Nottingham Build & Guide | WoWs Legends

Playstyle

Overview

Nottingham is a Tier VII British heavy cruiser with Sonar as her vision tool. Hydro lets her contest islands and smoke without exposing the hull to vision cycles, which shapes how she pressures caps.

Positioning

Sit 12-15 km from a contested cap where an island shadows you from the opposite battleship line. Hydro (4.9 km on ships, 3.5 km on torpedoes) lights up DDs and incoming torpedoes inside its bubble, so you can push the cap edge from cover without taking the spotting cycle; prefer cover positions over open-water flanks.

Potato Avoidance

Open-water broadside trading

Her 203mm shells citadel cruisers on the wrong frame, and her 35,300-HP hull does not recover from a punished salvo. Pick rotations and angles deliberately; the chip-damage role pays better than the trade-blow role on a cruiser of this profile.

Signature Traits

Long-burning smoke

20.0 s Smoke Generator duration, best of T7 CAs. Holds the smoke shield longer.

Thick end plates

30.0 mm bow and stern plating, both in the top bracket of T7 CAs. Same-tier guns can't overmatch the ends.

Thick bow plate

30.0 mm bow, top decile of T7 CAs. Harder for same-tier guns to overmatch.

Thick stern plate

30.0 mm stern, top decile of T7 CAs.

Slow heal cycle

80.0 s Repair Party reload, worst of T7 CAs. Heals come off cooldown slower than peers.

Short AA reach

3.5 km AA reach, bottom decile of T7 CAs. Drops bombs and rockets land before AA bites.

Acquisition

How to get Nottingham

Nottingham is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Campaign.

CampaignEarnable in the Phantom of Sherwood campaign; campaign ships can later return through other limited methods.

Official WG availability sources

Phantom of Sherwood Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2025-11-03 · End: 2025-11-30 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
Through the Spy Glass: Nottingham Ship feature / release Start: 2025-11-04 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.

Builds Beta

Bruce Fraser is the official recommended direction, with Make Haste improving speed. Build for range, reload, concealment, mobility, and main-battery consistency to preserve Nottingham’s mobile cruiser tempo.

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Commanders frequently paired with this ship Bruce Fraser

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Cohort position

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Where Nottingham sits among Tier VII CAs (46 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.

BestAP fuse timer0.03 s (1 of 20 tied) Top 10%End plates30 mm (3/45 / 10/45) Top 25%Stealth profile11.78 km / 7.07 km (6/46 / 6/46) Top 25%Displacement13,006 t (10/46) Top 25%Citadel belt152 mm (12/45) Bottom 25%Hit points35,300 HP (37/46) Bottom 25%AP DPM207,692 (37/46) Bottom 25%Secondary DPM (per side)90,000 (35/40) Bottom 25%Secondary HE pen17 mm (33/40) Bottom 25%AP velocity814 m/s (37/46) Bottom 25%HE velocity814 m/s (37/41) Bottom 25%Acceleration11 s (38/46) Bottom 25%Engine power90,000 hp (35/45) Bottom 25%Turn-speed retention128.6 hp/m (35/45) Bottom 25%AA DPS190 (42/46) Bottom 10%Deck armor25 mm (43/44) WorstAA range3.5 km (46/46) WorstAA threat471 (46/46) WorstRepair heal rate0.5 %/s (1 of 14 tied)

See 27 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Nottingham -- 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.

Max speed32.5 kt(33/46) Rudder shift12.2 s(24/46) Traverse-to-turn ratio5.85 ×(21/46) Main battery caliber203 mm(16/46) Main battery range15.55 km(24/46) Main battery reload11.7 s(31/46) Sigma2(25/46) HE shell damage2,850(15/41) HE fire chance15%(13/41) Fires per minute6.92(26/41) HE DPM131,538(27/41) AP shell damage4,500(23/46) Main dispersion140.3 m(28/46) HE alpha1,500(22/40) Secondary fire chance6%(15/40) AP arming threshold34 mm(31/46) Power-to-weight6.92 hp/t(27/45) Torpedo range7.98 km(24/33) Torpedo damage15,533(15/33) Torpedo speed62 kt(19/33) Torpedo reload96 s(20/33) Max armor152 mm(15/46) NormSecondary dispersion bracket57(37 of 40 tied at this value) NormAP ricochet start45°(33 of 46 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(33 of 46 tied at this value) NormSecondary range5 km(36 of 40 tied at this value) NormRepair charges2(40 of 45 tied at this value)

Peers in this cohort

Show all 45 peers

De Zeven Provinciën vs

Stats & specs

Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chart More tools in the WoWS Legends Data Lab

All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.

