Rattlehead
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Purchase priceSpecial 
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| Hit Points27,000 |
| 152 mm/53 Mk.12 on a Mk.13 casemate mount8 х 1 / 2 х 2 pcs. |
| Rate of Fire9 shots/min. |
| Reload Time6.67 sec. |
| Rotation Speed7.5 deg./sec. |
| 180 Degree Turn Time24 sec. |
| Firing Range13.88 km. |
| Maximum DispersionUnable to match configuration for query: artillery:pasc505_rattlehead::stock|artillerydispersion m. |
| HE Shell152 mm HE/HC Mk34 mod. 1 |
| Maximum HE Shell Damage2,200 |
| Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell12 % |
| Initial HE Shell Velocity914 m./s. |
| HE Shell Weight47.7 kg. |
| AP Shell152 mm AP/SC Mk27 mod. 5 |
| Maximum AP Shell Damage3,100 |
| Initial AP Shell Velocity914 m./s. |
| AP Shell Weight47.6 kg. |
| 533 mm Triple2 х 3 pcs. |
| Rate of Fire1.58 shots/min. |
| Reload Time38 sec. |
| Rotation Speed25 deg./sec. |
| 180 Degree Turn Time7.2 sec. |
| TorpedoBliss Leavitt Mk9 mod. 1 |
| Maximum Damage6,233 |
| Torpedo Speed49 knot |
| Torpedo Range8.22 km. |
| 76 mm/50 Mk.22 on a single mount4 х 1 pcs. |
| . . . Average Damage per Second11.2 |
| . . . Firing Range3.51 km. |
| Maximum Speed34 knot |
| Turning Circle Radius600 m. |
| Rudder Shift Time5.7 sec. |
| Surface Detectability Range13.09 km. |
| Air Detectability Range5.36 km. |
Rattlehead — American special premium Tier V cruiser.
The Immortal Vic Rattlehead can be seen clutching a radiant green crystal of cosmic nature, sailing the seas on a rusted ship. His credo is, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Vic navigates in search of retribution and destruction.
Rattlehead was first released for sale on DD MMM YYYY.
Modules
Compatible Upgrades
Player Opinion
Performance
Refer to the in-game Port screens for more useful data.
The Ship
Rattlehead is a sister ship to the tech tree cruiser Omaha and retains the same basic hull. Compared to her sister, she gains a slightly improved reload and longer range torpedoes at the cost of worse concealment, weaker torpedoes, and reduced main battery range.
Rattlehead has a tight 600 meter turning circle and a fairly quick 6.4 second rudder shift, making her maneuverable and helping her avoid incoming attacks. Her 34 knot top speed is fairly typical for a Tier V cruiser, placing her firmly in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, her concealment is rather poor at 13.2 km. This can be reduced to 11.8 km with the Concealment Expert skill, but Rattlehead is unlikely to sneak up on anything smaller than a battleship.
Rattlehead mounts a standard cruiser Damage Control Party 
which is active for 5 seconds with a 60 second cool down between uses. She also carries a Hydroacoustic Search 
and Catapult Fighter 
. Her Hydroacoustic Search is active for 100 seconds with a 120 second cool down between uses and has 3 uses as standard. When it is active, Rattlehead will detect enemy ships at 4 km, torpedoes at 3 km, and fully submerged submarines at 2 km. Her Fighter launches a pair of aircraft that will circle around the ship for 60 seconds, providing emotional support to the player. Occasionally, they will intercept an attack and shoot down two attacking aircraft.
Survivability
Even for a Tier V cruiser, Rattlehead has a reputation for easily exploding. Her citadel is a large and tempting target as it rises a considerable distance above the waterline. Shells aimed between her funnels are likely to hit the citadel, which is protected by a rather thin 76 mm of armor. A broadside Rattlehead is likely to attract a lot of incoming fire.
Most of her plating is 13 mm thick, which means anything larger than light cruiser guns can overmatch her armor. Rattlehead can receive citadel hits from almost any angle. Her plating will also be penetrated by all HE shells. Her health pool is good for a Tier V cruiser, but her weak armor and large citadel considerably reduce the benefits of this. Under sustained fire, Rattlehead is likely to melt away — or explode — leading to a rapid return to port. With no way to recover lost health or easily disengage from combat, any mistakes can be costly.
Armament
Rattlehead mounts the same main battery as Omaha, but with a much shorter range of 13.9 km. This is one of the shortest gun ranges at her tier, and the ships with shorter ranges have access to smokescreens to provide a degree of safety. Rattlehead has an improved reload to compensate, giving her more DPM than Omaha, but reaching a position to safely use this can be challenging.
