New Orleans
Also called: 新奥尔良 Beta- Work the islands rather than a firing line
- Avoid: Pushing in blind because the kit says brawler
On this page
New Orleans Community Stats
Across 14,000+ Standard battles from 360+ players, New Orleans averages a 56% win rate, 43,600 damage and 0.8 kills per battle, and survives 32% of them.
New Orleans Community Stats
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New Orleans Community Stats
Record History
Playstyle
Overview
New Orleans is a Tier VI American heavy cruiser with Sonar as her vision tool. It lets her contest islands and smoke without exposing the hull to vision cycles, which shapes how she pressures caps. She carries no torpedoes, so everything has to come through the guns and the sonar bubble. Sonar reaches 4.2 km. AA (480 AA DPS at 4.2 km, +100% Defensive AA flak burst) ranks 5 of 44 in T6 CAs: heavy enough to make a careless strike expensive, though not the umbrella that shuts a carrier out of her grid. Standout traits: sigma in T6 CAs (2, 5th of 44) and AP overmatch threshold in T6 CAs (14.1 mm, 14th of 44).
Positioning
Work the islands rather than a firing line. Sonar (4.2 km on ships, 3 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 6.8 km, so pick the salvo rather than holding the trigger. The helm answers quickly (6.9 s), so she can break an incoming salvo that slower hulls have to eat.
Potato Avoidance
Pushing in blind because the kit says brawler
4.2-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
- Tight grouping
- Big-caliber AP overmatch · 14.1 mm
- Wide always-pen zone · 60°
480 AA DPS, top decile of T6 CAs (median 267.5).
- Thick end plates · 25 mm
- Thick bow plate · 25 mm
- Burny secondaries · 9%
- Punch-through secondaries · 21 mm
6.9 s rudder shift, top decile of T6 CAs. Snappy weave.
How to get New Orleans
New Orleans is available in the Bombarding Heavy Cruisers branch of the U.S. Tech Tree for 9,000,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 1,800,000 credits.
While you save up, check active promo codes for free doubloons, camouflages, and other rewards.
Show U.S.A. tech-tree branch diagram
New Orleans sits in the Bombarding Heavy Cruisers branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full U.S. tree.
U.S. heavy cruisers are well suited to bombarding enemy ships with powerful, super-heavy armor-piercing shells and high-explosive shells, but they lack torpedoes entirely. Starting from Tier VII, they bring Radar and Sonar together to the battle to detect hidden enemy warships.
- Advantages
- Improved AP shells, Long-duration Radar starting at Tier VII
- Disadvantages
- Low-velocity shells, Poor protection
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 New Orleans sits among Tier VI CAs (43 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 32 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for New Orleans -- 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 VI CruisersShow all 43 peers
Stats & 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° − 146° (the most restricted aft-facing mount's arc) = 34° off bow; 180° − 150° (the most restricted forward-facing mount's arc) = 30° 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 (14.9 km) shells land in an ellipse about 136 m wide and 82 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 / 7 deg/s traverse speed = 25.7 s.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 9 broadside guns x 60 / 13.571 s (13.5 s = 95 ticks) base reload = 39.8. All upgrades (top gun): 9 broadside guns x 60 / 12 s all-upgrades reload = 45.HE shells
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34 mm ≈ 203 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).ƒ
2,800 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 25,200.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 25,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 13.571 s (13.5 s = 95 ticks) base reload = 111,411. All upgrades (top gun): 25,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 12 s all-upgrades reload = 126,000.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 39.8 shells/min × 0.14 (14% fire chance) = 5.57. All upgrades (top gun): 45 shells/min × 0.14 (14% fire chance) = 6.3.AP shells
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floor(203 mm caliber / 14.3) = 14 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 (14.9 km), where the shell has slowed to 406.8 m/s: .ƒ
4,600 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 41,400.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 41,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 13.571 s (13.5 s = 95 ticks) base reload = 183,032. All upgrades (top gun): 41,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 12 s all-upgrades reload = 207,000.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
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 66 from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.ƒ
Initial: 37 × 3.5 × 0.9 = 117 → 50 × 3.5 × 0.9 = 158. Raw aura damage × 3.5 × hit probability, the same in-game units as the Close-range AA DPS headline.ƒ
Far 66 + Medium 158 = 224ƒ
Initial: 62 × 3.5 × 0.85 = 184 → 86 × 3.5 × 0.85 = 256. Raw aura damage × 3.5 × hit probability, the same in-game units as the Close-range AA DPS headline.ƒ
Far 66 + Medium 158 + Near 256 = 480ƒ
Each ~2 s salvo fires 2 AA explosions in quick succession, each leaving 2 clouds ahead of the attacking squadron, plus 1 stray cloud farther out that appear off-beat between salvos - up to 5 clouds per salvo × 200 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 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 4.2 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: 8×1 127 mm (4/side) × 60/4.571 s (4.5 s = 32 ticks) × 1800 = 94,500. 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) 4.7 × (1 − 0.3 fire resistance) × 60 s × 0.003 of max HP per second × 59,350 HP = 35,334. 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) 94,500 + secondary fire DPM 35,334 = 129,834: shell damage plus fire damage against one T6 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
