World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Southern Dragon

Beta
Japan · Tier V · Cruiser · Premium
AP citadel cruiserPunish broadsides with AP; angle to deny return citadels.
Playstyle
  • Use flanks, island edges, and retreating angles where you can keep guns working while preserving room t…
  • Avoid: Do not brawl nose-in or expose broadside to force all guns; Japanese cruisers live by timing, concealme…
Key characteristics
Long torps (10 km)2 sigma accuracyHigh HE / fire outputHigh fire chanceVisible torps
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Community Data

Southern Dragon Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

Southern Dragon is the Pirate variant of Myōkō: a Tier VI Japanese tech tree cruiser best treated as a Japanese cruiser that excels at kiting, HE pressure, torpedo zoning, and punishing ships that chase too far. Its value comes from choosing safe firing lanes, punishing exposed targets, and using mobility or cover before battleship focus locks on.

Positioning

Use flanks, island edges, and retreating angles where you can keep guns working while preserving room to turn out and disengage. Choose cover, kiting lanes, or flank angles that let the main battery work while torpedoes remain a close-range deterrent rather than the whole plan.

Potato Avoidance

Brawl nose-in or expose broadside to force all guns

Japanese cruisers live by timing, concealment, and clean escape angles. The common throw is overcommitting before the minimap is settled, then losing the ship’s best tools before they can matter late.

Signature Traits

Improved AP fuse (IJN cruiser)

AP arms at 60% of the standard armor threshold (vs 0.9 default). Lets your AP pen broadsiding cruisers that would over-pen a normal CA, citadel hunts the cohort can't pull off, shared by 4/30 T5 CAs.

High fire resistance

30.0% fire resistance, best of T5 CAs. HE pressure does less.

Heavy HE shells

3300.0 damage per HE shell, best of T5 CAs. Punishes superstructure and modules harder than peers.

Punchy HE secondaries

2100.0 max HE alpha per secondary shell, best of T5 CAs. Bigger per-shell damage than peers.

Heavy torpedoes

15933.0 damage per torpedo, best of T5 CAs.

Visible torps

1.6 km torpedo detect, worst of T5 CAs. Easy to dodge if targets are looking.

Acquisition

How to get Southern Dragon

Southern Dragon is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Containers. Container chances are shown as the listed odds of receiving this exact ship, dividing grouped ship-pool odds across the resolved ships and including nested container paths when a crate can drop another crate.

Best listed chance for this ship

  • Lunar New Year Crate 3.5% VI Southern Dragon Event containers · Lunar New Year Crate
  • Lunar New Year '25 Crate 1.5% Lunar New Year Premium ship Event containers · Lunar New Year '25 Crate · 1 of 2 ships
  • Piñata Chest 0.16% Tier V or VI Premium ship Event containers · Piñata Chest · 1 of 25 ships
Official WG availability sources
Show direct source rows

Builds Beta

AL Atago, AL Azuma, and Arpeggio Haguro are useful Japanese cruiser commander directions. Inspirations usually support accuracy, reload, concealment, agility, or survivability so the ship can keep influencing fights without giving up easy citadels.

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Commanders frequently paired with this ship AL AtagoAL AzumaArpeggio Haguro

Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.

Cohort position

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Where Southern Dragon sits among Tier V CAs (30 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.

BestHE alpha2,100 (1 of 2 tied) BestAP fuse timer0.03 s (1 of 12 tied) BestAA range5 km (1 of 11 tied) BestTorpedo damage≈15,933 (1 of 3 tied) Top 10%Hit points39,200 HP (3/30) Top 10%Secondary HE pen21 mm (3/27) Top 10%Engine power130,000 hp (4/30) Top 25%Max speed35 kt (8/30) Top 25%Main battery caliber203 mm (7/30) Top 25%Main battery range14.86 km (7/30) Top 25%Fires per minute8.1 (5/28) Top 25%HE DPM157,143 (7/28) Top 25%AP shell damage4,700 (6/30) Top 25%Secondary fire chance8% (4/27) Top 25%Turn-speed retention166.7 hp/m (5/30) Top 25%Torpedo range9.99 km (6/26) Top 25%Torpedo speed62 kt (7/26) Bottom 25%Main dispersion135.5 m (25/30) Bottom 25%Acceleration26.7 s (25/29) Bottom 25%AP arming threshold34 mm (25/30) Bottom 10%Traverse-to-turn ratio3.02 × (29/30) Bottom 10%Displacement15,807 t (29/30)
See 17 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Southern Dragon -- 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.

