South Carolina

13.9

South Carolina

Battleship | U.S.A. | Tier III

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price2800 exp

Purchase price309,000

Hit Points29,000

Main Battery

305 mm/45 Mk.5 in a turret4 х 2 pcs.

Rate of Fire2 shots/min.

Reload Time30 sec.

Rotation Speed4 deg./sec.

180 Degree Turn Time45 sec.

Firing Range14.24 km.

Maximum Dispersion202 m.

HE Shell305 mm HE

Maximum HE Shell Damage4,100

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell20 %

Initial HE Shell Velocity823 m./s.

HE Shell Weight394.6 kg.

AP Shell305 mm AP

Maximum AP Shell Damage8,100

Initial AP Shell Velocity823 m./s.

AP Shell Weight394.6 kg.

Secondary Armament #1

76.2 mm/50 Mk.5 on a single mount22 х 1 pcs.

Firing Range3.2 km.

Rate of Fire10 shots/min.

Reload Time6 sec.

HE Shell76 mm HE

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,100

Initial HE Shell Velocity823 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell4 %

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed15.84 knot

Turning Circle Radius480 m.

Rudder Shift Time13.1 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range13.44 km.

Air Detectability Range6 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

13.9

South Carolina

Battleship | U.S.A. | Tier III

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price2800 exp

Purchase price309,000

Hit Points31,700

Main Battery

305 mm/45 Mk.5 in a turret4 х 2 pcs.

Rate of Fire2 shots/min.

Reload Time30 sec.

Rotation Speed4 deg./sec.

180 Degree Turn Time45 sec.

Firing Range15.66 km.

Maximum Dispersion202 m.

HE Shell305 mm HE

Maximum HE Shell Damage4,100

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell20 %

Initial HE Shell Velocity823 m./s.

HE Shell Weight394.6 kg.

AP Shell305 mm AP

Maximum AP Shell Damage8,100

Initial AP Shell Velocity823 m./s.

AP Shell Weight394.6 kg.

Secondary Armament #1

76.2 mm/50 Mk.5 on a single mount20 х 1 pcs.

Firing Range3.2 km.

Rate of Fire10 shots/min.

Reload Time6 sec.

HE Shell76 mm HE

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,100

Initial HE Shell Velocity823 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell4 %

AA Defense

76.2 mm/50 Mk.10 on a Mk.11 mount4 х 1 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second8.4

. . . Firing Range3 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed18 knot

Turning Circle Radius480 m.

Rudder Shift Time9.4 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range13.44 km.

Air Detectability Range6 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

III

309,000

South Carolina — American Tier III battleship.

In the early 20th century, the United States reinforced its naval fleet by constructing several classes of battleships. American naval theorists, alongside their British counterparts, came up with the concept of a battleship armed solely with large-caliber guns. Upon her commissioning, USS South Carolina was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. She played a role in safeguarding U.S. interests during the Mexican Revolution and participated in the occupation of Veracruz. During World War I, the battleship escorted troop convoys to France. After the war ended, she was involved in transporting troops back to America.

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 ()
305 mm/45 Mk.5 in a turret	2	45	202	4,100	20	8,100		0	36,000

	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 ()
South Carolina (A)	29,000	10	305	4	22					0	70,000
South Carolina (B)	31,700	10	305	4	20	4				1,400	150,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Mk3 mod. 1		0		0	22,000
Mk III mod. 2		0		700	76,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 16,000 hp	15.8		0	17,000
Propulsion: 17,600 hp	18		300	40,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2

Player Opinion

Performance

The first battleship in the American tech tree, South Carolina is a fairly decent ship. For her tier, she has quite good armor and range, which prove to only be a problem when she faces higher tier ships. South Carolina is one of the first ships in the game to feature super-firing main turrets which allows for maximum firepower while not showing the full broadside of the ship. She does have severe limitations, however, when it comes to her top speed — a pattern that is repeated with the succeeding U.S. battleships until the Tier VIII North Carolina — and maintains a still painfully slow top speed of only 18 knots when fully upgraded.

Players who want to do well with her must utilize her strengths. She is not a long-range sniper; she is a brawler. Make sure that South Carolina is always headed towards the fight. Load AP shells and citadel cruisers and battleships at close range; turn away and kite once the enemy begins to give chase. Don't be afraid of destroyers; blast them with a broadside and turn away in anticipation of their torpedoes. Just like any other ship, it's generally best to remain with the fleet and always angle her armor from enemy battleships.

Pros:

• Best main battery range of Tier 3 battleships
• Decent turret traverse speed
• Good accuracy of the main battery
• The only Tier 3 battleship with super-firing turrets
• Very tight turn radius and quick rudder shift

Cons:

• Abysmal top speed of only 18 knots, even worse before upgrading the engine
• Worst concealment in tier/class
• Virtually useless AA defences, like most of the low tier battleships
• Low health pool

Research

Captains should first and foremost research Propulsion Modification 2 to improve the abysmal top speed to something workable. Next captains should research Gun Fire Control System Mk3 Mod. 2 to improve the firing range. Finally, captains should research Hull B to obtain more hit points and some AA guns. Researching Hull B then allows captains to proceed to Wyoming.

