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Ark Royal

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Ark Royal
Ark_Royal_wows_main.jpg
Tech Tree Position
Ark_Royal_icon_small.png
General
Purchase priceSpecial Doubloons
Hit Points44,500 
Secondary Armament #1
113 mm/45 QF Mk.I on a Mk.III UD mount8 х 2 pcs.
Firing Rangekm.
Rate of Fire12 shots/min.
Reload Timesec.
HE Shell113 mm HE Mk XVI 
Maximum HE Shell Damage1,600 
Initial HE Shell Velocity746 m./s.
Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell%
AA Defense
113 mm/45 QF Mk.I on a Mk.III UD mount8 х 2 pcs.
. . . Average Damage per Second71.2 
. . . Firing Range5.01 km.
12.7 mm Mk.III8 х 4 pcs.
. . . Average Damage per Second16.8 
. . . Firing Range1.2 km.
40 mm/39 Vickers QF Mk.VIII on a Mk.VI mount6 х 8 pcs.
. . . Average Damage per Second118.8 
. . . Firing Range2.49 km.
Maneuverability
Maximum Speed31 knot
Turning Circle Radius990 m.
Rudder Shift Time12.8 sec.
Concealment
Surface Detectability Range13.97 km.
Air Detectability Range11.79 km.
Battle Levels
12345678910
Wows_anno_flag_uk.png
VI
Ship_PBSA518_Ark_Royal.png
Special

Ark Royal — British special premium Tier VI aircraft сarrier.

The new aircraft carrier was to combine all the innovations: a double-level hangar, steam catapults built into the deck, heavy armor, and multipurpose guns. The armor of the hangar and the flight deck had to be sacrificed to stay within the displacement limits. In May 1941, a torpedo bomber from Ark Royal managed to hit Bismarck, which played its role in the sinking of the battleship. On November 13, Ark Royal was hit by a torpedo. After a long struggle for survivability, it was ordered to abandon the ship, and the aircraft carrier capsized and disappeared underwater.

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)
Ark Royal44,5001011488/6/8 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)
Skua1211,820 00
Torpedo Bombers Maximum Torpedo Damage
(HP)
Speed
(knot)
Hit Points
(HP)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
Swordfish5,200981,500 00
Bombers Maximum Bomb Damage
(HP)
Speed
(knot)
Hit Points
(HP)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
Swordfish981,550 00
Engine Maximum Speed
(knot)
Research price
(exp)
Purchase price
(Credits)
Propulsion: 102,000 hp31 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 
Secondary Battery Modification 1
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

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.

A Tier VI aircraft carrier with the unique feature of carrying large numbers of lower tier aircraft with a fast regeneration time, Ark Royal provides a rather forgiving experience for players new to aircraft carriers while also maintaining a high skill ceiling for more experienced players.

Attack Aircraft:

Perhaps the most unremarkable of Ark Royal's squadrons. They are the same attack aircraft as the stock attack planes found on Furious but with one more aircraft per drop to fire a barrage of 12 rockets. While the aircraft themselves have relatively high hp pools, they are rather slow, with the rockets themselves doing relatively low damage while firing in a fairly wide spread. Only consider using them in the beginning of the match to spare your other two squadrons or for quick damage when the other squadrons need to replenish their numbers.

Torpedo Bombers:

The torpedo bombers should be considered the primary weapon of the Ark Royal against battleships and cruisers. While they are glacially slow with a top speed of only 133 knots, being only Tier IV planes, they are capable of dropping 3 torpedoes per drop, the most of any tier 6 carrier and thus giving her the highest torpedo alpha damage among her contemporaries. They also feature a very short arming distance, giving foes little time to react to a well timed drop. More practiced players of Ark Royal may take advantage of this short arming time by conducting attacks against potentially distracted destroyers, with even one hit being able to cause significant damage. Their short regeneration time of 59 seconds per aircraft also allows some degree of risk to be taken when it comes to where they can be sent.

