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Saipan

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Saipan
Saipan_wows_main.jpg
Aircraft Carrier | U.S.A. | Tier VIII
Tech Tree Position
Saipan_icon_small.png
General
Purchase priceSpecial Doubloons
Hit Points47,900 
AA Defense
40 mm/56 Bofors on a Mk.1 mount10 х 2 pcs.
. . . Average Damage per Second113 
. . . Firing Range3.51 km.
40 mm/56 Bofors on a Mk.2 mount5 х 4 pcs.
. . . Average Damage per Second79.5 
. . . Firing Range3.51 km.
20 mm Oerlikon on a Mk.24 mount15 х 2 pcs.
. . . Average Damage per Second91.5 
. . . Firing Range2.01 km.
Maneuverability
Maximum Speed33 knot
Turning Circle Radius920 m.
Rudder Shift Time15.9 sec.
Concealment
Surface Detectability Range11.87 km.
Air Detectability Range10.18 km.
Battle Levels
12345678910
Wows_anno_flag_usa.png
VIII
Ship_PASA528_Saipan.png
Special

Saipan — American special premium Tier VIII aircraft сarrier.

In 1943, Admiral King demanded that two light aircraft carriers be built per year to compensate for anticipated losses. The first two ships were to enter service in December 1945. The new ships were to be based on the hull of the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser. Only two ships were built—no new ones were ordered due to the war ending. Initially, USS Saipan, which was deemed too small to accommodate jets, was utilized for naval cadet training, training maneuvers, and patrol and diplomatic missions.

Saipan was first released for sale on 12-13 April 2016.

Modules

Hull Hit Points
(HP)
Armor
(mm)
Armor
(mm)
Main Turrets
(pcs.)
Secondary Gun Turrets
(pcs.)
AA Mounts
(pcs.)
Torpedo Tubes
(pcs.)
Hangar Capacity
(pcs.)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
Saipan47,900615215/10/5 00
Attack Aircraft Speed
(knot)
IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_MED_DAMAGE
(HP/min)
IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_AMMO_AMOUNTHit Points
(HP)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
F8F Bearcat1761,660 00
Torpedo Bombers Maximum Torpedo Damage
(HP)
Speed
(knot)
Hit Points
(HP)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
BTD Destroyer6,4671312,040 00
Bombers Maximum Bomb Damage
(HP)
Speed
(knot)
Hit Points
(HP)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
BTD Destroyer1312,150 00
Engine Maximum Speed
(knot)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
Propulsion: 120,000 hp33 00

Compatible Upgrades

 Slot 1 
Air Groups Modification 1
Auxiliary Armaments Modification 1
Damage Control Party Modification 1
 Slot 2 
Damage Control System Modification 1
Aircraft Engines Modification 1
 Slot 3 
Torpedo Bombers Modification 1
Attack Aircraft Modification 1
Aerial Torpedoes Modification 1
 Slot 4 
Damage Control System Modification 2
Attack Aircraft Modification 2
Torpedo Bombers Modification 2
Bombers Modification 1
Airstrike Modification 1
 Slot 5 
Flight Control Modification 1
Concealment System Modification 1
Squadron Consumables Modification 1

Player Opinion

Performance

Warning. The data presented in the AA Defense sidebar section may be incorrect.
Refer to the in-game Port screens for more useful data.

As a premium USN aircraft carrier, Saipan’s uniqueness comes from her aircraft being very similar to Midway’s in speed, survivability, and armament count per plane. Additionally, the ship itself has much better concealment and rudder shift than her USN peers Lexington and Enterprise, allowing players to move faster to their desired location and stealthily closer to their strike targets. This gives players an edge over their same tier counterparts in faster and quicker strikes to whittle down the enemy.

However, she does not have the same attack flight size and squadron size of Midway’s nor does she have Lexington’s armor. The lack of armor means that enemy battleship salvos and torpedoes will cause much more damage to the ship when the player's ship is detected. Players must be careful of where to position their ship for maximizing their strike capabilities while keeping their ship intact.

Furthermore, while Saipan’s torpedo bombers do carry two torpedoes each like Midway’s, this amplifies the effect of lost damage output for each plane shot down by the enemy. Furthermore, her aircraft restoration time is the longest out of all carriers currently, making each aircraft lost a massive decrease in her constant damage output. Players should carefully select targets, as randomly lashing out at any target that may have a formidable anti-air defense will result in a complete exhaust of available strike aircraft.

The culmination of these characteristics allows Saipan to have higher overall potential damage output with most other same tier carriers. Players should attempt to use each squadron as effectively as possible through minimizing losses and getting the most damage in each attack run.

