Premium Ship Review: USS Enterprise

[LittleWhiteMouse]

The following is a review of Enterprise, a ship provided to me by Wargaming. This is the release version of the vessel and these stats are current as of June 29th, 2017.


It's about time.

 

Quick Summary:  An aircraft carrier with enormous hangar capacity and deep fighter reserves.  She's held back by low tier aircraft, weird torpedo drop patterns and an overspecialization for nuking German battleships.
Cost:  $59.99 USD including a port slot.
Patch and Date Written: Patch 0.6.6.0 to 0.6.7 June 10th to June 29th, 2017.

 

Closest in-Game Contemporary

Kaga, Tier 7 Japanese Carrier
Degree of Similarity: Clone / Sister-Ship / Related Class / Similar Role / Unique

Enterprise shares a lot in common with Kaga.  They both use downtiered aircraft.  They both boast huge reserves.  Their torpedo planes both have unique drop patterns.  Where they differ primarily is their load-outs.  Kaga is more strike-aircraft friendly, with more of her reserves and specializing focusing on the use of her torpedo planes and dive bombers.  Enterprise has enormous fighter reserves and attack planes that are far less intuitive to use.

PROs

• Enormous hangar capacity of 96 aircraft.
• Option of using AP bombs which can (easily) land 8,000 damage citadel hits on enemy battleships per bomb.
• AP Bombs are easy to use with a very accurate auto-drop function.
• Balanced 2-2-2 flight groups -- a rarity with American carriers.
• Fast reload time of her aircraft squadrons for an American carrier.
• Good anti-aircraft defense.
• Good anti-torpedo protection.
• Has access to the 6th upgrade slot.
• Makes German Battleships cry.
• It's not only a Yorktown-class, it's freakin' CV-6!

CONs

• Aircraft operate in 5-plane squadrons instead of the usual 6 for American carriers.
• Enterprise's aircraft are all tier VII instead of tier VIII, making her fighters especially difficult to use effectively.
• Drop pattern of her torpedoes is enormous and clumsy, making it difficult to land more than 1 or 2 hits per drop.
• AP Bombs have limited reliability against anything other than battleship targets and are all but useless against destroyers.
• Her hangar reserves have nearly half their capacity dedicated to her under strength fighters.
• Largish surface and aerial detection ranges.

I can't believe it took Wargaming this long -- almost two years past the start of Open Beta to get USS Enterprise into World of Warships.  Well, she's finally here.  The hype surrounding this ship on the North American server has been extreme.  I have received more messages asking me when this review will be out more than any other ship in the past.  I'm happy to finally deliver.

 GrafZeppelinKai from the World of Warships wiki team will be joining me to provide a look into the history of this auspicious vessel.

 

History Lessons with GrafZeppelinKai

Design
By the 1930s, the USN had been developing their carrier doctrine for over a decade, and has acquired a wealth of knowledge. The previously built Ranger – while the Navy’s first purpose built carrier – was seen as a failure. As such, the new Yorktown-class carriers were built with protection in mind: the Ranger’s greatest shortcoming.

Both the main belt and the bulkheads were 4-inches thick. This was deemed sufficient to mitigate damage from 6-inch shells from enemy cruisers. In consequence, the horizontal protection was limited to just 1.5-inches at the thickest. Later in the war, Enterprise would receive torpedo bulges. It had both air-filled and water-filled pockets to absorb and spread out the shock of impact.

To simplify design, the aviation facilities were similar to the ones on Ranger. The single hangar was built on top of the hull main deck, whilst the flight deck was built on top of the hangar. The hangar itself was not fully enclosed, with side panels that opened up to the elements. This allowed for aircraft to be warmed up on the hangar deck, and during combat, fires and fumes could be ventilated. Standard to fleet carriers, Yorktown-class had three elevators, and two catapults on the flight deck. Interestingly, she had a third catapult on the hangar deck for reserve use. In total, the Yorktown-class carried 90 aircraft. Originally, her complement favoured dive-bombers as they were used both as scouts and bombers. By late into the war, her complement shifted to majority fighters, as they were the best defence against kamikazes.

In order to make them flexible in combat, the Yorktown-class was designed with over 30 knots as a requirement. As such, they were equipped with 9 boilers and 4 turbines that generated over 120,000 shaft horsepower. In speed trials, this allowed for speeds in excess of 32 knots.

The Yorktown-class had a plethora of anti-aircraft weapons for defence. For long-ranges, the class was equipped with the new 5”/38 DP guns. In combat they proved to be excellent weapons. For intermediate ranges the ships were armed with the 1.1”/75 guns, known as the ‘Chicago Pianos’. For short ranges, .50-cal machine guns were peppered over the ships. Over the course of the war, the latter two weapon systems were replaced. The machine guns proved to have inadequate stopping power, and the Chicago Pianos had poor handling characteristics.