Rattlehead can be a good fire starter, able to set up to 13 fires per minute in ideal circumstances. 25 mm of HE penetration means that her shells will penetrate the decks or superstructures of most ships, even when downtiered. Her AP is somewhat disappointing; above 10 km Rattlehead can struggle to penetrate broadside cruisers.
Rattlehead’s torpedoes are a change from those of Omaha; most notably, she only has a single triple launcher on each side. Her torpedoes have an improved range of 8.2 km, still too short to be used safely, but players will only need to be within almost certain death range to use them. The extended range comes at the cost of speed and striking power. They travel at a pedestrian 49 knots, the crew could almost throw these weapons as quickly. Her torpedoes will do little more than tickle an opponent with their poor damage and terrible flood chance. Any concerted effort to use these weapons will result in a feeling of disappointment. Even a rapid 38 second reload cannot salvage these weapons, and a Rattlehead within 8 km of an enemy is frequently a sunk Rattlehead.
Anti-Aircraft
Most of Rattlehead’s anti-air deterrent comes from her fighters. Her AA guns are better than those of Agincourt, but not by much. Her AA DPS is the lowest of any Tier V cruiser and worse than many destroyers. A slight positive is that all her guns reach out to 3.5 km, but even the extra range won’t help shoot down planes. The best AA defense might be hanging around near an Agincourt or Viribus Unitis and hoping the larger ship is a more interesting target with its even worse AA.
Anti-Submarine
Rattlehead carries an ASW airstrike with a 5 km range, potentially allowing her to engage submarines with a degree of safety. The airstrike has a 20 second reload between attacks, limiting the amount of damage that players can cause to a submarine. Her Hydroacoustic Search can aid in submarine hunting, but the short range means that players will need to know where to start hunting.
Battle Performance
Rattlehead faces the same survival issues as Omaha, coupled with an even shorter main battery range. Although her DPM is better than her sister, reaching a position to utilize the better reload can be a challenge. While most Tier V cruisers will struggle when downtiered, this is particularly true with Rattlehead, where her lack of range and concealment will combine to leave her feeling limited.
Engaging targets from open water will put Rattlehead firmly within easy range of enemy ships and will result in a swift and unpleasant return to port. Players should utilize island cover and friendly smoke whenever possible to shield themselves from return fire and engage the enemy. If players can reach a position of relative safety, then they can use her rapid reload and large gun battery to set fires and harrass large targets.Pros:
- Good main battery DPM
- Good fire starting potential
- Decent maneuverability
- It has a free camo
- Comes with its own theme tune
Cons:
- Large, exposed citadel
- Short gun range
- Weak torpedoes
- Terrible AA defense
Research
Optimal Configuration
Upgrades
- Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
keeps the guns active and firing.
- Slot 2: Engine Room Protection
helps keep the engines and steering working.
- Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
improves accuracy and generates more main battery hits on enemies.
Commander Skills
Any captain built for a US light cruiser will work for Rattlehead and provide a useful commander. Her torpedoes are not worth building into, so the lack of torpedo skills on higher tier US cruiser commanders is not a drawback here. Rattlehead ideally needs a 10 point commander with Concealment Expert as a minimum starting point. Playing without this skill can be a painful experience given her short range.
Recommended Commander Skills 
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| Cost (points) |
Attack | Defense | ||||
| 1 |
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 ★ |
 ★★ |
 ★★★ |
| 2 |
 ★★ |
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 ★★ |
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 ★★★ |
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| 3 |
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 ★★ |
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 ★ |
 ★★★ |
| 4 |
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 ★★ |
 ★★★ |
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| Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful | ||||||
Consumables
Rattlehead equips the following consumables:
- Slot 1: Damage Control Party
- Slot 2: Hydroacoustic Search
- Slot 3: Catapult Fighter
Camouflage
As a premium ship, Rattlehead comes with Default permanent camouflage and a set of permanent combat bonuses.
Signals
Recommended Signal Flags 
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| Combat | |||||
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 ★★ |
 ★★ |
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 ★★★ |
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 ★ | ||||
Gallery
Historical Info
Historical Gallery
References
Ship Change Log
See here for links to Update notes.
| Destroyers | II Sampson • II Smith • III Wickes • IV Clemson • V Nicholas • V Hill • VI Farragut • VI Monaghan • VII Mahan • VII Sims • VII Sims B • VIII Benson • VIII Kidd • IX Fletcher • IX Benham • IX Halford • IX Black B • IX Black • IX Johnston • IX Frank Friday • X Gearing • X Somers • X Forrest Sherman • X [[Ship:[Gearing]|[Gearing]]] • ★ Joshua Humphreys
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| Cruisers | 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
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| Battleships | 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 Tennessee • 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
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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
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