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Saipan is the Tier VII American tough-squadron carrier (2,900 HP per plane). Her planes survive AA pushes that delete peer squadrons, so the kit lets her commit dives into targets other CVs cannot reach. Standout traits: best nimble for the tonnage in T7 CVs (6.3 HP) and best bow armor in T7 CVs (30 mm).
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.
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.
2900.0 HP per plane (weakest squadron), best of T7 CVs. Strikes survive AA pushes that thin peers' squadrons.
6.3 hp per ton, best of T7 CVs. Engine punch outclasses the hull's mass, so the ship retains speed through sustained turns better than peers.
30.0 mm bow, best of T7 CVs. Harder for same-tier guns to overmatch.
13.75 km surface detect, top decile of T7 CVs. Stays dark longer.
1.6 km torpedo detect, worst of T7 CVs. Targets spot the drop early.
20.8 s rudder shift, worst of T7 CVs. Hard to dodge incoming AP; lean on island cover.
Saipan is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Premium/Event.
Build for aircraft survivability, restoration, speed, and strike accuracy. Current guidance should reflect post-balance bomb accuracy/damage, torpedo arming, hangar, and restoration changes rather than older Saipan assumptions.
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Where Saipan sits among Tier VII CVs (10 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 Saipan -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort.
All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
Automatic Damage Control Party∞ charges · 90 s reload · 60 s active
Automatic Fighter4 charges · 150 s reload · 55 s active · 5.56 km patrol radius · 4 squadron sizeNumbers 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.
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (99×3.5×1) + (56×3.5×0.95) = 533. 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.Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.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.Hull HP 47,900, 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 6–30 mm) | 1,500 (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) | 19 mm primary (range 6–127 mm) | 35,900 (75% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 30 mm primary (range 6–102 mm) | 1,900 (4% 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 19–152 mm) | ≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap) | Citadel pen ×0.10 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 (×0.10 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen). |
| Superstructure | 6 mm primary (range 6–16 mm) | 200 (0% 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). |
| 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 | 14,400 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 Saipan. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Every custom exterior Saipan 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.