Aoba

14.3

Cruiser | Japan | Tier VI

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VI

2,660,000

Aoba — Japanese Tier VI cruiser.

The Aoba-class cruisers were originally intended to be identical to the Furutaka class, but a number of changes were made to the design by the order of the Navy's General Staff. New 120 mm anti-aircraft guns were mounted instead of 76 mm ones, and a catapult for seaplanes was added between the stern superstructure and the turret. Aoba actively participated in World War II: She landed troops on Guam and Wake, escorted convoys, and fought in the Battles of the Coral Sea, Savo Island, and Cape Esperance. On July 24, 1945, she was sunk in Kure Harbor by an Allied bomber force.

Modules

Compatible Upgrades

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.

Tier VI Aoba is an evolution of her predecessor. In general, she does the same things that Furutaka does, but slightly more. A little bit stealthier, a little bit faster, dealing a little bit more damage. She also emphasizes the weaknesses of Furutaka, weak AA defenses and slow main battery operation.

The Ship

Her top speed of 35 knots makes Aoba one of the faster cruisers at her tier, allowing her to move about the battlefield with relative ease. Although her turning radius of 710 meters is far from the tightest, she has a fast rudder shift time of 6.5 seconds. Aoba will start turning quickly, but she needs space to make her maneuvers which makes operating in confined waters uncomfortable. Her concealment of 11.7 km can be reduced down to 10.5 km with Concealment Expert, which further helps her to safely relocate.

Aoba mounts a standard cruiser Damage Control Party , which is active for 5 seconds with a 60 second cool down. Her second slot has a choice of consumables – a Hydroacoustic Search  or Defensive AA Fire . Hydroacoustic Search is the optimal choice, this will detect torpedoes at 3 km and ships at 4 km for 100 seconds. The Defensive AA Fire will provide a 50% boost to her continuous AA damage, but the weakness of her AA means the benefits are rather limited. In her third slot, Aoba carries a Catapult Fighter  which launches a pair of fighters which patrol around the ship for up to 1 minute. Finally, she mounts a Submarine Surveillance  which will detect submerged submarines at 5 km range for 20 seconds.

Survivability

With 16 mm of plating, Aoba’s bow and stern can bounce heavy cruiser AP if sufficiently angled, although she is vulnerable to all calibers of HE. Her citadel runs for most of the length of the ship with a large raised section between her bridge and rear structure, although the sections below her turrets are submerged and difficult to hit. With 76 mm of armor and a large area to hit, she is vulnerable to taking citadel damage. There is also some extra protection provided by the presence of torpedo bulges along the length of her citadel, which can result in shells detonating before penetrating the main armor belt. Aoba has a rather small health pool for a heavy cruiser, with no way to replenish lost hit points players must be careful not to throw their health away.

Armament

Aoba mounts a small main battery of six 203 mm guns in three twin turrets, with the standard Japanese slow turret traverse time – only Pensacola has slower turrets. With 14.9 km of range and no way of improving it her main battery range can sometimes feel lacking, particularly when she is downtiered. Her guns have a reload of 11 seconds which allows Aoba to remain somewhat competitive with other heavy cruisers but she will not be able to match the DPM of lighter armed ships. To offset this disadvantage, her guns use destroyer dispersion rather than the usual cruiser dispersion. This means that shells will tend to group closer to the aiming point and helps to compensate for her small main battery.

On a per shell basis Aoba has some of the best HE at her tier. The shells hit hard, 3,300 damage is the highest at her tier, and have a good fire chance of 17% as well as the ability to penetrate battleship plating. In ideal conditions, players couldcan expect to set 5-6 fires per minute with sustained firing. Whilst this trails behind the potential of 152 mm armed ships, the direct damage that Aoba can do will help to offset this. Her AP shells

Aoba carries a quad torpedo launcher on each side, with hard hitting and long range torpedoes. With a 10 km range they can be used against targets at a distance. Although they hit hard, the torpedoes travel rather slowly and have a large detection range. Targets will have 9.5 seconds of reaction time to take avoiding action. These are effectively the same weapons that Furutaka mounts, but with a longer reload. Additionally, Aoba introduces players to another key feature of Japanese cruisers – restricted torpedo arcs. Her forward angles are non-existent, although she has very good angles to the rear.