Carpet Bombers:

Ark Royal's bomber aircraft, like those of other British aircraft carriers, utilize carpet bombing rather than dive bombing, requiring more lead on moving targets due to the higher altitude of the drop. Ark Royal, though, takes this bombing method to an entirely different level. With 8 bombs per aircraft and 3 aircraft per drop, Ark Royal's carpet bombers are capable of completely saturating its drop zone with 24 high explosive bombs. It should be noted, however, that these bombs are rather small and thus do little damage individually with poor penetration. The low penetration of only 19mm of armor in particular greatly precludes its usefulness against all but the most lightly armored battleships and cruisers. However, the sheer quantity they drop makes them excellent firestarters and their low penetration and damage is hardly a problem against lightly armored ships with low hp pools such as destroyers. As such, Ark Royal's carpet bombers should be used to seek out and hunt enemy destroyers or used to light fires against targets that may have prematurely used their damage control party.

Tips:

The torpedo bombers have a very forgiving reticle bloom in that it still continues to tighten even when engaging in a hard turn during an attack. This can be leveraged to make very significant adjustments during an attack run to dodge flak with little consequence or even used to "fake out" a target by flying almost parallel to their path in an attack run to feign an attack on another ship before turning hard towards them to catch them by surprise.

The sluggishness of her squadrons may make it difficult to dodge flak at times. To counter this, fly over islands with steeper topography to confuse flak direction. You can also begin attacks early in order to use the preparation animation to dodge a wall of flak.

Information on the website: Armada: Ark Royal

Comparison to other tier VI CVs: NA server: Ark Royal Stats

Pros:

  • Torpedo bombers drop three torpedoes per attack run, aim quickly, and have a converging drop pattern
  • Carpet bombers drop a large number of bombs per attack run, good at starting fires and crippling destroyers
  • Quick plane restoration time
  • Carpet and torpedo bombers have very forgiving aiming reticles, which will never widen when engaging in turns

Cons:

  • The torpedo and dive bombers have very poor speed and durability
  • All plane types lack agility and have a very large turn radius
  • Bombs have very poor penetration
  • Fairly ineffective rockets with poor damage
  • Very poor ship concealment

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Ark Royal are as follows:

Commander Skills

Camouflage

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

Signals

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

Gallery

Historical Info

Historical Gallery

Video

References

  1. HMS Ark Royal (91) - Wikipedia
  2. Armada: Ark Royal (Armada in 90 Seconds: Ark Royal) - News - World of Warships
  3. Armada in 90 Seconds: Ark Royal - World of Warships Official Channel - YouTube

Ship Change Log

See here for links to Update notes.

  • Available for testing by supertesters in the game starting from Update 0.8.5.

Testing Changes

  • May 23, 2019:
    • Preliminary characteristics.
  • June 21, 2019:
    • Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers replaced with Fairey Swordfish (because history!).
      • Aircraft hitpoints decreased from 1,110 to 1,070.
      • Aircraft cruise speed increased from 97 to 98 knots.
  • July 19, 2019:
    • Torpedo bombers squadron size increased from 6 to 9 planes.
    • Number of torpedo bombers on deck increased from 9 to 14.
    • Torpedo bombers restoration time decreased from 81 to 59 s.
    • Armor penetration of HE bombs increased from 18 to 19 mm.
    • Number of bombs carried per plane decreased from 12 to 8.
  • Available for purchase in the Premium Shop or for completing a combat mission from the Unsinkable Sam container in Update 0.8.8.
  • Update 0.9.2:
    • The minimum time between attacks by bomber squadrons was increased from 5 to 7 s.
  • Update 0.9.7:
    • The rocket reticule was rotated 90 degrees, and now extends horizontally.
  • Update 0.9.8:
    • Minor fixes to textures and geometry of the ship.
  • Update 0.10.0:
    • The speed of the patrol fighters was increased to 221 knots.
  • Update 0.11.1:
    • Minor corrections to geometry and textures of the ship.

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