Throughout her service life, Enterprise underwent constant modifications to maintain combat effectiveness. She was equipped with state-of-the-art CXAM-1 radar set before the war in 1940. This gave Enterprise the capacity to detect enemy planes and coordinate her own: a life-saving ability. In 1942 20mm cannons were slowly replacing the .50-cal guns. As well, her hangar catapult was removed and her wooden crash barriers were changed to canvas ones. In 1943, Enterprise received a major refit. Her ‘Chicago Pianos’ were replaced with 40mm cannons, and she received new fire-directors. She was also the first carrier to receive equipment for night-fighter operations, along with a new CIC. Finally she had her torpedo bulges installed. Enterprise’s last refit in 1945 replaced most of her 20mm for more 40mm cannons.

USS Enterprise (CV-6) was the second of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers. She was laid down 16 July 1934 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia and launched 3 October 1936.

Service History
Commissioned into the Navy in 1938, Enterprise spent the first few years of her career as a movie star and as a transport; hauling aircraft to various US airbases in the Pacific. In early December 1941 she undertook such a mission when the Japanese conducted their attack on Pearl Harbour. Although she was due in port on December 6th, the same storm that shadowed the Japanese delayed Enterprise’s arrival. While on-route, her scouts did briefly clash with the attack force.
Now on wartime status, Enterprise refuelled and rearmed in a record 7-hours and was back out at sea, in her first wartime patrol. Enterprise was the first US ship to sink a Japanese vessel when, on December 10th, she sunk the submarine I-70.

Immediately on the offensive, Big E spent the first four months conducting constant raids against the Japanese. In February she attacked the Marshall Islands to deny the Japanese a forward operations base. Between February and March she raided Wake and Marcus Islands to disrupt troop and supply movements. By April of 1942, Enterprise rendezvoused with her sister ship USS Hornet and provided her an escort while she conducted the famous ‘Doolittle Raid’.

In June 1942 Enterprise, along with her sister ships headed to Midway Island in order to ambush the oncoming Japanese Fleet. Over the course of one day, Enterprise’s dive-bombers managed to sink Kaga and Akagi, whilst crippling the other two fleet carriers. The Japanese manage to cause some damage; USS Yorktown was sunk. In the end, the balance of power started to shift.

By July, Enterprise was committed to the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands, undergoing constant patrols. In August, Enterprise came toe-to-toe with a massive Japanese invasion force. Despite heavy damage, Enterprise managed to aid in the sinking of Ryujo. In October of 1942 the Japanese Navy sent another massive force to combat the beleaguered Americans. Despite serious odds, Enterprise was able to secure time desperately needed by the Guadalcanal garrison to reinforce, but at a heavy cost: USS Hornet was lost. Big E was now the only functioning US carrier in the Pacific Theatre; it was now Enterprise vs. Japan.

She needed rest but Enterprise’s presence in the Solomon was crucial; crews were pressed to repair her while she was underway between patrols. She continued to guard the Solomon until the summer of 1943 – engaging the Japanese twice more – until she got some required respite when new Essex-class and Independence-class carriers came into commission.

Back in duty by November of 1943, Enterprise committed to the “island hopping” campaign to secure the islands of the central Pacific. During the next seven months, she assisted with the invasions of the Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana Islands; working up to the Philippines. During this time, Enterprise was the first carrier to introduce night-fighter operations in the Pacific.

Desperate to stem the US near the Marianas, in June 1944, the Japanese confronted the Americans in the largest carrier battle in history. After two gruelling days the IJN lost three carriers and 500 airmen; Japanese Naval Aviation was no more. By October, Enterprise had fought all the way to Leyte, where she contributed her strength to the eponymous battle.

By December, Enterprise had fully converted to night operations and spent the next three months raiding the South China Sea. By February 1945, she supported the landings on Iwo Jima. March was spent raiding the Sea of Japan, and Japan itself. She spent the last two months of her war career supporting the Okinawa invasion until a single kamikaze took her out of combat, and the war in May 1945.

Her only post-war service was ferrying back American servicemen from overseas. By now the Navy had dozens of newer fleet carriers and summarily, Enterprise was deemed surplus and decommissioned in 1946. Despite attempts to preserve the highest decorated US ship in history, Enterprise’s story came to its melancholic end in 1960 – in the scrapyards.

 

Dive bombers engaging an enemy Bismarck.

Options
Enterprise comes with the option of what type of bomb to load on your Dive Bombers -- an HE or AP bomb.  These are selected from the modules tab and they're selected the same way you would a researched component but without an attached experience cost.

Enterprise also has the same number of upgrade slots as a tier 9 or 10 aircraft carrier, giving her one more than Shokaku or Lexington. 

 

Consumables:

• Damage Control Party
• Defensive Fire

Module Upgrades: Six slots, standard aircraft carrier upgrades.

 

Premium Camouflage: Tier VI+ Standard. This provides 50% bonus experience gains, 3% reduction in surface detection and 4% reduction in enemy accuracy.

 

Your build is going to be pretty standard.

