GamingDiver / WoWs Legends Ships / Chikuma

World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Chikuma

Beta

Japan · Tier I · Cruiser · Tech Tree: Chikuma

Utility cruiserFlexible support -- spot, screen, and farm where the team needs it.

Playstyle

Stay near your team; do not push ahead alone
Avoid: Sailing in a straight line

Key characteristics

2 sigma accuracyHigh fire chanceSlow reload

Community Data

Chikuma Community Stats

Log in to GamingDiver and upload your data to see Community Data for Chikuma: community win rate, damage, survival, spotting, and your own comparison.

Playstyle

Overview

Chikuma is a Tier I Japanese cruiser - a tutorial-tier ship. The kit is for learning basic mechanics: movement, aiming, shell travel time, gun rotation, and reading the minimap. Match impact comes from making fewer mistakes than the other Tier I players, not from gear advantages. Notable: best HE alpha in T1 CAs (2,500) and top-decile HE fire chance in T1 CAs (9).

Positioning

Stay near your team; do not push ahead alone. At Tier I the goal is practicing the basics, so pick a teammate to follow and learn how to lead your shots while their ship is in your field of vision.

Potato Avoidance

Sailing in a straight line

Even Tier I players will lead a predictable target; learn to make small course changes between salvos to break enemy aim. This is the single highest-impact habit to build at this tier.

Signature Traits

Heavy HE shells

2500.0 damage per HE shell, best of T1 CAs. Punishes superstructure and modules harder than peers.

Big-caliber overmatch

10.6 mm overmatch threshold, top decile of T1 CAs. Punishes bow-tanking ships peers can't crack.

High fire chance

9.0% fire chance per HE shell, top decile of T1 CAs.

Overmatch specialist

Caliber-driven overmatch reaches armor thicknesses most cohort peers can't crack. Punish bow-tankers.

Slow reload

10.8 s reload, worst of T1 CAs. Salvos punish more, but cycle is slower than peers.

Acquisition

How to get Chikuma

Chikuma is available in the Chikuma branch of the Japan Tech Tree as an early line ship.

Show Japan tech-tree branch diagram

Japan Tech Tree

Chikuma sits in the Chikuma branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full Japan tree.

1 ships in highlighted branch · scroll to inspect all Japan lines.

JapanIIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIII★

Destroyer

Destroyer Split

Cruiser

Cruiser Split

Battleship

Hybrid Battleship

Carrier

Tier VIIsePJSB527 Tier VIIIDewaPJSB309 Tier VIISuwoPJSB308 Tier VIIIKitakazePJSD219 Tier VIIIYūgumoPJSD209 Tier VIIITakahashiPJSC209 Tier VIIKagerōPJSD208 Tier VIIShimantoPJSC208 Tier VIShiratsuyuPJSD207 Tier VIOmonoPJSC207 Tier VHatsuharuPJSD206 Tier VGokasePJSC206 Tier IVMinekazePJSD205 Tier IVAganoPJSC205 Tier VIIAkizukiPJSD108 Tier VIIShōkakuPJSA108 Tier VIAkatsukiPJSD107 Tier VFubukiPJSD106 Tier IVMutsukiPJSD105 Tier IChikumaPJSC035 Tier IIWakatakePJSD024 Tier VIIIIzumoPJSB021 Tier ★YamatoPJSB018 Tier IITenryūPJSC015 Tier IIIKumaPJSC013 Tier VIIAmagiPJSB013 Tier ★ShimakazePJSD012 Tier VIIIIbukiPJSC012 Tier VINagatoPJSB010 Tier VIIMogamiPJSC009 Tier VRyūjōPJSA009 Tier VIMyōkōPJSC008 Tier IIIIshizuchiPJSB008 Tier VAobaPJSC007 Tier IVKongōPJSB007 Tier VFusōPJSB006 Tier IVFurutakaPJSC005 Tier IIIIsokazePJSD003 Tier IIIHōshōPJSA002

Builds Beta

AL Atago, AL Azuma, and Arpeggio Haguro are useful Japanese cruiser commander directions. Inspirations usually support accuracy, reload, concealment, agility, or survivability so the ship can keep influencing fights without giving up easy citadels.

