Could Nobilium be a test for HMS Ark Royal?

[Snow586]

HMS Ark Royal is the British carrier that famously scored some torpedo hits on the famous German battleship Bismark, and here are some reason why I speculate the Nobilium in the Halloween event maybe a test for the HMS Ark Royal.

1) Positioning: the Nobilium holds a special loadout of 1-3-1, which is somewhere between the IJN balanced loadout and the USN strike loadout. In a gameplay's stand, this loadout seems to bring an aggressive strike loadout with a little fighter power.

2) Historical accuracy: the HMS Ark Royal launched 15 torpedo swordfish torpedo planes during the hunt for Bismark, and the Nobilium has exactly 3 squadron of 5 torpedo bombers. In addition, the HMS Ark Royal has 30 Swordfish (torpedo bomber), 12  Skuas (fighter x dive bomber), 12 Fulmars (fighter) in the 1940-41, the time where the hunt for Bismark take place. 

What do you think about the potential coming of the HMS Ark Royal, and do you think the Nobilium is a test for the famous British carrier?

[Goose21891]

Ark Royal doesn't have the planes (No Sea Hurricanes or Seafires) or plane capacity (72 in theory, but only 60 in practice) for Tier 8, so if anything it's a potential USN CV change, or it's nothing. 

[Doomlock]

Ark Royal is either a T6 or 7. T8 is more for Illustrious.

[Lert]

Not everything about the Halloween game mode has to be a 'test' for something specific.

[MzFortune2001]

Mr. Lert I believe they tested that theory and found it was only a test for something else. (finally understood something (I think))

[TheKrimzonDemon]

It's just Lexington with a different loadout. That's not a test, that's what it IS.

[pewpewpew42]

I think if it's a test of anything, just whether new CV loadouts can be fun.

[BlailBlerg]

What was the UK cv line through WW2? 

[_8V92_Detroit_]

UK CV's had small plane load-outs due to their armour scheme.

[MaliceA4Thought]

I think its a test to see how many people will randomly jump to conclusions based on minor changes from the norm.

After all, you could claim it's a test to see how T8 BB's operate with only a few km range instead of what they have now :)

M

[Umikami]

3 hours ago, Goose21891 said:

Ark Royal doesn't have the planes (No Sea Hurricanes or Seafires) or plane capacity (72 in theory, but only 60 in practice) for Tier 8, so if anything it's a potential USN CV change, or it's nothing. 

What you say is true, and historically correct (if I remember my history correctly); but when has WoW ever stuck to historical accuracy?

[_8V92_Detroit_]

3 minutes ago, Umikami said:

What you say is true, and historically correct (if I remember my history correctly); but when has WoW ever stuck to historical accuracy?

Not very much. (putting it lightly)

[Captain_Dorja]

3 hours ago, Goose21891 said:

Ark Royal doesn't have the planes (No Sea Hurricanes or Seafires) or plane capacity (72 in theory, but only 60 in practice) for Tier 8, so if anything it's a potential USN CV change, or it's nothing. 

 

Neither would Graf Zeppelin had the planes or capacity for tier 8...

[ArmouredCarriers]

The problem with the RN carrier line when it comes to WoWS is that the game replicates some aspects of their doctrine too well, and others not at all.

 

AIRCRAFT

 

There was a reason why the RN stuck with the likes of the Swordfish, Albacore and Fulmar as long as it did.

 

Reconnaissance: It was repeatedly shown that aircraft would usually give bad naval sighting reports, so having a dedicated Observer/Navigator actually made them useful (and helped bring the aircraft home in the pre-radar era). Not at all replicated by WoWS.

 

Night/Bad Weather strike: It was RN doctrine to get in a carrier strike against the opposing fleet at night and bad weather, while their aircraft were grounded. Thus the 'advantages' of the biplane. This doctrine was put into effect at Taranto, against Bismark, and almost against the Japanese carrier fleet during the Battle of Ceylon. Not at all replicated by WoWS.