• In your first upgrade slot, take Air Groups Modification 1.  You want that extra 10% dps to your aircraft guns.
• In the second slot, it's Air Groups Modification 2.  Don't neglect your fighters -- they're a huge part of playing Enterprise well.
• In your third slot, take Air Groups Modification 3.  This will give your Dive Bombers and Torpedo Bombers comparable hit points to other tier 8 attack craft.
• In slots four and five, take Damage Control Modification 1 and Damage Control Modification 2.  This will give you a little extra fire and torpedo protection.
• Finally, take Concealment Modification 1 in your final slot to help you sneak about.

 

Air Groups

Aircraft Types: Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, Grumman TBF Avenger, SBD-5 Dauntless Dive Bomber

Flight Control Groups: Two fighter, two torpedo plane, two dive bombers.

Base Squadron Sizes: Five aircraft for each squadron type.

Hangar Capacity: 96 aircraft with 43 fighters, 25 torpedo planes and 28 dive bombers

 

One thing that will immediately stand out with Enterprise is that all of her aircraft squadrons run at five planes instead of the usual six of American carriers.  This provides an accelerated reload time of all of her squadrons compared to Lexington, though she still lags well behind Shokaku.

 

Fighters

Similar to Kaga, Enterprise is the second premium carrier to use down tiered aircraft.  Her fighters are the F6F-5 Hellcat found on the Ranger at tier VII and the stock Lexington at tier VIII.  Nearly half her carrier capacity is given over to these fighters which means, down tiered or not, they form a crucial part of Enterprise's designed role.  Functionally, she will have a very hard time running out of fighters.  Even with upgraded squadrons of six planes each, you will have to lose five full squadrons before the new ones you launch will be below full strength.  I'm not saying it can't be done, but you're going to have to go out of your way (or go full potato) to do it.

 

Enterprise really broadcasts how unfriendly a carrier she is to inexperienced players with these fighters.   They're slower than contemporary aircraft with less planes per squadron, less HP and less DPS.  Enterprise's Hellcats will be outfought by enemy USN fighters (she can almost hold her own against a Shokaku) and they won't kill attack planes fast enough to save a beleaguered ally.  Proper use of the strafe mechanic is key and this will really ramp up the learning curve to be successful with this ship.  If you struggle to make use of strafing to engage not only enemy attack planes but to out play other fighters, it will be difficult to enjoy a lot of success with her Hellcats.

 

You'll often feel that you're fighting a losing battle to win air superiority with Enterprise, but the presence of your fighters is paramount to pushing your attacks through and chewing up the enemy reserves.  Enterprise has the hangar capacity to pull it off, but it will often feel like an exercise in frustration to wrest away air superiority.

 

Torpedo Planes

Like Kaga, Enterprise has her own, unique drop pattern with her torpedo bombers.  This is done in two lines, with two torpedoes in the front and three in the rear.  Casualties come from the rear most aircraft first, starting from the outside and working their way in.  Enterprise does not carry very deep reserves of her torpedo planes with a total of twenty-five on board when the match starts.

 

At first glance, Enterprise's torpedo planes are largely disappointing.  Their drop pattern is enormous and easily avoided.  The torpedoes themselves run a parallel course and do not converge or diverge in the same manner as Japanese or other American carriers respectively.   About the best thing that could be said about these torpedoes is that they can cover a large area when it comes to flushing out ships hiding in smoke.

 

However, the large gaps from her individual salvos are mitigated with Enterprise's second torpedo plane squadron.  A stacked drop may provide sufficient density in the pattern to make dancing to the torpedo beats a real challenge.  This by no means makes Enterprise's torpedo planes "good" -- they're not.  But used in this manner, they're at least functional.  Wargaming clearly didn't want to make Enterprise outright overpowered with normal USN CV drop pattern with two torpedo squadrons, especially when combined with the outstanding damage potential of her dive bombers (see below).  As a result, we have this rather unfortunate drop pattern which on its own isn't very exciting but is no doubt an important balance mechanic.

 

One of the oft spoken downsides to Enterprise's attack planes -- their low hit points, can largely be mitigated by giving her the upgrade Air Groups Modification 3 which isn't available to Shokaku or Lexington. This bumps up Enterprise's 1,510hp torpedo aircraft up to 1,736hp per.  This compares very favourably to the 1,710hp found on Lexington's TMB-3s, giving Enterprise's attack planes only slightly less overall survivability due to the 3 knot difference in top speed and having one less aircraft per squadron.

 

In summary, Enterprise's torpedo planes take skill to use effectively.  Stock, they're terrible.  Once upgraded with the proper module, they have an acceptable level of survivability little different from Lexington's.  Individual drops are easy to avoid so it's imperative they be used on either vulnerable targets or that you stack or cross-drop with your squadrons.  On a per squadron basis, Enterprise will not be doing as much damage as other CVs with her torpedo bombers and you're unlikely to be able to a delete an enemy ship at will.  However, they form an important component of her strike package.

