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Final Review: Soviet Tier X Aircraft Carrier Nakhimov

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COMRADES! The motherland just delivered a great gift! Admiral Nakhimov, tier X aircraft carrier of the soon to be fully released Soviet aircraft carriers line is now out of NDA!

Time for me to tell you if the ship is worth grinding so let’s not waste more time.

Historical background

Admiral Nakhimov is a what-if conversion of a Sovestky Soyuz-class battleship conversion. Unlike the Manfred von Richtofen and Max Immelmann, it’s actually a pretty good WG-made conversion that doesn’t make you feel like pouring bleach in your eyes.

The Good and the Bad

The Good

  • High alpha strike potential because of the “one squadron, one attack” design
  • Rockets with good penetration and high damage
  • Skip bombs with good penetration and high fire chances
  • Skip bombs able to skip 3 times
  • Faster torpedoes than average with high flooding chances
  • Very tight torpedo spread
  • JATO (Jet-Assisted Take-off) to compensate for the low speed of the planes after takeoff
  • Good reserves, especially combined with the low plane loses

The Bad

  • “One squadron, one attack” that blocks you from chaining drops in close succession.
  • Heavily affected by the target’s position because of the long arming time of the torpedoes, the rockets and the skip bombs that require to catch the target broadside.
  • No tool to realistically deal with submarines unless you catch one with skip bombs or rockets while it’s already spotted
  • Planes with low HP and average speed at best
  • No Repair on the Torpedo bombers
  • Horrible detectability by air
  • Worst armor protection of all Tier X CVs

The camouflage

The permanent camouflage of the Nakhimov provides the classic bonuses for tier X ships:

  • -3% to surface detectability range
  • +4% to maximum dispersion of shells fired by the enemy at your ship
  • -50% to the cost of ship’s post-battle service
  • +20% credits earned in the battle.
  • +100% to experience earned in the battle

Modules

Hull
Attack Aircraft
Skip Bombers
Torpedo Bombers
Propulsion
icon_module_Hull_installedAdmiral Nakhimov

‎Lavochkin La-5FN

‎Kochyerigin OPB (M-82)

‎Chyetverikov PT-1 (M-82)
icon_module_Engine_installedPropulsion: 231 000 hp

‎‎‎Lavochkin La-9

‎‎‎Sukhoi Su-6 (AM-42)

‎Polikarpov VIT-2 (VK-107)

General Characteristics and Playstyle

TierX
Health67 100 HP
Torpedo damage reduction25 %
Displacement58 500 tons
Dimensions
Overall length273.55 m
Beam44.11 m
Overall height (keel to the highest point on the ship)33.0 m
Freeboard13.73 m
Aircraft on deck
Attack Aircrafts20
Skip Bombers18
Torpedo Bombers18
Secondary Armament
130 mm/58 on a BL-132 mount6 x 4 130 mm
Maximum Firing Range7.300 km
Anti-Air Armament
130 mm/58 on a BL-132 mount6 x 4 130 mm
57 mm ZIF-75 mount8 x 5 57 mm
Maximum speed31.0 knots
Turning Circle Radius1 160 m
Rudder Shift Time17.1 s
Surface Detectability15.12 km
Air Detectability13.36 km
Consumables
Slot 1
Slot 2
Damage Control Party
Work time: 60 s
Cooldown: 90 s
Fighter
Number of charges: 4
Work time: 600 s
Cooldown: 40 s
Patrol Radius: 3.0 km
Planes in a squadron: 4

So… Nakhimov (the K is silent by the way). How can I say that this ship is absolutely busted for Random battles?

Basically, for randoms, her design is simply perfect. Get in, chunk hard your target (while also setting fires or flooding), get out, rinse and repeat. It’s especially effective with the JATO, shortening the time you take to reach your target as well as the fact that you can drop enemy ships from relatively far away with the skip bombs and the rockets. As all ordnances have high fire/flooding chances and considering that random players are terrible at managing their Damage Control Party, it’s incredibly easy to stack damage.

The high reserves of the ship also allow you to be quite aggressive as, unless you screw up, you will only ever start getting low on planes at the end of the game. However, with the low HP and lack of Repair consumable, you still need to mind enemies with strong AA and blobbed-up ships.

Another thing to keep in mind is that both her armor and concealment (mostly the aerial concealment) are terrible. While it is recommended to reach an advantageous position when you can, you have to keep in mind that if things go south, it will be very hard to disengage and survive. Related to the armor, when moving your carrier around the map, whenever you might get spotted by planes, you REALLY need to keep an eye on enemy battleships. With how huge her citadel is, Nakhimov can randomly explode without you even having the time to understand what happened.

If you want to see the ship in action, here is a replay of my last game:

Yes, I know… it’s again a monster game (though scuffed as Hell at the start) but considering that I had barely 2 evenings to prepare 3 reviews  if I can save some time with replays, I take it. Also, RIP the 300k damage.
(Say thank you to WG for telling us on the 3rd of November that the ships will be out of NDA on the 5th. It was TRULY delightful for any CC that isn’t a streamer… Spoiler: I had short nights.)
Here are the post-battle results for those who might want to see them.

