Thunderer
Also called: 雷神 Beta- Anchor a flank at 14-17 km with bow toward the closest threat
- Avoid: Pressing the secondary booster before you have somewhere to be
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Thunderer Community Stats
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Thunderer Community Stats
Record History
Playstyle
Overview
Thunderer is a Legendary British fire-starter battleship: her improved-penetration HE farms fires and chips angled targets her AP cannot crack, so the kit is sustained HE pressure from range rather than bow-in trading. AA (781 AA DPS at 5.2 km, +100% Defensive AA flak burst) ranks 3 of 22 in Legendary BBs: heavy enough to make a careless strike expensive, though not the umbrella that shuts a carrier out of her grid. HE pen sits at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6, so HE spam is a real damage option here. Standout traits: best HE alpha in Legendary BBs (8,200) and best fires per minute in Legendary BBs (12.9). One honest caveat on the fire crown: Conqueror matches her fire output through volume (12.8 expected fires per minute to her 12.9, twelve shells per salvo at 48% against eight at 63%) and out-DPMs her on HE, so Thunderer's edge over the volume option is the weight behind each shell (the cohort's heaviest HE alpha plus 114 mm of HE pen), not a faster burn.
Positioning
Anchor a flank at 14-17 km with bow toward the closest threat. Rotate one or two map cells with the team rather than holding solo; a battleship alone on a flank is a free focus target for the enemy. At 29.5 kn you cannot re-cross the map, so the flank you pick early is the one you fight all game; choose it for where the enemy battleships will end up, not where they start.
Potato Avoidance
Pressing the secondary booster before you have somewhere to be
It is a beacon: everything inside secondary range now knows exactly where you are, and the ships already shooting at you do not stop. Pick the position before you press it, not after. Keeping every secondary in the fight also means showing more of the ship than you want to, so the price of full secondary coverage is an exposed broadside. Her citadel also punishes broadside work harder than Conqueror's, per early community reviews, so reposition angled or after breaking detection rather than turning out mid-trade.
Signature Traits
HE pen at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6. HE-spam is a real damage option here, not just a fire-starter, shared by 8/22 Legendary BBs.
- Heavy HE shells · 8200 damage
- High fire chance · 63%
- High fire pressure · 12.92 fires
- Tight pattern at max range · 187.1 m
10.4 s rudder shift, top decile of Legendary BBs. Snappy weave.
16.56 km main battery reach, bottom decile of Legendary BBs. Outranged by peers; close distance or lean on terrain.
90 s Repair Party reload, bottom decile of Legendary BBs. Heals come off cooldown slower than peers.
How to get Thunderer
Thunderer is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Marathon.
Official WG availability sources
- Thunderer Marathon Is Starting! Marathon Start: 2026-06-01 · End: 2026-08-30 Multi-patch Marathon event: free-to-earn by completing daily missions over the marathon window (typically several months across multiple updates).
- U.S.A. 250: History-Inspired Event & New Alternative Destroyers Event/store source Start: 2026-06-26 · End: open/unknown end Official ship/event post that can indicate store, collaboration, event, return, or limited availability.
- June Update: The Ages Betwixt Store price varies 2026-05-28
Builds
John Fisher is the natural fit: his base trait extends battleship main-battery range and shortens reload, and Master Mechanic adds up to two extra Repair Party charges (five heals on this hull) plus up to 10% more HP per second, stretching sustain through a long HE trade. Round the build out with fire-focused skills like Fight Fire With Fire, and reload and HE-damage inspirations to pull the 26 s reload toward 21.5 s.
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 Thunderer sits among Legendary BBs (21 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.
See 28 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for Thunderer -- 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.