 

Reference Mahan (104m long) for scale.  If you find the gaps between Enterprise's torpedoes look punitively large, it's not just you:  they're enormous.  Enterprise has arguably the most ineffective torpedo drop pattern yet seen in the game per individual squadron.  Coordinated drops with both of her squadrons are needed to land an acceptable number of hits per sortie.  However, even with such tactics, it will be incredibly challenging to cause catastrophic levels of damage to a target in a single pass.  You're going to have to do a lot of work to get the same damage output another carrier might manage with less effort.

 

Dive Bombers

Part of the explanation of Enterprise's lackluster torpedo drop pattern resides with the damage potential of her dive bombers.  She's the first carrier to be given the option of using armour piercing bombs and it really feels like her damage output has been balanced around their inclusion. As such, Enterprise is one of the first carriers to where dive bombers aren't playing second fiddle to torpedo planes when it comes to damage output.

 

Now, Enterprise may still use HE bombs -- these may be selected in port before starting a match through the list of upgrades available for the ship.  These bombs have the same performance as those found on Ranger and Lexington -- she's just dropping one less bomb per sortie with Enterprise's reduced  squadron sizes.

 

Things change when she uses her armour piercing (AP) bombs.  These weapons cannot start fires.  They can ricochet if they strike a surface at less than a 45º angle.  Effectively, they count as a 305mm AP shell being dropped vertically onto the decks of her targets. 

 

 These weapons detonate for up to 8,000 damage each on a successful citadel hit, giving the maximum damage potential for a fully upgraded, six plane squadron at 48,000hp.  The auto-targeting area is oblong, almost conforming perfectly with the dimensions of a Bismarck-class battleship.  A manual drop reduces this by 10% easily ensuring all bombs will land atop of her decks but I found this to be generally unnecessary -- left to their own devices, the bombers were accurate enough to ensure 2/3s of their ordnance landed against most targets.  Citadel hits are commonplace, especially German Battleships, making hit point recovery through their Repair Party consumable from such attacks problematic.  Realistically, you can expect between 10,000 to 30,000 damage per bombing run against most battleships. 

 

And this is really the best target for Enterprise's AP Bombs -- enemy battleships (especially German ones).  The performance of the bombs becomes suspect, at best, against any other targets.  They will land nothing but 800 damage over penetrating hits against destroyers.  Against cruisers, their performance is a mixed and unreliable.  Some targets, like Moskva, are as vulnerable as Battleships.  Others, not so much.  Enemy Shokaku can only take citadel hits to small sections over her overall length.  Lexington takes even less, making it nearly impossible to land anything more than 800 damage hits per AP bomb. 

 

 Like Enterprise's torpedo planes, her dive bombers greatly benefit from taking the upgrade Air Groups Modification 3, which puts their hit points per aircraft better than those of Lexington, though it's worth keeping in mind that there are less aircraft per squadron giving the flight an overall smaller hit point pool.

 

Air Group Performance

A lot of undue fuss will be made about Enterprise's tier VII aircraft, but I've found their tiering to be largely irrelevant for her attack planes.  Air Groups Modification 3 gives her comparable survivability for her bomber squadrons.  Enterprise's Hellcats are really where the struggle is found and yet she can hold her own against a Shokaku with the proper skill setup.  It really comes down to which CV player can better manage her planes.  However, it's worth saying that Enterprise cannot stand up to Lexington's Corsairs. 

 

When Enterprise takes AP bombs, she's really choosing to specialize in damaging enemy battleships over all other targets.  Her wide torpedo salvos already damage her ubiquity in engaging targets like destroyers and the ammunition selection of her dive bombers will remove any pretense of being able to threaten them.  

 

Enterprise can deal big damage numbers in a game, but like any ship that focuses primarily on farming damage against enemy BBs, I don't find these damage totals to be nearly as effective as those from other carriers.  Enterprise struggles to assist in neutralizing destroyers -- a key component to stealing the initiative from the enemy, especially in early stages of a match when they're often operating beyond the smothering flak umbrella that's so dominant in high-tier game play.  This specialization doesn't necessarily make her better at killing enemy battleships than other carriers -- it just gives her a different method of doing it when she takes AP bombs.  A battleship would be just as dead from taking a double stack of Shokaku torpedoes chased with dive bomber fires.

 

Summary:

• Fighters are under-strength, but between an enormous hangar capacity and proper skill setup, she can hold her own against a Shokaku. Good luck against an Air Superiority Lexington, however.
• AP armed Dive Bombers are a fun gimmick and are very effective against battleships -- not so much against anything else.  They are super easy to use, however, and are a good fire and forget weapon.
• Enterprise's torpedo bombers are much harder to use efficiently because of their enormous and ineffective drop pattern. Stacking the squadrons or using cross-drops is key to ensure hits but she will not output more damage than a Lexington with her torpedo planes or compete with the effectiveness of a Shokaku's torpedoes.

 

Enterprise's fighters have an uphill battle ahead of them in every match.  Don't dismiss them out of hand, though.

 

Firepower

Secondary Battery: Eight 127mm guns in single mounts, four to each side.

