Hermes
Also called: 竞技神 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
Hermes Community Stats
Across 2,900+ Standard battles from 290+ players, Hermes averages a 59% win rate, 32,200 damage and 0.8 kills per battle, and survives 58% of them.
Hermes Community Stats
Log in to GamingDiver and upload your data to see Community Data for Hermes: community win rate, damage, survival, spotting, and your own comparison.
Hermes Community Stats
Record History
Playstyle
Overview
Hermes is the Tier III British carrier whose HE dive bombers hit hard for up to 3,500 per drop, so impact comes from picking targets and landing bomb runs rather than volume saturation. Her planes are tough enough to push strikes through contested AA. Each squadron flies 4 planes and they come back 67.5 s apiece, so losing a full wave costs 270 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 11 km and run at 25 kn, so that distance plus your speed is the whole margin for noticing a DD has slipped past and getting out. With 9.6 s on the rudder she starts turning late, so the angle has to be set before you are shot at.
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 270 s at best, and your most fragile squadron flies at 1,900 HP, so a wave sent into a wall of AA thins the reserve for the rest of the match.
Signature Traits
- Thickest plate · 76 mm
- Heavy citadel belt · 76 mm
- Heavy belt
1900 HP per plane (weakest squadron), best of T3 CVs. Strikes survive AA pushes that thin peers' squadrons.
- Heavy secondary DPM · 105750 secondary
- Punch-through secondaries · 23 mm
- Secondary fire pressure · 4.23 secondary
11 km surface detect, worst of T3 CVs. Visible before you can react; position early.
9.6 s rudder shift, worst of T3 CVs. Hard to dodge incoming AP; lean on island cover.
How to get Hermes
Hermes is available in the Armored Carriers branch of the U.K. Tech Tree for 270,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 54,000 credits.
While you save up, check active promo codes for free doubloons, camouflages, and other rewards.
Show U.K. tech-tree branch diagram
Hermes sits in the Armored Carriers branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full U.K. tree.
Official WG availability sources
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November update: Fury on the wings of wisdom
Tech tree line
Start: 2021-11-04
- They are available right from the start of the Update, so don't hesitate to learn to fly, and go research them.
- Tier III Hermes
-
The Wings of the Royal Navy
Tech tree line
Start: 2021-11-15
- A whole new tech tree branch is available for you to research, and a dedicated Commander—Sir Denis Boyd—is ready to helm these magnificent ships.
- Tier III Hermes
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 Hermes sits among Tier III CVs (5 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 22 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for Hermes -- 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 Tier III Aircraft CarriersShow all 5 peers
Stats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →ƒ
2 planes per drop x 4 bombs each = 8.ƒ
8 bombs x 3,500 alpha = 28,000, if every bomb hits. Before armor, saturation and the target's damage reduction; a real drop lands a share of it.ƒ
2 planes per drop x 1 torpedo each = 2.ƒ
2 torpedoes x 4,367 alpha = 8,734, if every torpedo hits. Before armor, saturation and the target's damage reduction; a real drop lands a share of 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
Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Base AirDefense aura max range is 0 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.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 10 from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.ƒ
Each ~2 s salvo fires 2 AA explosions in quick succession, each leaving 1 cloud ahead of the attacking squadron - up to 2 clouds per salvo × 130 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 3.5 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 of each gun family's fires/min (per side): 1.4 + 2.9 = 4.2. 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
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: 3×1 102 mm (1.5/side) × 60/4 s × 1500 = 33,750 + 6×1 140 mm (3/side) × 60/5 s × 2000 = 72,000. 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) 4.2 × (1 − 0.1 fire resistance) × 60 s × 0.003 of max HP per second × 40,500 HP = 27,753. 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) 105,750 + secondary fire DPM 27,753 = 133,503: shell damage plus fire damage against one T3 battleship, every shell hitting.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
3.5 km × 57 + 30 = 229.5 m.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
3×1 barrels / 2 sides × 60 / 4 s × 0.06 (6% fire chance) = 1.4. 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.Show 1 more gun family
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6×1 barrels / 2 sides × 60 / 5 s × 0.08 (8% fire chance) = 2.9. 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
top speed / 4 + 4.9 = 25 / 4 + 4.9 = 11.2 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 (22.5 kt of 25.0 kt).ƒ
Time to reach 99% of top speed (24.8 kt of 25.0 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): 11.02 km x 0.955 = 10.52 km. Camouflage does not change detectability by air.ƒ
Detectability by sea 11.02 km x 0.955 (Grade IV permanent camo or any disposable camo) = 10.52 km.ƒ
Air detectability 7.71 km + gun-firing bloom 0 km = 7.71 km. The bloom tracks main-battery caliber x 0.020.ƒ
Sea detectability 11.02 km + 2.0 km while burning = 13.02 km.ƒ
Air detectability 7.71 km + 3.0 km while burning = 10.71 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 3.5 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 4in 45 MK V 3x1 -> 11 DPS @ 3.5 km.@ 3.5 km: 11 from one family. 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.11 = 11 DPS: the sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (3.5 km).11 × 3.5 = 38. 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 firepower
max(1500 (102 mm), 2000 (140 mm)) = 2000. Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 2000 from the 140 mm family.max(6% (102 mm), 8% (140 mm)) = 8%. Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 8% from the 140 mm family.max(17 mm (102 mm), 23 mm (140 mm)) = 23 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: 23 mm from the 140 mm family.Ship Charts
Background
One of the first aircraft carriers of special construction in the world. The ship featured very good speed for her time, had armor protection similar to that of a cruiser, and carried quite a powerful secondary battery. One of her drawbacks was the small size of her aircraft hangar.
