Minotaur

13.11

Cruiser | U.K. | Tier X

Tech Tree Position

Battle Levels

12345678910

X

20,000,000

Minotaur — British Tier X cruiser.

A light cruiser design with a more powerful and sophisticated AA system. Developed after the end of World War II from the Neptune-class cruisers. She carried dual-purpose main guns placed in new turrets, allowing for a higher rate of fire.

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 ()
152 mm/50 QF Mk.V on a Mk.XXVI mount	18.8	4.7	141			3,200		0	1,900,000

	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 ()
Minotaur	43,300	13	102	5		10/8/5	4			0	2,450,000

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	Torpedo Tubes Reload Time (sec)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Damage (HP)	Torpedo Speed (knot)	Torpedo Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
533 mm Mk IXM	0.6	96	7.2	16,766	62	10		0	1,800,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Mk X mod. 1		0		0	1,450,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 110,000 hp	33.5		0	1,300,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5
Slot 6

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.

Atop the British cruiser line stands Tier X's Minotaur. She has a very different — and very unique — turret configuration compared to that of Neptune, and her main battery guns have a reload speed that gives Gearing a run for her money.

Minotaur’s main battery is comprised of five quick-turning turrets, each with a pair of Mk XXVI 152mm rifles. The Mk XXVI is a further upgrade over the Mk XXV deployed aboard Neptune, and the reload time drops to 3.2 seconds (or 2.8 seconds with Main Battery Modification 3 installed in Upgrade Slot 6). Minotaur spits out 152mm shells at a rate that has to be seen to be believed; as insane her rate of fire is, however, its impact is somewhat mitigated by the British light cruiser line lacking high-explosive shells. Like her immediate predecessor, her main battery guns are dual purpose and contribute to her anti-aircraft suite so Minotaur’s overall AA impact on the battlefield will be significant. That said, most of Minotaur’s AA punch comes from her middle ring of 76.2mm guns, leaving her with only her dual-purpose main battery guns to function as long-range AA.

Her torpedoes and torpedo launcher configuration remains identical to what was found on Neptune: two four-tube launchers per side equipped with 10.0 km range torpedo that reload relatively quickly (96 seconds). She is the stealthiest of all the Tier X cruisers, able to drop her detection radius down to 9.04 km when fully rigged for stealth. Minotaur’s armor remains roughly equivalent to that of Neptune — which is to say that there isn't very much of it — and she is further hampered by how high her citadel space rides amidships. Her armor is so thin that sometimes even light cruisers can over-pen her armor.Minotaur will be punished severely for exposing her broadside to enemy battleships and heavy cruisers and can be citadeled from virtually any angle. It takes some practice to be able to deduce when it is safe to bring all guns to bear. Fortunately, she handles slightly better Neptune in exchange for giving up a bit of maximum range on her main battery. However ,the overwhelming machine-gun AP of Minotaur and her good torpedo armement coupled with the British torpedo launchers will make easy kills on any type of ship, even destroyers.

Just like all of her predecessors, playing Minotaur well comes down to efficient and timely use of her various consumables. She can equip Surveillance Radar  or Smoke Generator ; neither is a bad choice, depending on how individual captains wish to play the ship. She also has the potent Specialized Repair Teams  that Edinburgh and Neptune do, as well as carrying Hydroacoustic Search  by default.

She's fragile and requires careful positioning and play, but Minotaur is deadly to enemy destroyers and a threat to enemy cruisers when helmed by a captain with their head in the game who doesn't expose their citadel unnecessarily.

Pros:

Unrivaled rate of fire among Tier X cruisers.
Exceptionally low detection radius.
Fast turret traverse.
Very powerful anti-aircraft suite; if kitted out for anti-aircraft duties, she has one of the most potent AA bubbles of any cruiser in the game, note that the 6.9km air detect combined with the poor long range dps will get you spotted and you cant do anything against it.
A jack of all trades: she can shred destroyers, deal with her cruiser peers, give battleships something to fret about, and be another detriment to carriers.
Great torpedo range combined with the best torpedo reload of all Tier X cruisers.
Has access to Specialized Repair Teams  that allow her to regenerate large amounts health.
Radar-equipped Minotaur can do stealth radar; she has 900-meter radar buffer from range to her surface detection, combined with a high rate of fire, which makes it a very potent dd killer and hunter.

