GamingDiver / WoWs Legends Ships / Delaware
World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Delaware

Beta
U.S.A. · Tier VIII · Battleship · Tech Tree: Aviation Battleships
Fast flanking battleshipUse speed to take flanks and cross-fire from angles.
Playstyle
  • Park 14-17 km from a contested cap with island cover within one rotation of your bow
  • Avoid: Launching airstrikes at maneuvering targets
Key characteristics
Lobs over islandsSpotter planeSoft superstructure
Community Data

Delaware Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

Delaware is the Tier VIII American airstrike battleship. Her right-trigger fires a line of dive bombers in place of torpedoes, which gives her a damage source that does not need line of sight on top of her main battery. Standout traits: best turret traverse rate in T8 BBs (12).

Positioning

Park 14-17 km from a contested cap with island cover within one rotation of your bow. The airstrike line wants to cross the cap and the predictable retreat lane, both of which favor positions a little further back than a brawler would take. Open-water lanes are pure downside; you do not need line of sight to score with the airstrike, so cover is free upside.

Potato Avoidance

Launching airstrikes at maneuvering targets

The squadron's travel time is long enough that a healthy DD or cruiser with engine boost simply turns out of the cone. Reserve strikes for capping destroyers, island-huggers, and anyone already tying up with a teammate.

Signature Traits

Airstrike alt-armament

Right-trigger fires a bomber line in place of torpedoes. Rewards behind-cover positioning with the cap in range.

Long DCP window

20.0 s Damage Control duration, best of T8 BBs. Stays fire / flood immune longer per activation.

Long spotter loiter

40.0 s Observation Seaplane duration, best of T8 BBs. Spotting + main-battery range bonus stays up longer.

Big spotter range bonus

+20.0% main-battery range from Observation Seaplane, best of T8 BBs. Outranges peers while spotter is active.

Heavy armor

439.0 mm max plate, top decile of T8 BBs.

Soft superstructure

6.0 mm superstructure, bottom decile of T8 BBs. HE farms harder.

Acquisition

How to get Delaware

Delaware is available in the Aviation Battleships branch of the U.S. Tech Tree for 25,000,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 5,000,000 credits. Official source cards below may also show its temporary Early Access window before it became a normal Tech Tree unlock. 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.

Show U.S.A. tech-tree branch diagram
U.S. Tech Tree

Delaware sits in the Aviation Battleships branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full U.S. tree.

U.S. hybrid battleships offer unique torpedo airstrike capabilities compared to conventional battleships, but they make large targets and have more limited gunnery abilities as a trade-off.
Advantages
Torpedo Airstrike, Large HP pool
Disadvantages
Low-velocity shells, Limited main battery firing angles, Large target
4 ships in highlighted branch · scroll to inspect all U.S. lines.
U.S.A.IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIII
Destroyer
Cruiser
Light cruiser split
Battleship
Alternative battleship
Hybrid battleship
Carrier
Tier IIWickesPASD027 Tier IIIClemsonPASD019 Tier IVFarragutPASD005 Tier VMahanPASD006 Tier VIBensonPASD008 Tier VIIFletcherPASD021 Tier VIIIA. M. SumnerPASD114 Tier IAlbanyPASC003 Tier IISt. LouisPASC004 Tier IIIPhoenixPASC024 Tier IVOmahaPASC005 Tier VPensacolaPASC012 Tier VINew OrleansPASC014 Tier VIIBaltimorePASC017 Tier VIIIBuffaloPASC109 Tier VDallasPASC206 Tier VIHelenaPASC207 Tier VIIClevelandPASC208 Tier VIIISeattlePASC209 Tier IIIWyomingPASB004 Tier IVNew YorkPASB006 Tier IVNevadaPASB105 Tier VNew MexicoPASB034 Tier VIColoradoPASB008 Tier VIIIowaPASB018 Tier VIIIMainePASB118 Tier VTennesseePASB106 Tier VINorth CarolinaPASB012 Tier VIIKansasPASB108 Tier VIIIMinnesotaPASB109 Tier VIConnecticutPASB207 Tier VIINebraskaPASB208 Tier VIIIDelawarePASB209 Tier IIILangleyPASA004 Tier VRangerPASA006 Tier VIILexingtonPASA012

Best listed chance for this ship

Official WG availability sources
Show direct source rows

Builds Beta

Primary tech-tree. Joseph Reeves carries the full airstrike skill suite (range, cruise speed, torpedo speed and damage, plane HP). Pair with Jonathan Hawke (Big Game Hunter trait: more airstrike damage vs BB / CA / CV) for damage focus, or Commander Riker (Number One trait: airstrike cooldown reduction) for more strikes per match.