Attack Aircraft

Attack Aircrafts – ‎Lavochkin La-9

TierX
Hitpoints per plane1 090
Cruise speed168 knots
Maximum speed208 knots
JATO speed boost+20%
JATO duration5 s
Engine boost time5 s
Engine boost reload time10 s
Size of attacking flight8
Aircraft per squadron8
Rocket typeHE S-21
Rocket per plane4
Machine gun sequence5.0 s
Maximum rocket damage4 050
HE penetration capacity40 mm
Explosion size1.07
Fire chance22 %
Detectability range10.0 km
Aircraft restoration time70 s
Aircraft on deck20
Consumables
Slot 1
Slot 2
Engine Cooling
consumable_PCY034_ForsageBooster
Number of Charges: 2
Work time: 5 s
Cooldown: 80 s
Patrol fighter
Number of Charges: 3
Work time: 60 s
Cooldown: 10 s
Aircraft per squadron: 7
Patrol radius: 3.5 km

After the skip bombers, the attack aircraft will be your second main damage dealer. Compared to the other planes, they are quite fast, allowing you to quickly reach the target. The JATO are especially nice in that regard as they save you a non-neglectable amount of time.

Thanks to their good penetration and high damage, these rockets are absolutely brutal on anything not angled properly and if you take the correct lead. The high fire chance, just like on the bombs, also creates a good synergy between the different plane types to stack fire and flooding damage.

Another great advantage is that you can drop the rockets from quite far compared to those of other CVs. This reduces the damage the planes might take on their way to the target. You simply ignore the close-range AA. Also, because the planes gain a lot of altitude when going for the attack, the rockets have high chances to hit the deck of enemy ships. It’s useful when dealing with things like German or Soviet battleships and their well-armored sides. It also allows you to dodge vertically the flak explosions by “jumping” above them.

Fully aimed reticule of the attack aircraft aimed at a Conqueror.

Skip Bombers

Skip bomber – Sukhoi Su-6 (AM-42)

TierX
Hitpoints per plane1 310
Cruise speed125 knots
Maximum speed162 knots
JATO speed boost+50%
JATO duration10 s
Engine boost time20 s
Engine boost reload time40 s
Size of attacking flight8
Aircraft per squadron8
Bomb typeFAB-500
Bomb per plane1
Maximum bomb damage8 700
HE penetration capacity54 mm
Explosion size1.9
Fire chance49 %
Number of skips3
Detectability range10.0 km
Aircraft restoration time80 s
Aircraft on deck18
Consumables
Slot 1
Slot 2
Engine Cooling
consumable_PCY034_ForsageBooster
Number of Charges: 2
Work time: 5 s
Cooldown: 80 s
Patrol fighter
Number of Charges: 3
Work time: 60 s
Cooldown: 10 s
Aircraft per squadron: 7
Patrol radius: 3.5 km

As I said above, the skip bombers of the Nakhimov are her main source of damage. High damage per bomb, high fire chances, good penetration, tight dispersion, what’s not to love?

With these skip bombers, anything is a good target. Well… except submarines because, unless you get them spotted and on the last drop area, the bombs will just bounce near them and do nothing.
For the rest though, as long as the target doesn’t angle hard against you, you can get some nasty drops. The best part is that these skip bombers are stupidly effective at clapping destroyers that would already be spotted. Against them, I recommend dropping with the second or third part of the reticule so that you have a good balance between bomb dispersion and the reaction time of the target.

Fully aimed reticule of the skip bombers aimed at a Conqueror.

Torpedo Bombers

Torpedo bomber – Polikarpov VIT-2 (VK-107)

TierX
Hitpoints per plane1 470
Cruise speed124 knots
Maximum speed162 knots
JATO speed boost+50%
JATO duration10 s
Engine boost time20 s
Engine boost reload time40 s
Size of attacking flight7
Aircraft per squadron7
Torpedo type45-36AN-B
Torpedoes per plane1
Maximum torpedo damage5 200
Maximum torpedo range6.0 km
Torpedo speed41 knots
Torpedo arming time7.5 s
Flooding chance45%
Detectability range10.0 km
Aircraft restoration time93 s
Aircraft on deck18
Consumables
Slot 1
Slot 2
Engine Cooling
consumable_PCY034_ForsageBooster
Number of Charges: 2
Work time: 5 s
Cooldown: 80 s
Patrol fighter
Number of Charges: 3
Work time: 60 s
Cooldown: 10 s
Aircraft per squadron: 7
Patrol radius: 3.5 km

The torpedo bombers of the Nakhimov are much more “limited” than the others. These torpedoes have a long arming time which makes them relatively unsuited against anything that isn’t a battleship, large cruiser, or a smaller target unable to maneuver or that would be moving at low speed.

