Orion '44

13.5

Cruiser | U.K. | Tier VI

Tech Tree Position

Battle Levels

12345678910

VI

5,500

Orion '44 — British premium Tier VI cruiser.

A Leander-class light cruiser geared to function as a scout within a squadron, yet equally adept at operating independently. Orion '44 spent most of her combat career in the Mediterranean. By the end of World War II, she had earned high honors as one of the most esteemed ships in the Royal Navy. The cruiser took part in the battles of Calabria and Cape Matapan, the battle for Crete, and the defense of Malta. In 1943 and 1944, she covered the Allied landing operations in Sicily, Italy, Southern France, and Greece. In June 1944, on D-Day, the cruiser was the first warship to open fire on enemy positions in Normandy.

Orion '44 was first released for sale in June 2024

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 BL Mk.XXIII on a Mk.XXI mount	6.3	25.7	133			3,100		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 ()
Orion	27,900	10	100	4	4	7/2/4	2			0	0

	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 IX	0.5	115	7.2	16,766	62	10		0	0

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

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 72,000 hp	32.5		0	0

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4

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.

The Ship

Tier VI Orion ‘44 is based on the tech tree ship Leander. Notably, she gains Engine Boost and improved Repair Party consumables, but loses access to the Smoke Generator consumable. Orion ‘44 mounts a standard cruiser Damage Control Party , with a 5 second action time and 60 second cool down between uses. She also mounts a standard cruiser Hydroacoustic Search  with three charges, which is active for 100 seconds and will detect ships at 4 km and torpedoes at 3 km. Unusually for a British cruiser, Orion ‘44 mounts an Engine Boost  which provides an 8% increase to her top speed for 120 seconds, with three charges and a 120 second cool down between uses. Her stand out consumable is an improved Repair Party  with three uses as standard. This can recover up to 40% of her health pool per use, including an outstanding 50% of citadel damage. In the unlikely event that all the charges are used to their maximum potential, Orion ‘44 can recover more than 36,000 hit points in total. Players who are familiar with Leander will feel at home with Orion ‘44, as both ships have very similar handling characteristics. Orion ‘44 has a rather low top speed of 32.5 knots, among the slowest at Tier VI. Her Engine Boost will increase this to 35 knots, which allows Orion ‘44 to keep up with all but the fastest ships at her tier. A 7.8 second rudder shift makes her one of the quicker turning cruisers at her tier with superior energy retention while turning, although a 710 meter turning circle limits the advantage she gains from this. Her improved acceleration and energy retention can be a double edged sword. Orion ‘44 accelerates to her top speed quicker than other ships and holds her speed while maneuvering better than her peers. However, she is also slow to decelerate, and unwary players can easily find themselves exposed to enemy fire rather than safely stopped behind cover. Orion ‘44 is stealthy for a cruiser; her detection range can be reduced to below 10 km, which allows her to move around the battlefield with a degree of safety.

Armor & Survivability

Orion ‘44 is rather lightly armored; her 13 mm bow and stern plating can bounce light cruiser AP, but it will be overmatched by heavy cruisers. It is also vulnerable to any HE rounds fired at her. This thin plating covers most of Orion ‘44, and only a small area around the citadel gains slightly thicker 16 mm plating. She has a fairly short citadel, stretching from just forward of the funnel to her rear superstructure. Most of her citadel sits close to the waterline, although there is a raised section beneath the funnel. With an armor thickness of 100 mm, showing broadside or turning at the wrong time can easily result in receiving serious amounts of damage. Unlike Leander, Orion ‘44 does not have her own smoke screen to aid in an escape. Orion ‘44 has a relatively small health pool, leaving her vulnerable to being on the receiving end of a Devastating Strike. However, if players are able to minimize incoming fire and make effective use of her improved heal, Orion ‘44 can remain in the fight far longer than her health pool and armor would suggest.

Armament

Orion ‘44 mounts a main battery of eight 152 mm guns in four twin turrets, with only short-fuse AP rounds with improved bounce angles available. This limits her impact against heavily armored targets, but players can expect fewer over penetrations and ricochets when shooting at enemy destroyers. Her main battery reload is rather slow for the caliber, resulting in a lower DPM output than her counterparts. Compared to Leander, her gunnery over range is slightly easier with a shorter flight time.

Orion ‘44 mounts a quad torpedo launcher on each side. These are powerful weapons, similar to those carried by Japanese cruiser Aoba, although their small number limits their effectiveness. Her torpedoes have a 10 km range and can potentially be launched from stealth. They also have a fairly low detection of 1.3 km; unless they are detected by hydroacoustic search, targets will have slightly less than 8 seconds to react and dodge. The ability to single launch her torpedoes can be a potentially powerful ability, as players can aim at nose-in ships or through narrow gaps between islands.