Pros:

  • Strong alpha strike with all three plane types
  • Rockets and bombs have a very high fire chance
  • Good ship speed and concealment

Cons:

  • Poor ship armour
  • Short-ranged AA defenses
  • Exceedingly long plane restoration time
  • Small squadrons and low deck reserves
  • Planes (particularly the torpedo bombers) have a long aiming time
  • Torpedo bombers and dive bombers are fairly slow
  • No secondary guns

Research

As a premium ship, Saipan does not have any upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Saipan are as follows:

Commander Skills

The following information is provided for players who wish to create a permanent captain for the ship. Those players who are retraining captains or using the ship to gain extra experience for a captain should consult the page relevant to the ship to which the captain will be assigned.

Consumables

As Saipan is an aircraft carrier, players cannot modify for premium consumable versions and has standard aircraft consumables for a Tier VIII carrier.

Camouflage

As a premium ship, Saipan comes with Default permanent camouflage and a set of permanent combat bonuses.

Signals

As a carrier, Saipan has no risk of detonating and a very fast fire extinguishing time. Players should mount Equal Speed Charlie London (🚫) for increased XP gain per battle, Zulu Hotel (🚫) to help increase the speed of commander (re)training, Juliet Yankee Bissotwo (-20% to flooding duration.) for faster flooding recovery time, and Juliet Whiskey Unaone (+15% chance of causing flooding. / +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating.) to have a better chance at causing flooding to enemy ships.


Note: Use of the Juliet Charlie signal makes detonation impossible.

Historical Info

Historical Gallery

Video

References


Ship Change Log

See here for links to Update notes.

  • Added to the game in Update 0.2.1 (Alpha) as a researchable Tier VI aircraft carrier.
  • Update 0.3.1:
    • The ship was removed from the game.
  • Made available for testing in the game by supertesters in Update 0.5.4 as a Premium Tier VII aircraft carrier.
  • Update 0.5.4.1:
    • A new Flight Control module was added, allowing use of Douglas AD-2 bombers in addition to Vought F4U-4 fighters.
    • One torpedo bomber squadron was removed from the ship's strike loadout.
  • First appeared for sale in April 2016.
  • Update 0.5.8.1:
    • An issue that caused the "Research" button to appear for the ship was fixed.
  • Update 0.5.10:
    • The description of the ship's features was fixed.
  • Update 0.5.11:
    • The hull's armored model was improved.
    • Fighter ammunition was increased by 33%.
  • Update 0.6.0:
    • The appearance of the ship was improved using a special technology for improved rendering of thin elements.
  • Update 0.6.7:
    • Made available for purchase with Doubloons in the game client.
  • Update 0.6.13:
    • The survivability of the 40 mm anti-aircraft guns was increased.
  • Update 0.6.14:
    • The action time of the Damage Control Party consumable was increased from 5 to 30 seconds, while fire resistance coefficient was changed to 0.8.
  • Update 0.6.15:
    • A bonus of -10% to the cost of the post battle repair service was added to the Type 10 permanent camouflage.
  • Update 0.7.0:
    • Minor corrections to the geometry and textures of the ship.
  • Update 0.8.0:
    • Moved to Tier VIII.
    • The Fighter squadron was changed to an Attack squadron:
      • Attack Aircraft per squadron: 6; Attack Aircraft per attack group: 2; Amount of rockets per aircraft: 3.
    • The Dive Bombers were changed:
      • Dive Bomber aircraft per squadron: 6; Dive Bomber aircraft per attack group: 2; Amount of bombs per aircraft: 2.
    • The Torpedo Bombers were changed:
      • Torpedo Bomber aircraft per squadron: 6; Torpedo Bomber aircraft per attack group: 2; Amount of torpedoes per aircraft: 2.
    • For replacement and compensation due to the carrier rework, refer to this page.
    • For consumables mounted by squadrons, refer to this page.
    • For consumables mounted by Saipan, refer to this page.
  • Update 0.8.4:
    • The height from which bombs are dropped was increased.
    • The aiming reticle for the bombs was changed to be narrower.
    • Bomb dispersion was changed. Now, fewer bombs fall near the center and more towards the outer edges of the reticle.
  • Update 0.8.10:
    • Experience earnings when suffering a defeat were reduced by 10%.
  • Update 0.9.2:
    • The Dive Bombers were changed:
      • The minimum time between attacks for bomber squadrons was increased from 5 s to 9 s.
  • Update 0.9.7:
    • Tiny Tim aiming reticle was rotated 90 degrees to appear horizontally.
  • Update 0.10.0:
    • Minor corrections to the geometry and textures of the ship.
    • An error that resulted in VIII Saipan having 40mm Bofors Mk1 guns instead of 40mm Bofors Mk2 anti-aircraft guns was fixed. Continuous AA damage was increased by 4 units per second.
  • Update 0.10.5:
    • The Attack Aircraft now gain altitude at the start of an attack run.
  • Update 0.11.1:
    • Minor corrections to the geometry and textures of the ship.

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