The major hindrance to South Carolina's combat potential is her speed - having a top speed of only 15.8kts (18kts when upgraded) means that most ships — including St. Louis — can easily escape her firing range. Thus, attempting to position this ship correctly can prove very difficult. As such, the propulsion module upgrade is probably the most important to unlock and mount early on to be able to perform better. Although due to the low-tier nature of this ship, it is likely that players will fully upgrade the ship in only a few battles with decent performance.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for South Carolina are as follows:

• Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
• Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1  - to reduce chances of fire and flooding

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

South Carolina equips the following consumables:

• Damage Control Party 
• Repair Party 

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

• 
• 
• 
• 

  An enemy Clemson maneuvers to avoid South Carolina’s salvo.

• 

  Hull A

• 

  Hull B

Historical Info

Construction

Cramp Shipbuilding Company; Philadelphia, United States

Laid down: 18 December 1906

Launched: 11 July 1908

Commissioned: 1 March 1910

Specifications

16,000 tons displacement, standard

138m length

24.5m beam

7.5m draft

Machinery

12 boilers, 2 turbines

Performance

18.5knts at 16,500 shaft horsepower

5,000nm at 10 knots

Armor

Main belt: 203-254mm

Decks: 63mm

Barbettes and Turrets: 203-254mm barbette, 305mm turrets

Casemates: 203-254mm

Conning tower: 305mm

Armament

Main

Eight (4x2) 305mm guns

Secondary

Twenty-two (22x1) 76mm guns

Torpedoes

Two (2x1) 533mm submerged torpedo tubes

History

Design

The South Carolina-class battleships, also known as the Michigan class, were built during the first decade of the twentieth century for the United States Navy. Named South Carolina and Michigan, they were the first American dreadnoughts—powerful warships whose capabilities far outstripped those of the world's older battleships.

In the opening years of the twentieth century, the prevailing theory of naval combat was that battles would continue to be fought at relatively close range using many small, fast-firing guns. As such, each of the ships in the United States' previous battleship class (the Connecticut class) had many medium-sized weapons alongside four large guns. This paradigm, however, was soon to be subverted, as American naval theorists proposed that a ship mounting a homogeneous battery of large guns would be more effective in battle.

As their ideas began to enjoy wider acceptance, the US Congress authorized the country's navy to construct two small 16,000-long-ton (16,260 t) battleships. This displacement was roughly the same size as the Connecticut class and at least 2,000 long tons (2,030 t) smaller than the foreign standard. A solution was found in an ambitious design drawn up by Rear Admiral Washington L. Capps, the chief of the navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair, which featured heavy armament and relatively thick armor, both favored by naval theorists. However, in balancing the congressionally mandated limits to displacement and the inherent design trade-offs between armament, armor, and propulsion, the South Carolina class' speed was severely limited—an ultimately fatal disadvantage that severely limited their utility in a conflict.

With their superfiring main armament, press accounts billed South Carolina and Michigan, alongside the British HMS Dreadnought, as heralding a new epoch in warship design. Both, however, were soon surpassed by ever-larger and stronger super-dreadnoughts. The class' low top speed of about 18.5 knots (21.3 mph; 34.3 km/h), as compared to the 21-knot (24 mph; 39 km/h) standard of later American battleships, relegated them to serving with older, obsolete battleships during the First World War. Thereafter, both South Carolinas were scrapped with the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Historical Gallery

• 

  South Carolina, 1908

• 

  Basic plan of the South Carolina-class dreadnoughts

• 

  South Carolina in port, 1910

• 

  A 12-inch (305 mm)/45 caliber Mark 5 gun on Connecticut. The same guns were utilized on the South Carolinas.

• 

  Michigan steaming at high speed, 1918

References

1. USS South Carolina (BB-26) - Wikipedia
2. South Carolina-class battleship - Wikipedia

Ship Change Log

See here for links to Update notes.

• Added to the game in Update 0.1.3 (alpha) as a Tier II Battleship named Michigan.
• Update 0.1.6.4:
  • Moved to Tier III.
• Update 0.5.0.1:
  • HP of Hull (B) increased from 29,000 to 31,700.
• Update 0.5.2:
  • Credits and experience earnings ratios were changed:
    • Experience +6%.
    • Credits +9%.
• Update 0.5.6:
  • Improved visual models of rangefinders on main battery turrets.
• Update 0.5.9:
  • The armored model of the hull was refined.
• Update 0.6.3:
  • Stock firing range increased from 10,218 to 14,240 m.
• Update 0.6.7:
  • Credits earnings changed by –10%.
• Update 0.6.11:
  • Improved appearance with the use of special technology for improved rendering of thin elements.
• Update 0.6.12:
  • Detectability when firing main guns in smoke changed to 10.62 km.
• Update 0.6.13:
  • The survivability of the secondary battery was tested and brought to a single standard. The change affects 76.2 mm guns.
• Update 0.7.7:
  • Sigma value increased from 1.8 to 1.9.
• Update 0.7.12:
  • The rudder shift time for Hull (A) was reduced from 14.9 to 13.1 s.
  • The rudder shift time for Hull (B) was reduced from 10.7 to 9.4 s.
  • HP recovery rate for the Repair Party consumable was increased from 0.5 to 0.66 % HP per second.
• Update 0.10.0:
  • The firing range of the secondary battery was increased to 3.2 km.

Ships of U.S.A.

Battleships