United States

Ships fielded by the United States Navy (USN) sport great armor (albeit in an all-or-nothing design), main battery guns, and anti-aircraft (AA) capabilities, and are less hindered by stock configurations — many were built later and subsequently underwent fewer, less drastic upgrades (unlike Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) vessels such as Kongō). Most stock American ships are adequate for their roles, and while fully-upgraded ships perform better, they require little to no change in play style. American ship-launched torpedoes are often comically bad, but the real strength of USN ships lies in their ability to get into firefights and slug it out, relying on their superior guns and survivability to see them through.

The United States inherited many of its nascent naval traditions from the British, from whom they won their independence in 1776. Over the years, the fledgling American navy encountered various hurdles and successes in its conflicts with the British, French, and Spanish navies. However, a mix of poor economic outlook, isolationist sentiments and post-World War I naval disarmament treaties reduced the effectiveness and preparedness of the USN for the Second World War. All of that changed after Japan's 7 December 1941 surprise attack on Pacific Fleet headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Regarded as an underhanded sneak attack outside the rules of civilized warfare, Pearl Harbor evaporated any reluctance of the American public to go to war.

With its battleship fleet crippled by the Pearl Harbor attack, the USN turned to submarines and its fledgling aircraft carrier fleet — the very weapons that the IJN had used in their attempt to neutralize the USN Pacific Fleet — and ironically put them to greater effect than the Japanese (who stuck to battleships and the "decisive battle" doctrines), achieving successes in the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa. While slightly behind their IJN counterparts at the onset of the war, the USN gradually caught up both qualitatively and quantitatively; virtually every class of vessel was outfitted with superior fire control equipment such as radar and ballistics computers; the industrial might of the United States produced large numbers of proven designs (the 175 destroyers of the Fletcher class built within the space of less than four years being a prime example) with little unnecessary variation in equipment, so that crew transferred between ships could quickly fill their roles without specialized retraining. The US Navy emerged from World War II as the most powerful navy in the world, a title it still holds to this day.

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Destroyers

USS Fletcher, Tier VII destroyer

Gameplay

The play style of American destroyers is best summarized as "annoy and harass"; their fast-firing guns in quick-turning turrets can continuously rain fire on opponents with impunity while under cover of smoke or vision blockers such as islands. Legendary Tier Gearing, the crown jewel of USN destroyers, can blanket her targets with more than 120 rounds per minute. Unfortunately, slow shell velocities and incredulously high shell arcs, while allowing captains to fire over islands, make it near-impossible to hit anything but the largest of targets beyond medium ranges. They also have reasonable anti-aircraft firepower, allowing them to play the role of escort ship when the need arises; fire discipline and astute Smoke Generatorusage are required, since gun and anti-aircraft battery fire can broadcast a ship's position. American torpedoes had variable speed settings; in World of Warships, only the high-speed setting is available (with the exception of Tier VI premium Sims). In-game, this means that lower tier American destroyers, instead of stealthily launching a spread out of visual range, are forced to weather fire from their targets' primary and secondary batteries well before they come within torpedo range. However, starting with Mahan at Tier V, it is possible to launch a torpedo salvo from beyond detection range, albeit still at shorter ranges than their Japanese counterparts. To put things in perspective, Americans have to wait until their Tier VI's Benson before they get torpedoes with 9km range; the Japanese achieve this range with Tier V destroyers Hatsuharu and Fubuki... and both of them reload faster.

Cruisers

USS Cleveland, Tier VII cruiser

Gameplay

American cruisers are all about the guns; their primary battery, secondary battery, and anti-aircraft armament are superlative. Forgoing torpedoes after Omaha at Tier IV, they are instead able to lay down an incredible hail of gunfire in almost any direction, due to the fast-firing guns located along the sides of their lower-tier ships, or in their fast-turning turrets at higher tiers. Any enemies — especially destroyers — that come within firing range and do not take evasive action are quickly sent to the bottom of the ocean, particularly after the line gains access to the Surveillance Radar consumable at Tier VII. Although the Japanese often have better range and firepower, the Americans have faster turret traverse, conventional layouts, and higher rates of fire; the high shell arc of some of their cruiser rifles — like their destroyer counterparts — is a double-edged sword, with a plunging trajectory hampered by their unimpressive shell velocities. Their anti-aircraft batteries easily dissuade aircraft from venturing too close or even approaching if they're not massed together for protection; yet even then, a well-timed Defensive AA Fire will quickly deplete the assets of enemy aircraft carriers. The American cruiser line splits after Omaha into a heavy cruiser branch - starting with Pensacola and topped by Des Moines - and a light cruiser branch starting with Dallas and topped by Worcester. Des Moines is the very pinnacle of the all-gun cruiser, as she has a very powerful anti-aircraft suite and main batteries that have unrivaled rate of fire. Worcester has rapid-fire guns, many consumables, and a great AA suite, which gives her unparalleled versatility on the battlefield.

Battleships

USS Iowa, Tier VII battleship

Gameplay

American battleships follow more orthodox and consistent designs: while their guns may not be as large and powerful as those of the IJN, the USN ships make up for it by having more guns that fire more often, giving them unmatched broadside firepower. Their anti-air suites are also fairly decent at staving off aerial assaults, although it's still recommended to have cruiser escort. In spite of inferior firing ranges and poor mobility, American battleships are capable of absorbing major damage in order to bring their guns to bear—their citadel armor is impenetrable to all but the largest caliber shells (at the cost of having a more lightly-armored bow and stern). Moving up the tech tree, players can now choose to continue on with the slow battleship line that begins with Tennessee or they can choose the fast battleship line that begins with New Mexico ,their mobility progressively improves and catches up with the Japanese at Tier VII, and their AA firepower grows to the point that they either become practically immune to all but the most concentrated of air attacks, or the aircraft will not survive the return trip. From Tier III to VII, American battleships enjoy a better Repair Partyconsumable than other nations, excluding the British, giving the line better durability. Legendary Tier Montana is the pinnacle of the main American battleship line: the evolution of the Iowa-class battleship design whose construction was cancelled some time after receiving congressional approval for construction in order to focus more on aircraft carrier production.

