World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Black B

Beta
U.S.A. · Tier VII · Destroyer · Black Variant
Hybrid destroyerBalance guns and torps; cap, spot, and trade as the map allows.
Playstyle
  • Approach caps with allies ready, use Radar to expose enemy destroyers, and smoke to reset or farm after…
  • Avoid: Do not waste Radar without follow-up fire or sit in smoke while torpedoes are likely
Community Data

Black B Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

Black B is a stealthy destroyer built for hit-and-run tactics, using Radar and Smoke Generator to control key areas. Play her as a cap-control destroyer with team support.

Positioning

Approach caps with allies ready, use Radar to expose enemy destroyers, and smoke to reset or farm after vision is secured.

Potato Avoidance

Waste Radar without follow-up fire or sit in smoke while…

Do not waste Radar without follow-up fire or sit in smoke while torpedoes are likely.

Acquisition

How to get Black B

Black B is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition paths: Containers, Campaign, and Collaboration. Container chances are shown as the listed odds of receiving this exact ship, dividing grouped ship-pool odds across the resolved ships and including nested container paths when a crate can drop another crate.

Best listed chance for this ship

Official WG availability sources
  • "Lucky Six" Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2022-06-20 · End: 2022-07-24 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
  • Silent Orca Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2024-11-18 · End: 2024-12-15 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
  • Phantom of Sherwood Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2025-11-03 · End: 2025-11-30 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
  • Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
  • Treasure Hunt Event/store source Start: 2021-08-09 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
  • Fury, WAAAGH! and Legends: Warhammer 40,000 collaboration in detail Event/store source Start: 2021-11-05 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
  • "Gaming against Cancer" Charity Event Event/store source Start: 2021-11-05 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
  • The Return of Treasure Hunt Event/store source Start: 2022-08-05 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
Show direct source rows

Builds Beta

Build for concealment, radar/smoke utility, gun reload, survivability, and torpedo uptime.

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The stats below come from the base ship, Black. This ship is built on the same hull; in-game data for the variant itself is not available.

All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.

Radar 8.33 kmSmokeEngine Boost
Survivability
Hit Points16,700
Displacement2,924 t
Armor range6–20 mm
Plate armor thicknesses6, 13, 19, 20 mm
Armor material/layer entries28
Fire resistance36.6%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction0%
Magazine HP
ƒThe magazine is the module a detonation comes from. Penetrating hits to it raise the detonation chance from 1% toward 30% as its HP is worn down, so a larger magazine pool rides out citadel hits longer before a detonation becomes likely.
8,400
Steering gear HP
ƒDurability of the steering gears. As this pool drops, hits are likelier to jam the rudder; unlike most modules the steering can be knocked out and repaired but is never permanently destroyed.
5,000
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 127 mm Mk30
Mounts / barrels5 mounts / 5 barrels
Reload time3.6 s
Firing range11 km
Turret traverse34 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)
ƒShell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
2
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (11013/30·(8−0.5)/1000 + 0.5)·30 = 97.6 m
97.6 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 97.6 × 0.6 = 58.6 m
58.6 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 97.6 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 31.2 m
31.2 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 58.6 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 18.7 m
18.7 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 34 deg/s traverse speed = 5.3 s.
5.3 s
Base shells/min
ƒ5 broadside guns x 60 / 3.6 s base reload = 83.3.
83.3
HE shells
HE Damage1,800
HE Velocity792 m/s
Fire Chance5%
HE penetration
ƒ21 mm ≈ 127 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
21 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ1,800 HE damage x 5 broadside guns = 9,000.
9,000
Base HE DPM
ƒ9,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.6 s base reload = 150,000.
150,000
Installed HE DPM
ƒ9,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.2 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 168,750.
168,750
Base fires/min
ƒ5 HE shells x 60 / 3.6 s reload x 5% fire chance = 4.17.
4.17
AP shells
AP Damage2,100
AP Velocity792 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.01 s
Fuse Threshold21 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
8 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 2598 × 25^0.69 × 0.127^-1.07 × 792^1.38 = 218 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
218 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (13.8 km), where the shell has slowed to 248.7 m/s: 1e-7 × 2598 × 25^0.69 × 0.127^-1.07 × 248.7^1.38 = 44.1 mm.
44.1 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ2,100 AP damage x 5 broadside guns = 10,500.
10,500
Base AP DPM
ƒ10,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.6 s base reload = 175,000.
175,000
Installed AP DPM
ƒ10,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.2 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 196,875.
196,875
AP AOE Radius
ƒAP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.
10
Torpedoes
ModuleMk16 mod. 1
Launchers / tubes2 launchers × 5 tubes = 10 tubes
Reload time96 s
Projectile speed43 kt
Range13.71 km
Maximum simulated damage23,200 (est.)
Alpha damage34,800
Torpedo detectability0.9 km
Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s
Torp Turn7.2 s
Torp Arming133 m
Per-side salvo damage
ƒper-side salvo x per-torpedo simulated damage.
232,000
AA Defense
AA mount points12
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (20×3.5×1) + (27×3.5×0.95) + (23×3.5×1) = 240. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.
240
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
5 km
40 mm Bofors Mk13×2 40mm
20 mm Oerlikon Mk47×1 20mm
20 mm Oerlikon Mk202×2 20mm
Far aura
DPS
ƒIncludes 23 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose main battery firing as AA in this range band.
23
Range5 km
Medium aura
DPS20
Range3.5 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 23 + Medium 20 = 43
43
Near aura
DPS27
Range2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 23 + Medium 20 + Near 27 = 70
70
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 60,000 hp
Engine power60,000 hp
Maximum speed35 kt
Turning circle radius560 m
Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt
Traverse-to-turn ratio18.5× snappy
Concealment
Detectability by sea7.09 km
Detectability by air3.55 km
Smoke firing penalty2.65 km
Detect after firing main guns7.09 km
Detect Fire Sea9.09 km
Detect Fire Air6.55 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 40 s reload · 5 s active
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 15 s emit / 124 s cloud active
Choose one
Engine Boost2 charges · 180 s reload · 120 s active · +8% speed bonus
Surveillance Radar3 charges · 150 s reload · 19 s active · 8.33 km radar range

