Hakuryū
Also called: 白龙 Beta- Stay a full map cell behind the brawl line, far enough back that a rotated DD or radar cruiser cannot threaten the hull
- Launch from positions where the recall path stays inside your team's AA umbrella
- Avoid: Trading a full squadron for one high-value kill
On this page
Hakuryū Community Stats
Across 4,500+ Standard battles from 110+ players, Hakuryū averages a 65% win rate, 125,000 damage and 1.3 kills per battle, and survives 71% of them.
Hakuryū Community Stats
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Hakuryū Community Stats
Record History
Playstyle
Overview
Hakuryū is the Legendary Japanese carrier: a balanced strike kit across dive bombers and air torpedoes without a single dominant weapon. The kit rewards reading the enemy AA and picking the squadron that fits the next target. Her air-torpedo alpha is among the heaviest in the cohort. The trade is worst visible air torps in Legendary CVs (1.6 km, 4th of 4). Each squadron flies 12 planes and they come back 26.7 s apiece, so losing a full wave costs 320 seconds of reserves.
Positioning
Stay a full map cell behind the brawl line, far enough back that a rotated DD or radar cruiser cannot threaten the hull. Launch from positions where the recall path stays inside your team's AA umbrella, not over open water where intercepting fighters can finish off limping squadrons. Longer trip back, fewer waves per match. You are spotted at 14.6 km and run at 34.5 kn, so that distance plus your speed is the whole margin for noticing a DD has slipped past and getting out. A 1,250 m turning circle is wide for her cohort, so a committed turn gives up a lot of water; plan course changes a salvo ahead.
Potato Avoidance
Trading a full squadron for one high-value kill
Match impact comes from cycling waves across multiple targets, not committing a dive into layered AA for one battleship. When a target's AA is heavy, route around and find a softer pick rather than burning planes through the wall. Replacing a lost aircraft takes 80 s at best, and your most fragile squadron flies at 2,100 HP, so a wave sent into a wall of AA thins the reserve for the rest of the match.
Signature Traits
- Fast for the class · 34.5 kt
- Quick acceleration
6700 damage per air-dropped torpedo, best of Legendary CVs. Each torp delete-strike hits harder.
- Heavy secondary DPM · 408000 secondary
- Secondary fire pressure · 14.4 secondary
1.6 km torpedo detect, worst of Legendary CVs. Targets spot the drop early.
63100 HP, bottom quartile of Legendary CVs. She dies fast if a surface ship reaches her, so hold position behind the fleet and keep clear of pushes.
How to get Hakuryū
Hakuryū is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition paths: Research Bureau and Doubloons.
- Research BureauA Bureau project.
- DoubloonsDoubloons in the Legends Store (Aug 2022).
While you save up, check active promo codes for free doubloons, camouflages, and other rewards.
Official WG availability sources
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Legendary 2022
Bureau project
Start: 2022-12-30
- Midway, Hakuryū (both obtainable through the Bureau), and Soviet carriers with the new skip bombing mechanic arrived this year.
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Halloween Update: New Friends, Old Foes
Bureau project
Start: 2022-09-29
- These can be used to speed up progress—in the same way as the Breakthrough mechanic works—for the following Bureau Projects: Legendary Birthday 2022, Midway, Hakuryū, and Bourgogne.
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Autumn Update: In the Shadow of Leaves
Bureau project
2022-08-25
- Start your path to the skies today with Legendary monsters coming in the form of two separate Bureau Projects—the highest-tier newcomers are USN Midway & IJN Hakuryū.
- Both Projects are obtainable from the Store for credits or doubloons, and they are here to stay!
- However, the option to purchase them for doubloons will cease to be available once the next update arrives, so please take that into account when planning your resource spending!
Builds
Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.
Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here, or browse the Ship Builds guide for proven loadouts across the fleet.
Cohort position
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Where Hakuryū sits among Legendary CVs (3 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.
See 9 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for Hakuryū -- 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.
