World of Warships: Legends ship guide

Sims Black

Beta
U.S.A. · Tier VI · Destroyer · Premium
Gunboat destroyerWins cap trades with gun output; the torpedoes are a bonus, not the core threat.
Playstyle
  • Hold mid-cap distance and lean into gunboat trades from cover where the peer destroyer cannot match you…
  • Avoid: Trading guns in open water against peer DDs
Key characteristics
Long torps (10 km)11 km gun rangeLobs over islandsSmokeEngine BoostWide dispersion

Variant of Sims

Cosmetic-only variant of Sims. Identical to Sims on every audited stat (main and secondary battery, survivability, maneuverability, concealment, AA, modules, consumables, and secondary dispersion type); differs in appearance and acquisition only.

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Community Data

Sims Black Community Stats

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Playstyle

Overview

Sims Black is a Tier VI American gunboat destroyer: her damage comes from sustained main battery pressure on caps and open-water trades. Torpedoes are a secondary threat for closing lanes, not her main damage. Standout traits: best turret traverse rate in T6 DDs (34) and best AA reach in T6 DDs (5 km).

Positioning

Hold mid-cap distance and lean into gunboat trades from cover where the peer destroyer cannot match your fires-per-minute. Avoid open-water duels with ships running smoke or radar; your damage is mostly gunfire, and gunfire from cover wins more than from blue water. Your guns lose penetration at range, so aim AP at broadsides you can still citadel and put HE into superstructures and upper-hull sections, rather than the bow-in or belt armor your shells bounce and shatter on.

Potato Avoidance

Trading guns in open water against peer DDs

Your damage is sustained main-battery pressure from cover (the torpedoes are a secondary threat), so open-water duels just stack incoming HE on you while you fire back.

Signature Traits

Engine Boost

+8% speed, 120 s duration. Engine Boost consumable temporarily raises top speed. Mobility on demand to reposition, chase a kill, or break contact.

Fast turret traverse

34.0°/s turret traverse, best of T6 DDs. Tracks fast-rotating targets peers can't keep up with.

Long-reach AA

5.0 km AA reach, best of T6 DDs.

Thick deck armor

19.0 mm armor deck, top decile of T6 DDs. Eats plunging fire and HE that peers don't.

Wide dispersion

96.1 m max horizontal dispersion, worst of T6 DDs. Long-range salvos are noticeably wider than peers'.

Weak torpedoes

8867.0 damage per torpedo, bottom decile of T6 DDs.

Acquisition

How to get Sims Black

Sims Black 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

Official WG availability sources
  • Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
  • Through the Spy Glass: USS Somers Ship feature / release Start: 2022-03-09 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
  • Through the spy glass: USS Hill Ship feature / release Start: 2022-03-23 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
  • Through the Spy Glass: Hayate Ship feature / release Start: 2022-11-07 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
  • Through the Spy Glass: Elbing Ship feature / release Start: 2022-12-17 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
  • Through the Spy Glass: Constellation Ship feature / release Start: 2023-05-22 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
  • Through the Spy Glass: FR25 Ship feature / release Start: 2023-06-05 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
  • Through the Spy Glass: Lüshun Ship feature / release Start: 2024-05-01 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.
Show direct source rows

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Cohort position

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Where Sims Black sits among Tier VI DDs (41 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.

BestRudder shift2.7 s (1 of 6 tied) BestAA range5 km (1 of 12 tied) Top 10%Traverse-to-turn ratio14.98 × (5/41) Top 10%Main battery reload3.1 s (5/41) Top 25%Max speed38.5 kt (10/41) Top 25%Main battery range10.82 km (6/41) Top 25%HE DPM139,355 (8/41) Top 25%Turn-speed retention100 hp/m (11/41) Top 25%Displacement2,330 t (8/41) Top 25%Torpedo range10.5 km (6/41) Top 25%Torpedo reload72 s (10/41) Top 25%Deck armor19 mm (4/27) Bottom 25%Stealth profile7.12 km / 3.56 km (35/41 / 34/41) Bottom 25%Fires per minute3.87 (33/41) Bottom 25%AP shell damage2,100 (31/37) Bottom 25%AP velocity792 m/s (32/37) Bottom 25%HE velocity792 m/s (35/41) Bottom 10%Torpedo damage≈8,867 (38/41) Bottom 10%Torpedo speed49 kt (39/41) WorstMain dispersion96.1 m (1 of 2 tied) WorstNo secondaries (37 of 41 in cohort)
See 17 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Sims Black -- 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.