 

As radar grew in use following its first experimental applications aboard HMS Ark Royal in 1940, these requirements gradually faded away.

 

 

CARRIERS

 

The RN had several 'experimental' carriers - Argus, Hermes. These were not included within treaty limits due to their 'experimental' status. Nor were they all that effective operationally above escort and training duties.

 

Then there were the super-cruiser conversions - Corageous, Glorious, Furious. Essentially 'Generation 1' carriers, these were large - 50 or so machines - but not on the scale of Lexington. Both Corageous and Glorious were lost early largely because nobody fully understood the nature of the modern weapons they were playing with at the time (1939, 40).  This matches the standard WoWS carrier concept.

 

Ark Royal was a 'Second Generation' ship, built to fight a long way from home in the Pacific. Thus the odd (and ultimately unnecessary) nature of her design where the lower hangar deck was devoted to maintenance, and the upper hangar flight operations. Her hangars were enclosed to accommodate the Atlantic weather, but large for extended Pacific ops. She could carry 70+ in her hangars, but only operate about 50 at any one time. This largely fits the standard WoWS carrier concept (perhaps just with more spares).

 

The Illustrious class of armoured carriers was a result of a shift of attention away from the Pacific towards the Mediterranean and North Sea after the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935-6. These first three ships were designed to fight in confined waters (ideal for WoWS map sizes) - and were thus given armour protection to the hangar and citadel capable of withstanding 6in gunfire (4in sides, 3in deck). With 16x 4.5in guns in eight mounts, these ships had a hangar capable of holding 33 aircraft with a deck park of up to 25.  Theoretically, these ships would be relatively highly survivable in WoWS scenarios. Something they will not like.

 

The Implacable, Indomitable and Indefatigable were double-hangar versions of Illustrious, capable of operating between 50 and 80 aircraft. Their hangar sides were reduced to 1.5in as 'anti-splinter' protection to protect the volatile hangar from secondary battle damage, while retaining the 3in deck between the lifts. In WoWS scenarios, these ships would be no better protected from shells entering the sides than any other (though perhaps more resistant to DDs)

 

The Audacious Class (a next generation Indomitable) was a design contemporary of the Essex, but Britain being under siege, were not completed until post-war. These had 4in deck armour, 1.5in sides - and were able to operate 60-100 prop aircraft.  In WoWS scenarios, these ships would be no better protected from shells entering the sides than any other (though perhaps more resistant to DDs). Their decks, though, should be highly effective against dive bombers - plunging shells.

 

Malta was a paper design, so there are quite a few variants people can pick and choose between to suit their arguments. But they returned to the concepts of the old Ark Royal as they were intended to operate in the Pacific - a large, lightly protected ship with enough supplies to support a large air group for a long time. In WoWS, this would match the Midway/imaginary enlarge Taiho.

 

 

[Monty9185]

23 hours ago, _Maho_Nishizumi_212 said:

UK CV's had small plane load-outs due to their armour scheme.

 

Not necessarily true, though the armoured flight decks/hangers often restricted the types of aircraft that could be operated (for example some of our carriers could not operate the Corsair for that very reason). Our carriers were generally smaller than their USN counterparts, Ark Royal herself was designed to embark up to 70 aircraft which was a respectable number for a ship designed to the Washington Naval treaty and laid down in 1935. The RN also insisted on all of it's aircraft on being stowed in the ship's hangers due to the poorer weather often experienced in the Atlantic.

 

For me Ark Royal is a good fit for Tier VI, a possible upgrade could feature a fictional load out of Sea Hurricanes or Martlets which she would of undoubtedly been equipped with had she made it past 1941. Trying to shoe horn her into Tier VIII would cause far too many issues like the Graf Zeppelin, which quite frankly has no business being at Tier VIII and was purely a financial decision.

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

HMS Ark Royal going to tier 7 because aircraft load out.  

4/1941: 24 Fulmar & 30 Swordfish