California

13.9

Battleship | U.S.A. | Tier VII

Tech Tree Position

Battle Levels

12345678910

VII

Special

California — American special premium Tier VII battleship.

USS California, the second Tennessee-class battleship, was laid down in 1916 and entered service in August 1921. Throughout her peacetime career, the ship was the flagship of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. In 1941 she was damaged by torpedoes and bombs and sank. A year later, the ship was raised and modernized, after which she returned to service and participated in combat in the Pacific Ocean, including the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Philippines campaign, and the assault on Okinawa.

California was sold for two weeks beginning 03 July 2020. She is currently available in the Premium Shop.

Modules

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Dispersion (m)	Maximum HE Shell Damage (HP)	Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell (%)	Maximum AP Shell Damage (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
356 mm/50 Mk.7 in a turret	1.8	60	259	5,000	30	10,500		0	0

	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 ()
California	58,300	16	457	4	8	41/14/8				0	0

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Mk7 mod. 1		0		0	0

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 29,500 hp	20.5		0	0

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4

Player Opinion

Performance

Background

California was a Tennessee class battleship built essentially as an improved New Mexico class battleship. She was present at Pearl Harbor and slowly sank throughout the next 3 days. She was refloated and heavily modernized which included her hull being widened, replacement of her secondary battery, and a large addition of anti aircraft guns. California participated in numerous campaigns in the pacific including the Philippines campaign and the battle of Leyte Gulf.

Summary

California is essentially a New Mexico built for AA at tier VII. She is a slow ship, with a 20.5 knot speed, 14.7 second rudder shift, and 35 second reload. But her strengths are highlighted in her low 11.5km concealment, strong torpedo protection, impressive AA armament, heavy broadside, and long main battery range.

Armor

California, like most of her “standard” battleship relatives, features a 26mm bow, stern, and most of her deck. While at lower tiers this may be enough to deflect enemy fire, the normalization of the 406mm or higher guns at tier VIII and IX means that players will have to be careful in engagements against most higher tier battleships. California’s side armor is primarily protected by her massive 35mm torpedo bulge, followed by 343mm plated casemate armor above the citadel. Citadelling California is near impossible, with the citadel being located completely underwater. Overall California is fairly armored, but will struggle to tank against higher tier battleships.

Armament

California retains the same main battery as New Mexico, mounting 12 356mm guns in a 4x3 turret layout. They are one of the slowest reloading guns at tier VII, with a 34.2 second reload, however the reload is offset by her accurate 1.9 sigma, high shell alpha of 10500 damage, and one of the best at tier broadsides of 126000 damage. California also features a 19.9km base range with her main battery, one of the best at Tier VII.

Anti-Aircraft

California represents her post pearl harbor refit and thus has an extremely powerful AA suite. While she doesn't have access to Defensive AA Fire  like Florida her AA is arguably the best of the tier VII battleships. Her long range armament has an impressive 5.8km range and deals 144 hp of continuous damage. The mid range battery has a max range of 3.5km and deals a continuous damage of 382. The main bulk of California’s AA battery comes in her short range armament, with a short 2km range, California pushes out 515hp of continuous damage. To further complement her AA, California has a 5 explosion flak salvo that deals 1470 hp of damage if it hits enemy aircraft. California can fend for herself when it comes to defending against enemy aircraft, and is a ship that enemy carriers should stay away from if they want to retain their squadrons.

Battle Performance

California is an artillery platform through and through. Due to her slow 20.5 knot speed, 14.7 second rudder shift, and 35 second reload, California needs to position carefully to be effective in battle. Her lack of overmatch against most higher tier targets means she should work with other battleships to set up crossfires. If there are multiple well armored targets bow in, HE may be the better ammo choice. California is fairly stealthy when it comes to the tier VII battleships, with an 11.5km detection with Concealment Expert which enables her to sneak in close to surprise enemy cruisers and battleships, or allows her to go dark to reposition if a flank is collapsing. In the event of a torpedo attack California’s strong torpedo protection reduces the damage by 36%. If an enemy carrier is in the game, California will be able to fend for herself or support allied ships with her powerful AA compliment.

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

Pros:

Heavy broadside of twelve (12) 356mm main battery guns
Excellent main battery base range of 19.9km
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
Excellent concealment with all relevant upgrades
Tight turn radius and fairly good rudder shift for a battleship

Cons:

Small gun caliber for a Tier 7 battleship
Very slow main battery reload speed and traverse speed
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

LittleWhiteMouse's Premium Ship Review: California from the NA forums

Research

As a premium ship, California doesn't have any upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for California are as follows:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1 or Auxiliary Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1 
Slot 3: Artillery Plotting Room Modification 1 or Main Battery Modification 2
Slot 4: Damage Control System Modification 2