However, when you get them to hit a target, boy do they deliver. When all torps connect, you can expect more than 24k damage, especially with Proximity Fuse. The Nakhimov might have the downside of only being able to perform one attack per squadron but that single attack slaps hard.
Another great advantage of these torpedoes is that the spread is very tight, meaning that, even if you go for a target angled, you will still get a high number of hits. Also, with their high flooding chance, they work in perfect synergy with the other ordnances.

Fully aimed reticule of the torpedo bombers aimed at a Conqueror.
Torpedo spread

Secondary Armament

6 x 4 130 mm/58 on a BL-132 mount
Maximum Firing Range7.300 km
Reloading Time5.0 s
Sigma1.00 sigma
Shells
Type of ProjectileHE – HE-42
Alpha Damage1 800 HP
Damage500 HP
HE penetration22 mm
Explosion Size0.43
Chance to Cause Fire8 %
Projectile Speed950 m/s
Air Drag0.291
Projectile Mass33.0 kg

Ok, real talk here. Yes, these secondaries are the same as the main battery of the Smolensk. Does it make them powerful in any realistic way? Nyet.

While you can have up to 16 guns on the starboard side, the secondaries are still limited by a standard dispersion which means that the enemy destroyers or submarines that will come close enough will just shower themselves with the rain of shells and not give much crap about it.

Anti-air Armament

6 x 4 130 mm/58 on a BL-132 mount
Sector range0.1 km – 6.0 km
Hit chance100 %
Sector’s damage77
Sector’s damage frequency0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second270
Flak clouds number10
Flak cloud damage1 890
8 x 4 57 mm ZIF-75 mount
Sector range0.1 km – 4.0 km
Hit chance100 %
Sector’s damage93
Sector’s damage frequency0.29 s
Sector’s damage per second326

The anti-air of the Nakhimov is pretty strong. The DPS on the long-range is straight-up nuts with, on top of that, a high number of flak explosions and the mid-range is nothing to sneeze at either.

The Armor

While you might expect that Admiral Nakhimov would be the tankiest tier X carrier in terms of armor, it’s actually the absolute opposite. The flight deck is only 50 mm thick and the main belt is only 125 mm or 150 mm thick.

Also, for the horizontal protection, there are only the 50 mm flight deck and the 90 mm citadel which are very close to each other. This means that the Nakhimov can get clapped by AP bombs.

External armor protection

Citadel armor protection

Hidden armor in the bow and stern

Final Opinion

I heavily recommend Admiral Nakhimov for Random battles as well as Ranked battles. She is a monster at dealing large chunks of damage in short periods of time and has the tools to deal with most targets effectively.
For clan battles, however, she definitely isn’t made for that mode as you will deal with coordinated and heavy AA which is something that her planes don’t appreciate. Her reserves just wouldn’t keep up. For this game mode, Hakuryu remains the uncontested king.

Recommended Build

For the Nakhimov, I recommend the following build:

  • Air Supremacy
  • Improved Engine
  • Aircraft Armor
  • Survivability Expert
  • Bomber Flight Control
  • Enhanced Aircraft Armor
  • Proximity Fuse

I advise you to take Alexander Ovechkin as a captain because of the improved Survivability Expert. When it comes to upgrades, you could consider using the skip bombers HP modification. However, considering that the torpedo bombers are those which have to deal with enemy AA the most, I prefer to give them the extra kick in survivability.

For the 3rd upgrade slot, considering that with 0.10.10, we will get a Skip Bombers Modification 1 that increases the attack time, I would recommend taking it. This upgrade gives you more freedom when it comes to which reticule you want to drop a target with. Also, it will save you from those awkward moments where you start a run with JATO still running and then it runs out in the middle of the approach so your reticules are now way too far from the target. The extra time will allow you to cover the drop distance you lose when the speed boost from the JATO ends.

Easter Egg

Inside the commanding bridge of the Nakhimov, just like on Pobeda, there is a map of the Kandalaksha Gulf in the White Sea. Again, I have no idea why it’s there.

This concludes my review of Admiral Nakhimov. Thank you for reading this article!

Don’t hesitate to subscribe to our notifications to make sure that you don’t miss any future articles.
Have a good one and see you soon!

About Author

15,466 thoughts on “Final Review: Soviet Tier X Aircraft Carrier Nakhimov

  1. For clan battles I feel MVR is more powerful than Hakuryu with presence of AP bombs

  2. Hakuryu’s AP bombs are far more reliable and can hit the citadel of ships such as Ohio while MvR will fail. MvR’s reserves are also much worse and the AP rockets are unable to citadel almost all meta cruisers. Also, Hakuryu has the amazing torpedo bombers able to deal at a minimum 12k per drop. With MvR you won’t even be able to dream of achieving that.

  3. @Yuzorah

    That is true

    However last season Hakuryu and FDR were banned due to it being too powerful and can be banned in next seasons

    That leaves MVR the best available choice

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