8×1 barrels / 2 sides × 60 / 4.571 s (4.5 s = 32 ticks) × 0.09 (9% fire chance) = 4.7. 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 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.ƒ
top speed / 4 + 4.9 = 32.5 / 4 + 4.9 = 13.0 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 (29.2 kt of 32.5 kt).ƒ
Time to reach 99% of top speed (32.2 kt of 32.5 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
With the rudder hard over the hull turns 6.1°/s, so a target drifts across the bow at that rate. Turret traverse minus hull turn: 7 − 6.1 = +0.9°/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): 12.13 km x 0.955 = 11.58 km. Camouflage does not change detectability by air.ƒ
Detectability by sea 12.13 km x 0.955 (Grade IV permanent camo or any disposable camo) = 11.58 km.ƒ
max(main battery range, sea detectability 12.13 km) = 14.92 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 7.28 km + gun-firing bloom 4.06 km = 11.34 km. The bloom tracks main-battery caliber 203 mm × 0.020 = 4.06 km.ƒ
Sea detectability 12.13 km + 2.0 km while burning = 14.13 km.ƒ
Air detectability 7.28 km + 3.0 km while burning = 10.28 km.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 94 s active · 4.2 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):
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · ×2 flak burst boost ƒ
Repeats the flak burst pattern ×2 within each salvo - more clouds in the air over the salvo, at the same spots.
Catapult Fighter4 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 14918.2 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 14918.2 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 651.8 m/s is the shell's speed when it arrives at 5 km (from 853 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 504.2 m/s is the shell's speed when it arrives at 10 km (from 853 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 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 853 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 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 823 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.3 mounts × 3 barrels = 9; all 9 bear on the broadside.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.AA defense
Only families that reach 4.2 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 40mm Bofors Mk2 6x4 -> 158 DPS @ 3.5 km; 20mm Oerlikon MK4 9x1 -> 89 DPS @ 2 km; 20mm Oerlikon MK20 Twin12 17x2 -> 167 DPS @ 2 km; 5in25 Mk19 Mod6 8x1 -> 66 DPS @ 4.2 km.@ 4.2 km: 66 from one family; @ 3.5 km: 158 + 66 = 224; @ 2 km: 158 + 89 + 167 + 66 = 480. 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.158 + 89 + 167 + 66 = 480 DPS: the sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (2 km).158 × 3.5 + 89 × 2 + 167 × 2 + 66 × 4.2 = 1342. 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
The only family (127 mm): 1800. Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1800 from the 127 mm family.The only family (127 mm): 9%. Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 9% from the 127 mm family.The only family (127 mm): 21 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.Ship Charts
Background
The first U.S. heavy cruiser of the new generation. The key difference from the preceding cruisers was her remarkably reinforced armor. Taking into account her limited displacement, the ship boasted a successful balance of armament, protection and speed.
Armor Beta
Hull HP 29,700 → 35,000 with hull upgrade, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds.
Overmatched by 81+ AP guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
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 30%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 25 mm primary (range 16–76 mm) | 2,200 (6% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ AP (Bayern, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP. |
| Hull (midship) | 76 mm primary (range 6–76 mm) | 26,300 (75% of HP) | No common AP caliber overmatches76 mm: most HE shatters, standard pen from 460mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 25 mm primary (range 6–63 mm) | 1,800 (5% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ AP (Bayern, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 127 mm primary (range 6–127 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 | 6 mm primary (range 6–127 mm) | 1,800 (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 | 17,500 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. |
| 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. |
| Rudder (module) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 10,500 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 New Orleans. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Ministry of Balance: Anniversary Tune-Up
- New Orleans: credit earnings increased by 5.26%.
Holiday Update: Glimpse Into the Future
- Updated armor layout for New Orleans: New athwartship parts added to auxiliary room armor; new aft-end plating and fore-end plating parts added to both fore- and aft-end armor. This change has no effect on the performance of the ship.
Ministry of Balance: Italian Concerto
- Stock Main Battery reload speed reduced from 14 to 13.5 s.
- Upgraded Main Battery reload speed reduced from 13 to 12 s.
- Hull plating improved from 16mm/19mm to 25mm on Bow, Stern, Casemate, and Deck.
May Update: Things Are Heating Up!
- Main battery accuracy improved by about 3%.
- Main battery reload time reduced from 15 to 14 seconds.
- Main battery turret traverse speed increased from 6,5°/s to 7°/s.
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior New Orleans can equip.
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.