Commander Skills

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack			Defense
1	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type. ★★★	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance when firing at submarines.	Consumables Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except: Damage Control Party , Repair Party . ★	Emergency Repair Specialist -3% cooldown time of Damage Control Party  and Repair Party . ★★	Incoming Fire Alert Receive a warning about a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5 km. ★★	Preventive Maintenance −30% chance of main armament, engines, steering becoming incapacitated +15% to HP of secondary and AA guns. ★
2	Grease the Gears +20% main turret traverse speed. ★	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells. Base fire chance reduced by half.	Brisk So long as the ship remains undetected: +10% ship speed. ★★	Vigilance +25% detection range of enemy torpedoes +7% damage reduction of Torpedo Protection System. . ★	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery. ★★	AAA & ASW Expert +15% continuous AAA and flak damage . +10% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −40% ship consumables reload time.. ★
3	Super-Heavy AP Shells +7.5% AP shell damage −10% fire and flood damage received +25% fire and flood duration. ★★	Long-Range Secondary Battery Shells +20% secondary battery firing range. ★	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★★	Basics of Survivability -15% repair, fire, and flooding duration. ★★	Improved Repair Party Readiness −0.8% reload time of Repair Party each time your ship receives potential damage equal to 100% of the ship's base HP. After receiving 2M HP potential damage: +1 charge of Repair Party .. ★	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.. ★
4	Furious 1st fire / flood −10% Main battery reload time 2nd etc. (up to 5), each −5% Main battery reload time ★★	Manual Secondary Battery Aiming −10% secondary battery reload time. −10% secondary battery dispersion. When firing at a manually selected target: dispersion gradually improves from -25% to -50%. ★	Close Quarters Combat -10% reload time of main battery if an enemy ship is spotted within secondary range. ★	Emergency Repair Expert Damage Control Party  and Repair Party : +1 charge (each). +10% action time . ★★★	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	Fire Prevention Expert -10% risk of fire. Three fires maximum. ★★★
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

California can equip the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Repair Party  – 4 charges
Slot 3: Spotting Aircraft  – 4 charges or Catapult Fighter  – 4 charges

Camouflage

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

Signals

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Juliet Charlie -100% to the risk of magazine detonation. ★	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. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating. ★
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating.	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 .

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

Gallery

Historical Info

References

Wargaming

Armada: California - July 3, 2020

Wikipedia

Ships of U.S.A.

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Aircraft Carriers	IV [[Ship:Langley (< 23.01.2019)\|Langley (< 23.01.2019)]] • IV Langley • V [[Ship:Bogue (< 23.01.2019)\|Bogue (< 23.01.2019)]] • VI [[Ship:Independence (< 23.01.2019)\|Independence (< 23.01.2019)]] • VI Independence • VI Ranger • VII [[Ship:Ranger (< 23.01.2019)\|Ranger (< 23.01.2019)]] • VII [[Ship:Saipan (< 23.01.2019)\|Saipan (< 23.01.2019)]] • VIII [[Ship:Lexington (< 23.01.2019)\|Lexington (< 23.01.2019)]] • VIII Yorktown • VIII Lexington • VIII [[Ship:Enterprise (< 23.01.2019)\|Enterprise (< 23.01.2019)]] • VIII Enterprise • VIII Saipan • VIII Hornet • VIII Saipan B • VIII AL Hornet • IX [[Ship:Essex (< 23.01.2019)\|Essex (< 23.01.2019)]] • X [[Ship:Midway (< 23.01.2019)\|Midway (< 23.01.2019)]] • X Essex • X Midway • X Franklin D. Roosevelt • X [[Ship:[Midway]\|[Midway]]] • ★ United States

Battleships

Netherlands
U.S.A.	III South Carolina • IV Wyoming • IV Arkansas Beta • V New York • V Oklahoma • V Texas • VI New Mexico • VI Arizona • VI W. Virginia '41 • VII Colorado • VII Florida • VII West Virginia '44 • VII California • VII Colorado 2 • VIII North Carolina • VIII Kansas • VIII Nebraska • VIII Alabama • VIII Massachusetts • VIII Alabama VL • VIII Constellation • VIII Massachusetts B • VIII Alabama ST • VIII North Carolina CLR • VIII Volunteer State • VIII North Carolina 2 • IX Iowa • IX Minnesota • IX Delaware • IX Missouri • IX Kearsarge • IX Illinois • IX Kearsarge B • IX Georgia • IX Iowa 2 • X Montana • X Vermont • X Louisiana • X Ohio • X Rhode Island • X Wisconsin • X BA Montana • X [[Ship:[Montana]\|[Montana]]] • X Montana 2 • X Utah • ★ Maine
Europe	V Viribus Unitis • IX Karl XIV Johan
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U.S.S.R.	III Knyaz Suvorov • IV Imperator Nikolai I • IV Gangut • V Pyotr Velikiy • V Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya • VI Izmail • VI Novorossiysk • VII Sinop • VII Poltava • VIII Vladivostok • VIII Lenin • VIII Borodino • VIII V. I. Lenin • IX Sovetsky Soyuz • IX Navarin • IX AL Sov. Rossiya • X Kremlin • X Slava • ★ Admiral Ushakov
Italy	IV Dante Alighieri • V Conte di Cavour • V Giulio Cesare • VI Andrea Doria • VII Francesco Caracciolo • VIII Vittorio Veneto • VIII Roma • VIII AL Littorio • IX Lepanto • IX Marco Polo • IX Giuseppe Verdi • X Cristoforo Colombo • X Ruggiero di Lauria • X Sicilia • X Amerigo Vespucci
Pan-America	V Rio de Janeiro • VIII Ipiranga • VIII Atlântico • IX Los Andes • X Libertad • X Comodoro
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Pan-Asia	IX Bajie • IX Wujing • IX Sun Yat-Sen • IX Louchuan • IX Xuan Wu
Spain	IX Victoria
Commonwealth	VII Yukon

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California

Modules

Compatible Upgrades