Concealment11.98 km(19/30) Air detection7.19 km(19/30) Rudder shift7.2 s(9/30) Main battery reload12.6 s(23/30) Sigma2(15/30) AP DPM223,810(9/30) Secondary DPM (per side)67,200(15/27) AP velocity840 m/s(22/30) HE velocity840 m/s(20/28) Power-to-weight8.22 hp/t(17/30) Secondary range4.5 km(12/27) AA DPS252(11/30) AA threat877(9/30) Torpedo reload82 s(15/26) Max armor102 mm(14/30) NormAP ricochet start45°(27 of 30 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(27 of 30 tied at this value)
Survivability
Hit Points39,200
Displacement15,807 t
Armor range6–102 mm
Plate armor thicknesses6, 13, 16, 19, 21, 25, 30, 32, 35, 38, 40, 50, 57, 63, 76, 89, 102 mm
Armor material/layer entries59
Fire resistance30%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction13%
Magazine HP
ƒThe 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.
19,600
Steering gear HP
ƒDurability 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.
11,800
Main Battery
ModuleArtillery: 203 mm 3rd Year Type mod. C
Mounts / barrels5 mounts / 10 barrels
Reload time14 s
Firing range14.9 km
Turret traverse4 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)
ƒShell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
2
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: σH=(R30·idealRadiusminRadiusidealDistance+minRadius)·30 =(1485730·81.11000+1.1)·30=135.5m
135.5 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: σV=σH·radiusOnMax =135.5·0.6=81.3m
81.3 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius: σH,50=σH·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =135.5·0.32(σ=2)=43.3m
43.3 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius: σV,50=σV·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =81.3·0.32(σ=2)=26m
26 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.
45 s
Base shells/min
ƒ10 broadside guns x 60 / 14 s base reload = 42.9.
42.9
HE shells
HE Damage3,300
HE Velocity840 m/s
Fire Chance17%
HE penetration
ƒ34 mm ≈ 203 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
34 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ3,300 HE damage x 10 broadside guns = 33,000.
33,000
Base HE DPM
ƒ33,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 141,429.
141,429
Base fires/min
ƒ10 HE shells x 60 / 14 s reload x 17% fire chance = 7.29.
7.29
AP shells
AP Damage4,700
AP Velocity840 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.033 s
Fuse Threshold34 mm
Improved AP FuseYes
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(203 mm caliber / 14.3) = 14 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
14 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: P=107·K·m0.69·d1.07·v01.38 =107·2468·125.850.69·0.2031.07·8401.38=414.7mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
414.7 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (18.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 365.5 m/s: P=107·2468·125.850.69·0.2031.07·365.51.38=131.5mm.
131.5 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ4,700 AP damage x 10 broadside guns = 47,000.
47,000
Base AP DPM
ƒ47,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 201,429.
201,429
AP AOE Radius
ƒAP 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.
24
Torpedoes
ModuleTorpedoes: 610 mm triple
Launchers / tubes4 launchers × 3 tubes = 12 tubes
Reload time82 s
Projectile speed62 kt
Range9.99 km
Maximum simulated damage
ƒEstimate of WG's in-game value; matches the in-game port screen within ±5%. Saturation: most targets only intersect one hull section, so the sim transfers ~1/3 of the warhead alpha (2/3 when the warhead blast >= 5000 and the burst reaches a second section). For this ship: Dsim=α·c=47,800·0.333=15,933.
≈ 15,933
Torpedo detectability1.6 km
Flooding chance287%
Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s
Torp Turn
ƒTime to rotate the launchers 180 deg: tturn=180°25°/s=7.2s.
7.2 s
Torp Arming191 m
Per-side salvo damage
ƒOne side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 6 x 15,933 = 95,598.
95,598
AA Defense
AA mount points38
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (64×3.5×0.9) + (16×3.5×0.9) = 252. 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.
252
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
5 km
25 mm Type96 mod. 14×3 25mm
25 mm/60 Type96 mod. 126×1 25mm
25 mm Type96 mod. 18×2 25mm
127 mm Type89 mod. A1 (DP)4×2 127mm
Far aura
DPS
ƒIncludes 16 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.
16
Range5 km
Medium aura
DPS64
Range3.1 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 16 + Medium 64 = 80
80
S
Secondary Battery
Mounts4
Firing range4.5 km
Shell Grouping (σ)1
Caliber127 mm
Reload time7.5 s
HE Damage2,100
Muzzle Velocity725 m/s
Fire Chance8%
Armor Pen21 mm
Min Ricochet91°
Max Ricochet60°
Secondary dispersion type
ƒMax 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 @ 4.5 km
ƒ4.5 km × 57 + 30 = 286.5 m.
286.5 m
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 130,000 hp
Engine power130,000 hp
Maximum speed35 kt
Turning circle radius780 m
Engine power-boost threshold7 kt
Acceleration 0-90%
ƒTime to accelerate from 0 kt to 90% of top speed (31.5 kt of 35). Numerical integration of the WoWS engine model with the inputs decoded for this ship: maxPower=(Pm)0.42=(130,00015,807)0.42=2.4229; drag(v)=v|v|Vmax2·maxPower; piecewise acceleration a(v)={maxPower·2+drag(v)v<7 ktP(t)+drag(v)v7 kt; the engine ramps over τ=Tup2.61=402.61=15.3s. Euler step vn+1=vn+a(vn)Δt,Δt=0.01s until t90=min{t:v(t)0.9Vmax}=26.7s. The 0.42 exponent, quadratic drag and the TimeScale 2.61 are the calibrated game constants (New York's 60/2.61 = 23.0 s spool-up matches in-game); no closed form.
26.7 s
Acceleration 0-99%
ƒTime to accelerate from 0 kt to 99% of top speed (34.6 kt of 35). Same integration as the 0-90% row, read where t99=min{t:v(t)0.99Vmax}=43.6s. 99% (not 100%) because exact top speed is asymptotic - thrust equals drag at Vmax, so the last fraction of a knot is never quite gained.
43.6 s
Traverse-to-turn ratio
ƒHow many degrees the turret can swing for each degree the hull turns. Turn rate ωhull=180π·Vmax(m/s)Rturn=180π·35.0·0.5144780=1.32°/s, so ratio=ωturretωhull=41.32=3.0×. Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.
3.0× drags
Concealment
Detectability by sea11.98 km
Detectability by air7.19 km
Smoke firing penalty6.73 km
Detect after firing main guns
ƒmax(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
11.98 km
Detect Fire Sea13.98 km
Detect Fire Air10.19 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Choose one
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 94 s active · 4.67 km ship detect · 3.3 km torpedo detect
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost
Catapult Fighter3 charges · 70 s reload · 55 s active · 5.56 km patrol radius · 1 squadron size