Armor Beta
Hull HP 32,200 → 33,200 with hull upgrade, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds.
Overmatched by 47+ AP guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
Thin belt: battleship AP citadels straight through it broadside. Rely on angle, speed and concealment, never sit flat.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 10%, fires burn 60s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 16 mm primary (range 16–76 mm) | 700 (2% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ AP (Nassau, Von Der Tann)Angle bounces 203mm16 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) | 13 mm primary (range 10–16 mm) | 24,900 (75% of HP) | Overmatched by 203mm+ AP (Desert Falcon, Genova)Angle bounces 152mm13 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 16 mm primary (range 16–76 mm) | 800 (2% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ AP (Nassau, Von Der Tann)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 76 mm primary (range 13–76 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 | 10 mm primary (range 10–76 mm) | 400 (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 (140 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. |
| Rudder (module) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 10,000 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 Hermes. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Ministry of Balance: Breaking the Ice
- Hermes is the hidden king of Tier III carriers in terms of performance, as a result we are slightly nerfing her main source of damage, torpedoes.
- Torpedo maximum damage reduced from 5,833 to 5,367.
Ministry of Balance: Aerial Adjustments
- Torpedo bombers:
- Torpedo bomber restoration time increased from 170 to 270 s.
- Dive bombers:
- Dive bomber restoration time increased from 170 to 270 s.
Ministry of Balance: Carriers 2.0 – First Wave
- Dive Bombers:
- Number of attacking aircraft per strike increased from 1 to 2.
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,100 to 1,900 (squadron HP reduced from 8,400 to 7,600).
- Base speed increased from 98 to 108 knots.
- Maximum flight range set to 26 kilometers.
- Maximum hangar aircraft increased from 9 to 12.
- Starting hangar aircraft reduced from 9 to 8.
- Aircraft restoration time increased from 80 to 170 seconds.
- Aircraft restored increased from 1 to 4.
- Torpedo Bombers:
- Number of attacking aircraft per strike increased from 1 to 2.
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 2,200 to 2,000 (squadron HP reduced from 8,800 to 8,000).
- Base speed increased from 97 to 107 knots.
- Maximum flight range set to 26 kilometers.
- Maximum hangar aircraft increased from 8 to 12.
- Aircraft restoration time increased from 90 to 170 seconds.
- Aircraft restored increased from 1 to 4.
Ministry of Balance Reports: Carrier Changes
- Since her introduction, Hermes has been lagging behind her peers in total damage dealt, which also affects the ship’s win rate and battle impact. Hermes dishes out damage equally with both weapons normally, so they have been buffed:
- HE bomb damage increased from 3,200 to 3,400.
- Torpedo damage increased from 5,633 to 5,833.
- Torpedo speed increased from 40 to 42 knots.
- Torpedo range increased from 2.4 to 3.0 km.
- Torpedoes are more likely to disable modules.
Halloween Update: New Friends, Old Foes
- Surface detectability range changed from 10.9 to 11 km; air detectability range changed from 7.6 to 7.7 km.
- Dive bomber HP changed from 2,000 to 2,100; torpedo bomber HP changed from 2,100 to 2,200.
March update: All That is Gold Does Not Glitter
- Maximum bomb damage increased from 2,400 to 3,200.
- Maximum torpedo damage increased from 5,200 to 5,633.
- Speed for torpedo bombers increased by 5 kts.
- Torpedo arming time reduced from 3.5 to 3 s.
- Torpedo speed increased from 35 to 40 kts.
- Torpedo spotting range increased by about 15%.
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior Hermes can equip.
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.