Open in Build Tool →

Commanders frequently paired with this ship AL Atago AL Azuma Arpeggio Haguro

Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.

Cohort position

Hide ▾

Where Chikuma sits among Tier I CAs (13 ships). Notable standouts are shown first; the rest of the cohort-ranked stats are in the expand below. Acquisition variants (Black Friday, Founders Edition) are counted once with their base ship, not as separate peers.

BestHE shell damage2,500 (1/12) Top 25%Max speed26 kt (3/13) Top 25%Rudder shift5 s (4/13) Top 25%Main battery caliber152 mm (4/13) Top 25%Engine power22,500 hp (3/13) Top 25%Turn-speed retention42.5 hp/m (4/13) Top 25%Power-to-weight4.46 hp/t (4/13) Top 25%Max armor102 mm (4/13) Top 25%Stern armor22 mm (4/13) Bottom 25%Fires per minute2.5 (10/12) Bottom 25%Acceleration8.1 s (11/13) WorstMain battery reload10.8 s (1 of 2 tied) WorstAA threat9 (1 of 3 tied)

See 12 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Chikuma -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort.

Hit points13,100 HP(8/13) Concealment8.19 km(5/13) Air detection4.91 km(6/13) Traverse-to-turn ratio6.22 ×(5/13) Main battery range10.02 km(8/13) HE DPM69,444(9/12) Main dispersion83.3 m(6/13) HE velocity825 m/s(6/12) Displacement5,040 t(10/13) Citadel belt40 mm(5/13) Bow armor19 mm(7/13) Deck armor20 mm(7/13)

Peers in this cohort

Show all 12 peers

Stats & specs

Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chart More tools in the WoWS Legends Data Lab

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

Survivability

Hit Points13,100

Displacement5,040 t

Armor range6–102 mm

Plate armor thicknesses6, 10, 11, 13, 19, 20, 22, 25, 40, 51, 89, 102 mm

Armor material/layer entries39

Fire resistance0%

Fire duration30 s

Torp Reduction0%

Magazine HP

The 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.

6,600

Steering gear HP

Durability 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.

5,600

Main Battery

ModuleArtillery: 152 mm/45 Type41

Mounts / barrels8 mounts / 8 barrels

Reload time12 s

Firing range (base)9.1 km

Firing range (top fire control)10 km

Turret traverse9 °/s

Shell Grouping (σ)

Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

Max Horiz Disp

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (9107/30·(8−0.5)/1000 + 0.5)·30 = 83.3 m

83.3 m

Max Vert Disp

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 83.3 × 0.6 = 50 m

50 m

Med Horiz Disp

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 83.3 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 26.6 m

26.6 m

Med Vert Disp

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 50 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 16 m

16 m

Turret turn time

180 degrees / 9 deg/s traverse speed = 20 s.

20 s

Base shells/min

5 broadside guns x 60 / 12 s base reload = 25.

HE shells

HE Damage2,500

HE Velocity825 m/s

Fire Chance9%

HE penetration

25 mm ≈ 152 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

25 mm

HE full-salvo alpha

2,500 HE damage x 5 broadside guns = 12,500.

12,500

Base HE DPM

12,500 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 12 s base reload = 62,500.

62,500

Base fires/min

5 HE shells x 60 / 12 s reload x 9% fire chance = 2.25.

2.25

AP shells

Min Ricochet91 deg

Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg

AP overmatch

floor(152 mm caliber / 14.3) = 10 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

10 mm

AA Defense

AA mount points2

Close-range AA DPS

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (3×3.5×0.85) = 9. 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 range

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

1 km

6.5 mm 3rd Year Type2×1 7mm

DPS3

Range1 km

Maneuverability

Engine moduleEngine: 22,500 hp

Engine power22,500 hp

Maximum speed26 kt

Turning circle radius530 m

Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt

Traverse-to-turn ratio6.2× slow

Concealment

Detectability by sea8.19 km

Detectability by air4.91 km

Smoke firing penalty3.54 km

Detect after firing main guns8.19 km

Detect Fire Sea10.19 km

Detect Fire Air7.91 km

Guaranteed Detect2 km

✦

Consumables

Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active

Module options (1)

Stats above use the fully-upgraded modules. These are the research-tree alternatives; trade-offs are flagged.