Peers in this cohort
Compare Legendary Aircraft CarriersShow all 3 peers
Stats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →ƒ
3 planes per drop x 2 bombs each = 6.ƒ
6 bombs x 7,250 alpha = 43,500, if every bomb hits. Before armor, saturation and the target's damage reduction; a real drop lands a share of it.ƒ
4 planes per drop x 1 torpedo each = 4.ƒ
4 torpedoes x 6,700 alpha = 26,800, if every torpedo hits. Before armor, saturation and the target's damage reduction; a real drop lands a share of it.ƒ
Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Base AirDefense aura max range is 3.5 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.ƒ
Dual-purpose: your secondaries doing double duty against aircraft. The same mounts appear on the Secondary Battery card - shared guns, not extra hardware.ƒ
Effective DPS in in-game units (raw aura damage × 3.5 × hit probability, summed per contributing aura) - matches the Close-range AA DPS headline's currency. Includes 287 from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.ƒ
Effective DPS: 113 raw aura damage × 3.5 × 1 hit probability = 396 - the same in-game units as the Close-range AA DPS headline.ƒ
Far 287 + Medium 396 = 683ƒ
Each ~2 s salvo fires 3 AA explosions in quick succession, each leaving 4 clouds ahead of the attacking squadron, plus 2 stray clouds farther out that appear off-beat between salvos - up to 14 clouds per salvo × 230 damage each. Planes that fly into a cloud take its damage; clouds dissipate before the next salvo lands. Defensive AA Fire, where fitted, multiplies the AA explosions within each salvo, and commander skills that raise the Number of AA explosions add to it.ƒ
Damage a plane takes for flying into one flak cloud, before any reductions.ƒ
Every potential cloud spawns - the full pattern, every salvo. Often called flak 'hit chance', but spawned clouds always damage planes that fly into them - the roll is on spawning.ƒ
A new flak salvo (the AA explosions above) fires roughly every 2 s.ƒ
Flak keeps firing while at least one secondary battery mount is operational - even losing every dedicated AA mount does not stop it.ƒ
The activation band: flak fires while attacking planes are inside it. Clouds are placed ahead of the planes' path, so clouds can land short of 2.5 km or past 5 km - once planes get inside the band, new salvos stop. AA range bonuses push the outer edge out; the 2.5 km inner edge does not move.ƒ
Sum across all secondary families of (per-side barrels × 60 / reload_s × alpha), with each reload counted in whole 1/7 s ticks (guns fire on the first tick after the reload), where per-side barrels = mounts × barrels-per-mount / 2 (the guns that bear on one broadside target). Per-family: 12×2 100 mm (12/side) × 60/3 s (2.86 s = 21 ticks) × 1700 = 408,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).ƒ
Fires/min (per side) 14.4 × (1 − 0.4 fire resistance) × 60 s × 0.003 of max HP per second × 75,900 HP = 118,040. Per side: the barrels that bear on one broadside target (mounts × barrels / 2). A ceiling: assumes every shell hits and ignores the four-fire cap and Fire Prevention.ƒ
Secondary DPM (per side) 408,000 + secondary fire DPM 118,040 = 526,040: shell damage plus fire damage against one T8 battleship, every shell hitting.ƒ
Dual-purpose: the same mounts also fire at aircraft, so they appear on the AA Defense card too - shared guns, not extra hardware.ƒ
12×2 barrels / 2 sides × 60 / 3 s (2.86 s = 21 ticks) × 0.06 (6% fire chance) = 14.4. Per side: the barrels that bear on one broadside target (mounts × barrels / 2). A ceiling: assumes every shell hits and ignores the four-fire cap and Fire Prevention.ƒ
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.ƒ
5.5 km × 57 + 30 = 343.5 m.ƒ
top speed / 4 + 4.9 = 34.5 / 4 + 4.9 = 13.5 kt. Base value; speed modifiers scale it.ƒ
Seconds from top speed to a dead stop after ordering full reverse: reverse power winds in over the reverse spool-up while water drag does most of the braking, using the ship's own reverse-power ratio. The full curve is on the acceleration chart. Full reverse stops about a quarter faster than a plain Stop order from top speed.ƒ
Speed below which the engine's built-in power boost applies in reverse.ƒ
Time to reach 90% of top speed (31.1 kt of 34.5 kt).ƒ
Time to reach 99% of top speed (34.2 kt of 34.5 kt). 99% rather than 100% because true top speed is asymptotic (thrust meets drag), so the last fraction of a knot is never quite gained.ƒ
Base value, no camouflage. With a Grade IV permanent camo (or any disposable camo): 14.64 km x 0.955 = 13.98 km. Camouflage does not change detectability by air.ƒ
Detectability by sea 14.64 km x 0.955 (Grade IV permanent camo or any disposable camo) = 13.98 km.ƒ
Air detectability 10.25 km + gun-firing bloom 0 km = 10.25 km. The bloom tracks main-battery caliber x 0.020.ƒ
Sea detectability 14.64 km + 2.0 km while burning = 16.64 km.ƒ
Air detectability 10.25 km + 3.0 km while burning = 13.25 km.
Automatic Damage Control Party∞ charges · 90 s reload · 60 s active
Automatic Fighter4 charges · 40 s reload · 150 s active · 5 km patrol radius ƒ
Derived from the consumable's 30 m grid-unit range (km = grid units x 30 / 1000):
Under the hood
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All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
The constants behind the formulas and the long tail: shell and dispersion inputs, fixed-range anchors, salvo math, layered AA. Click the formula chip on any row to see how it is calculated.