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Cohort position

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Where Delaware sits among Tier VIII BBs (25 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.

BestAA threat3,141 (1/25) Top 10%Max speed33 kt (2/25) Top 10%Turn-speed retention230.4 hp/m (3/25) Top 10%Max armor439 mm (3/25) Top 25%Air detection12.38 km (7/25) Top 25%Engine power212,000 hp (5/25) Top 25%Power-to-weight3.59 hp/t (4/25) Top 25%AA DPS700 (6/25) Bottom 25%Fires per minute6 (21/25) Bottom 25%HE DPM95,000 (23/25) Bottom 25%AP DPM218,333 (21/25) Bottom 25%Secondary DPM (per side)180,000 (20/25) Bottom 25%HE alpha1,800 (19/23) Bottom 25%Secondary HE pen21 mm (21/23) Bottom 25%AP velocity762 m/s (21/25) Bottom 25%Citadel belt297 mm (21/25) WorstTraverse-to-turn ratio3.78 × (25/25) WorstSecondary fire chance5% (1 of 3 tied) WorstSecondary range5 km (1 of 12 tied) WorstNo torpedoes (18 of 25 in cohort)
See 24 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Delaware -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort. Stats tagged NORM are tied across more than half the cohort, so the value is the cohort default rather than a standout.

Hit points75,100 HP(15/25) Concealment15.47 km(9/25) Rudder shift22.4 s(19/25) Main battery caliber406 mm(14/25) Main battery range17.31 km(9/25) Main battery reload28.8 s(15/25) Sigma1.85(13/25) HE shell damage5,700(15/25) HE fire chance36%(11/25) Main dispersion217.4 m(11/25) HE velocity820 m/s(15/25) Acceleration9 s(11/25) AP arming threshold68 mm(15/25) Displacement59,033 t(19/25) AA range5 km(13/25) Repair charges3(11/25) Bow armor32 mm(13/25) Deck armor127 mm(15/25) NormSecondary dispersion bracket57(21 of 25 tied at this value) NormAP fuse timer0.03 s(22 of 25 tied at this value) NormAP ricochet start45°(23 of 25 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(23 of 25 tied at this value) NormRepair heal rate0.5 %/s(18 of 25 tied at this value) NormStern armor32 mm(23 of 25 tied at this value)

