What is there to love about battleships?
Here you sail: stately, proud, with a measure of charm,
a bit chubby (just to make you more imposing)—in a way,
the very definition of a warship.
Everything is nice and calm,
but suddenly a careless cruiser appears on your horizon.
You aim your guns at a steady pace,
as the turret’s rotation speed doesn't allow for any haste,
you take a fair target lead... and fire.
The sound is nice and deep.
Now you can take a look at the map and assess the situation—
your shells have a long way to travel anyway.
Then all of a sudden you get the "Enemy cruiser destroyed" message! One shot!
And still you have plenty of time left.
You can sail around and enjoy the naval scenery.
What are the features of a true battleship?
Guns, armor, and deliberateness.
Take North Carolina, for instance. Study her characteristics.
Everything checks out!
Thus, she is one of best battleships in World of Warships!
However, you can't judge a book by its cover
or a warship by the boring numbers in her technical specifications,
because the day-to-day life with them reveals many things
that are not apparent at first glance.
"One of the best?"
If that's true, where do all these stories about crushing defeats
and one Kutuzov destroying two Carolinas come from?
It's all about sensible use.
Of course, if you don’t have a choice, you can crack nuts with a sledgehammer,
but it doesn't guarantee good results even in skillful hands.
You need to figure it out.
Take the primary guns, for example—
the main tool for causing devastating single shots.
A caliber of 406 millimeters, excellent armor penetration,
a range of 23.3 kilometers.
AP shells inflict more damage than their Japanese counterpart's.
You can almost smell a one-shot destruction...
However, to enjoy firing you need more than good armor penetration,
you need to be able to hit the target as well.
And that's where things start to look down...
North Carolina is not a sniper at all.
The dispersion becomes acceptable at a distance of 13 to 14 kilometers.
Starting from 10 kilometers, almost every shell is going where you aim.
A small clarification:
where you aim and not where you want to hit—there’s a difference.
Well, that's a bit discouraging.
Though the armor penetration at such distances will make your enemies tremble.
Let's talk armor. The armor belt is 305 millimeters thick.
The citadel beams are 282 millimeters thick;
the armor on primary guns' barbettes and turrets is 406 millimeters thick.
AP shells from cruisers up to Tier IX will only leave scratches on your hull
and pierce through the superstructure.
These are the same tier battleships that are a pain in the neck.
The citadel's armor is located at a right angle
and is easily penetrated by all battleships that you can encounter.
If you try to put your hull at an angle, you'll be exposing your large cheekbones.
The only position you can assume to make all this armor work
is to turn your bow to the enemy.
And that's when you understand what true armor is.
The soothing sound of ricochets helps you achieve enlightenment
and understand the nature of serenity of battleship lovers.
Of course, the aft turret becomes absolutely useless,
but a truly enlightened person won't be bothered by such trifles.
However, the enemy is wiser nowadays
and will quickly switch to high-explosive shells.
And you need to be prepared,
because North Carolina, like every good tool
needs to be fine-tuned in order to uncover its full potential.
Use commander skills and upgrades
to improve the ship's survivability first of all.
Install Main Armament and both Damage Control System upgrades.
The commander needs to be prepared for an HE hail as well:
learn Basics of Survivability,
Fire Prevention, and High Alert skills.
Superintendant will add another Repair Party.
And to crown this great fireproof cake with a nice cherry,
we recommend adding signals India Yankee,
India Delta,
and Juliet Yankee Bissotwo.
Destroyers are a menace too.
Target Acquisition System will come in handy here.
The earlier you spot torpedoes, the more chances you have to dodge them,
which is not that difficult for Carolina, considering her turning circle radius.
However, the best remedy against this threat is team play.
If we touch the subject of aviation,
the battleship's good antiaircraft armament
can be further increased by upgrades and commander skills to such an extent
that smart aircraft carrier captains will try to avoid her
for as long as possible.
As a result, we have an excellent first line ship,
capable of attracting the attention of half the opposing team
and, at the same time, withstanding their hits and staying alive long enough.
North Carolina is a true battleship;
she is formidable at both defense and offense.
Powerful, impenetrable (if you turn your bow to enemy fire),
and deliberate.
She is ready for a long life full of single shot sinkers.
The main thing is to approach the enemy at a distance
that allows you to fire accurately and start having real battleship fun:
burn, extinguish fire, repair, restore—
do all these habitual actions that keep you sailing
and absorb the damage provided by your caring adversaries.
And you shouldn't be shy about responding in kind, captains.