Sonar 4.93 kmRepair 2Def-AASmoke

Survivability

Hit Points35,300

Displacement13,006 t

Armor range16–152 mm

Plate armor thicknesses16, 25, 30, 35, 38, 40, 51, 70, 76, 102, 127, 152 mm

Armor material/layer entries56

Fire resistance36.6%

Fire duration30 s

Torp Reduction7%

Magazine HP

ƒ

The magazine is the module a detonation comes from. Penetrating hits to it raise the detonation chance from 1% toward 30% as its HP is worn down, so a larger magazine pool rides out citadel hits longer before a detonation becomes likely.

17,700

Steering gear HP

ƒ

Durability of the steering gears. As this pool drops, hits are likelier to jam the rudder; unlike most modules the steering can be knocked out and repaired but is never permanently destroyed.

10,600

Main Battery

ModuleArtillery: 203 mm/50 BL Mk.III

Mounts / barrels3 mounts / 9 barrels

Reload time13 s

Firing range15.6 km

Turret traverse8 °/s

Shell Grouping (σ)

ƒ

Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

2

Max Horiz Disp

ƒ

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (15550/30·(8−1.1)/1000 + 1.1)·30 = 140.3 m

140.3 m

Max Vert Disp

ƒ

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 140.3 × 0.6 = 84.2 m

84.2 m

Med Horiz Disp

ƒ

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 140.3 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 44.8 m

44.8 m

Med Vert Disp

ƒ

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 84.2 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 26.9 m

26.9 m

Turret turn time

ƒ

180 degrees / 8 deg/s traverse speed = 22.5 s.

22.5 s

Base shells/min

ƒ

9 broadside guns x 60 / 13 s base reload = 41.5.

41.5

HE shells

HE Damage2,850

HE Velocity814 m/s

Fire Chance15%

HE penetration

ƒ

34 mm ≈ 203 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

34 mm

HE full-salvo alpha

ƒ

2,850 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 25,650.

25,650

Base HE DPM

ƒ

25,650 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 13 s base reload = 118,385.

118,385

Installed HE DPM

ƒ

25,650 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 11.7 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 131,538.

131,538

Base fires/min

ƒ

9 HE shells x 60 / 13 s reload x 15% fire chance = 6.23.

6.23

AP shells

AP Damage4,500

AP Velocity814 m/s

Min Ricochet45 deg

Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg

Fuse Timer0.033 s

Fuse Threshold34 mm

AP overmatch

ƒ

floor(203 mm caliber / 14.3) = 14 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

14 mm

AP Pen Close

ƒ

Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 2650 × 116.1^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 814^1.38 = 403.3 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

403.3 mm

AP Pen Far

ƒ

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (19.4 km), where the shell has slowed to 358.6 m/s: 1e-7 × 2650 × 116.1^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 358.6^1.38 = 130.1 mm.

130.1 mm

AP full-salvo alpha

ƒ

4,500 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 40,500.

40,500

Base AP DPM

ƒ

40,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 13 s base reload = 186,923.

186,923

Installed AP DPM

ƒ

40,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 11.7 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 207,692.

207,692

AP AOE Radius

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.

30

◇

Torpedoes

ModuleTorpedoes: 533 mm QR Mk IV

Launchers / tubes4 launchers × 4 tubes = 16 tubes

Reload time96 s

Projectile speed62 kt

Range7.98 km

Maximum simulated damage14,433 (est.)

Alpha damage43,300

Torpedo detectability1.3 km

Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s

Torp Turn7.2 s

Torp Arming191 m

Per-side salvo damage

ƒ

per-side salvo x per-torpedo simulated damage.

115,464

AA Defense

AA mount points10

Close-range AA DPS

ƒ

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (38×3.5×0.9) + (11×3.5×0.85) + (12×3.5×0.9) = 190. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.

190

Maximum AA range

ƒ

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

3.5 km

40 mm/39 QF Mark VII4×4 40mm

12.7 mm Mk III6×4 13mm

102 mm/45 Mk V (DP)8×1 102mm

DPS

ƒ

Includes 12 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.

12

Range3.5 km

DPS38

Range2.5 km

Total DPS in Aura

ƒ

Far 12 + Medium 38 = 50

50

DPS11

Range1.2 km

Total DPS in Aura

ƒ

Far 12 + Medium 38 + Near 11 = 61

61

S

Secondary Battery

Mounts8

Firing range5.0 km

Shell Grouping (σ)1

Caliber102 mm

Reload time4 s

HE Damage1,500

Muzzle Velocity811 m/s

Fire Chance6%

Armor Pen17 mm

Min Ricochet91°

Max Ricochet60°

Secondary dispersion type

ƒ

Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.

Standard

Max secondary dispersion @ 5 km

ƒ

5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.