Anti-Air

Orion ‘44 has rather weak anti-air defenses; most of her DPS comes from her short-range automatic weapons with a range of just 2.5 km. This is partially offset by her long-range AA guns reaching out to 5.8 km. Her guns may shoot down a few aircraft, but they will not keep Orion ‘44 safe from determined attacks.

Anti-Submarine

Orion ‘44 drops a small salvo of depth charges from her stern. Although she only drops 2 depth charges at a time, they deal high damage with a high flood chance of 42% and a good fire chance of 20%. She is not ideally suited to submarine hunting, but her Hydroacoustic Search consumable allows her to detect submarines if needed.

Battle Performance

Orion ‘44 shares many similarities with Leander, but her play style is closer to Pan-American cruisers. Players will need to be cautious when playing Orion ‘44. Her thin armor and small health pool mean that she is at risk of suffering a Devastating Strike if she overextends. Her relatively slow speed and lack of a smokescreen limit her options for disengaging when spotted unless she has some island cover or a friendly smokescreen to duck inside. With her short main battery range and lack of HE, effective target selection is necessary to ensure a good impact on the battle. Players must be cautious and take care to not overextend, as they can find themselves unable to reach safety and have a quick trip back to port.

Orion ‘44 works best in support of friendly destroyers, where she can use her short-fuse AP to threaten enemy destroyers and cruisers. Against armored or bow-in targets, players are advised to disengage and find a more favorable angle or some friendly support.

Pros:

AP rounds are effective against destroyers and cruisers
Long range torpedoes
Good concealment
Has access to specialized Repair Party

Cons:

No HE shells, limited option for damaging armored targets
Low DPM
No Smoke Screen consumable
Small health pool

Research

As a premium ship, Orion '44 has no module upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades are:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Engine Room Protection
Slot 3: Main Battery Modification 2
Slot 4: Steering Gears Modification 1

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

Orion '44 equips the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Specialized Repair Teams  – 3 charges
Slot 3: Hydroacoustic Search  – 3 charges
Slot 4: Engine Boost  – 3 charges

Camouflage

As a premium ship, Orion '44 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

References

Ships of U.K.

Destroyers	II Medea • III Valkyrie • III Campbeltown • IV Wakeful • V Acasta • VI Icarus • VI Gallant • VII Jervis • VII Jupiter '42 • VIII Lightning • VIII Cossack • VIII Cossack B • IX Jutland • IX Somme • X Daring • X Druid
Cruisers	I Black Swan • II Weymouth • III Caledon • IV Danae • V Emerald • V Hawkins • V Exeter • VI Leander • VI Devonshire • VI London • VI Dido • VI Orion '44 • VII Fiji • VII Surrey • VII Belfast • VIII Edinburgh • VIII Albemarle • VIII Cheshire • VIII Tiger '59 • VIII Belfast '43 • VIII Hampshire • VIII Nottingham • VIII AL Cheshire • VIII STAR Edinburgh • IX Neptune • IX Drake • X Monmouth • X Minotaur • X Goliath • X Plymouth • X Gibraltar • X Defence • ★ Edgar
Battleships	III Bellerophon • III Indefatigable • III Dreadnought • IV Orion • IV Queen Mary • V Iron Duke • V Tiger • V Agincourt • VI Warspite • VI Queen Elizabeth • VI Renown • VI Repulse • VI Repulse B • VII King George V • VII Rooke • VII Hood • VII Nelson • VII Duke of York • VII Collingwood • VII Renown '44 • VII Duke of Bronte • VIII Monarch • VIII Hawke • VIII Vanguard • IX Lion • IX Duncan • IX Marlborough • IX Scarlet Thunder • X Conqueror • X St. Vincent • X Thunderer • X Incomparable • ★ Devastation
Aircraft Carriers	IV Hermes • VI Furious • VI Ark Royal • VIII Implacable • VIII Indomitable • VIII Colossus • X Audacious • X Malta • ★ Eagle