See all derived stats

Show

Numbers the spec table cannot show directly: alpha-strike math, DPM, dispersion, AP penetration. Click the formula chip on any row to reveal how it is calculated.

Main battery formulas

Shell Grouping (σ)2
Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
Max Horiz Disp97.6 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (11013/30·(8−0.5)/1000 + 0.5)·30 = 97.6 m
Max Vert Disp58.6 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 97.6 × 0.6 = 58.6 m
Med Horiz Disp31.2 m
50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 97.6 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 31.2 m
Med Vert Disp18.7 m
50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 58.6 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 18.7 m
AP Pen Close218 mm
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 2598 × 25^0.69 × 0.127^-1.07 × 792^1.38 = 218 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far44.1 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (13.8 km), where the shell has slowed to 248.7 m/s: 1e-7 × 2598 × 25^0.69 × 0.127^-1.07 × 248.7^1.38 = 44.1 mm.
HE penetration21 mm
21 mm ≈ 127 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
AP overmatch8 mm
floor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius10
AP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.
Broadside guns used for alpha5
All 5 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time5.3 s
180 degrees / 34 deg/s traverse speed = 5.3 s.
HE full-salvo alpha9,000
1,800 HE damage x 5 broadside guns = 9,000.
AP full-salvo alpha10,500
2,100 AP damage x 5 broadside guns = 10,500.
Base HE DPM150,000
9,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.6 s base reload = 150,000.
Base AP DPM175,000
10,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.6 s base reload = 175,000.
Installed HE DPM168,750
9,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.2 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 168,750.
Installed AP DPM196,875
10,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.2 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 196,875.
Base shells/min83.3
5 broadside guns x 60 / 3.6 s base reload = 83.3.
Installed shells/min93.8
5 broadside guns x 60 / 3.2 s installed Artillery reload = 93.8.
Base fires/min4.17
5 HE shells x 60 / 3.6 s reload x 5% fire chance = 4.17.
Installed fires/min4.69
5 HE shells x 60 / 3.2 s installed reload x 5% fire chance = 4.69.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability0.9 km
Estimated torpedo reaction time8.1 s
detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Torpedo speed43 kt
Travel time to max range122.6 s
range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Tube count10
2 launchers x 5 tubes.
Per-side salvo10 torpedoes
10 (centerline launchers train across - full salvo to either side).
Full-salvo damage232,000
tube count x per-torpedo simulated damage (all torpedoes hitting).
Per-side salvo damage232,000
per-side salvo x per-torpedo simulated damage.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS240
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (20×3.5×1) + (27×3.5×0.95) + (23×3.5×1) = 240. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.
Maximum AA range5 km
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
AA threat index827
SUM over AA auras of (aura DPS x aura range km). A plane crossing the AA bubble is exposed to each aura for a time proportional to that aura's range, so long-reach DPS is worth more than the same DPS in a short bubble. Units: DPS*km; used to rank overall AA threat across the cohort.
Near aura range2 km
Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Black B can equip, from in-game data.

  • Black B default exterior
    DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Primary official WG sources

Filtered to official World of Warships: Legends pages where this ship is a focus, reward, line member, or high-context variant mention.