Enterprise's secondaries aren't anything special.  She has eight single mounts of her 127mm guns, four to a side with four mounted forwards and four aft.  They have a 4.5km range and are immediately forgettable.

 

Manoeuvrability

Top Speed: 32.5 knots
Turning Radius: 1070m
Rudder Shift: 13.1s

Maximum Turn Rate:  3.14º per second.

 
Enterprise truly is a fleet carrier with her decent (but not great) top speed.  This will largely keep her out of trouble, at least until her team goes belly up.  Like all carriers, her turning circle is enormous which in turn leads to a horrible rate of turn.  You're not going to be dodging much in Enterprise, but I don't think anyone really expects her to.

 

Durability
Hit Points: 51,400
Maximum Protection: 21mm + 102mm through the bow to a transverse citadel bulkhead.

Min Bow & Deck Armour: 21mm extremities, 25mm flight deck
Torpedo Damage Reduction: 28%

 

At 51,400hp, Enterprise has the exact same hit point total as Shokaku when she's fully upgraded.  This pales compared to the enormous Lexington which has an advantage of an additional 5,900hp.  Enterprise is very lightly armoured overall, with her thickest steel plates being found in transverse bulkheads protecting her citadel fore and aft, with most of everything else being sandwiched layered compartments between 19mm and 40mm thick.

 

For HE protection, Enterprise isn't well set up to resist damage.   Her flight deck is 25mm.  Her flight hangar is armoured at 38mm, but there are large sections of her hull that are 19mm to 21mm thick. 

 

One thing she does boast over other carriers is excellent torpedo damage reduction at 28%.  With Damage Control System Modification 1, this increases up to 30%.  This is the second highest damage reduction for any CV in the game behind only the tier 9 Essex.

 

Concealment & Camouflage

Base Surface Detection Range: 14.6km

Air Detection Range: 13.8 km

Minimum Surface Detection Range: 10.7km

Minimum Aerial Detection Range: 10.4km

 

As high tier American CVs go, Enterprise isn't out of the ordinary when it comes to her concealment rating.  For surface/aerial detection, Lexington comes in at a whopping 17.5km / 15.0km surface detection range.  Ranger came in at 14.2km / 13.3km and Essex at 14.9km / 14.4km, so she's right in the ballpark of what we would expect.  The combination of modules and Captain Skills can bring this right down to an acceptable level and it's not like she's going to be up close where the action is anyway.

 

So her stealth rating is not bad, but it's not great either.

 

Anti-Aircraft Defense

AA Battery Calibers: 127mm / 40mm / 20mm
AA Umbrella Ranges: 5.0km / 3.5km / 2.0km
AA DPS per Aura:  64 / 185 / 180

 

Enterprise has respectable anti-aircraft firepower, though it is primarily built around personal defense.  It pales compared to Lexington's own strength of fire and she's especially lacking in long-range firepower needed to blunt strike aircraft.  Enterprise does have the carrier version of Defensive Fire, this may thwart a clumsy carrier-sniping attempt but overall, her anti-aircraft firepower isn't sufficient to keep her safe from multiple strikes.  At best, you can hope to make such attempt expensive.

 

An Enterprise captain cannot be complacent.

 

Bad drop.  Only two out of six bombs hit this North Carolina due to a hasty aim.

 

Jedi Training

Enterprise conforms to most of the skill choices for strike-squadron aircraft carriers for the American navy but with one catch.  Your core skill build should be the following for the first 11pts:

 

• Take Aircraft Servicing Expert at tier 1. Also take Dogfighting Expert right away before moving up to tier 2.  The order isn't particularly important, just take both before moving on.
• Follow this up with Torpedo Acceleration at tier 2.
• Next comes Torpedo Armament Expertise at tier 3.
• And finally take Air Supremacy at tier 4.

 This all should look pretty normal, especially for players that normally play Japanese carriers.  The importance of Dogfighting Expert is paramount for Enterprise.  This will bump her fighter DPS when she engages planes from Shokaku or Lexington, bringing it up to a maximum of 68dps when combined with Air Groups Modification 1. Lexington's Corsairs will have 69dps.and Shokaku's Shiden have 77dps.

 

From there, take the usual assortment of skills that help carriers.  Concealment Expert should be at the top of the pile.  AA guns skills, Advanced Fire Training, Basic Fire Training and Manual Fire Control for AA Guns are nice but not amazing on Enterprise.   Emergency Takeoff is situational -- you're likely dead anyway if it comes to this, but if you have the points to spare, go for it.

 

Overall Impressions

Skill Floor: Simple / Casual / Challenging / Difficult

Skill Ceiling: Low / Moderate / High / Extreme

 

Welcome to Hell!  To succeed with Enterprise, new players must master fighter strafing.  On top of this, they also have to have a good grasp of manual torpedo dropping -- except this is hard-mode manual torpedo dropping, not regular ol' easy-mode of torpedo dropping with Lexington torpedoes.  To top it all off, they also have to keep an index of high AA firepower ships in their heads from tiers 8+ otherwise their planes will evaporate when they're not top tier before they drop.  This all just to do an acceptable level of damage.