Stats & specs

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

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

Repair 3Fighter
Survivability
Hit PointsInitial: 68,800 → 75,100
Displacement59,033 t
Armor range6–439 mm
Plate armor thicknesses6, 16, 19, 25, 32, 38, 50, 51, 58, 76, 127, 142, 152, 157, 163, 181, 184, 216, 287, 297, 307, 343, 439 mm
Armor material/layer entries70
Fire resistance40%
Fire duration60 s
Torp Reduction37%
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.
40,400
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.
22,500
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 406 mm Mk7
Mounts / barrels3 mounts / 8 barrels
Reload time32 s
Firing range (base)15.7 km
Firing range (top fire control)17.3 km
Turret traverse4 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)
ƒShell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
1.9
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (15740/30·(12−2)/1000 + 2)·30 = 217.4 m
217.4 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 217.4 × 0.6 = 130.4 m
130.4 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 217.4 × 0.338 (σ=1.9) = 73.4 m
73.4 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 130.4 × 0.337 (σ=1.9) = 44 m
44 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.
45 s
Base shells/min
ƒ8 broadside guns x 60 / 32 s base reload = 15.
15
HE shells
HE Damage5,700
HE Velocity820 m/s
Fire Chance36%
HE penetration
ƒ68 mm ≈ 406 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
68 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ5,700 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 45,600.
45,600
Base HE DPM
ƒ45,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32 s base reload = 85,500.
85,500
Installed HE DPM
ƒ45,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 28.8 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 95,000.
95,000
Base fires/min
ƒ8 HE shells x 60 / 32 s reload x 36% fire chance = 5.4.
5.4
AP shells
AP Damage13,100
AP Velocity762 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.033 s
Fuse Threshold68 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(406 mm caliber / 14.3) = 28 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
28 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 × 2520 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 762^1.38 = 847.6 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
847.6 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (21.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 498.9 m/s: 1e-7 × 2520 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 498.9^1.38 = 472.4 mm.
472.4 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ13,100 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 104,800.
104,800
Base AP DPM
ƒ104,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32 s base reload = 196,500.
196,500
Installed AP DPM
ƒ104,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 28.8 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 218,333.
218,333
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.
250
✈
Squadrons
Airstrike 1
Plane HP3,250
Plane max speed180 kn
Planes per strike4
Ordnancetorpedo, 8,000 dmg
Strike reload30 s
Launch arc-60° to 60°
Airstrike 2
Plane HP3,000
Plane max speed180 kn
Planes per strike4
Ordnancetorpedo, 7,500 dmg
Strike reload30 s
Launch arc-60° to 60°
AA Defense
AA mount points29
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (174×3.5×0.75) + (49×3.5×0.7) + (47×3.5×0.75) = 700. 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.
700
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
5 km
76.2 mm Mk33 (upgraded hull only)14×2 76mm
20 mm Oerlikon Mk2015×2 20mm
40 mm Bofors Mk2 (stock hull only)2×4 40mm
40 mm Bofors Mk2 (stock hull only)12×4 40mm
127 mm Mk32 (DP)10×2 127mm
Far + Medium aura
Far DPS
ƒIncludes 47 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.
47
Medium DPS174
Range5 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 47 + Medium 174 = 221
221
Near aura
DPSInitial: 52 → 49
Range2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 47 + Medium 174 + Near 49 = 270
270
S
Secondary Battery
Mounts10
Firing range5.0 km
Shell Grouping (σ)1
Caliber127 mm
Reload time6 s
HE Damage1,800
Muzzle Velocity792 m/s
Fire Chance5%
Armor Pen21 mm
Min Ricochet91°
Max Ricochet60°
Secondary dispersion type
ƒMax dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.
Standard
Max secondary dispersion @ 5 km
ƒ5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.
315 m
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 212,000 hp
Engine power212,000 hp
Maximum speed33 kt
Turning circle radius920 m
Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt
Traverse-to-turn ratio3.8× drags
Concealment
Detectability by sea15.47 km
Detectability by air12.38 km
Smoke firing penalty14.92 km
Detect after firing main guns15.47 km
Detect Fire Sea17.47 km
Detect Fire Air15.38 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
✦
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 80 s reload · 20 s active
Repair Party3 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 0.5% heal per second · 14% of max HP total heal
Choose one
Catapult Fighter3 charges · 60 s reload · 55 s active · 5.56 km patrol radius · 2 squadron size
Observation Seaplane3 charges · 200 s reload · 40 s active · 1 squadron size · +20% main-battery range bonus
Module options (2)

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

HullUpgrade
  • Hit points68,800 → 75,100
  • Rudder shift31.4 → 22.4 s
  • Close-range AA DPS158 → 223
  • Maximum AA range3.5 → 5 km
  • Turret traverse4 → 12 °/s
Fire controlUpgrade
  • Main battery range15,740 → 17,314 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)1.9
Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
Max Horiz Disp217.4 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (15740/30·(12−2)/1000 + 2)·30 = 217.4 m
Max Vert Disp130.4 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 217.4 × 0.6 = 130.4 m
Med Horiz Disp73.4 m
50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 217.4 × 0.338 (σ=1.9) = 73.4 m
Med Vert Disp44 m
50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 130.4 × 0.337 (σ=1.9) = 44 m
Dispersion familyUS/UK BB Disp.
2.5% overall improvement compared to EU BB Disp.
AP Pen Close847.6 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 × 2520 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 762^1.38 = 847.6 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far472.4 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (21.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 498.9 m/s: 1e-7 × 2520 × 1225^0.69 × 0.406^-1.07 × 498.9^1.38 = 472.4 mm.
HE penetration68 mm
68 mm ≈ 406 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
AP overmatch28 mm
floor(406 mm caliber / 14.3) = 28 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius250
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 alpha8
All 8 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time45 s
180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.
HE full-salvo alpha45,600
5,700 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 45,600.
AP full-salvo alpha104,800
13,100 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 104,800.
Base HE DPM85,500
45,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32 s base reload = 85,500.
Base AP DPM196,500
104,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 32 s base reload = 196,500.
Installed HE DPM95,000
45,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 28.8 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 95,000.
Installed AP DPM218,333
104,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 28.8 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 218,333.
Base shells/min15
8 broadside guns x 60 / 32 s base reload = 15.
Installed shells/min16.7
8 broadside guns x 60 / 28.8 s installed Artillery reload = 16.7.
Base fires/min5.4
8 HE shells x 60 / 32 s reload x 36% fire chance = 5.4.
Installed fires/min6
8 HE shells x 60 / 28.8 s installed reload x 36% fire chance = 6.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS700
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (174×3.5×0.75) + (49×3.5×0.7) + (47×3.5×0.75) = 700. 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 index3141
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

Secondary battery dispersion

Secondary dispersion typeStandard
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.
Max secondary dispersion @ 5 km315 m
5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.