Fire controlUpgrade

Main battery range9,107 → 10017.7 m

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 Disp83.3 m

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (9107/30·(8−0.5)/1000 + 0.5)·30 = 83.3 m

Max Vert Disp50 m

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 83.3 × 0.6 = 50 m

Med Horiz Disp26.6 m

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 83.3 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 26.6 m

Med Vert Disp16 m

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 50 × 0.32 (σ=2) = 16 m

Dispersion familyCruiser Disp.

Standard cruiser dispersion baseline.

HE penetration25 mm

25 mm ≈ 152 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

AP overmatch10 mm

floor(152 mm caliber / 14.3) = 10 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

Broadside guns used for alpha5

Barrels that can bear on one beam (5 of 8); casemate/wing mounts only fire one side.

Turret turn time20 s

180 degrees / 9 deg/s traverse speed = 20 s.

HE full-salvo alpha12,500

2,500 HE damage x 5 broadside guns = 12,500.

Base HE DPM62,500

12,500 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 12 s base reload = 62,500.

Base shells/min25

5 broadside guns x 60 / 12 s base reload = 25.

Base fires/min2.25

5 HE shells x 60 / 12 s reload x 9% fire chance = 2.25.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS9

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (3×3.5×0.85) = 9. 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 range1 km

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

AA threat index9

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 range1 km

Armor

Hull HP 13,100, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are the exact in-game values, not estimated.

Section	Plates	HP cap	Threats	Tactic
Bow	19 mm primary (range 6–102 mm)	1,300 (10% of HP)	Overmatch not possible at T IIAngle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+	Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP.
Hull (midship)	6 mm primary (range 6–13 mm)	10,800 (82% of HP)	Overmatched by 127mm+ (Farragut)6 mm: HE pens from 127mm+	Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern	22 mm primary (range 6–89 mm)	800 (6% of HP)	Overmatched by 356mm+ (Kongō, Nevada)Angle bounces 305mm22 mm: HE pens from 150mm+	Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel	40 mm primary (range 6–40 mm)	≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap)	Citadel pen ×0.10 damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage	Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. Damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead (×0.10 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen).
Superstructure	6 mm primary (range 6–20 mm)	200 (2% of HP)	Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage	Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage. HE-spam target, and the section saturates fast (often only a few thousand HP).
Turret (module, per magazine)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	6,600 magazine HP	Magazine detonation1–30% chance · below ~75% HP	Per-turret powder-magazine HP. Detonation chance scales from 1% (no mag damage) to 30% (full mag damage); this range is the in-game value. Detonation can't roll while the ship is above ~75% HP (the standard detonation-protection threshold, not a per-ship stat). Smaller magazines saturate to the 30% ceiling faster.
AA mount (7 mm mount)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	200 per-mount HP	Destroyed at 0 HP	Per-mount HP for the heaviest AA on this ship. An AA mount destroyed at 0 HP stops shooting down planes for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. HE shells specifically target AA mounts since the small-caliber HP pool falls fast.
Rudder (module)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	5,600 module HP	Incapacitated at 0 HP	When module HP reaches 0 the rudder locks at its current angle until DCP repairs it. Repair via Damage Control Party.

Saturation cap = HP a section can absorb before further damage to it is reduced (the "bow-tank" effect). Citadel pool is ~165k on every ship (effectively no cap); damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead. Superstructure saturates fast but HE always pens regardless of the plate thickness. Rudder (and other module HPs) are a separate pool from ship HP: damaging a module doesn't drain ship HP. Incapacitated modules like the rudder and engine are restored by DCP, but secondary and AA mounts destroyed at 0 HP stay out for the rest of the battle.

Shell ballistics chart

AP penetration, impact velocity, flight time and impact angle vs range. Click to load the interactive chart.

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

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

DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Primary official WG sources

GamingDiver has indexed official WG mentions for this ship, but none are focused enough to show as a primary source card here. Low-context list, crate, comparison, or passing mentions are intentionally filtered out.

Source status No high-context source card yet Filtered for precision