Log in to GamingDiver and upload your data to see Community Data for Iowa: community win rate, damage, survival, spotting, and your own comparison.
Iowa is a Tier VII American sniper battleship (17.7 km): the long main battery reach lets her land AP citadels from positions where peer BBs have to push to engage. AA (674 AA DPS at 5 km) is heavy enough to make her the team's air-defense anchor on top of the lead role; CV strikes route around her, not through. Standout traits: best DCP duration in T7 BBs (20 s) and top-decile engine power in T7 BBs (212,000 HP).
Anchor a flank at 14-17 km with bow toward the closest threat, then use the speed advantage at 33 kn to rotate to the cap that needs a second battleship rather than the one your team already has. Mobility means you can pick which fight you are in; do not waste it by holding center the whole match.
The mobility advantage is about picking which cap fight you arrive at, not about leading the brawl line; a fast BB that overextends loses HP that the kit cannot trade back.
20.0 s Damage Control duration, best of T7 BBs. Stays fire / flood immune longer per activation.
439.0 mm max plate, top decile of T7 BBs.
674.0 AA DPS, top decile of T7 BBs (median 536.0).
212000.0 hp engine, top decile of T7 BBs. More headroom for accelerating out of stops and maintaining speed in turns.
19.6 s rudder shift, bottom decile of T7 BBs. Hard to dodge incoming AP; lean on island cover.
19.0 mm armor deck, bottom decile of T7 BBs. Plunging fire and HE eat through.
Iowa is available in the Fast Battleships branch of the U.S. Tech Tree for 18,000,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 3,600,000 credits. Official source cards below may also show its temporary Early Access window before it became a normal Tech Tree unlock.
Iowa sits in the Fast Battleships branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full U.S. tree.
U.S. fast battleships trade some of their deep citadel protection for speed, but they remain fully-fledged battleships. Their long-range main battery and adaptability make them suitable for almost any situation.
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.
Where Iowa sits among Tier VII BBs (49 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.
Not standouts for Iowa -- 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.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 80 s reload · 20 s active
Repair Party3 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 9,800 HP (14% of max HP) total heal (per charge) 
Catapult Fighter3 charges · 80 s reload · 90 s active · 5 km patrol radius 
Observation Seaplane3 charges · 200 s reload · 30 s active · 1 squadron size · Tightens main-battery shell grouping
Secondary Battery Booster3 charges · 160 s reload · 30 s active · +100% grouping · -50% dispersionAll values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
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.
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: Horizontal scatter at a fixed 5 km, from the same verified dispersion model as the rows below - a knife-fight-range anchor comparable across ships.How wide your shells scatter at 10 km, from the same dispersion model as the max-range figure above. Picking a fixed range makes this number directly comparable from ship to ship: max-range dispersion makes a longer-range gun look worse even when it's tighter at any common range. The interactive Dispersion tab on the Charts card plots the full curve from 0 to max range.Horizontal scatter at a fixed 15 km, from the same verified dispersion model - the long-range anchor. Only shown when the ship's guns reach 15 km.Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above.50%-hit horizontal radius: 50%-hit vertical radius: 2.5% overall improvement compared to EU BB Disp.Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: . Matches the in-game spec card.Same formula at the ship's max firing range (22.1 km), where the shell has slowed to 496.2 m/s: .AP penetration at a fixed 5 km, read off the same PC-validated ballistic curve as AP Pen Close/Far: the shell's impact velocity at that range fed through the canonical community AP formula . Fixed anchors make ships directly comparable at the same fighting distance; the Charts card plots the full curve.AP penetration at a fixed 10 km, read off the same PC-validated ballistic curve as AP Pen Close/Far: the shell's impact velocity at that range fed through the canonical community AP formula . Fixed anchors make ships directly comparable at the same fighting distance; the Charts card plots the full curve.AP penetration at a fixed 15 km, read off the same PC-validated ballistic curve as AP Pen Close/Far: the shell's impact velocity at that range fed through the canonical community AP formula . Fixed anchors make ships directly comparable at the same fighting distance; the Charts card plots the full curve.68 mm ≈ 406 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).floor(406 mm caliber / 14.3) = 28 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).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.All 9 barrels bear on the broadside.180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.5,700 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 51,300.13,100 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 117,900.Zero upgrades: 51,300 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 30 s base reload = 102,600. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 51,300 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 27 s all-upgrades reload = 114,000.Zero upgrades: 117,900 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 30 s base reload = 235,800. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 117,900 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 27 s all-upgrades reload = 262,000.Zero upgrades: 9 broadside guns x 60 / 30 s base reload = 18. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 9 broadside guns x 60 / 27 s all-upgrades reload = 20.Zero upgrades: 18 shells/min x 36% fire chance = 6.48. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 20 shells/min x 36% fire chance = 7.2.Only families that reach 5 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 127mm 10x2 -> 131 DPS @ 5 km; 40mm ?x? -> 278 DPS @ 3.5 km; 20mm ?x? -> 265 DPS @ 2 km.Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Decoded AirDefense aura max range is 3.5 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.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.Sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (2 km).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.Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.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).Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1800 from the 127 mm family.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.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.Hull HP 63,900 → 70,000 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.
Overmatched by only MusashiARP Musashi. Angled, everything else bounces.
Citadels come from a flat broadside at close range; held past ~30° of angle, AP shatters or bounces.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 37%, fires burn 60s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 32 mm primary (range 32–50 mm) | 4,500 (6% of HP) | Overmatch not possible in its bracketAngle 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) | 439 mm primary (range 16–439 mm) | 52,500 (75% of HP) | No common caliber overmatches439 mm: no common HE pens | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 32 mm primary (range 6–343 mm) | 5,300 (8% of HP) | Overmatch not possible in its bracketAngle bounces 410mm32 mm: HE pens from 203mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 307 mm primary (range 25–297 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 | 19 mm | 5,600 (8% 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 | 35,000 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. |
| Secondary mount (127 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. |
| Engine (module, research) | engine coefficient (unconfirmed) | -0.128 research estimate | Largest on BB/BC; zero on destroyers | Engine durability isn't a per-ship value in the game data. 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 deceleration stats; its exact meaning is not yet confirmed. |
| Rudder (module) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 21,000 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 updates affecting Iowa. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
The real USS Iowa (BB-61) that gave this ship her name. Facts cross-checked against the linked Wikipedia article.
Decommissioned 1990 following the 1989 Turret 2 explosion that killed 47 sailors. Now a museum ship at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California.
Every custom exterior Iowa can equip, from in-game data.
Filtered to official World of Warships: Legends pages where this ship is a focus, reward, line member, or high-context variant mention.