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San Diego is a Tier VII American SAP cruiser: her 127mm main battery fires semi-armor-piercing shells (36mm of fixed penetration) in place of HE. SAP lands one big guaranteed hit instead of fishing for fires, and it pens reliably without the angle checks AP lives or dies on, so she punishes broadsides, soft cruisers, and superstructures hard. The catch is that SAP shatters on heavy belt armor, so the kit is picking targets it bites rather than trading into a bow-in battleship. 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 turret traverse rate in T7 CAs (25) and top-decile sigma in T7 CAs (2).
Sit 12-15 km on a flank that gives you firing arcs into rotated cruisers and exposed BB broadsides. The hull is fragile; ration trades to ones that pay AP citadels back, and lean on speed and consumables to dodge focus when it comes. Open water is fine when the closest threat is far enough that the salvo timing favors you.
Even an over-pen is guaranteed chip damage that wears a DD down and denies its caps and torpedo runs, so keep guns on any destroyer you can see. Save the citadel salvos for broadside cruisers and BB sides, but never hold fire on a spotted DD.
89.0 mm max plate, bottom decile of T7 CAs. Citadel windows open against peer-tier guns.
75000.0 hp engine, bottom decile of T7 CAs. Less headroom for re-accelerating from a stop and holding speed through turns.
San Diego 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.
Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.
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Where San Diego 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 San Diego -- 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
Repair Party2 charges · 60 s reload · 28 s active · 5,628 HP (16.8% of max HP) total heal (per charge) 
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 96 s active · 4.44 km ship detect 
Main Battery Reload Booster2 charges · 180 s reload · 16 s active · +33% reload boostAll 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: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{15263}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-1.1}{1000} + 1.1\right)\cdot 30 = 138.3\,\text{m}$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: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 138.3 \cdot 0.6 = 83\,\text{m}$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: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 138.3 \cdot 0.314\;(\sigma = 2.05) = 43.4\,\text{m}$50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 83 \cdot 0.313\;(\sigma = 2.05) = 26\,\text{m}$Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 2598 \cdot 27^{0.69} \cdot 0.127^{-1.07} \cdot 792^{1.38} = 229.9\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.Same formula at the ship's max firing range (19.1 km), where the shell has slowed to 326.8 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 2598 \cdot 27^{0.69} \cdot 0.127^{-1.07} \cdot 326.8^{1.38} = 67.8\,\text{mm}$.floor(127 mm caliber / 6): standard HE penetration.floor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 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.SAP shell fragment splash radius; the area over which a SAP hit scatters fragment damage. Scales with shell mass (90mm ~ 5, 203mm CA ~ 20-30, 320mm = 175, 406mm = 250, 457mm = 400, max) and is tuned per ship, so two ships with the same SAP caliber can differ (135mm ranges 5-24). Larger value = wider fragment spread per hit.Barrels that can bear on one beam (14 of 16); casemate/wing mounts only fire one side.180 degrees / 25 deg/s traverse speed = 7.2 s.2,100 AP damage x 14 broadside guns = 29,400.29,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 6 s base reload = 294,000.29,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 5.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 326,667.14 broadside guns x 60 / 6 s base reload = 140.14 broadside guns x 60 / 5.4 s installed Artillery reload = 155.6.detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).2 launchers x 4 tubes.tube count / 2 (symmetric port/starboard launcher layout; common on cruisers and battleships with deck torpedoes).All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 15,533 = 124,264.One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 4 x 15,533 = 62,132.Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (26×3.5×0.9) + (34×3.5×0.85) + (45×3.5×0.9) = 325. 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.Hull HP 33,500, 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 140+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
Thin belt: battleship AP citadels straight through it broadside. Rely on angle, speed and concealment, never sit flat.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 37%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 16 mm primary (range 16–40 mm) | 1,600 (5% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm16 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) | 89 mm primary (range 16–89 mm) | 25,100 (75% of HP) | No common caliber overmatches89 mm: standard HE shatters; improved HE (DE / FR BB) pens from 356mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 16 mm primary (range 16–40 mm) | 1,800 (5% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 89 mm primary (range 6–89 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 | 6 mm primary (range 6–65 mm) | 2,400 (7% 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 | 16,800 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. |
| 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 | 10,100 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 San Diego. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Every custom exterior San Diego 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.