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Sampson is a Tier II American stealth-leaning destroyer with strong surface detection (5.7 km). The kit opens detection windows most peer DDs cannot match, so her value is contesting caps from concealment edges where the detection band holds. Standout traits: best AP shell velocity in T2 DDs (884) and best flat HE shells in T2 DDs (884).
Hold concealment edges on the contested cap at 5.7 km detection. The band opens windows for unspotted torpedo drops and clean repositions; lean into the gaps your peer DDs cannot read, and back out before detection closes. 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.
Every salvo lights you up and gives back the detection edge that makes the kit work; reserve guns for finishing damage on already-spotted ships, and prioritize torpedo drops you can fire while undetected.
+8% speed, 120 s duration. Engine Boost consumable temporarily raises top speed. Mobility on demand to reposition, chase a kill, or break contact.
109.0 s smoke cloud linger, best of T2 DDs. Each puff stays up longer after you stop laying it, holding the shield.
Sampson is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Premium/Event.
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 Sampson sits among Tier II DDs (24 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 Sampson -- 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 · 40 s reload · 5 s active
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 23 s emit / 109 s cloud active · 450 m radius
Engine Boost2 charges · 180 s reload · 120 s active · +8% speed bonusAll 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.Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: 50%-hit horizontal radius: 50%-hit vertical radius: 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 (10.8 km), where the shell has slowed to 293.1 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.17 mm ≈ 102 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).floor(102 mm caliber / 14.3) = 7 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.Barrels that can bear on one beam (3 of 4); casemate/wing mounts only fire one side.180 degrees / 11.5 deg/s traverse speed = 15.7 s.1,500 HE damage x 3 broadside guns = 4,500.1,700 AP damage x 3 broadside guns = 5,100.4,500 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 7 s base reload = 38,571.5,100 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 7 s base reload = 43,714.3 broadside guns x 60 / 7 s base reload = 25.7.25.7 shells/min x 6% fire chance = 1.54.detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).4 launchers x 2 tubes.8 (centerline launchers train across - full salvo to either side).All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 5,433 = 43,464.One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 5,433 = 43,464.Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (3×3.5×1) = 10. 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. Flak is NOT included: flak stops triggering once planes are inside 2.5 km, and its avoidable burst damage is shown separately in the Flak bursts section.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 9,100, 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 107+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 3%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 6 mm | 1,600 (18% of HP) | Overmatch not possible in its bracket6 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. |
| Stern | 6 mm primary (range 6–13 mm) | 900 (10% of HP) | Overmatch not possible in its bracket6 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 13 mm primary (range 6–13 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 6–13 mm) | 200 (2% 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 | 4,600 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. |
| AA mount (37 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 | 2,700 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.
Every custom exterior Sampson can equip, from in-game data.
GamingDiver has not indexed a focused official WG source card for this ship yet. The guide still uses the spreadsheet, in-game data, balance history, and community-data pipeline where available.