 

For the veteran knowing when it's acceptable to sacrifice planes to make a drop on a high-value target is difficult.  Managing Enterprise's reserves to win this war of attrition efficiently is key.  Trying to juggle your fighters against forces that can outrun and/or outgun you isn't fun.  And finally, getting her ordnance on target is always a challenge, particularly when it's not just sniping dumb, lone battleships.  Then comes the question of juggling damage over time effects versus with fires / floods or eschewing that and going for AP bomb drops instead.  There's so much to know for small but appreciable gains in performance!

Mouse's Summary:

• This is not a new-player friendly carrier ... and carriers aren't new player friendly to begin with.  This is worse.  This is an expert's carrier and they may not want to bother with the amount of work needed to make it excel.
• I'm happy to see they went with what amounts to a historical load-out of Enterprise's air groups.  I just wish that had a more positive effect in game play.
• I totally get why the torpedo drop pattern is enormous.  No one wanted to see two carrier flight groups dump double-USN torpedo strikes and make CV-6 overpowered.  They're just not that fun to use though.
• German Battleships: Beware!

 

Enterprise isn't broken.  She's not a bad ship either.  In the right hands, she can be a very good tier 8 carrier.  Her tier 7 fighters, with the right skills and consumables are workable.  They're not doing you any favours, but you can make them work.  Being downtiered with her attack planes doesn't matter.  I personally feel that only having 5 aircraft per squadron is more of an issue than them being tier 7.  Access to the 6th module slot largely mitigates this flaw.

 

Her dive bombers are actually a lot of fun.  It's very satisfying to drop bombs and see them do as much as 30,000+ damage to an unsuspecting battleship.  I'll be honest -- her torpedo planes are not great.  It takes two squadrons to do the job of one of Lexington's squadrons.  And even then, they don't do the job as well, at least not with a whole lot of cleverness on behalf of Enterprise's player.  I understand why they're like that.  If they had any tighter of a drop, they'd be too good.  So fine, I can swallow that especially given that her dive bombers spit out so much damage on select targets.

 

I think Enterprise's greatest flaw is also her greatest strength.  She's built to make battleship lives miserable and short and she's damn good at it.  Meta wise, this will make Enterprise will probably end up with some respectable average damage totals because of this preferred enemy type, but I fear that she's not as versatile as other carriers when it comes to engaging other ship types.

 

The argument will be made by some that Enterprise does not up-tier well.  This is fine.  Neither Lexington or Shokaku.  When she's top tier, the lives of ships like Bayern, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Tirpitz and Bismarck are going to be especially bleak if they don't run with air cover protecting them.  German Battleships are finally going to be collecting all of those citadel hits they've been dodging since their release, and that makes me smile.

 

I would have to say that, overall, I am pleased with the end product Wargaming has produced.  I was doubting for a time that they would be capable of producing a premium aircraft carrier that wasn't polarized between being absolutely worthless and ridiculously overpowered.  Enterprise strikes a very good balance, all told (even if she's a nightmare for inexperienced players).  I can't say how the consumer will respond -- Enterprise is not the next best and brightest star in the game.  She won't be the flavour of the month, not with her current stats. 

 

As difficult as this review process was, Enterprise is a welcome addition to the game in her current form.

 

Would I Recommend?

Let's clear the air: Enterprise wasn't a fun ship for me to play. I hated playing her. I don't want to play her again. This entire testing period was an exercise in extreme frustration and one of the most negative experiences I've had yet as a Community Contributor. I've tried to remain as objective as I could through this review and not let these bad feels get in the way of covering her merits and flaws objectively. I don't think I was entirely successful in that, and for that I apologize in advance.

 

• For PVE Battles
  How well does the ship maintain profitability in Co-Op modes and how does she fare against bots?

Mouse:  Enterprise isn't going to be a big credit earner in Co-Op battles, though she doesn't have any overhead costs to worry about except repair and rearming fees.  She can do just fine against bots.  She doesn't have the big "delete anything" punch of Shokaku, though.  Still, she's pretty profitable even without a premium account, so I'll give her a green light here.
GrafZeppelinKai:  I was able to perform well with Enterprise against bots. As I didn't have to worry about enemy fighter strafes and I was able to autodrop my AP bombs, it made micromanaging my aircraft more simpler. I could see this as a benefit for newcomers to CVs.
 

• For Random Battle Grinding:
  This includes training captains, collecting free experience, earning credits and collecting signal flags from achievements.

Mouse:  Tier for tier, Saipan is the better boat.  It's hard to recommend a tier 8 carrier when the tier 7 carrier is just so much better.  If you don't have access to Saipan and you're looking for a trainer and credit earner, don't get Enterprise.  Get a Saipan.  So again, a big nope.  The only way I could really justify it here is if you really hate German Battleships and want to pee in their cornflakes.
GrafZeppelinKai:  She will not be forgiving to newcomers here. Enterprise counters certain targets well and will naturally fall into a specialist role. This means players will have to have a greater understanding of proper target selection; something that only comes with experience.