Peers in this cohort
Compare Legendary BattleshipsStats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →ƒ
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model:ƒ
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range:ƒ
50%-hit horizontal radius:ƒ
50%-hit vertical radius:ƒ
180 degrees / 5 deg/s traverse speed = 36 s.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 8 broadside guns x 60 / 26 s base reload = 18.5. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 8 broadside guns x 60 / 23.4 s all-upgrades reload = 20.5.HE shells
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114 mm ≈ 457 mm caliber / 4 (improved HE penetration: German BBs, Yamato-class, and a handful of others).ƒ
8,200 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 65,600.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 65,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 151,385. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 65,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 23.4 s all-upgrades reload = 168,205.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 18.5 shells/min x 63% fire chance = 11.63. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 20.5 shells/min x 63% fire chance = 12.92.AP shells
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floor(457 mm caliber / 14.3) = 31 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).ƒ
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: . Matches the in-game spec card.ƒ
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (20.7 km), where the shell has slowed to 535 m/s: .ƒ
14,900 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 119,200.ƒ
Zero upgrades: 119,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 275,077. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 119,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 23.4 s all-upgrades reload = 305,641.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.ƒ
Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Base AirDefense aura max range is 3.5 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.ƒ
Dual-purpose: your secondaries doing double duty against aircraft. The same mounts appear on the Secondary Battery card - shared guns, not extra hardware.ƒ
Effective DPS in in-game units (raw aura damage × 3.5 × hit probability, summed per contributing aura) - matches the Close-range AA DPS headline's currency. Includes 58 from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.ƒ
Effective DPS: 263 raw aura damage × 3.5 × 0.75 hit probability = 690 - the same in-game units as the Close-range AA DPS headline.ƒ
Far 58 + Medium 690 = 748ƒ
Effective DPS: 13 raw aura damage × 3.5 × 0.7 hit probability = 32 - the same in-game units as the Close-range AA DPS headline.ƒ
Far 58 + Medium 690 + Near 32 = 780ƒ
Each ~2 s wave fires 2 quick salvos of 3 clouds ahead of the attacking squadron, plus 1 stray cloud farther out that appear off-beat between waves - up to 7 clouds per wave × 240 damage each. Planes that fly into a cloud take its damage; clouds dissipate before the next wave lands. Defensive AA Fire, where fitted, multiplies the salvo repeats within each wave.ƒ
Damage a plane takes for flying into one flak cloud, before any reductions.ƒ
Each cloud in the pattern rolls this chance to spawn, so waves average fewer clouds than the maximum. Often called flak 'hit chance', but spawned clouds always damage planes that fly into them - the roll is on spawning.ƒ
A flak wave spawns roughly every 2 s - timed frame-by-frame from gameplay footage and consistent across ships.ƒ
Flak keeps firing while at least one secondary battery mount is operational - even losing every other AA mount does not stop it.ƒ
The activation band: flak fires while attacking planes are inside it. Clouds are placed ahead of the planes' path, so bursts can land short of 2.5 km or past 5.2 km - once planes get inside the band, new waves stop.ƒ
Dual-purpose: the same mounts also fire at aircraft, so they appear on the AA Defense card too - shared guns, not extra hardware.ƒ
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.ƒ
5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.ƒ
Time to reach 90% of top speed (26.6 kt of 29.5 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.ƒ
Time to reach 99% of top speed (29.2 kt of 29.5 kt). 99% rather than 100% because true top speed is asymptotic (thrust meets drag), so the last fraction of a knot is never quite gained.ƒ
How many degrees the turret can swing for each degree the hull turns. Turn rate , so . Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.ƒ
max(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 80 s reload · 15 s active
Repair Party3 charges · 90 s reload · 28 s active · 13,927 HP (16.8% of max HP) total heal (per charge) ƒ
Heal per second (0.6%) x effective active time (28 s) = up to 16.8% of max HP restored per charge.ƒ
16.8% per charge x 3 charges = up to 50.4% of max HP if the whole Repair Party loadout is used.ƒ
0.6% of max HP (82,900 HP) per second = 497 HP/s. WoWS heals a flat percent of MAX HP each second, so this rate holds at any health level.
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · ×2 flak burst boost ƒ
Repeats the flak burst pattern ×2 within each wave - more clouds in the air over the wave, at the same spots.
