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Cherbourg is a Tier VII French super-cruiser: a battleship-sized hull with a 305mm main battery on a cruiser frame. She is built to overmatch broadside cruisers with AP, not to brawl with battleships. Sonar (4.4 km on ships and 3.1 km on torpedoes, 96 s active, 180 s reload, long uptime) lights up DDs and torpedoes inside its bubble, which lets her contest the cap edge without taking the spotting cycle. Standout traits: top-decile AP overmatch threshold in T7 CAs (21.3 mm) and top-decile long-range AP brick in T7 CAs (308.3 mm).
Hold 14-17 km from a contested cap with an island close enough to shadow back into, and bow toward the closest BB. The heavy bow plate lets you hold the angle against same-tier guns, which is the protection the citadel needs; the hull does not tank battleship volleys broadside even if it can absorb them bow-on. The big guns reach for full AP citadels at that distance.
Her 305mm shells citadel cruisers on the wrong frame, and her 49,500-HP hull does not recover from a punished salvo. Pick rotations and angles deliberately; the chip-damage role pays better than the trade-blow role on a cruiser of this profile.
+20% speed, 180 s duration. Engine Boost consumable temporarily raises top speed. Mobility on demand to reposition, chase a kill, or break contact, uncommon in T7 CAs.
25.0% torpedo damage reduction, best of T7 CAs.
9.0% best HE fire chance per secondary shell (before target resistance), best of T7 CAs. Stacks fires faster than peers in a brawl.
280.0 mm max plate, top decile of T7 CAs.
25.2 s reload, worst of T7 CAs. Salvos punish more, but cycle is slower than peers.
Cherbourg is available in the Cruiser Hunters branch of the France Tech Tree for 18,000,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 4,500,000 credits. Official source cards below may also show its temporary Early Access window before it became a normal Tech Tree unlock. 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.
Cherbourg sits in the Cruiser Hunters branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full France tree.
Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.
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Where Cherbourg sits among Tier VII CAs (55 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 Cherbourg -- 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 · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Main Battery Reload Booster2 charges · 120 s reload · 15 s active · +50% reload boost
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 96 s active · 4.44 km ship detect 
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost
Repair Party2 charges · 60 s reload · 28 s active · 8,316 HP (16.8% of max HP) total heal (per charge) 
Catapult Fighter3 charges · 80 s reload · 90 s active · 5 km patrol radius 
Engine Boost2 charges · 120 s reload · 180 s active · +20% 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: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{14550}{30}\cdot\dfrac{10-1.6}{1000} + 1.6\right)\cdot 30 = 170.2\,\text{m}$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.Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 170.2 \cdot 0.6 = 102.1\,\text{m}$How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above.50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 170.2 \cdot 0.344\;(\sigma = 1.8) = 58.5\,\text{m}$50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 102.1 \cdot 0.344\;(\sigma = 1.8) = 35.1\,\text{m}$Battlecruiser dispersion. The standard mid-tier reference family that Georgia, Stalingrad, and Siegfried are compared against.Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 2225 \cdot 442^{0.69} \cdot 0.305^{-1.07} \cdot 870^{1.38} = 604\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.Same formula at the ship's max firing range (20 km), where the shell has slowed to 534.5 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 2225 \cdot 442^{0.69} \cdot 0.305^{-1.07} \cdot 534.5^{1.38} = 308.3\,\text{mm}$.51 mm ≈ 305 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).floor(305 mm caliber / 14.3) = 21 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 / 6 deg/s traverse speed = 30 s.4,050 HE damage x 8 broadside guns = 32,400.8,200 AP damage x 8 broadside guns = 65,600.32,400 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 28 s base reload = 69,429.65,600 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 28 s base reload = 140,571.32,400 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 25.2 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 77,143.65,600 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 25.2 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 156,190.8 broadside guns x 60 / 28 s base reload = 17.1.8 broadside guns x 60 / 25.2 s installed Artillery reload = 19.17.1 shells/min x 17% fire chance = 2.91.19 shells/min x 17% fire chance = 3.24.Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (38×3.5×0.9) + (56×3.5×0.85) + (24×3.5×0.9) = 362. 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) × 33 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.5 km × 33 + 30 = 195 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: 7×2 130 mm (7/side) × 60/5 × 1900 = 159,600. 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 130 mm family.Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 9% from the 130 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 130 mm family.Hull HP 43,100 → 49,500 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.
Overmatched by 100+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
AP can citadel a flat broadside even at range. Stay angled and avoid showing the full side.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 37%, fires burn 45s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 25 mm primary (range 25–40 mm) | 1,600 (3% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ (Gneisenau, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP. |
| Hull (midship) | 45 mm primary (range 20–280 mm) | 37,100 (75% of HP) | No common caliber overmatches45 mm: most HE shatters, standard pen from 283mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 25 mm primary (range 25–110 mm) | 2,200 (4% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ (Gneisenau, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 170 mm primary (range 25–160 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 | 16 mm primary (range 16–50 mm) | 1,400 (3% 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 | 24,800 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. |
| Secondary mount (130 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 (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. |
| Engine (module, research) | engine coefficient (unconfirmed) | -0.100 research estimate | Largest on BB/BC; zero on destroyers | Engine durability isn't a per-ship value in the game data. This small negative coefficient is non-zero only on battleships, battlecruisers, and the heaviest cruisers, and is exactly zero on every destroyer, so it scales with hull displacement rather than any commander skill. Most likely an engine drag or power term in the same family as the deceleration stats; its exact meaning is not yet confirmed. |
| Rudder (module) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 14,900 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.
Balance updates affecting Cherbourg. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Every custom exterior Cherbourg can equip, from in-game data.
GamingDiver has indexed official WG mentions for this ship, but none are focused enough to show as a primary source card here. Low-context list, crate, comparison, or passing mentions are intentionally filtered out.