Saipan B

12.2

Aircraft Carrier | U.S.A. | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

Battle Levels

12345678910

VIII

Special

Saipan B — American special premium Tier VIII aircraft сarrier.

A high-speed light aircraft carrier based on the Baltimore-class cruiser. Despite relatively small dimensions, the ship carried a rather powerful air group and was armed with numerous AA artillery. The ship boasted very good armor compared to the protection of far larger strike aircraft carriers.

First available on 19 November 2021 during the Black Friday event.

Modules

	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 ()
Saipan B.	47,900	6	152			15/10/5				0	0

	Speed (knot)	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_MED_DAMAGE (HP/min)	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_AMMO_AMOUNT	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
F8F Bearcat	176			1,660		0	0

	Maximum Torpedo Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
BTD Destroyer	6,467	131	2,040		0	0

	Maximum Bomb Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
BTD Destroyer		131	2,150		0	0

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 120,000 hp	33		0	0

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5

Player Opinion

Performance

Warning. The data presented in the AA Defense sidebar section may be incorrect.
For a graphic summary of ships Tiers VIII thru XI see LittleWhiteMouse's "Actual AA DPS".

Saipan B, or Saipan Black, is a clone of Saipan with an attractive black skin.

As a premium USN aircraft carrier, Saipan B’s uniqueness comes from her aircraft being very similar to Midway’s in speed, survivability, and armament count per plane. Additionally, the ship itself has much better concealment and rudder shift than her USN peers Lexington and Enterprise, allowing players to move faster to their desired location and stealthily closer to their strike targets. This gives players an edge over their same tier counterparts in faster and quicker strikes to whittle down the enemy.

However, she does not have the same attack flight size and squadron size of Midway’s nor does she have Lexington’s armor. The lack of armor means that enemy battleship salvos and torpedoes will cause much more damage to the ship when the player's ship is detected. Players must be careful of where to position their ship for maximizing their strike capabilities while keeping their ship intact.

Furthermore, while Saipan B’s torpedo bombers do carry two torpedoes each like Midway’s, this amplifies the effect of lost damage output for each plane shot down by the enemy. Furthermore, her aircraft restoration time is the longest out of all carriers currently, making each aircraft lost a massive decrease in her constant damage output. Players should carefully select targets, as randomly lashing out at any target that may have a formidable anti-air defense will result in a complete exhaust of available strike aircraft.

The culmination of these characteristics allows Saipan B to have higher overall potential damage output with most other same tier carriers. Players should attempt to use each squadron as effectively as possible through minimizing losses and getting the most damage in each attack run.

Pros:

Excellent ship speed of 33 knots.
Much better concealment compared to tech tree counterpart Lexington.
Decent mid- and short-ranged AA defenses.
Carries Tier X planes, the same used on a fully upgraded Midway.
Very high potential damage output with all plane types.
Torpedo bombers drop four (4) torpedoes with each attack run.

Cons:

Saipan B is a fragile ship, with low health and poor armor.
No long range AA artillery, thus no flak.
Very long plane restoration time.
Small squadrons with few deck reserves for each plane type.
Torpedo bombers have a very long aiming time.
Torpedo bombers and dive bombers are frustratingly slow.

Research

As a premium ship, Saipan B has no module upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Saipan B are as follows:

Slot 1: Air Groups Modification 1
Slot 2: Aircraft Engines Modification 1
Slot 3: Attack Aircraft Modification 1
Slot 4: Torpedo Bombers Modification 2
Slot 5: Flight Control Modification 1

Commander Skills

The following information is provided for players who wish to create a permanent captain for the ship. Those players who are retraining captains or using the ship to gain extra experience for a captain should consult the page relevant to the ship to which the captain will be assigned.

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack			Defense		Support
1	Last Gasp Completely restores engine boost for the last attack squadron.	Improved Engine Boost +10% Aircraft engine boost time. ★★	Engine Techie -20% Engine Cooling cooldown time.	Air Supremacy -5% aircraft restoration time. ★★★	Direction Center for Fighters +1 fighter to CAP squadrons.	Search and Destroy +10% to action radius of Patrol Fighter and Interceptor squadrons.
2	Torpedo Bomber -10% torpedo arming distance.	Swift Fish +5% to torpedo speed.	Improved Engines +2.5% aircraft squadron speed. ★★★	Repair Specialist +1 In-flight Repair consumable +10% its action time.	Secondary Armament Expert +10% flak and continuous damage -10% secondary battery reload time.	Patrol Group Leader +1 fighter to Patrol Fighter or Interceptor squadrons.
3	Sight Stabilization +7.5% aiming speed.	Enhanced Armor-Piercing Ammunition +3% damage from AP bombs and rockets.	Pyrotechnician +1% chance of HE rockets causing a fire. +5% chance of HE bombs causing a fire. ★★	Aircraft Armor -10% continuous AA damage while in an aura. ★★★	Survivability Expert +25 aircraft HP per ship tier. ★★★	Interceptor Interceptors replace Patrol Fighters: +10% action radius. Invulnerable to fighters. Cannot attack fighters. Cannot spot ships.
4	Bomber Flight Control +5% speed all bomber types. ★★	Proximity Fuze -10% (absolute) to target's torpedo protection.	Close Quarters Expert Secondary batteries: +20% range -30% dispersion.	Enhanced Aircraft Armor -25% damage from flak. ★★	Hidden Menace -15% ship detectability range. -20% Damage Control Party cooldown. +50% aircraft return time.	Enhanced Reactions -80% time before activated Patrol Fighters or Interceptors attack. +25% action time. +50% cooldown time.
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

As Saipan B is an aircraft carrier, there are no player-controlled ship consumables. She has standard aircraft consumables for a Tier VIII carrier.

Camouflage

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

Signals

As a carrier, Saipan B has no risk of detonating and a very fast fire extinguishing time. Players should mount Juliet Yankee Bissotwo () for faster flooding recovery time, and Juliet Whiskey Unaone () to have a better chance at causing flooding to enemy ships.

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 +15% 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.

References

LittleWhiteMouse's Premium Ship Review: Saipan from the NA forums -- from 2016 so largely obsolete.

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Aircraft Carriers	IV Langley • VI Ranger • VIII Lexington • VIII Enterprise • VIII Saipan • VIII Hornet • VIII Saipan B • X Midway • X Franklin D. Roosevelt • ★ United States

Aircraft Carriers

Japan	IV Hōshō • VI Ryūjō • VIII Shōkaku • VIII Kaga • VIII Kaga B • X Hakuryū • ★ Sekiryu
U.K.	IV Hermes • VI Furious • VI Ark Royal • VIII Implacable • VIII Indomitable • VIII Colossus • X Audacious • X Malta • ★ Eagle
U.S.A.	IV Langley • VI Ranger • VIII Lexington • VIII Enterprise • VIII Saipan • VIII Hornet • VIII Saipan B • X Midway • X Franklin D. Roosevelt • ★ United States
Pan-Asia	VIII Sanzang
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Saipan B

Modules

Compatible Upgrades