• For Competitive Gaming:
  Competitive Gaming includes Ranked Battles and other skill-based tournaments. This also includes stat-padding.

Mouse:  No, Shokaku is better at nearly everything short of landing citadel hits with bombs.
GrafZeppelinKai:  Although I'm very curious as to see how AP dive-bombers will alter the current meta, I feel her decreased effectiveness in engaging cruisers and destroyers means she isn't as versatile as her tech-tree comrades.

• For Collectors:
  If you enjoy ship history or possessing rare ships, this section is for you.

Mouse:  Absolutely here.  It's the USS Enterprise!
GrafZeppelinKai:  To quote Pigeon_of_War: “Mother. F***ing. Enterprise!!!”

• For Fun Factor:
  Bottom line: Is the ship fun to play?

Mouse:  I didn't like her, but I hate carrier game play, so that probably isn't the most objective answer you're going to get.  Her AP Bombs are fun though and I do have to say, it's very cathartic to land regular citadel hits on German BBs with them.

GrafZeppelinKai:  Although I'm a terrible CV driver, the AP bombs have really intrigued me and I enjoyed learning how to use them. The feeling of watching the enemy hitpoints melt is therapeutic.
 

• What's the Final Verdict?
  How would the ship rate on an Angry YouTuber scale of Garbage - Meh - Gud - Overpowered?

GARBAGE - Grossly uncompetitive and badly in need of buffs.
Mehbote - Average ship. Has strengths and weaknesses. Doesn't need buffs to be viable, but certainly not advantageous.
Gudbote - A strong ship that has obvious competitive strengths and unique features that make it very appealing.
OVERPOWERED - A ship with very clear advantages over all of its competitors and unbalancing the game with its inclusion.

 

[Carrier_Ikoma]

I noticed from the Armada video, WG seems to have intended the torp pattern to work in tandem for a particular sort of cross drop. Have you (or anyone else) tried this and found any success with it?

[CapnCappy]

8 minutes ago, LittleWhiteMouse said:

Welcome to Hell!

For those who tl; dr.

[SgtSpud]

Another fine review....thanks mighty mouse ;)

 

[Admiral_Franz_von_Hipper]

Hmm, I have been hearing that Angry YTer rates this ship OP. lol

[1Sherman]

An excellent review as usual, but I have one question about the service history part. When the Enterprise was the only USN CV in the Pacific, where was the Saratoga? The Lexington-class CVs had been around since before the Yorktown-class were built and the Saratoga survived the war. Was Saratoga undergoing repairs at the time? Was she serving a stint in the Atlantic that I didn't know about? I'd just like a bit of clarification.

[MrDeaf]

Ah, it's exactly as expected... how unfortunate.

 

[Fog_Repair_Ship_Akashi]

9 minutes ago, 1Sherman said:

An excellent review as usual, but I have one question about the service history part. When the Enterprise was the only USN CV in the Pacific, where was the Saratoga? The Lexington-class CVs had been around since before the Yorktown-class were built and the Saratoga survived the war. Was Saratoga undergoing repairs at the time? Was she serving a stint in the Atlantic that I didn't know about? I'd just like a bit of clarification.

Saratoga was in drydock after a torpedo strike from the IJN sumarine I-6. Also another great review Mouse but your Images aren't showing.

[GrimmeReaper]

LittleWhiteMouse thanks for the open honest review.  Appreciate all your time we all know you put into these.  And it sounds like this one was more difficult that usual for you.  So again thank you.  I will have to think long and hard if I am going to get the Big E..

[Bill_Halsey]

thanks LHM for the review

So, it's a CV for veterans, unlike the Kaga which was user friendly. 60 bucks is a steep price for a unfriendly user CV.

 

So...question though. Are AP bombs effective against CV's? And is German BB's the only ships AP bombs are good for?

[Lert]

Won't be buying it, holds no interest for me.

[BadlyBrowned]

12 minutes ago, 1Sherman said:

An excellent review as usual, but I have one question about the service history part. When the Enterprise was the only USN CV in the Pacific, where was the Saratoga? The Lexington-class CVs had been around since before the Yorktown-class were built and the Saratoga survived the war. Was Saratoga undergoing repairs at the time? Was she serving a stint in the Atlantic that I didn't know about? I'd just like a bit of clarification.

 

It basically all happened during the meat grinder that was the Guadalcanal Campaign.

 

Saratoga (damaged) and Wasp (sunk) were torpedoed by subs. The Saratoga sort've had a penchant for being torp'd by subs. Then at the Battle of Santa Cruz the Hornet was sunk, leaving the Enterprise the only CV in the Pacific (The Ranger was used in the Atlantic).