Cruisers

Japan	I Hashidate • II Chikuma • III Tenryū • III Katori • IV Yūbari • IV Kuma • IV Iwaki Alpha • V Furutaka • V Agano • V Yahagi • VI Aoba • VI Gokase • VII Myōkō • VII Omono • VII Tokachi • VII Maya • VII ARP Myōkō • VII ARP Ashigara • VII ARP Haguro • VII Southern Dragon • VII Eastern Dragon • VII ARP Nachi • VIII Mogami • VIII Tone • VIII Atago • VIII Shimanto • VIII Atago B • VIII ARP Takao • VIII ARP Maya • IX Ibuki • IX Takahashi • IX Azuma • IX AL Azuma • IX Chikuma II • X Zaō • X Yodo • X Yoshino • X Yoshino B • X Kitakami
U.K.	I Black Swan • II Weymouth • III Caledon • IV Danae • V Emerald • V Hawkins • V Exeter • VI Leander • VI Devonshire • VI London • VI Dido • VI Orion '44 • VII Fiji • VII Surrey • VII Belfast • VIII Edinburgh • VIII Albemarle • VIII Cheshire • VIII Tiger '59 • VIII Belfast '43 • VIII Hampshire • VIII Nottingham • VIII AL Cheshire • VIII STAR Edinburgh • IX Neptune • IX Drake • X Monmouth • X Minotaur • X Goliath • X Plymouth • X Gibraltar • X Defence • ★ Edgar
France	I Bougainville • II Jurien de la Gravière • III Friant • IV Duguay-Trouin • V Émile Bertin • VI La Galissonnière • VI De Grasse • VI Dupleix • VI Montcalm • VII Algérie • VII Toulon • VIII Charles Martel • VIII Cherbourg • VIII Bayard • IX Saint-Louis • IX Brest • IX Carnot • X Henri IV • X Marseille • X Colbert • ★ Condé
U.S.S.R.	I Orlan • II Diana • II Diana Lima • II Novik • III Aurora • III Bogatyr • III Oleg • III Varyag • III AL Avrora • IV Svietlana • V Murmansk • V Kotovsky • V Krasny Krym • V Mikoyan • V Kirov • VI Budyonny • VI Molotov • VI Admiral Makarov • VII Shchors • VII Lazo • VII Lazo B • VIII Chapayev • VIII Tallinn • VIII Mikhail Kutuzov • VIII Ochakov • VIII Pyotr Bagration • VIII Dmitry Pozharsky • IX Dmitri Donskoi • IX Riga • IX Kronshtadt • X Moskva • X Alexander Nevsky • X Petropavlovsk • X Stalingrad • X Smolensk B • X Smolensk • X Sevastopol • X Kommissar • ★ Novosibirsk
U.S.A.	I Erie • II Chester • II Albany • III St. Louis • III Charleston • IV Phoenix • V Omaha • V Marblehead • V Marblehead Lima • V Rattlehead • VI Pensacola • VI Dallas • VII Atlanta • VII New Orleans • VII Helena • VII Indianapolis • VII Atlanta B • VII Boise • VII Flint • VIII Baltimore • VIII Cleveland • VIII Wichita • VIII Anchorage • VIII Congress • VIII Rochester • VIII San Diego • VIII AL Montpelier • 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 • ★ Annapolis
Germany	I Hermelin • II Dresden • II Emden • III Kolberg • IV Karlsruhe • V Königsberg • VI Nürnberg • VI Admiral Graf Spee • VI Leipzig • VI HSF Admiral Graf Spee • VII Yorck • VII München • VII Weimar • VIII Admiral Hipper • VIII Prinz Eugen • VIII Mainz • VIII Schill • VIII Mainz B • VIII Cross of Dorn • VIII Wiesbaden • IX Roon • IX Siegfried • IX Ägir • IX Admiral Schröder • IX Roon CLR • X Hindenburg • ★ Clausewitz
Pan-Asia	I Chengan • III Ning Hai • V Chungking • VI Rahmat • VI Huanghe • VII Chumphon • VIII Harbin • VIII Irian • VIII Wukong • IX Sejong • IX Dalian • IX Mengchong • IX Tianjin • X Jinan
Spain	I Júpiter • II Méndez Núñez • III Navarra • IV Almirante Cervera • V Galicia • VI Baleares • VI Canarias • VII Asturias • VIII Cataluña • VIII Numancia • IX Andalucía • X Castilla
Europe	I Gryf • VI Elli
Netherlands	I Van Kinsbergen • II Gelderland • III Java • IV De Ruyter • V Celebes • VI Kijkduin • VII Eendracht • VIII Haarlem • VIII De Zeven Provinciën • IX Johan de Witt • IX Van Speijk • X Gouden Leeuw • X Prins van Oranje
Italy	I Eritrea • II Nino Bixio • III Taranto • IV Alberto di Giussano • V Raimondo Montecuccoli • V Genova • VI Trento • VI Duca d'Aosta • VII Zara • VII Duca degli Abruzzi • VII Francesco Ferruccio • VII Gorizia • VIII Amalfi • IX Brindisi • IX Michelangelo • X Venezia • X Napoli • X Napoli B • ★ Piemonte
Commonwealth	I Sutlej • II Port Jackson • III Caradoc • IV Dunedin • V Delhi • VI Hobart • VI Perth • VI Mysore • VII Uganda • VIII Auckland • IX Encounter • IX Hector • X Cerberus • X Brisbane
Pan-America	I Hércules • II Almirante Barroso • II Almirante Abreu • III Vicente Guerrero • IV Córdoba • V La Argentina • VI Almirante Cochrane • VII Coronel Bolognesi • VII Nueve de Julio • VIII Ignacio Allende • VIII Almirante Grau • IX Santander • X San Martín

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Compatible Upgrades