AA defense
Only families that reach 5 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 40mm Bofors 22x2 -> 396 DPS @ 3.5 km; 100mm65 Type89 12x2 -> 287 DPS @ 5 km.@ 5 km: 287 from one family; @ 3.5 km: 396 + 287 = 683. Cumulative AA DPS at each family range threshold. Inner ranges stack the outer families, so a target closing the distance hits stronger AA bubbles as it crosses each band.396 + 287 = 683 DPS: the sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (3.5 km).396 × 3.5 + 287 × 5 = 2821. 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.Secondary battery dispersion
Same per-type line evaluated at a fixed 5 km: 5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.Secondary battery firepower
The only family (100 mm): 1700. Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1700 from the 100 mm family.The only family (100 mm): 6%. Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 6% from the 100 mm family.The only family (100 mm): 17 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: 17 mm from the 100 mm family.Ship Charts
Background
An aircraft carrier designed to be an enlarged and enhanced version of the Taihō class. Hakuryū was superior to her predecessor in size, armor, and artillery power. Owing to an increased hangar, she could carry the largest air group among all Japanese aircraft carriers.
Armor Beta
Hull HP 63,100, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds.
Nothing in its bracket overmatches it. Angled, every AP shell in matchmaking bounces.
AP can citadel a flat broadside even at range. Stay angled and avoid showing the full side.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 40%, fires burn 60s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 40 mm | 3,400 (5% of HP) | No common AP caliber overmatches40 mm: most HE shatters, standard pen from 283mm+ | 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 13–130 mm) | 47,300 (75% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ AP (Gouden Leeuw)Angle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 19 mm primary (range 16–125 mm) | 2,000 (3% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ AP (Gouden Leeuw)Angle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 165 mm primary (range 25–165 mm) | ≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap) | Citadel pen: full damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage | Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. An AP citadel penetration deals the shell's full damage, the biggest single hit available; only over-penetrations are damped, to ×0.10. |
| Superstructure | 13 mm primary (range 13–57 mm) | 700 (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). |
| Secondary mount (100 mm mount) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 800 per-mount HP | Destroyed at 0 HP | Per-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 (40 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 | 18,900 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.
Balance History
Balance updates affecting Hakuryū. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Ministry of Balance: Summertime Refit
- Torpedo damage increased from 7,400 to 7,800.
- Torpedo AoE damage increased from 1,000 to 1,100.
- Chance of causing flooding increased by 25%.
Ministry of Balance: Aerial Adjustments
- Torpedo bombers:
- Torpedo bomber restoration time increased from 76 to 107 s.
- Torpedo bomber maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,180 to 2,100.
- Torpedo bomber base speed reduced from 153 to 142 kts.
- Dive bombers:
- Dive bomber restoration time increased from 57 to 80 s.
- Dive bomber maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,170 to 2,100.
- Dive bomber base speed reduced from 167 to 130 kts.
Ministry of Balance: Carriers 2.0 – First Update
- Dive bombers:
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,250 to 2,170 (squadron HP reduced from 27,000 to 26,040).
- Torpedo bombers:
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,300 to 2,180 (squadron HP reduced from 27,600 to 26,160).
- Base speed reduced from 160 to 153 knots.
- Torpedo speed reduced from 50 to 48 knots.
- Torpedo damage reduced from 9,200 to 7,400.
Ministry of Balance: Carriers 2.0 – First Wave
- Dive Bombers:
- Aiming speed increased (aiming circle shrinks faster).
- Bombs per aircraft increased from 1 to 2.
- Number of aircraft in squadron increased from 8 to 12.
- Dive bomber accuracy (likelihood of an individual bomb hitting the inner circle) reduced from 75 to 60%.
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,600 to 2,250 (squadron HP increased from 23,400 to 27,000).
- Base speed increased from 148 to 167 knots.
- Aircraft maximum flight range set to 36 kilometers.
- Bomb damage reduced from 12,500 to 7,250.
- HE bomb penetration reduced from 60.1 to 55 mm.
- Bomb fire-setting chances reduced from 55 to 40%.
- Bomb splash radius reduced.
- Maximum & starting hangar aircraft increased from 18 to 24.
- Aircraft restoration time increased from 40 to 57 seconds.
- Aircraft restored increased from 1 to 3.
- Torpedo Bombers:
- Number of aircraft in squadron increased from 8 to 12.
- Number of attacking aircraft per strike increased from 2 to 4.
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,800 to 2,300 (squadron HP increased from 22,400 to 27,600).
- Base speed increased from 141 to 160.
- Aircraft maximum flight range set to 34 kilometers.
- Maximum & starting hangar aircraft increased from 20 to 24.
- Aircraft restoration time increased from 40 to 76 seconds.
- Aircraft restored increased from 1 to 4.
Halloween Update: New Friends, Old Foes
- Surface detectability range changed from 15.7 to 14.6 km; air detectability range changed from 12.6 to 10.3 km.
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior Hakuryū can equip.
DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior
Spaceport HellcarrierDecorative
Space skin for HakuryūSpace
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.
