Marblehead
Also called: 马布尔黑德 Beta- Work the islands rather than a firing line
- Avoid: Pushing in blind because the kit says brawler
On this page
Marblehead Community Stats
Across 9,600+ Standard battles from 160+ players, Marblehead averages a 63% win rate, 43,800 damage and 1.2 kills per battle, and survives 35% of them.
Marblehead Community Stats
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Marblehead Community Stats
Record History
Playstyle
Overview
Marblehead is a Tier IV American light cruiser whose 152mm guns bring 8.2 fires a minute (1st of 20), with Sonar as her vision tool: it lets her contest islands and smoke without exposing the hull. Her sonar reaches 3.7 km, which is the range at which she can commit to a contest without guessing. Both shells run cohort-strong (top-decile AP at 212,571 AP DPM and cohort-best HE at 150,857 HE DPM), making her a dual-threat gunship: keep AP up against broadsides and citadels, and switch to HE against bow-in ships, superstructures, and the thin or angled targets AP over-penetrates or bounces off. Standout traits: torpedo reload in T4 CAs (38 s, 1st of 21) and turret traverse rate in T4 CAs (10, 6th of 23). The trade is AA DPS in T4 CAs (13, 23rd of 23).
Positioning
Work the islands rather than a firing line. Sonar (3.7 km on ships, 2.7 km on torpedoes) is the whole kit, and it only pays inside that radius, so hold the cover beside a contested cap and use it to catch destroyers and torpedoes coming around the corner: HE into the destroyer, AP into any cruiser that shows you a broadside while it sits in smoke. Firing from a friendly smoke reveals you at 5.2 km, so pick the salvo rather than holding the trigger. Your guns lose penetration at range, so aim AP at broadsides you can still citadel and put HE into superstructures and upper-hull sections, rather than the bow-in or belt armor your shells bounce and shatter on. The helm answers quickly (5.8 s), so she can break an incoming salvo that slower hulls have to eat.
Potato Avoidance
Pushing in blind because the kit says brawler
3.7-km Sonar is what makes the close fight winnable, and it only helps once you are already committed; it does not tell you what is waiting two islands over. Push when a destroyer is lit or a teammate holds vision, not to find out who is there.
Signature Traits
- HE DPM machine · 150857 HE
- AP DPM machine · 212571 AP
- High fire pressure · 8.23 fires/min
- Fast turret traverse · 10°/s
- Flat arc HE shells · 914 m/s
- Fire-starter cruiser
38 s torpedo reload, top decile of T4 CAs. More frequent drops than peers.
13 AA DPS, bottom decile of T4 CAs. Aircraft chew through with impunity; lean on positioning over AA.
5533 damage per torpedo, bottom decile of T4 CAs.
How to get Marblehead
Marblehead is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Containers. 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.
While you save up, check active promo codes for free doubloons, camouflages, and other rewards.
Best listed chance for this ship
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Anniversary U.S.A. crate
4%
IV Marblehead
Event · Anniversary U.S.A. crate
-
Super Santa '22
0.25%
Tier IV or V Premium ship
Archived · Super Santa '22 · 1 of 28 ships
-
Spectral Vault 2.0
0.178571%
Tier IV Premium ship
Archived · Spectral Vault 2.0 · 1 of 14 ships
Show all 10 containers (7 more)
-
Santa Level 2
0.166667%
Tier IV Premium ship
Archived · Santa Level 2 · 1 of 15 ships
-
Secret Santa '21
0.1%
IV Marblehead
Archived · Secret Santa '21
-
Santa Level 1
0.078333%
Tier IV Premium ship
Archived · Santa Level 1 · 2 paths combined · 1 of 15 ships
Show 2 paths
- Santa Level 10.053333%
- Santa Level 1 → Santa Level 20.025%
-
Spectral Vault 1.0
0.073214%
Tier IV Premium ship
Archived · Spectral Vault 1.0 · 2 paths combined · 1 of 14 ships
Show 2 paths
- Spectral Vault 1.00.057143%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.00.016071%
-
Secret Santa '22
0.055833%
Premium Ship
Archived · Secret Santa '22 · 1 of 12 ships
-
Secret Santa '23
0.053333%
Tier IV Premium ship
Archived · Secret Santa '23 · 1 of 15 ships
-
Mystic Box
0.047059%
Tier IV Premium ship
Event · Mystic Box · 1 of 17 ships
Official WG availability sources
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December 2019 Update Patchnotes
Crates
Start: 2020-01-27
- Secret Santa Container (not purchasable directly) offers tier III and IV premium ships and other various goods.