Hit points15,000 HP(28/41) Main battery caliber127 mm(21/41) HE shell damage1,800(18/41) AP DPM162,581(18/37) Acceleration17.8 s(27/41) AP arming threshold21 mm(20/37) Engine power50,000 hp(27/41) Power-to-weight21.46 hp/t(12/41) AA DPS138(22/41) AA threat472(16/41) Max armor19 mm(14/41) NormAP fuse timer0.01 s(33 of 37 tied at this value) NormAP ricochet start45°(34 of 37 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(34 of 37 tied at this value) NormCitadel belt16 mm(28 of 39 tied at this value) NormBow armor16 mm(32 of 39 tied at this value) NormStern armor16 mm(32 of 39 tied at this value)
Survivability
Hit Points15,000
Displacement2,330 t
Armor range10–19 mm
Plate armor thicknesses10, 13, 15, 16, 19 mm
Armor material/layer entries27
Fire resistance30%
Fire duration30 s
Torp Reduction0%
Main Battery
ModulePAUA992_127_38_MK30_Mod_1_B
Mounts / barrels4 mounts / 4 barrels
Reload time3.1 s
Firing range10.8 km
Turret traverse34 °/s
Shell Grouping (σ)2
Max Horiz Disp
ƒHorizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: σH=(R30·idealRadiusminRadiusidealDistance+minRadius)·30 =(1081630·80.51000+0.5)·30=96.1m
96.1 m
Max Vert Disp
ƒVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: σV=σH·radiusOnMax =96.1·0.6=57.7m
57.7 m
Med Horiz Disp
ƒ50%-hit horizontal radius: σH,50=σH·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =96.1·0.319(σ=2)=30.7m
30.7 m
Med Vert Disp
ƒ50%-hit vertical radius: σV,50=σV·GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) =57.7·0.319(σ=2)=18.4m
18.4 m
Turret turn time
ƒ180 degrees / 34 deg/s traverse speed = 5.3 s.
5.3 s
Base shells/min
ƒ4 broadside guns x 60 / 3.1 s base reload = 77.4.
77.4
HE shells
HE Damage1,800
HE Velocity792 m/s
Fire Chance5%
HE penetration
ƒ21 mm ≈ 127 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
21 mm
HE full-salvo alpha
ƒ1,800 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 7,200.
7,200
Base HE DPM
ƒ7,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.1 s base reload = 139,355.
139,355
Base fires/min
ƒ77.4 shells/min x 5% fire chance = 3.87.
3.87
AP shells
AP Damage2,100
AP Velocity792 m/s
Min Ricochet45 deg
Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg
Fuse Timer0.01 s
Fuse Threshold21 mm
AP overmatch
ƒfloor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
8 mm
AP Pen Close
ƒCanonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: P=107·K·m0.69·d1.07·v01.38 =107·2598·250.69·0.1271.07·7921.38=218mm. Matches the in-game spec card.
218 mm
AP Pen Far
ƒSame formula at the ship's max firing range (13.5 km), where the shell has slowed to 249.1 m/s: P=107·2598·250.69·0.1271.07·249.11.38=44.2mm.
44.2 mm
AP full-salvo alpha
ƒ2,100 AP damage x 4 broadside guns = 8,400.
8,400
Base AP DPM
ƒ8,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.1 s base reload = 162,581.
162,581
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.
10
Torpedoes
ModuleTorpedoes: 533 mm quadruple
Launchers / tubes2 launchers × 4 tubes = 8 tubes
Reload time72 s
Projectile speed49 kt
Range10.5 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=26,600·0.333=8,867.
≈ 8,867
Torpedo detectability1 km
Flooding chance135%
Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s
Torp Turn
ƒTime to rotate the launchers 180 deg: tturn=180°25°/s=7.2s.
7.2 s
Torp Arming151 m
Per-side salvo damage
ƒOne side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 8,867 = 70,936.
70,936
AA Defense
AA mount points6
Close-range AA DPS
ƒSum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (5×3.5×1) + (13×3.5×0.95) + (22×3.5×1) = 138. 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.
138
Maximum AA range
ƒLongest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.
5 km
20 mm Oerlikon Mk42×1 20mm
12.7 mm Browning M2 mod. 24×1 13mm
Far aura
DPS
ƒIncludes 22 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose main battery firing as AA in this range band.
22
Range5 km
Medium aura
DPS5
Range2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 22 + Medium 5 = 27
27
Near aura
DPS13
Range1.2 km
Total DPS in Aura
ƒFar 22 + Medium 5 + Near 13 = 40
40
Maneuverability
Engine moduleEngine: 50,000 hp
Engine power50,000 hp
Maximum speed38.5 kt
Turning circle radius500 m
Rudder shift time2.7 s
Engine power-boost threshold7 kt
Engine spool-up time7.7 s
Reverse spool-up time3.8 s
Acceleration 0-90%
ƒTime to reach 90% of top speed (34.6 kt of 38.5 kt), from our in-house acceleration model.
17.8 s
Acceleration 0-99%
ƒTime to reach 99% of top speed (38.1 kt of 38.5 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.
30.2 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·38.5·0.5144500=2.27°/s, so ratio=ωturretωhull=342.27=15.0×. Below 5 the turrets drag in a turning fight; 25+ keeps up with any rudder.
15.0× snappy
Concealment
Detectability by sea7.12 km
Detectability by air3.56 km
Smoke firing penalty2.65 km
Detect after firing main guns
ƒmax(base sea detectability, gun-firing bloom range). Firing never pulls your detection closer than base concealment.
7.12 km
Detect Fire Sea9.12 km
Detect Fire Air6.56 km
Guaranteed Detect2 km
Consumables
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 40 s reload · 5 s active
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 27 s emit / 121 s cloud active
Engine Boost2 charges · 180 s reload · 120 s active · +8% speed bonus
Module options (1)

Stats above use the fully-upgraded modules. These are the research-tree alternatives; trade-offs are flagged.