[Sakuzhi]

11 minutes ago, 1Sherman said:

An excellent review as usual, but I have one question about the service history part. When the Enterprise was the only USN CV in the Pacific, where was the Saratoga? The Lexington-class CVs had been around since before the Yorktown-class were built and the Saratoga survived the war. Was Saratoga undergoing repairs at the time? Was she serving a stint in the Atlantic that I didn't know about? I'd just like a bit of clarification.

There is no US Ship in WW2 that is ahead of the Big E in terms of importance or fame.

[1Sherman]

3 minutes ago, Fog_Repair_Ship_Akashi said:

Saratoga was in drydock after a torpedo strike from the IJN sumarine I-6. Also another great review Mouse but your Images aren't showing.

 

Just now, BadlyBrowned said:

 

It basically all happened during the meat grinder that was the Guadalcanal Campaign.

 

Saratoga (damaged) and Wasp (sunk) were torpedoed by subs. The Saratoga sort've had a penchant for being torp'd by subs. Then at the Battle of Santa Cruz the Hornet was sunk, leaving the Enterprise the only CV in the Pacific (The Ranger was used in the Atlantic)

 

Thank you. That clears it up.

[Carrier_Ikoma]

3 minutes ago, Bill_Halsey said:

So...question though. Are AP bombs effective against CV's? And is German BB's the only ships AP bombs are good for?

 

iChase's review covered this one... they do not seem to be very effective against CVs. Maybe they would be against an armored deck carrier, but since Enterprise will only ever see T8 CVs under the current MM rules... not much chance of that.

And they seem to be most consistently effective against KM BBs. There's still clips of them deleting other BBs.

[RipNuN2]

[K1ra_Yoshikage]

6 minutes ago, 1Sherman said:

An excellent review as usual, but I have one question about the service history part. When the Enterprise was the only USN CV in the Pacific, where was the Saratoga? The Lexington-class CVs had been around since before the Yorktown-class were built and the Saratoga survived the war. Was Saratoga undergoing repairs at the time? Was she serving a stint in the Atlantic that I didn't know about? I'd just like a bit of clarification.

The USS Saratoga was in San Diego when Pearl habour was attacked. She was send back to Hawaii asap. She then was damaged by a torpedo from a submarine at the 22nd January 1942 while on patrol and went back to San Diego again for repair and refit of radar and AA. She arrived at Pearl habour at the last day of the Midway battle.

[Sakuzhi]

Just now, Carrier_Ikoma said:

 

iChase's review covered this one... they do not seem to be very effective against CVs. Maybe they would be against an armored deck carrier, but since Enterprise will only ever see T8 CVs... not much chance of that.

And they seem to be most consistently effective against KM BBs.

Was going to say, imagine they'll be pretty effective against anything with an armored deck.

 

Like the British CVs when they come out.

[Spartias]

Devastatingly disappointing to see the Grey Ghost defiled in this way...

 

I just wanted to have an American option against the Shokaku for competitive... and fun in randoms... 

 

And then this disaster.

 

 

[1Sherman]

Just now, Sakuzhi said:

There is no US Ship in WW2 that is ahead of the Big E in terms of importance or fame.

 

I didn't say anything contradictory to that. The Enterprise is one of the two ships I got into this game for (the other being HMCS Haida) and had this been a little over a year ago, I'd have bought her in a heartbeat.

[MrDeaf]

2 minutes ago, Carrier_Ikoma said:

 

iChase's review covered this one... they do not seem to be very effective against CVs. Maybe they would be against an armored deck carrier, but since Enterprise will only ever see T8 CVs under the current MM rules... not much chance of that.

And they seem to be most consistently effective against KM BBs.

Also Moskva and Fuso, which all feature around 70mm - 100mm citadel decks.

However, Aeroon managed to one shot a Mogami with those AP bombs, so I have no idea how they work, at all.

[BaronVonTom]

Another fantastic review Mouse.  Although you clearly don't like CV play, I think the review was your usual honest write up.  I'll pass on this purchase.  AP bombs just are not enough to sucker me into a buy, especially when the only ships they can be used against are BB's.  I am also sick of seeing gimmicks replace properly tiered aircraft.  Also, the history write up is nice....maybe more detail as Enterprise has such a rich history....a video would have been the way to go but that's a WG thing.  

 

Enterprise traveled to Pearl Harbor for extensive repairs after the Battle of Eastern Solomons, which were completed on 15 October 1942. She returned to the South Pacific on 24 October, just in time for the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and her rematch with IJN carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku.

[StoptheViolins]

So it's overpowered garbage?

[K1ra_Yoshikage]

Thx Mouse for that very honest review. 60$ is just to much for a port queen. Just feel sad that I skipped the Kaga for her. I hate playing CV but sometimes I take them out for fun in co-op.  Or like last weekend to do the 1 mio damage for the IJN mission. Let's use the words of AngryJoe: You [edited] it up WG.

[Sakuzhi]

Just now, StoptheViolins said:

So it's overpowered garbage?

....

 

That's an interesting result from reading this. It'll be about the same as the other Tier 8 CVs. Totally and completely [edited] if it is uptiered.