- Yubari, Arkansas, G-101, Iwaki, Texas, Marblehead
- IV Marblehead, IV Texas, IV Kamikaze, V Graf Spee, V T-61, Mutsu, V Dunkerque, V De Grasse, V Arizona, V Warspite, V Aigle (a new French destroyer only available as a drop for now), VI Indianapolis and VI Kidd
Show direct source rows
- Anniversary U.S.A. crate 4% · IV Marblehead
- Mystic Box 0.047059% · Tier IV Premium ship
- Santa Level 1 0.053333% · Tier IV Premium ship
- Santa Level 2 0.166667% · Tier IV Premium ship
- Secret Santa '21 0.1% · IV Marblehead
Want the full picture? Each container page charts the odds as you open more crates - including pity guaranteed-reward timers and, for GD Supporters, pack math personalized to your port.
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 Marblehead sits among Tier IV CAs (22 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 29 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for Marblehead -- 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 IV CruisersStats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →ƒ
How far each mount can train, in degrees to either side of the mount's own facing. A rear turret with ±150° leaves a 60° blind wedge over the bow; one-sided arcs are wing mounts that cover a single side. The data does not say which way each mount faces, so the arcs are listed per mount without bow/stern angles.ƒ
180° − 150° (the most restricted aft-facing mount's arc) = 30° off bow; 180° − 145° (the most restricted forward-facing mount's arc) = 35° off stern. How far off the bow (or stern) the ship must angle before every main turret can fire: the widest blind wedge among the rear-facing (or forward-facing) mounts, from each mount's trainable arc.ƒ
In practice: the baseline curve for a standard cruiser -- at max range (13.4 km) shells land in an ellipse about 125 m wide and 75 m tall. Also on this curve (215): AL Baltimore, AL Chapayev, AL Cheshire, AL Harbin, AL Montpelier, AL Tallinn, AL Zara, Aberdeen, Accord, Agano, Albemarle, Algérie and 203 more.ƒ
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the dispersion model:ƒ
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range:ƒ
50%-hit horizontal radius:ƒ
50%-hit vertical radius:ƒ
180 degrees / 10 deg/s traverse speed = 18 s.ƒ
8 broadside guns x 60 / 7 s base reload = 68.6.HE shells
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25 mm ≈ 152 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).ƒ
2,200 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 17,600.ƒ
17,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 7 s base reload = 150,857.ƒ
68.6 shells/min × 0.12 (12% fire chance) = 8.23.AP shells
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floor(152 mm caliber / 14.3) = 10 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).ƒ
AP formula evaluated at muzzle velocity: .ƒ
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (13.4 km), where the shell has slowed to 364.9 m/s: .ƒ
3,100 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 24,800.ƒ
24,800 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 7 s base reload = 212,571.ƒ
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.ƒ
Most targets only intersect one hull section, so a hit transfers about 1/3 of the warhead alpha (2/3 when the warhead blast >= 5000 and the burst reaches a second section). For this ship: . In battle, a hit on the torpedo belt deals the per-hit figure × (1 − the target's torpedo protection %), a bow or stern hit deals it in full, and a torpedo never counts as a citadel hit.ƒ
16,600 warhead alpha / 3 + 700 blast = 6,233. Warhead alpha / 3 plus the blast addend: the per-torpedo damage figure. The 'Maximum simulated damage' row above applies target geometry to the same warhead.ƒ
Per-torpedo module/blast damage parameter. Most torpedoes carry 500 to 2,000; ships announced by WG as dealing increased module damage carry 9,000 to 12,000, so their hits knock out engines, rudders, and turrets far more often. Comparative figure.ƒ
How long a target has to dodge after your torpedo is spotted at its detectability range (lower means less warning): . 2.6855 converts knots to m/s on the game clock. Base value; commander torpedo-concealment skills lower it further.ƒ