Anti-Air

Aoba has weak AA defenses. She has some long-range AA guns which reach out to 5.2 km, but she only puts out a single flak cloud that is unlikely to pose much threat to enemy aircraft. Much of Aoba’s continuous DPS comes from her short-range weapons, which are limited to 2.5 km range and will not engage enemy aircraft until they are already established on an attack run. The addition of her Patrol Fighter consumable continues this trend. In theory her fighters can provide some additional protection, in reality they are just as likely to watch enemy aircraft fly past without interfering.

Anti-Submarine

Aoba carries an ASW airstrike with a range of 6 km, this drops a single depth charge per attack with 20 seconds between uses. Although it only launches a single aircraft, it does allow Aoba to engage enemy submarines with a degree of safety. Her Submarine Surveillance and Hydroacoustic Search consumables can also be an important asset to her team, allowing players to track enemy submarines for nearby allies to attack.

Battle Performance

Players will need to use effective positioning and ammunition selection in order to compensate for Aoba’s low base damage output. A well-aimed salvo can potentially cripple an enemy cruiser or destroyer, if the right ammunition is selected. For this reason, the Gun Feeder captain skill is recommended as it will allow players to more quickly switch ammunition types.

Aoba is not suited to close range fighting, where her long reload and slow turret traverse will make combat difficult. At medium ranges she will be able to use her concealment to reach good firing positions, which will combine with her improved dispersion to allow some accurate attacks. Against enemy cruisers, remaining bow-in can be a viable tactic, as she can bounce the AP rounds of most same-tier cruisers. With two-thirds of her firepower forward, she will not lose much potential DPM this way. Enemy cruisers that attempt to unmask more guns or launch torpedoes will need to risk showing broadside. Against destroyers or angled targets, HE rounds should be the usual choice.

Although her torpedoes can be devastating, their slow speed and high reaction time mean that they cannot be relied on to regularly land serious hits. Their poor launch angles also mean they are dangerous to use at close ranges. But their long range and relatively slow speed make them good area denial weapons and they can be effective weapons when kiting away or engaging targets which are closing to engage.

Pros:

Guns are very accurate
Can overmatch Tier IV and V cruiser plating
Torpedoes have high damage
Decent concealment
Has access to Hydroacoustic Search consumable

Cons:

Low DPM
Low health pool
Poor fire starting potential
Poor AA defenses

Research

Captains should first research Aoba's second hull for the increase in health and maneuverability it provides. Lastly, captains should research the upgraded Gun Fire Control System to increase the ship's maximum firing range.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

Slot 1 & 2 are both fairly standard choices for a cruiser, Main Armaments Modification 1 will keep her main battery firing - an important consideration with her small number of guns. Engine Room Protection helps to keep her moving, a stationary cruiser in open water is a tempting target for all enemies in range. Slot 3 & 4 offer some options. In slot 3, Aiming Systems Modification 1 is the safe choice and will further improve Aoba’s good accuracy. An alternative is to take Main battery Modification 2 to improve her poor turret traverse. Propulsion Modification 1 or Steering Gears Modification 1 can both be viable options for slot 4. Players who want to use their throttle to avoid incoming fire will want the propulsion mod. Using the Steering Gears mod will make changes of direction easier.

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Engine Room Protection
Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1 -or- Main Battery Modification 2
Slot 4: Propulsion Modification 1 -or- Steering Gears Modification 1

Commander Skills

If players have a trained captain for Furutaka, they will be a good match for Aoba and the rest of this line (apart from 155 mm Mogami).

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack				Defense
1	Grease the Gears +15% main battery traverse speed. ★★	Swift Fish +5% torpedo speed.	Consumables Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except: Damage Control Party  Repair Party .	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type. ★★	Incoming Fire Alert Receive a warning of a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5km.	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver - slowly - while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated. ★★★
2	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire. +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance fired at submarines. ★	Fill the Tubes -10% torpedo tubes reload time.	Consumables Enhancements +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search, Surveillance Radar, Smoke Generator, & Engine Boost.	Eye in the Sky Spotting Aircraft: • +2 charges • -50% cooldown time.	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery. ★★★	Focus Fire Training In an active priority AA sector: • +1.5% (to 5%) immediate damage. • +25% continuous damage. • +1 flak burst per salvo. −10% aircraft preparation time. −15% reload time of Airstrike armament..
3	Heavy HE and SAP Shells +10% HE and SAP shell damage. +15% ship detectability guns 149mm and up.	Pack a Punch +15% torpedo damage. +20% secondary battery range..	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★★	Heavy AP Shells +5% damage for AP shells 190mm and larger.	Superintendent +1 charge to all consumables. ★	Survivability Expert +450 HP per ship tier. ★★
4	Top Grade Gunner -10% reload time of secondary batteries If enemy ship is spotted within detectability range, -8% reload time of main battery. ★	Outnumbered If there are fewer allies than visible enemies within the ship's base main caliber firing range: +8% ship speed -10% main battery dispersion.	Radio Location Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.. ★	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells Base fire chance reduced by half.	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	AAA & ASW Expert +25% continuous AA and flak damage. +15% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −50% ship consumables reload time..
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