Secondary battery firepower

Secondary DPM (per side)180,000
Sum across all secondary families of (per-side barrels × 60 / reload_s × alpha), where per-side barrels = mounts × barrels-per-mount / 2 (the guns that bear on one broadside target). Per-family: 10×2 127 mm (10/side) × 60/6 × 1800 = 180,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).
Max HE alpha1800
Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1800 from the 127 mm family.
Max HE fire chance5%
Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 5% from the 127 mm family.
Max HE pen21 mm
Maximum HE armor penetration across secondary HE families (caliber × 1/6 for most nations; 1/4 for German/UK BBs). Shells whose pen falls under a plate's armor thickness shatter for 0 hull damage though fire chance still applies. Best on this ship: 21 mm from the 127 mm family.

Armor

Hull HP 68,800 → 75,100 with hull upgrade, 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
Bow32 mm primary (range 32–50 mm)2,800 (4% of HP)
Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm32 mm: HE pens from 203mm+
Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP.
Hull (midship)19 mm primary (range 16–439 mm)56,300 (75% of HP)
Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst '43, Schill)Angle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern32 mm primary (range 6–439 mm)4,800 (6% of HP)
Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm32 mm: HE pens from 203mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel297 mm primary (range 32–297 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).
Superstructure6 mm primary (range 6–439 mm)800 (1% 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 HP40,400 magazine HPMagazine detonation1–30% chance · below ~75% HPPer-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.
Secondary mount (127 mm mount)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP800 per-mount HPDestroyed at 0 HPPer-mount HP for the heaviest secondary on this ship. A mount destroyed at 0 HP is out for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. Smaller (lighter-caliber) secondaries typically share the same HP value.
AA mount (76 mm mount)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP200 per-mount HPDestroyed at 0 HPPer-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.
Engine (module, research)engine coefficient (unconfirmed)-0.128 research estimateLargest on BB/BC; zero on destroyersEngine durability isn't a per-ship HP field in the binary. This small negative coefficient is non-zero only on battleships, battlecruisers, and the heaviest cruisers, and is exactly zero on every destroyer, so it scales with hull displacement rather than any commander skill. Most likely an engine drag or power term in the same family as the decoded deceleration fields; exact meaning unconfirmed in the current decoder.
Rudder (module)separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP22,500 module HPIncapacitated at 0 HPWhen 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.

Balance History

Balance updates affecting Delaware. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.

Nerf ×16Rework ×2Airstrike ×1Main Battery ×2
2026-04-30

Ministry of Balance: Viva la Marina!

  • Air Support: Special-effect activation distance reduced from 7.5/8/8.5/9 km to 7/7.4/7.7/8 km.
  • Hidden Hand: Airstrike-launched torpedo damage penalty deepened: now -25/22/18/15% (was -20/17/13/10%).
Read the full official post
2025-06-26

Ministry of Balance: Declaration of Changes

  • Main battery reload time increased from 30 to 32 seconds.
  • Main battery shell grouping reduced by 2.6% (from 1.9 to 1.85 sigma).
  • Upgraded Airstrike torpedo speed reduced from 50 to 45 knots.
  • The Agile ship trait has been replaced with Fast. This doesn't affect the ship's performance.
Read the full official post
2024-10-10

Ministry of Balance: Trick and Treat

  • "Tough" ship trait replaced by "Ironclad".
  • Stock hull total health reduced from 69,990 to 68,800.
  • Stock hull engine HP reduced from 80,800 to 75,100.
  • Stock hull casemate HP reduced from 8,900 to 8,800.
  • Stock hull auxiliary room HP reduced from 4,200 to 4,100.
  • Stock hull HP reduced from 52,400 to 51,600.
  • Stock hull steering gear HP reduced from 21,000 to 20,600.
  • Upgraded hull total health reduced from 80,800 to 75,100.
  • Upgraded hull engine HP reduced from 80,800 to 75,100.
  • Upgraded hull bow HP reduced from 3,100 to 2,800.
  • +4 more official change lines in the source post.
Read the full official post
Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

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

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.

2024-06-27 · Patch notes July Update: Skyward Endeavors Patch notes 2024-08-01 · Patch notes Anniversary Update: Champion's Journey Patch notes 2024-10-10 · Patch notes Halloween Update: Crimson Tale Patch notes 2025-06-26 · Patch notes July Update: Of Stars and Freedom Patch notes