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Shōkaku is a Tier VII Japanese all-rounder carrier: balanced strike across bombers and torpedoes without a cohort-best plane trait. The kit rewards reading the enemy AA map and picking the squadron that fits the next strike, rather than committing to one bomber type. Standout traits: best armor plate in T7 CVs (215 mm) and best top speed in T7 CVs (34 kt).
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.
215.0 mm max plate, best of T7 CVs.
34.0 kt, best of T7 CVs. Lets you rotate flanks or escape disengagements.
215.0 mm citadel belt, best of T7 CVs. Citadels through angle are rare.
25.0% torpedo damage reduction, top decile of T7 CVs.
17.0 s rudder shift, top quartile of T7 CVs. Snappy weave.
~10.2 s to max forward speed, bottom decile of T7 CVs. Sluggish rebuild after a turn or stop. (Acceleration decode is validated in-game but not yet confirmed across every ship.)
Shōkaku is available in the Offensive Strike Carriers branch of the Japan Tech Tree for 23,000,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 5,810,000 credits.
Shōkaku sits in the Offensive Strike Carriers branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full Japan tree.
Build for aircraft restoration, survivability, speed, and strike consistency. Current guidance should reflect post-balance torpedo bomber speed/damage, dive-bomber accuracy, aircraft HP, and detectability changes.
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Where Shōkaku 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 Shōkaku -- 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.
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: (109×3.5×0.95) + (32×3.5×1) = 474. 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.Max dispersion = range (km) × 45 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.4.5 km × 45 + 30 = 232.5 m.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: 2×2 127 mm (2/side) × 60/6 × 2100 = 42,000 + 6×2 127 mm (6/side) × 60/5 × 2100 = 151,200. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 2100 from the 127 mm family.Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 8% from the 127 mm family.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.Hull HP 50,100 → 51,400 with hull upgrade, 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 | 19 mm primary (range 6–19 mm) | 1,600 (3% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm19 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) | 19 mm primary (range 19–215 mm) | 38,600 (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 | 19 mm primary (range 6–51 mm) | 1,300 (3% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm19 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 215 mm primary (range 19–215 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 6–38 mm) | 100 (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). |
| 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 (25 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 | 15,400 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.
Latest 6 of 8 indexed balance updates affecting Shōkaku. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Every custom exterior Shōkaku 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.