Final Review: U.S. Tier VIII Premium Battleship Constellation

What might be one of the most requested premiums of the game is now available in World of Warships. The Constellation of the Lexington-class battlecruisers is now available in the Armory at a starting price of 12 800 doubloons or alternatively, in the Premium shop.

Is it worth it or not? Is it a good representative of the battlecruiser archetype after the likes of Slava, Champagne or Florida? Here is my opinion about it.

The Historical Background

The Constellation was meant to be the second ship of the Lexington-class of battlecruisers of the U.S Navy. The Lexington-class were officially the only battlecruisers ever ordered by the U.S. Navy. In total, 6 ships were planned with the Naval Act of 1916 to counter the Japanese Kongo-class battlecruisers (later battleships). However, the ships were delayed several times in favor of smaller ships which allowed for numerous changes to the designs. While the initial armament was meant to be ten 356 mm guns and eighteen 127 mm guns on a hull able to reach 35 knots, the specifications were altered to reach a final design of eight 406 mm guns and sixteen 152 mm guns with a top speed of 33.25 knots.

Because of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, four of the ships (Constellation, Ranger, Constitution and United States) had to be canceled and scrapped while Lexington and Saratoga were converted as the first fleet carriers of the U.S. Navy.

In World of Warships, we are getting Constellation if she didn’t get scrapped and after a what-if World War II refit/rebuild similar to California and such.

The Good and the Bad

The Good

• Amazing base top speed of 33.3 knots
• Battlecruiser dispersion
• Fast turret traverse for a battleship
• Torpedoes with good firing angles
• 57 mm deck and upper belt
• 10 km Surveillance Radar
• Strong anti-air
• Good concealment

The Bad

• Same guns as Colorado a tier higher
• Terrible firing angles below 10 km
• ENORMOUS freeboard and as a whole, large target
• very slow torpedoes
• 27 mm bow and stern
• Really thin main belt of 178 mm
• Fairly easy to citadel
• Only 3 charges on the Repair Party

The camouflage

The permanent camouflage of the Constellation provides the classic bonuses for tier VIII ships:

• -3% to surface detectability range
• +4% to maximum dispersion of shells fired by the enemy at your ship
• -10% to the cost of the ship’s post-battle service
• +50% to experience earned in the battle

For an additional 5 000 doubloons, you can also get Independence Day camouflage that gives the same bonuses.

Modules

Hull	Engine	Gun Fire Control System	Main battery	Torpedoes
Constellation	Propulsion: 180 000 hp	Mk8 mod. 1	406 mm/45 Mk.5 in a turret	Mk15 mod. 3

General Characteristics and playstyle

Consumables
Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Slot 4
Damage Control Party Work time: 20 s Cooldown: 80 s	Repair Party Number of charges: 3 Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 10%	Surveillance Radar Number of charges: 3 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting range: 10.0 km	Fighter Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Number of planes in a squadron: 3
			Spotting Aircraft Number of charges: 4 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 240 s Maximum firing range: +20%

The Constellation mostly plays at medium range. Her shells either don’t take ages to reach the target and lack penetration against battleships or alternatively, compared to close range, her firing angles aren’t leading you to a guaranteeed death.

When it comes to her Surveillance Radar, only ever try to use it when you are sure that there won’t be a battleship in range to punish your flat broadside. Even then, get ready to take a whole lot of damage because the ship’s freeboard is just enormous and the size of the superstructure doesn’t help. Cruisers as a whole will have a field day with you.

Main Battery

4 x 2 406 mm/45 Mk.5 in a turret
Maximum Firing Range	17.420 km
Reloading Time	30.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	36.0 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	28° above 10 km roughly 42° below 10 km
Optimal firing angles at the rear	32°
Sigma	1.90 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	218 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 406 mm HE/HC Mk13
Alpha Damage	5 700 HP
Damage	4 620 HP
Penetration capacity	68 mm
Explosion size	2.46
Fire chance	36 %
Projectile Speed	803 m/s
Air Drag	0.346
Projectile Mass	861.8 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 406 mm AP Mk5 mod. 1
Alpha Damage	12 400 HP
Projectile Speed	768 m/s
Air Drag	0.336
Projectile Mass	1 016 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 636
Projectile Detonator	0.033 s
Detonator threshold	68 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

The firepower of the Constellation is honestly really disappointing compared to the rest of the tier VIII battleships and is only saved by the battlecruiser dispersion.

The problem with Constellation is that you are stuck with the same guns as Colorado at tier VII. While these guns work fine at tier VII, when you have to start dealing with tier X ships more often than you would like to, their performances really aren’t anything award-winning.

Torpedo Armament

These torpedoes, while they have amazing firing angles, will only really be useful in brawling situations when you are toe to toe with another ship. Due to their low speed, you really can’t go for long-range drops as a small change of direction, especially with only 3 torpedoes, will just lead to the torps completely missing the target.

Secondary Armament

10 x 2 127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount
Maximum Firing Range	6.600 km
Reloading Time	6.0 s
Sigma	1.00 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 127 mm HE Mk32
Alpha Damage	1 800 HP
Damage	380 HP
HE penetration	21 mm
Explosion Size	0.38
Chance to Cause Fire	5 %
Projectile Speed	792 m/s
Air Drag	0.347
Projectile Mass	24.5 kg

Well… you know the deal. 127 mm peashooters, no improved dispersion, short range…. with that, you can always hope that some lucky shells hit a DD ambushing you from behind an island but that’s it. Just like a major part of the secondary armaments in this game, Constellation’s secondaries are mostly for decoration.

Anti-air Armament

If there is one thing for which Constellation cannot be criticized, it’s her anti-air. The combination of the mid and close-range is especially lethal when dealing against dive-bombers as even those of tier X carriers get shredded (well except those of the Roosevelt because you know… “FREEDOM NEVER DIES!”).

The Armor

Except for the 57 mm deck and upper belt, the armor on this ship isn’t anything crazy and you will take big hits from any angle, especially when kiting. Also, consider that showing broadside is a one way to Hell for you because of how thin her main belt is.

External armor protection:

Internal main belt:

Citadel protection:

Turret Armor Protection:

Hidden armor plates in the stern:

Final Opinion

Honestly, I can’t really recommend the ship.

The combination of below average firepower and poor armor protection is already a red point, especially when uptiered where you just turn into a damage pinata because of the huge target you present.

As for the limited capacities she has to effectively fight at close range when needed because of the poor firing angles and terrible armor, it leads to the radar being really risky to use and the torps really won’t do much.

Recommended Build

During the testing of the Constellation, I was running the following build:

• Preventive Maintenance
• Grease the Gears
• Adrenaline Rush
• Concealment Expert
• Fire Prevention
• Emergency Repair Expert
• Priority Target
• Consumable Specialist

This concludes my review of the Constellation. Thank you for reading this article!

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Have a good one and see you soon!

Yuzorah

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