315 m

Maneuverability

Engine moduleEngine: 90,000 hp

Engine power90,000 hp

Maximum speed32.5 kt

Turning circle radius700 m

Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt

Traverse-to-turn ratio5.8× slow

Concealment

Detectability by sea11.78 km

Detectability by air7.07 km

Smoke firing penalty6.59 km

Detect after firing main guns11.78 km

Detect Fire Sea13.78 km

Detect Fire Air10.07 km

Guaranteed Detect2 km

✦

Consumables

Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active

Repair Party2 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 0.5% heal per second · 14% of max HP total heal

Smoke Generator5 charges · 70 s reload · 20 s emit / 40 s cloud active

Choose one

Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 96 s active · 4.93 km ship detect · 3.47 km torpedo detect

Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost

Module options (1)

Stats above use the fully-upgraded modules. These are the research-tree alternatives; trade-offs are flagged.

HullUpgrade

Turret traverse8 → 6 °/s

See all derived stats

Show ▾

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.

Main battery formulas

Shell Grouping (σ)2

Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

Max Horiz Disp140.3 m

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (15550/30·(8−1.1)/1000 + 1.1)·30 = 140.3 m

Max Vert Disp84.2 m

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 140.3 × 0.6 = 84.2 m

Med Horiz Disp44.8 m

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 140.3 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 44.8 m

Med Vert Disp26.9 m

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 84.2 × 0.319 (σ=2) = 26.9 m

AP Pen Close403.3 mm

Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 2650 × 116.1^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 814^1.38 = 403.3 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

AP Pen Far130.1 mm

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (19.4 km), where the shell has slowed to 358.6 m/s: 1e-7 × 2650 × 116.1^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 358.6^1.38 = 130.1 mm.

HE penetration34 mm

34 mm ≈ 203 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).

AP overmatch14 mm

floor(203 mm caliber / 14.3) = 14 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

AP AOE Radius30

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.

Broadside guns used for alpha9

All 9 barrels bear on the broadside.

Turret turn time22.5 s

180 degrees / 8 deg/s traverse speed = 22.5 s.

HE full-salvo alpha25,650

2,850 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 25,650.

AP full-salvo alpha40,500

4,500 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 40,500.

Base HE DPM118,385

25,650 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 13 s base reload = 118,385.

Base AP DPM186,923

40,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 13 s base reload = 186,923.

Installed HE DPM131,538

25,650 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 11.7 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 131,538.

Installed AP DPM207,692

40,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 11.7 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 207,692.

Base shells/min41.5

9 broadside guns x 60 / 13 s base reload = 41.5.

Installed shells/min46.2

9 broadside guns x 60 / 11.7 s installed Artillery reload = 46.2.

Base fires/min6.23

9 HE shells x 60 / 13 s reload x 15% fire chance = 6.23.

Installed fires/min6.92

9 HE shells x 60 / 11.7 s installed reload x 15% fire chance = 6.92.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability1.3 km

Estimated torpedo reaction time8.1 s

detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).

Torpedo speed62 kt

Travel time to max range49.5 s

range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).

Tube count16

4 launchers x 4 tubes.

Per-side salvo8 torpedoes

tube count / 2 (symmetric port/starboard launcher layout; common on cruisers and battleships with deck torpedoes).

Full-salvo damage230,928

tube count x per-torpedo simulated damage (all torpedoes hitting).

Per-side salvo damage115,464

per-side salvo x per-torpedo simulated damage.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS190

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (38×3.5×0.9) + (11×3.5×0.85) + (12×3.5×0.9) = 190. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.

Maximum AA range3.5 km

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

AA threat index471

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.

Near aura range1.2 km

Secondary battery dispersion

Secondary dispersion typeStandard

Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.

Max secondary dispersion @ 5 km315 m

5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.

Secondary battery firepower

Secondary DPM (per side)90,000

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: 8×1 102 mm (4/side) × 60/4 × 1500 = 90,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).

Max HE alpha1500

Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1500 from the 102 mm family.

Max HE fire chance6%

Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 6% from the 102 mm family.

Max HE pen17 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 102 mm family.

Armor

Hull HP 35,300, 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.

Section	Plates	HP cap	Threats	Tactic
Bow	30 mm primary (range 30–40 mm)	1,100 (3% of HP)	Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm30 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)	152 mm primary (range 25–152 mm)	26,500 (75% of HP)	No common caliber overmatches152 mm: no common HE pens	Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern	30 mm primary (range 30–102 mm)	600 (2% of HP)	Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm30 mm: HE pens from 203mm+	Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel	152 mm primary (range 16–152 mm)	≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap)	Citadel pen ×0.33 damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage	Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. Damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead (×0.33 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen).
Superstructure	16 mm	2,500 (7% 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	17,700 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 (102 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	10,600 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.

Shell ballistics chart

AP penetration, impact velocity, flight time and impact angle vs range. Click to load the interactive chart.

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Nottingham can equip, from in-game data.

DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Nottingham

Nottingham Community Stats