned the entire system of limitations on naval armament that existed in the 1920s and 30s, bringing international shipbuilding back to its natural state. From that moment, every decision was dominated by the need for warships, production capacities, technology, and time. It is not surprising, therefore, that the United States was the only country that expressed a wish to build a series of battleships laid down during these years. Iowa-class battleships fitted perfectly into the new format of naval warfare, changing their inherent role from hunting for high-speed Japanese battle cruisers to ensuring the stability of fast aircraft carrier strike formations. It is generally accepted that with all their performance characteristics combined, they were the best battleships of World War II, but this honorary title is contested by the Japanese giants of the Yamato class. In contrast to them, the last battleship of the Royal Navy, Vanguard, looked much weaker, despite excellent seaworthiness.

A similar situation unfolded during World War II in cruiser building. It was possible in this period to create well-balanced and powerful ships, but only the United States and Great Britain had the resources to do so. The U.S. Navy received a large series of Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, the largest of their type, as well as light cruisers of the Cleveland class. The former were the strongest wartime heavy cruisers, balanced so well in terms of armament, armor protection and seaworthiness that they remained in service for many years. Their enhanced versions served as the basis for the design of Des Moines-class heavy cruisers equipped with auto-loading main battery guns, and embodied all the experience gained during World War II. Armed with 203 mm main guns and representing the pinnacle of Washington Treaty cruiser building, they were the best representatives of the latest generation of heavy artillery ships. In the light cruiser type, they were matched by the ships of the Worcester class, which also entered service after the war and carried a battery of 152 mm automatic dual-purpose guns.

The most massively produced surface ships of the World War II period were destroyers, as they were involved in all impactful battles in all theaters of military activity. But, despite mass production, the loss rate of this type of ship was the highest. Unlike heavy artillery ships, new classes of destroyers entered service during the war not only in huge series joining the U.S. Navy (Fletcher, Gearing), but in large numbers in the Royal Navy, and also in noticeable numbers in Japan (Yūgumo, Akizuki) and Germany (various series of the 1936 class). After the war, the new artillery destroyers were designed by those countries that could not afford to have larger ships in sufficient numbers. Fortunately, in terms of displacement and armament, the destroyers of that time often matched pre-war light cruisers: the Battle and Daring classes of Great Britain, the Halland class of Sweden, or the Friesland class of the Netherlands.

The era when steam turbine-driven warships dominated the seas extended over a short period by historical measures, only about half a century, almost coinciding in time with the first half of the 20th century. It encompassed, however, as many as several differing epochs. And all of their glorious heroes are right here in World of Warships!

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Pins Earned	Reward
1	Cause 800,000 HP of damage to enemy ships	VIII-X, Superships		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
2	Earn 7,000,000 credits	VIII-X, Superships		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
3	Rank among the top 3 XP earners on your team 18 times	VIII-X, Superships		1x “Five Epochs of the Navy” Container
4	Recieve 16,000,000 HP of potential damage	Yamato, Musashi, Lion, Vanguard		10x India Delta
5	Cause 1,000,000 HP of damage to enemy ships with the main battery guns	Iowa, Montana, Sovetsky Soyuz, Alsace		10x Mike Yankee Soxisix
6	Earn 18 “Hits to citadel” ribbons	Minotaur, Baltimore, Des Moines, Neptune		10x Juliet Charlie
7	Earn 70 “Set on fire" ribbons	Zao, Ibuki, Worcester, Kutuzov, Alexander Nevsky		10x Victor Lima
8	Hit enemy ships with the main battery 1750 times	Akizuki, Kitakaze, Gearing, Fletcher		10x November Echo Setteseven
9	Cause 1,200,000 HP of damage to enemy ships	Midway, Audacious, Gato		10x India Yankee
10	Cause 400,000 HP of damage to enemy ships with torpedoes	Shimakaze, Jutland, Daring, Halland, U-2501		10x November Foxtrot

Final Task - earn (16) from Mission 5 tasks to unlock; complete to finish "Five Epochs of the Navy" Campaign

Task Number	Details	Restrictions	Reward
1	Earn 10,000 base XP (before modifiers are applied)	VIII-X, Superships	5x “Five Epochs of the Navy” container "Epoch" Tier IX Linkable Camo Bonus Package Tier IX Bonus Package