Cons:

Large citadel size.
Initial shell velocity is the same as Neptune; however, at maximum range, her shells fall back to earth slowly.
Lightly-armored turrets that are disabled easily (if not outright destroyed).
Cannot equip the Defensive AA Fire  consumable to increase the anti-aircraft suite's potency even further.
As with the rest of the British cruiser line, her reliance on armor piercing shells is at times frustrating, as they will either bounce or deal consistently low damage.
Torpedo tubes are somewhat exposed and are disabled frequently when under fire.
Very weak armor; she can bounce 152mm, 203mm and 220mm rounds at certain angles, but will be easily penetrated by shells larger than that. A lack of internal vertical protection also means that overmatch hits through the bow are very likely to citadel her.
Cannot equip Smoke Generator  and Surveillance Radar  simultaneously; captains must choose their role before going into battle.

Research

As a Tier X ship, Minotaur has no additional modules to research.

Edgar is researched off Minotaur at a cost of 1 XP.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Minotaur are as follows:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Engine Room Protection
Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
Slot 4: Steering Gears Modification 1
Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1  or Aerosol Smoke Curtain System () *
Slot 6: Main Battery Modification 3 or Auxiliary Armaments Modification 2 *

The choice of what to plug into Upgrade Slot 6 will heavily influence the subsequent mix of commander skills captains will choose and how their Minotaur will play.

Generalist Build: Captains wishing to maintain their Minotaur in a very flexible build will likely opt to slot Main Battery Modification 3 into Slot 6. This shortens her reload to just 2.8 seconds (possibly even lower with the Adrenaline Rush commander skill). Minotaur’s AA is still fairly substantial even without Auxiliary Armaments Modification 2 , and she gains more offensive power with the faster gun reload.

Anti-Aircraft Build: As the cruiser with the highest combined AA DPS in the game, though under-performing flak, as well as being very stealth and providing her own smoke, an AA build is popular on Minotaur. Captains wishing to focus their Minotaur to have better AA will opt for Auxiliary Armaments Modification 2 for Slot 6 to add more AA DPS. Although her AA is completely scary, her usefulness depends whether there is a carrier in the game. This build is great on divisioning with a Tier X carrier to make sure that the carrier division has AA as a cover.

Many captains will opt for Concealment System Modification 1  in Upgrade Slot 5; however, the Unique upgrade Aerosol Smoke Curtain System () offers another way to play Minotaur by changing her Smoke Generator  style to a rolling smoke such as that found on Perth, Haida, and Huanghe. A rolling smoke differs from normal smokes in that the smoke screen generation time is very long compared to other nations but the smoke duration is very short. Using this, a Minotaur moving at 1/4 speed is able to remain in smoke for the duration of the Smoke Generator.

Keep in mind that Minotaur can also be equipped with Surveillance Radar Modification 1 to extend her Surveillance Radar  activation time up to 48 seconds. Similarly, she can also be equipped with Hydroacoustic Search Modification 1 to extend her Hydroacoustic Search  activation time up to 120 seconds, allowing captains to do a cycle between the two consumables if they choose to equip the radar consumable. Both of these are available options in Upgrade Slot 2.

Commander Skills

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

Minotaur can equip the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Specialized Repair Teams  – 3 charges
Slot 3: Hydroacoustic Search  – 3 charges
Slot 4: Smoke Generator  – 3 charges or Surveillance Radar  – 3 charges

Most Minotaur captains will automatically equip Smoke Generator  for Slot 4, just like Royal Navy cruisers at lower tiers. This is good for solo play or when divisioning with a carrier to utilize her AA from within the cover of smoke.

Surveillance Radar  provides a different challenge and more utility as the radar has 9.9 km range and 9.04 km detection. Divisioning with a destroyer for smoke is the easiest way to play a radar Minotaur setup. Playing radar Minotaur outside of a division is more challenging, and is only recommended for captains with excellent situational awareness.

Signals

Similar to Edinburgh and Neptune, India Delta () and November Foxtrot () are highly recommended regardless of how her commander skills and upgrades are configured. Captains invested in the Anti-Aircraft Build will want to equip a November Echo Setteseven ().

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

Minotaur sails into battle.
Minotaur opens fire on an enemy cruiser from behind an island.
After being spotted, Minotaur desperately charges an enemy Yamato and fires her torpedoes.
Minotaur begins evasive maneuvers to dodge incoming shells from multiple battleships.
Minotaur provides anti-aircraft support for a friendly battleship.

Historical Info

References

Minotaur-class cruiser (1947) - Wikipedia
Paper Ships: Cruiser Minotaur - News - World of Warships
British Cruisers, Two world wars and after by Norman Friedman
Information on the 6-inch guns that were to be mounted on the Minotaur, and were later mounted on the post-war Tiger-class cruisers
Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship design since 1945, by D.K.Brown and George Moore
Discussion on the origin of the designs of the Minotaur

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Compatible Upgrades