Aoba can equip the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Defensive AA Fire  – 3 charges or Hydroacoustic Search  – 3 charges
Slot 3: Catapult Fighter  – 3 charges
Slot 4: Submarine Surveillance  – 3 charges

Signals

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Charlie Kilo +5% ship HP; +2.5% squadron HP.	Juliet Yankee Bissotwo -20% to flooding duration.	India Yankee -20% to fire duration. ★★	Hotel Yankee -20% to damage received when ramming the enemy. +50% to damage dealt when ramming the enemy. ★	Victor Lima +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +4% chance of torpedoes causing flooding. ★★★	India X-Ray +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. ★★
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. ★	Mike Yankee Soxisix +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range. -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells. -5% to secondary battery loading time. ★	November Echo Setteseven +5% continuous AA damage at all ranges. +5% damage from flak bursts. ★★	Sierra Mike +5% to the ship's maximum speed. ★★★	November Foxtrot -5% reload time on all consumables. ★★	India Delta +20% to the amount of HP recovered when Repair Party  is used.
X-Ray Papa Unaone +10% action time of a Smoke Generator .	Sierra Bravo +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search  -10% reload time of Defensive AA Fire .

Gallery

References

Ships of Japan

Destroyers	II Tachibana • II Umikaze • II Tachibana Lima • III Wakatake • IV Isokaze • V Minekaze • V Fūjin • V Kamikaze • V Kamikaze R • V Mutsuki • VI [[Ship:Mutsuki (< 01.12.2016)\|Mutsuki (< 01.12.2016)]] • VI Fubuki • VI Hatsuharu • VI Shinonome B • VI Shinonome • VII [[Ship:Hatsuharu (< 01.12.2016)\|Hatsuharu (< 01.12.2016)]] • VII Akatsuki • VII Shiratsuyu • VII Yūdachi • VIII [[Ship:Fubuki (< 01.12.2016)\|Fubuki (< 01.12.2016)]] • VIII Akizuki • VIII Kagerō • VIII Asashio • VIII HSF Harekaze II • VIII Asashio B • VIII HSF Harekaze • VIII AL Yukikaze • IX [[Ship:Kagerō (< 01.12.2016)\|Kagerō (< 01.12.2016)]] • IX Yūgumo • IX Kitakaze • IX Minegumo • IX STAR Kitakaze • X Shimakaze • X Harugumo • X Hayate • X AL Shimakaze • X [[Ship:[Shimakaze]\|[Shimakaze]]] • ★ Yamagiri
Cruisers	I Hashidate • II Chikuma • III Tenryū • III Katori • IV Yūbari • IV Kuma • IV Iwaki Alpha • V Furutaka • V Agano • V Yahagi • VI Aoba • VI Gokase • VII Myōkō • VII Omono • VII Tokachi • VII Maya • VII ARP Myōkō • VII ARP Ashigara • VII ARP Haguro • VII Southern Dragon • VII Eastern Dragon • VII ARP Nachi • VIII Mogami • VIII Tone • VIII Atago • VIII Shimanto • VIII Atago B • VIII ARP Takao • VIII ARP Maya • VIII Tone 2 • VIII Tone 3 • IX Ibuki • IX Takahashi • IX Azuma • IX AL Azuma • IX Chikuma II • IX Chikuma II Golden • IX BA Takahashi • X Zaō • X Yodo • X Yoshino • X Yoshino B • X Kitakami • X Yari • X Zaō CLR • X [[Ship:[Zaō]\|[Zaō]]]
Battleships	II Mikasa • III Kawachi • IV Myōgi • IV Ishizuchi • V Kongō • V ARP Kongō • V ARP Kirishima • V ARP Haruna • V ARP Hiei • V HSF Hiei • VI Fusō • VI Mutsu • VI Ise • VI Ise 2 • VI Ise 3 • VII Nagato • VII Ashitaka • VII Hyūga • VIII Amagi • VIII Yumihari • VIII Kii • VIII Ignis Purgatio • VIII Ragnarok • IX Izumo • IX Adatara • IX Musashi • IX Hizen • IX Iwami • IX Daisen • IX Tsurugi • IX Iwami B • X Yamato • X Bungo • X Shikishima • X ARP Yamato • X [[Ship:[Yamato]\|[Yamato]]] • ★ Satsuma
Aircraft Carriers	IV [[Ship:Hōshō (< 23.01.2019)\|Hōshō (< 23.01.2019)]] • IV Hōshō • V [[Ship:Zuihō (< 23.01.2019)\|Zuihō (< 23.01.2019)]] • VI [[Ship:Ryūjō (< 23.01.2019)\|Ryūjō (< 23.01.2019)]] • VI Ryūjō • VII [[Ship:Hiryū (< 23.01.2019)\|Hiryū (< 23.01.2019)]] • VII [[Ship:Kaga (< 23.01.2019)\|Kaga (< 23.01.2019)]] • VIII [[Ship:Shōkaku (< 23.01.2019)\|Shōkaku (< 23.01.2019)]] • VIII Shōkaku • VIII Kaga • VIII Kaga B • IX [[Ship:Taihō (< 23.01.2019)\|Taihō (< 23.01.2019)]] • X [[Ship:Hakuryū (< 23.01.2019)\|Hakuryū (< 23.01.2019)]] • X Hakuryū • X Shinano • X [[Ship:[Hakuryū]\|[Hakuryū]]] • ★ Sekiryu