See all derived stats

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All 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.

Main battery formulas

Shell Grouping (σ)2
Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.
Max Horiz Disp135.5 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{14857}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-1.1}{1000} + 1.1\right)\cdot 30 = 135.5\,\text{m}$
Max Vert Disp81.3 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 135.5 \cdot 0.6 = 81.3\,\text{m}$
Med Horiz Disp43.3 m
50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 135.5 \cdot 0.32\;(\sigma = 2) = 43.3\,\text{m}$
Med Vert Disp26 m
50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 81.3 \cdot 0.32\;(\sigma = 2) = 26\,\text{m}$
AP Pen Close414.7 mm
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 2468 \cdot 125.85^{0.69} \cdot 0.203^{-1.07} \cdot 840^{1.38} = 414.7\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far131.5 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (18.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 365.5 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 2468 \cdot 125.85^{0.69} \cdot 0.203^{-1.07} \cdot 365.5^{1.38} = 131.5\,\text{mm}$.
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 Radius24
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 alpha10
All 10 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time45 s
180 degrees / 4 deg/s traverse speed = 45 s.
HE full-salvo alpha33,000
3,300 HE damage x 10 broadside guns = 33,000.
AP full-salvo alpha47,000
4,700 AP damage x 10 broadside guns = 47,000.
Base HE DPM141,429
33,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 141,429.
Base AP DPM201,429
47,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 201,429.
Base shells/min42.9
10 broadside guns x 60 / 14 s base reload = 42.9.
Base fires/min7.29
10 HE shells x 60 / 14 s reload x 17% fire chance = 7.29.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability1.6 km
Estimated torpedo reaction time9.9 s
detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Torpedo speed62 kt
Travel time to max range62 s
range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Tube count12
4 launchers x 3 tubes.
Per-side salvo6 torpedoes
tube count / 2 (symmetric port/starboard launcher layout; common on cruisers and battleships with deck torpedoes).
Full-salvo damage191,196
All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 12 x 15,933 = 191,196.
Per-side salvo damage95,598
One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 6 x 15,933 = 95,598.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS252
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (64×3.5×0.9) + (16×3.5×0.9) = 252. 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 range5 km
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
AA threat index877
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 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 @ 4.5 km286.5 m
4.5 km × 57 + 30 = 286.5 m.

Secondary battery firepower

Secondary DPM (per side)67,200
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: 4×2 127 mm (4/side) × 60/7.5 × 2100 = 67,200. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).
Max HE alpha2100
Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 2100 from the 127 mm family.
Max HE fire chance8%
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.
Max HE pen21 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.
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Acceleration and Ballistics Chart

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

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

  • Southern Dragon default exterior
    DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Primary official WG sources

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