California

Ship Overview

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 California — American • Premium • Tier V • Battleship.

A Tennessee-class battleship armed with twelve 356 mm guns and possessing quite modest speed characteristics. After Pearl Harbor, she underwent thorough refurbishment, which significantly changed the ship's design and greatly enhanced her AA defenses.

 Navy: USN
 Ship: American
 Nation: United States
 Category: Premium

 Tier: V
 Class: Battleship
 Cost: (Research Bureau)

 Entered Service: 1921
 Ships in Series: 2

━━ Ship Traits ━━

Agile: Above average ability to change direction.

Powerful AA Defenses: Above-average AA gun firepower.

Slow: Below average maximum movement speed.

Money Maker: Grants a significant bonus to XP and credit earnings.

Ship Stats

Survivability

SURVIVBILITY	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Hitpoints	58 300	-
• Armor (mm)	16 - 457	-
• Torpedo damage reduction (%)	40	-

Maneuverability

MANEUVERABILITY	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Maximum speed (kt)	20.5	-
• Turning circle radius (m)	640	-
• Rudder-shift time (sec)	14.7	-

Concealment

CONCEALMENT	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Detectability by sea (km)	13.5	-
• Detectability by air (km)	11.3	-
• Detectability while firing in smoke (km)	12.2	-

Main Artillery

MAIN BATTERY	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Main artillery name	356mm/50 Mk7	-
• Main artillery arrangement	4x3	-
• Firing range (km)	15.6	-
• Reload time (sec)	30	-
• 180° turn time (sec)	60	-
• HE maximum damage	5000	-
• HE fire chance (%)	30	-
• HE penetration (mm)	59	-
• AP maximum damage	10 500	-
• Sigma	1.8	-

Secondary Artillery

SECONDARY ARMAMENT 1	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Name	127mm Mk32	-
• Arrangement	8x2	-
• Firing range (km)	4	-
• Reload time (sec)	6	-
• HE maximum damage	1500	-
• HE fire chance (%)	5	-
• HE penetration (mm)	21	-

Anti-Aircraft Artillery

AA ARMAMENT 1	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Name	20mm Oerlikon Mk20	-
• Arrangement	41x2	-
• DPS	250	-
• Range (km)	2	-
AA ARMAMENT 2	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Name	40mm Bofors Mk2	-
• Arrangement	14x4	-
• DPS	223	-
• Range (km)	3.5	-
AA ARMAMENT 3	STOCK	UPGRADED
• Name	127mm Mk32	-
• Arrangement	8x2	-
• DPS	121	-
• Range (km)	5	-

Modules, Modifications & Consumables

Modules

Battleship - California

	Hit Points	Min Armor (mm)	Max Armor (mm)	Torpedo Damage Reduction (%)	Main Battery Turrets	Rudder Shift (s)
Stock	58 300	16	457	40	4x3	14.7

	Turret Arrangement	Reload Time (s)	180° Turn Time (s)	Max HE Damage	HE Fire Chance (%)	Max AP Damage
356mm/50 Mk7	4x3	30	60	5000	30	10 500

	Main Battery Firing Range
Stock	15.6 km

	Maximum Speed
Stock	20.5 kn

Modifications

Battleship - California

SLOT 1	Main Battery Mod 2 Main battery traverse speed +20% Torpedo launchers traverse speed +20%	Secondary Battery Mod 2 Secondary battery firing range +20% Secondary battery dispersion -20%	AA Guns Mod 2 AA guns firing range +20%
SLOT 2	Damage Control System Mod 2 Damage Control Party duration +20% Fire duration -15% Flood duration -15%	Steering Gears Mod 2 Rudder-shift time -25%	Propulsion Mod 2 Time taken to reach full power when accelerating -50%

Consumables

Battleship - California

Damage Control Party

Accelerates repairs to damage modules, firefighting efforts and recovery from flooding.

Duration: 20s Reload time: 80s The number of consumables is unlimited

Repair Party

Partially restores the ship's HP by repairing light damage.

HP per second: +291 Duration: 28s Reload time: 80s Number of consumables: 3

Catapult Fighter

Follows the ship and automatically attacks enemy aircraft.

Duration: 90s Reload time: 80s Number of consumables: 3

Observation Seaplane

Temporarily tightens main battery shell grouping.

Main battery shell grouping: +10% Duration: 30s Reload time: 200s Number of consumables: 3

Enhanced Secondary Targeting

Lower the dispersion and improve the shell grouping of your secondary armament.

Secondary battery shell grouping: +100% Secondary battery dispersion: -50% Duration: 30s Reload time: 160s Number of consumables: 3

Community Contributions

Player Opinion

Battleship - California

Pros:

• Heavy broadside of twelve (12) 356mm main battery guns
• Good dispersion and sigma, California can reliably land volleys at range
• All-or-nothing armor scheme ensures great protection to the ship's midsection
• The citadel block is completely submerged and very difficult to hit
• Outstanding AA defenses
• Tight turning circle radius and fairly good rudder shift for a battleship of this size

Cons:

• Extremely poor ship speed of only 20.5 knots
• Extensively covered in 26mm plating, very vulnerable to HE spam and high caliber AP overmatch
• Most of California's AA defenses are open mounts, and can be easily destroyed

Performance

History

Battleship - California

California was the second Tennessee-class battleship built for the US navy, entering service in late 1921. As one of the last of the “Standard-type” battleships, California was fairly slow for a battleship, even by 1921. However, her twelve 14-inch (356mm) guns were very effective for the time, despite early issues with accuracy that were rectified later. California’s all-or-nothing armor scheme was also advanced and durable.

Throughout the interbellum, she served as the flagship of the Pacific Battle Fleet, performing goodwill visits and cruises in that role. In 1941, she returned to Battleship Row, Pearl Harbor. During the Attack on Pearl Harbor, California was hit by torpedoes and bombs—sinking her. She still had some fight left, and the Navy refloated her and gave her a massive modernization, this is the form she takes in Legends.

California helped in many shore bombardment operations, from Saipan in 1944 to Okinawa.

She took part in the last battleship engagement in history, the Battle of Surigao Strait.

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