Aircraft Carriers

USS Lexington, Tier VII aircraft carrier

Gameplay

Early in the war, the overall state and quantity of USN naval aviation lagged behind their Japanese rivals. Thus, their early carriers can be painful to use. Their large sizes up-and-down the line mean that they can be seen from miles away, and even though they are quite durable with surprisingly strong anti-aircraft defenses, remaining un-spotted or sticking with teammates for protection is still recommended. The HE bombs are a devastating threat to destroyers and a nuisance to other ship types. Planes have high health pool compared to their IJN counterparts, allowing them to survive longer and keep full squadrons toward the end of the game. However, torpedo bombers carry very slow torpedoes with short range and a large dispersion even when fully aimed. Players are encouraged to drop their payload at close distances.

  Cruisers

Tech-Tree

I   Albany

II   St. Louis

III   Phoenix

IV   Omaha

V   Pensacola

V   Dallas

VI   New Orleans

VI   Helena

VII   Baltimore

VII   Cleveland

VIII   Buffalo

VIII   Seattle

Legendary

 

  Des Moines

  Worcester

  Alaska

  Alaska B

  Puerto Rico

Premium

II   Milwaukee

II   Charleston M

II   Charleston

II   Erie

IV   Marblehead

IV   Marblehead FE

IV   Rattlehead

VI   New Orleans W

VI   Atlanta

VI   Atlanta B

VI   Boise

VI   Flint

VI   Indianapolis

VI   Indianapolis B

VII   Anchorage

VII   Wichita CE

VII   Wichita

VII   AL Baltimore

VII   AL Montpelier

VII   San Diego

VII   Congress

VII   Rochester

VIII   Tulsa

VIII   Salem

VIII   Vallejo

VIII   U.S.S. Voyager

  Destroyers

Tech-Tree

II   Wickes

III   Clemson

IV   Farragut

V   Mahan

VI   Benson

VII   Fletcher

VIII   Allen M. Sumner

Legendary

 

  Gearing

Premium

II   Smith

II   Smith A

II   Sampson

IV   Hill

IV   Nicholas

V   Monaghan

VI   Kidd

VI   Benham

VI   Sims

VI   Charles F. Hughes

VII   Black

VII   Black B

VII   Somers CE

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VIII   Laffey

  Battleships

Tech-Tree

III   Wyoming

IV   New York

IV   Nevada

V   New Mexico

V   Tennessee

VI   Colorado

VI   North Carolina

VI   Connecticut

VII   Iowa

VII   Kansas

VII   Nebraska

VIII   Maine

VIII   Minnesota

VIII   Delaware

Legendary

 

  Montana

  BA Montana

  Vermont

  Ohio

  Louisiana

Premium

III   Arkansas

III   Arkansas FE

III   S. Carolina

IV   Texas

IV   Texas Alpha

IV   Oklahoma

V   Arizona

V   California

V   Primal

V   West Virginia

VI   Ignis Purgatio

VI   Florida

VI   Leviathan

VI   Kheper

VI   West Virginia '44

VII   Alabama

VII   Missouri

VII   Massachusetts

VII   Massachusetts B

VII   Georgia

VII   Georgia W

VII   AL New Jersey

VII   Constellation

VII   Constellation W

VIII   Wisconsin

  Aircraft Carriers

Tech-Tree

III   Langley

V   Ranger

VII   Lexington

Legendary

 

  Midway

Premium

V   Independence

VII   Saipan

VII   Enterprise

  

American Commanders

  Jack of All Trades

The following commanders have skills and traits which can be utilized across each of the different ship classes however they are not specialized in any particular one.

 George Dewey

  Cruisers

These commanders have skills that not only suit cruisers, but will sometimes only have an impact on that class of ship. Cruisers type skills often have an emphasis on long range support, HE fire chance and sonar/hydroacoustic search modifiers. Although these commanders are specialized for Cruisers, they can be utilized on any ship class.

 Norman Scott

 Thomas Kinkaid

 Victor Einstein

 Azur Lane Baltimore

 Azur Lane Montpelier

 Shelly Beapley

  Destroyers

With skills focusing on speed, stealth, torpedoes and smokescreens to name a few examples, the following commanders are best used on your destroyers. Although these commanders are specialized for Destroyers, they can be utilized on any ship class.

 William Halsey

 Arleigh Burke

 Albert Gleaves

 Bumblebee

 Vincent Mordoff

  Battleships

Featuring skills that can improve your secondary batteries, repair consumables, accuracy and armor penetration as just a handful of examples, these commanders are best suited for usage on your battleships. Although these commanders are specialized for Battleships, they can be utilized on any ship class.

 William Sims

 Willis Lee

 Joseph Reeves

 Justinian Lyons XIII

 Optimus Prime

 Kong

 Azur Lane New Jersey

 Azur Lane Colorado

 Takanashi Hoshino

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 Riker

  Aircraft Carriers

These commanders have skills that focus on aircraft carriers' performance, as well as on their planes' such as their speed, recovery time, bomb and torpedo damage, and more. Although these commanders are specialized for Aircraft Carriers, they can be utilized on any ship class.

 Ernest King

 Picard