This torpedo carries a flooding-chance value of 0.96 per hit, shown as . Values above 100% are normal: in battle the base chance is scaled down by the target's torpedo protection (the Torp Reduction stat on its Survivability card) and any flood-resistance modifiers, so a value above 100% keeps flooding likely even through partial protection.ƒ
Time to rotate the launchers 180 deg: .ƒ
One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 3 x 5,533 = 16,599. Each hit on the target's torpedo belt is reduced by its torpedo protection %.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
Effective DPS: 4 raw aura damage × 3.5 × 0.9 hit probability = 13 - the same in-game units as the Close-range AA DPS headline.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 × 120 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
Each cloud in the pattern rolls this chance to spawn, so salvos average fewer clouds than the maximum. 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 AA mount is operational - it stops only once every AA mount is knocked out.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
top speed / 4 + 4.9 = 34 / 4 + 4.9 = 13.4 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 (30.6 kt of 34.0 kt).ƒ
Time to reach 99% of top speed (33.7 kt of 34.0 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
With the rudder hard over the hull turns 6.9°/s, so a target drifts across the bow at that rate. Turret traverse minus hull turn: 10 − 6.9 = +3.1°/s, so the guns hold the target through the turn. Main Battery Mod. 2 (+20% traverse) and Mod. 3 (−15%) move this line.ƒ
Base value, no camouflage. With a Grade IV permanent camo (or any disposable camo): 11.14 km x 0.955 = 10.64 km. Camouflage does not change detectability by air.ƒ
Detectability by sea 11.14 km x 0.955 (Grade IV permanent camo or any disposable camo) = 10.64 km.ƒ
max(main battery range, sea detectability 11.14 km) = 13.38 km. Equal to the ship's main battery range (never below base detectability): firing makes you visible to everyone you can reach.ƒ
Air detectability 6.68 km + gun-firing bloom 3.04 km = 9.72 km. The bloom tracks main-battery caliber 152 mm × 0.020 = 3.04 km.ƒ
Sea detectability 11.14 km + 2.0 km while burning = 13.14 km.ƒ
Air detectability 6.68 km + 3.0 km while burning = 9.68 km.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 90 s active · 3.72 km ship detect ƒ
Derived from the consumable's 30 m grid-unit range (km = grid units x 30 / 1000):ƒ
Derived from the consumable's 30 m grid-unit range (km = grid units x 30 / 1000):
Catapult Fighter3 charges · 80 s reload · 70 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.
Main battery formulas
The standard cruiser dispersion curve.(166.7 × (8 − 1.1) / 1000 + 1.1) × 30 = 67.5 m. Horizontal scatter at a fixed 5 km, from the same dispersion model as the rows below - a knife-fight-range anchor comparable across ships.(333.3 × (8 − 1.1) / 1000 + 1.1) × 30 = 102 m. 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.How tall the scatter ellipse is at a fixed 5 km, from the same model, comparable from ship to ship. The height/width ratio is a piecewise-linear curve through three points from the ship's own dispersion data: at 0 m, at m, and at 13376 m. Below the kink: , so .How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above. The height/width ratio is a piecewise-linear curve through three points from the ship's own dispersion data: at 0 m, at m, and at 13376 m. Above the kink: , so .AP penetration at a fixed 5 km, from the same ballistic curve as AP Pen Close/Far: the shell's impact velocity at that range fed through the AP formula , where 632.2 m/s is the shell's speed when it arrives at 5 km (from 914 m/s at the muzzle). 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, from the same ballistic curve as AP Pen Close/Far: the shell's impact velocity at that range fed through the AP formula , where 445.4 m/s is the shell's speed when it arrives at 10 km (from 914 m/s at the muzzle). Fixed anchors make ships directly comparable at the same fighting distance; the Charts card plots the full curve.How long an HE shell takes to reach a target at a fixed 10 km, from the same numerically integrated trajectory the Charts card plots. The shell slows under quadratic air drag, , where is air density from a standard-atmosphere profile and bundles the shell's drag coefficient, caliber and mass: . That runs from a 914 m/s muzzle velocity in 0.02 s steps under gravity 