Secondary Battery Booster3 charges · 160 s reload · 30 s active · +100% grouping · -50% dispersion
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
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.How wide your shells scatter at 10 km, from the same dispersion model as the max-range figure above. Picking a fixed range makes this number directly comparable from ship to ship: max-range dispersion makes a longer-range gun look worse even when it's tighter at any common range. The interactive Dispersion tab on the Charts card plots the full curve from 0 to max range.Horizontal scatter at a fixed 15 km, from the same verified dispersion model - the long-range anchor. Only shown when the ship's guns reach 15 km.Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above. The height/width ratio is a piecewise-linear curve through three points from the ship's own dispersion data: at 0 m, at m, and at 16560 m. Above the kink: , so .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 (20.7 km), where the shell has slowed to 535 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.AP penetration at a fixed 10 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.AP penetration at a fixed 15 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.How long an HE shell takes to reach a target at a fixed 10 km, from the same numerically integrated trajectory the Charts card plots. The shell slows under quadratic air drag, , where is air density from a standard-atmosphere profile and bundles the shell's drag coefficient, caliber and mass: . That runs from a 757 m/s muzzle velocity in 0.02 s steps under gravity 9.8 m/s² until the shell lands, then divides by 2.77: the game clock runs faster than real time, and that factor was measured against stopwatch runs in the Training Room. Lower is better, since a faster shell is harder to dodge and needs less lead.How long an AP shell takes to reach a target at a fixed 10 km, from the same numerically integrated trajectory the Charts card plots. The shell slows under quadratic air drag, , where is air density from a standard-atmosphere profile and bundles the shell's drag coefficient, caliber and mass: . That runs from a 762 m/s muzzle velocity in 0.02 s steps under gravity 9.8 m/s² until the shell lands, then divides by 2.77: the game clock runs faster than real time, and that factor was measured against stopwatch runs in the Training Room. Lower is better, since a faster shell is harder to dodge and needs less lead.114 mm ≈ 457 mm caliber / 4 (improved HE penetration: German BBs, Yamato-class, and a handful of others).This ship's HE shells use a 1/4 (~0.25) caliber-to-pen ratio instead of the standard 1/6 (~0.167) - 0.249 in this case. Lets HE pen ~114mm armor instead of ~76mm. Hits every German cruiser (150mm CL, 203mm CA) and BB (350mm+), British heavy cruisers / Lion / Nelson, a handful of other premiums.floor(457 mm caliber / 14.3) = 31 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.All 8 barrels bear on the broadside.180 degrees / 5 deg/s traverse speed = 36 s.8,200 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 65,600.14,900 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 119,200.Zero upgrades: 65,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 151,385. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 65,600 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 23.4 s all-upgrades reload = 168,205.Zero upgrades: 119,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 26 s base reload = 275,077. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 119,200 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 23.4 s all-upgrades reload = 305,641.Zero upgrades: 8 broadside guns x 60 / 26 s base reload = 18.5. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 8 broadside guns x 60 / 23.4 s all-upgrades reload = 20.5.Zero upgrades: 18.5 shells/min x 63% fire chance = 11.63. All upgrades (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10% reload): 20.5 shells/min x 63% fire chance = 12.92.AA defense
Only families that reach 5.2 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 40mm Bofors MK VI 7x6 -> 179 DPS @ 3.5 km; STAAG MarkV 12x2 -> 307 DPS @ 3.5 km; 40mm Bofors Mark VII single 8x1 -> 205 DPS @ 3.5 km; 20mm Oerlikon MK V 4x2 -> 32 DPS @ 2 km; 5 25in 50 RP10 Mk Istar 8x2 -> 58 DPS @ 5.2 km.Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Base AirDefense aura max range is 3.5 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.Cumulative AA DPS at each family range threshold. Inner ranges stack the outer families, so a target closing the distance hits stronger AA bubbles as it crosses each band.Sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (2 km).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
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.Secondary battery firepower
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: 8×2 134 mm (8/side) × 60/6.67 × 1900 = 136,732. 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: 1900 from the 134 mm family.Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 8% from the 134 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: 22 mm from the 134 mm family.Armor Beta
Hull HP 82,900, 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.
Overmatched by 7 guns here: Incomparable SE 25IncomparableYamato and 4 more. Angling still helps against the rest.
Citadels come from a flat broadside at close range; held past ~30° of angle, AP shatters or bounces.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 40%, fires burn 60s. Range-by-range in the Compare tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 32 mm primary (range 32–267 mm) | 5,400 (7% of HP) | Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm32 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) | 57 mm primary (range 19–416 mm) | 62,200 (75% of HP) | No common caliber overmatches57 mm: most HE shatters, standard pen from 356mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 32 mm primary (range 32–242 mm) | 5,100 (6% of HP) | Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm32 mm: HE pens from 203mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 406 mm primary (range 19–406 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 | 19 mm | 5,100 (6% of HP) | Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damageDamage multiplier ×0.6 | 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 | 41,500 magazine HP | Turret knocked out | Per-turret powder-magazine HP, a separate pool that does not drain ship HP. As it is worn down the turret is likelier to be knocked out, and a smaller pool gets there faster. |
| Secondary mount (134 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 | 24,900 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.
Ship Charts
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior Thunderer can equip, from in-game data.
DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior
Thunderer MrthnDecorative
Primary official WG sources
Filtered to official World of Warships: Legends pages where this ship is a focus, reward, line member, or high-context variant mention.