Cruisers

Netherlands	I Van Kinsbergen • II Gelderland • III Java • IV De Ruyter • V Celebes • VI Kijkduin • VII Eendracht • VIII Haarlem • VIII De Zeven Provinciën • VIII Admiraal • VIII Statenland • IX Johan de Witt • IX Van Speijk • X Gouden Leeuw • X Prins van Oranje • X Vrijheid
U.S.A.	I Erie • II Chester • II Albany • III St. Louis • III Charleston • IV Phoenix • V Omaha • V Marblehead • V Marblehead Lima • V Rattlehead • VI [[Ship:Cleveland (< 31.05.2018)\|Cleveland (< 31.05.2018)]] • VI Pensacola • VI Dallas • VII Atlanta • VII [[Ship:Pensacola (< 31.05.2018)\|Pensacola (< 31.05.2018)]] • VII New Orleans • VII Helena • VII Indianapolis • VII Atlanta B • VII Boise • VII Flint • VIII [[Ship:New Orleans (< 31.05.2018)\|New Orleans (< 31.05.2018)]] • VIII Baltimore • VIII Cleveland • VIII Wichita • VIII Anchorage • VIII Congress • VIII Rochester • VIII San Diego • VIII AL Montpelier • IX [[Ship:Baltimore (< 31.05.2018)\|Baltimore (< 31.05.2018)]] • IX Buffalo • IX Seattle • IX Vallejo • IX Alaska • IX Tulsa • IX Alaska B • X Des Moines • X Worcester • X Puerto Rico • X Salem • X Austin • ★ Jacksonville • ★ Annapolis
Europe	I Gryf • VI Elli • X Svea
Germany	I Hermelin • II Dresden • II Emden • III Kolberg • IV Karlsruhe • V Königsberg • VI Nürnberg • VI Admiral Graf Spee • VI Leipzig • VI HSF Admiral Graf Spee • VII Yorck • VII München • VII Weimar • VIII Admiral Hipper • VIII Prinz Eugen • VIII Mainz • VIII Schill • VIII Mainz B • VIII Cross of Dorn • VIII Wiesbaden • IX Roon • IX Siegfried • IX Ägir • IX Admiral Schröder • IX Roon CLR • IX AL Ägir • X Hindenburg • X Hildebrand • X [[Ship:[Hindenburg]\|[Hindenburg]]] • ★ Clausewitz
U.S.S.R.	I Orlan • II Diana • II Diana Lima • II Novik • III Aurora • III Bogatyr • III Oleg • III Varyag • III AL Avrora • IV Svietlana • V Murmansk • V [[Ship:Kirov (< 10.06.2020)\|Kirov (< 10.06.2020)]] • V Kotovsky • V Krasny Krym • V Mikoyan • V Kirov • VI Budyonny • VI Molotov • VI Admiral Makarov • VII Shchors • VII Lazo • VII Lazo B • VIII Chapayev • VIII Tallinn • VIII Mikhail Kutuzov • VIII Ochakov • VIII Pyotr Bagration • VIII Bagration • VIII Dmitry Pozharsky • IX Dmitri Donskoi • IX Riga • IX Kronshtadt • IX Kozma Minin • X Moskva • X Alexander Nevsky • X Petropavlovsk • X Stalingrad • X Smolensk B • X Smolensk • X Sevastopol • X Komissar • X [[Ship:[Moskva]\|[Moskva]]] • X Vladimir Monomakh • X Petrozavodsk • ★ Novosibirsk
Italy	I Eritrea • II Nino Bixio • III Taranto • IV Alberto di Giussano • V Raimondo Montecuccoli • V Genova • VI Trento • VI Duca d'Aosta • VII Zara • VII Duca degli Abruzzi • VII Francesco Ferruccio • VII Gorizia • VIII Amalfi • IX Brindisi • IX Michelangelo • X Venezia • X Napoli • X Napoli B • X Ravenna • ★ Piemonte