9.8 m/s² until the shell lands, then divides by 2.77 because the game clock runs faster than real time. Lower is better, since a faster shell is harder to dodge and needs less lead.How long an AP shell takes to reach a target at a fixed 10 km, from the same numerically integrated trajectory the Charts card plots. The shell slows under quadratic air drag, , where is air density from a standard-atmosphere profile and bundles the shell's drag coefficient, caliber and mass: . That runs from a 914 m/s muzzle velocity in 0.02 s steps under gravity 9.8 m/s² until the shell lands, then divides by 2.77 because the game clock runs faster than real time. Lower is better, since a faster shell is harder to dodge and needs less lead.Counted from each mount's firing arc: most barrels that bear at once: 8 of 12, on the beam; casemate/wing mounts only fire one side.Model inputs
Armor-penetration constant of the AP shell; penetration scales straight with it, so a 10% higher Krupp is 10% more penetration at every range.Enters penetration as mass^0.69 and slows the shell's drag deceleration, so a heavier shell keeps more velocity at range.Air drag on the AP shell in flight; lower keeps velocity, and with it penetration, at long range.Starting speed of the AP shell; penetration scales with velocity^1.38.Starting speed of the HE shell; sets its flight time and lead.Horizontal dispersion growth per idealDistance of range, in 30 m units; the slope of the scatter-width line.Horizontal dispersion at zero range, in 30 m units; the intercept of the scatter-width line.Range step over which horizontal dispersion grows by idealRadius.Inside this range the scatter width tapers toward minRadius instead of following the line.Vertical scatter as a share of horizontal at zero range.Vertical scatter as a share of horizontal at the delim point.Vertical scatter as a share of horizontal at maximum range.Where the vertical-scatter curve bends, as a share of maximum range.Torpedoes
1000 m / (49.0 kt × 2.6855) = 7.6 s. detectability / (speed kt x 2.6855 m/s per knot on the game clock).8220 m / (49.0 kt × 2.6855) = 62.5 s. range / (speed kt x 2.6855 m/s per knot on the game clock).2 launchers × 3 tubes.6 wing tubes / 2 = 3: the launchers sit one per beam, so only half of them reach any one side. Each launcher reloads on its own, so she can fire one beam, turn, and fire the other without waiting.All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 6 x 5,533 = 33,198. Each hit on the target's torpedo belt is reduced by its torpedo protection %.AA defense
Only families that reach 3.5 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 3in50 Mk22 Mod2 4x1 -> 13 DPS @ 3.5 km.@ 3.5 km: 13 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.13 = 13 DPS: the sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (3.5 km).13 × 3.5 = 46. 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.Ship Charts
Background
A high-speed scout cruiser with powerful torpedoes and artillery. Carried aircraft handling equipment. She was unique among ships of her class in terms of the placement of her main guns.
Armor Beta
Hull HP 27,000, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds.
Overmatched by 136+ 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 17%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 10 mm primary (range 10–25 mm) | 3,500 (13% of HP) | Overmatched by 150mm+ AP (De Ruyter, Karlsruhe)Angle bounces 127mm10 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 6–38 mm) | 20,300 (75% of HP) | Overmatched by 127mm+ AP (Shenyang, Nicholas)6 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 10 mm primary (range 10–25 mm) | 1,900 (7% of HP) | Overmatched by 150mm+ AP (De Ruyter, Karlsruhe)Angle bounces 127mm10 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 10–37 mm) | 1,300 (5% 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 | 13,500 magazine HP | Turret knocked out | Per-turret powder-magazine HP, a separate pool that does not drain ship HP. As it is worn down the turret is likelier to be knocked out, and a smaller pool gets there faster. |
| AA mount (76 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 | 8,100 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.
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior Marblehead 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.
