862 [LHG] BB3_Oregon_Steel [LHG] Members 2,225 posts 6,440 battles Report post #1 Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) As many of you know, the USS Smith is a premium US destroyer at tier II and it is also one of those ships which is shortly to be removed from the premium shop. When she first arrived in the premium shop a few months ago, I was a little intrigued but pretty underwhelmed by her three single tube (that's right, one torpedo per launcher), her piddly little 3 inch guns and her speed of just under 30 knots. This made her sort of a curiosity but, I mean, it's a tier II destroyer after all, what use did I really have for one. Surely if I wanted to play tier II dd's, there were plenty of other choices out there that wouldn't cost me a cent. But then I began my whole "World of Pre-Dreadnoughts" thing, looking back at the ships in the couple of decades prior to the emergence of HMS Dreadnought which is pretty much where the whole WOWS timeline starts. One of the things I looked at was whether I could build a tech tree assuming a start date of around 1890 and ending just before the beginning of WWI and one of the ship classes I ended up looking at were the destroyers and torpedo boats of that era (if any of you are interested in that, here it is) ... Anyway, it intrigued me as to how these predecessors to the WOWS destroyers worked with their small size, single tube launchers and very light gun batteries and there is only one destroyer in WOWS that fits that description, the USS Smith. So I opened up my bank account, and put down my $6.99 to find out. What I found out is that the Smith is a seriously fun and effective ship to drive. She introduced herself in my maiden voyage with her and proceeded to sink three of those annoying red ships (one by gunfire, two by torpedo) and in my second dance with her, managed to pump 6 torpedoes into a hapless South Carolina. By this time I was hooked on her deadly quirkiness. So, how does the Smith survive against ships which should more that be her match and the answer is those single torpedo tubes and their reload time. The Smith is admittedly short of alpha strike potential with a maximum single salvo of two torpedoes but what she has that no other ship in WOWS has, is a less than 11 second reload rate. That's right, in most ships your waiting somewhere between 40 and 60 seconds to be able to launch your next salvo but the Smith can load her torps so quickly that each launcher can usually reload before the torpedo it just shot has reached its target. So, while the Smith can't launch that dreaded torpedo wall, she can send a steady stream of torpedoes towards her target on pretty much a nonstop basis that is sure to drive her opponents a bit batty. Even if your target maneuvers to avoid your first batch of torpedoes, chances are the Smith has another one on it's way based on your new course and speed. Another big plus is the position of the tubes themselves which gives then them insanely large firing arcs so that you can almost keep your bow or stern pointed at the red ships and still keep up a steady barrage of torpedoes. This makes hitting the Smith when she's launch torpedoes everywhere, a challenging proposition. The little 3 inch guns she carries also reload insanely fast with a reload time, out of the box, of 3.5 seconds which you can improve with Commander skills. Now, these are 3 inch guns and they aren't going to do much against anything bigger than another destroyer, but she does have a lot of them and you can bring 4 to bear on an enemy at one time, It's probably better to do the torpedo dance with the cruisers and battleships out there because the only thing you are likely to do is annoy them with your gunfire. Destroyers are a different matter as the number of guns you have and their ridiculous reload times can smoother enemy destroyers given half a chance. Now the Smith uses the same torpedoes as the other Tier II US destroyer, Sampson in her fully upgraded mode, which gives her a moderate torpedo range for the tier of about 4.5 km and a decent speed for the tier of 54 knots. Her 5.76 km spotting range isn't enough to allow her to stealth fire (it is a US dd after all) but her small size and ability to show a mostly bow on approach and still be able to launch her firsh, helps increase her survivability when she is in pew pew torpedo mode. There are some disadvantages as well. Her small size means she can't absorb a lot of damage and her speed of 28 knots means she takes longer to get where she is going than pretty much any other destroyer out there. So if you are looking for a dd who can launch a wall of torpedoes or you feel bigger and better is all you are interested in, then the Smith isn't for you. But if you just want a ship that is a blast to play and you're looking for something fun and different, well the Smith may what you are looking for. Anyway, she's about the leave the premium shop so if you want this little bundle of destroyer joy, you might want to check her out. I am totally glad that I did. Edited September 1, 2017 by BB3_Oregon_Steel 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,640 [WOLF1] pmgaudio Members 9,915 posts 18,626 battles Report post #2 Posted August 31, 2017 I have it... its fun....but thats pretty much it.... if I ever feel the need to play tier two my umikazi is simpy the best tier 2 ship in the game... best concealment at 5.4 KM IIRC.... and a set of 8KM fish every ten seconds Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
121 [ML-S] Horama Members 362 posts 6,240 battles Report post #3 Posted August 31, 2017 20 minutes ago, pmgaudio said: I have it... its fun....but thats pretty much it.... if I ever feel the need to play tier two my umikazi is simpy the best tier 2 ship in the game... best concealment at 5.4 KM IIRC.... and a set of 8KM fish every ten seconds Close. Tachibana has 4.7 with CE while Umizake gets 5.1 with CE. I think that Tachibana is more powerful than Smith but behind Umikaze in torps since she has Umikaze's stock torps. I think that overall though, Tachibana is better for me than Umikaze. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
53 stockmankrause Members 779 posts 8,228 battles Report post #4 Posted August 31, 2017 Love my smith but nodded off on the first line of your post. 1 hour ago, BB3_Oregon_Steel said: As many of you know, the USS Smith is a premium US destroyer at tier II and ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................blah blah blah ............................................................................ glad that I did. That is all you needed thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
862 [LHG] BB3_Oregon_Steel [LHG] Members 2,225 posts 6,440 battles Report post #5 Posted September 1, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, stockmankrause said: Love my smith but nodded off on the first line of your post. That is all you needed thanks. Great!!! Glad you picked up on what I was saying. Edited September 1, 2017 by BB3_Oregon_Steel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
6,114 [FOXEH] Umikami Banned 14,364 posts 23,364 battles Report post #6 Posted September 1, 2017 14 hours ago, BB3_Oregon_Steel said: the USS Smith is a premium US destroyer at tier II I prefer the tier 2 Tachibana over the Smith because of the invisitorp ability of the former. Smith, however, is a good ship and competitive at het tier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