Pan-America	I Hércules • II Almirante Barroso • II Almirante Abreu • III Vicente Guerrero • IV Córdoba • V La Argentina • VI Almirante Cochrane • VII Coronel Bolognesi • VII Nueve de Julio • VIII Ignacio Allende • VIII Almirante Grau • IX Santander • X San Martín
Japan	I Hashidate • II Chikuma • III Tenryū • III Katori • IV Yūbari • IV Kuma • IV Iwaki Alpha • V Furutaka • V Agano • V Yahagi • VI Aoba • VI Gokase • VII Myōkō • VII Omono • VII Tokachi • VII Maya • VII ARP Myōkō • VII ARP Ashigara • VII ARP Haguro • VII Southern Dragon • VII Eastern Dragon • VII ARP Nachi • VIII Mogami • VIII Tone • VIII Atago • VIII Shimanto • VIII Atago B • VIII ARP Takao • VIII ARP Maya • VIII Tone 2 • VIII Tone 3 • IX Ibuki • IX Takahashi • IX Azuma • IX AL Azuma • IX Chikuma II • IX Chikuma II Golden • IX BA Takahashi • X Zaō • X Yodo • X Yoshino • X Yoshino B • X Kitakami • X Yari • X Zaō CLR • X [[Ship:[Zaō]\|[Zaō]]]
U.K.	I Black Swan • II Weymouth • III Caledon • IV Danae • V Emerald • V Hawkins • V Exeter • VI Leander • VI Devonshire • VI London • VI Dido • VI Orion '44 • VII Fiji • VII Surrey • VII Belfast • VIII Edinburgh • VIII Albemarle • VIII Cheshire • VIII Tiger '59 • VIII Belfast '43 • VIII Hampshire • VIII Nottingham • VIII AL Cheshire • VIII STAR Edinburgh • IX Neptune • IX Drake • X Monmouth • X Minotaur • X Goliath • X Plymouth • X Gibraltar • X Defence • ★ Edgar
France	I Bougainville • II Jurien de la Gravière • III Friant • IV Duguay-Trouin • V Émile Bertin • VI La Galissonnière • VI De Grasse • VI Dupleix • VI Montcalm • VI [[Ship:[La Galissonnière]\|[La Galissonnière]]] • VII Algérie • VII Toulon • VIII Charles Martel • VIII Cherbourg • VIII Bayard • IX Saint-Louis • IX Brest • IX Carnot • X Henri IV • X Marseille • X Colbert • X Brennus • ★ Condé
Pan-Asia	I Chengan • III Ning Hai • V Chungking • VI Rahmat • VI Huanghe • VII Chumphon • VIII Harbin • VIII Irian • VIII Wukong • IX Sejong • IX Dalian • IX Mengchong • IX Tianjin • X Jinan • X Incheon
Spain	I Júpiter • II Méndez Núñez • III Navarra • IV Almirante Cervera • V Galicia • VI Baleares • VI Canarias • VII Asturias • VIII Cataluña • VIII Numancia • IX Andalucía • IX Almirante Oquendo • X Castilla
Commonwealth	I Sutlej • II Port Jackson • III Caradoc • IV Dunedin • V Delhi • VI Hobart • VI Perth • VI Mysore • VII Uganda • VIII Auckland • IX Encounter • IX Hector • X Cerberus • X Brisbane

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Compatible Upgrades