TorpedoesTrade-off
  • Range6.99 → 10.5 km
  • Reload87 → 72 s
  • Alpha damage32,100 → 26,600
  • Display damage10,700 → 8,867
  • Speed65 → 49 kt

See all derived stats

Show

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
Max Horiz Disp96.1 m
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{10816}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-0.5}{1000} + 0.5\right)\cdot 30 = 96.1\,\text{m}$
Shell scatter width @ 10 km90 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.
Max Vert Disp57.7 m
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 96.1 \cdot 0.6 = 57.7\,\text{m}$
Shell scatter height @ 10 km52.6 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.
Med Horiz Disp30.7 m
50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 96.1 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 30.7\,\text{m}$
Med Vert Disp18.4 m
50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 57.7 \cdot 0.319\;(\sigma = 2) = 18.4\,\text{m}$
AP Pen Close218 mm
Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 2598 \cdot 25^{0.69} \cdot 0.127^{-1.07} \cdot 792^{1.38} = 218\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.
AP Pen Far44.2 mm
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (13.5 km), where the shell has slowed to 249.1 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 2598 \cdot 25^{0.69} \cdot 0.127^{-1.07} \cdot 249.1^{1.38} = 44.2\,\text{mm}$.
HE penetration21 mm
21 mm ≈ 127 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).
AP overmatch8 mm
floor(127 mm caliber / 14.3) = 8 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).
AP AOE Radius10
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 alpha4
All 4 barrels bear on the broadside.
Turret turn time5.3 s
180 degrees / 34 deg/s traverse speed = 5.3 s.
HE full-salvo alpha7,200
1,800 HE damage x 4 broadside guns = 7,200.
AP full-salvo alpha8,400
2,100 AP damage x 4 broadside guns = 8,400.
Base HE DPM139,355
7,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.1 s base reload = 139,355.
Base AP DPM162,581
8,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 3.1 s base reload = 162,581.
Base shells/min77.4
4 broadside guns x 60 / 3.1 s base reload = 77.4.
Base fires/min3.87
77.4 shells/min x 5% fire chance = 3.87.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability1 km
Estimated torpedo reaction time7.8 s
detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Torpedo speed49 kt
Travel time to max range82.4 s
range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).
Tube count8
2 launchers x 4 tubes.
Per-side salvo8 torpedoes
8 (centerline launchers train across - full salvo to either side).
Full-salvo damage70,936
All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 8,867 = 70,936.
Per-side salvo damage70,936
One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 8,867 = 70,936.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS138
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (5×3.5×1) + (13×3.5×0.95) + (22×3.5×1) = 138. 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 index472
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.
Near aura range1.2 km

Armor Beta

Hull HP 15,000, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are estimated from the standard WoWs damage-allocation model.

Bow & stern16 mm

Overmatched by 124+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.

Farming10 mm

Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 30%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →

Section Plates HP cap Threats Tactic
Bow16 mm primary (range 15–19 mm)≈ 750 (~5% of HP)
Overmatched by 283mm+ (Graf Spee, Scharnhorst)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.
Stern16 mm primary (range 15–16 mm)≈ 750 (~5% of HP)
Overmatched by 283mm+ (Graf Spee, Scharnhorst)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+
Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel16 mm primary (range 10–16 mm)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.
Superstructure10 mm primary (range 10–19 mm)no cap
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).

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.

Open in Charting Tool

Acceleration and Ballistics Chart

Balance History

Balance updates affecting Sims Black. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.

Buff ×11Main Battery ×1Torpedo ×3
2025-10-30

Ministry of Balance: Preparing for Winter

  • Main battery reload time reduced from 3.34 to 3.1 seconds.
  • Ship HP increased from 13,800 to 15,000.
  • Engine HP increased from 13,800 to 15,000.
  • Bow HP increased from 2,100 to 2,300.
  • Stern HP increased from 1,200 to 1,300.
  • Hull HP increased from 10,400 to 11,300.
  • Steering gear HP increased from 4,100 to 4,500.
  • Superstructure HP increased from 900 to 1,000.
  • Stock torpedo range increased from 5.49 to 6.99 km.
  • Upgraded torpedo range increased from 9.15 to 10.5 km.
  • +1 more official change line in the source post.
Read the full official post
Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Sims Black can equip, from in-game data.

  • Sims Black default exterior
    DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior
  • Decorative
    S BlackDecorative

Primary official WG sources

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.

Source status No high-context source card yet Filtered for precision