Tier 6 Premium: HIJMS Soryu

[Rustyhole]

Brief History:

Unlike the earlier battlecruiser conversions, Soryu and her sister ship Hiryu were designed keel up as large aircraft carriers while capitalizing on the lessons learned from the light carrier Ryujo.  Soryu was launched in December of 1935 and was assigned to the Second Carrier Division in 1939 after commissioning.  She took part in operations against China and French Indochina, and her Division was later assigned to the First Air Fleet in 1941.  In the first wave of the Pearl Harbor raid, six of Soryu's B5N's torpedoed and capsized the target ship Utah, one B5N targeted the minelayer Oglala and hit Helena, and the final B5N torpedoed California.  Soryu went on to take part in raids on Wake Island, in the Western Pacific and in the Indian Ocean through early 1942.  On the 4th of June, Soryu was located 250 miles northwest of Midway Island, and was tasked with striking the airfield on Eastern Island.  After dodging strikes from B-17s and Devastators, Soryu was attacked a third time.  Thirteen Dauntless bombers from Yorktown attacked, delivering three direct hits with 1000lb bombs.  Soryu's hangers were still full of refueling aircraft loaded with ordinance, resulting in uncontrollable fires and leaving her dead in the water 15 minutes later.  Nearby destroyers rescued the survivors, and Soryu was scuttled later that evening when it was clear she would not go down easily.  77 years later, Soryu and her sister Hiryu remain concealed beneath the waves despite the efforts of RV Petrel and others.

Armor Layout:

• 6-41mm (belt 41mm, deck 25mm, hull 16-19mm)

Survivability: 

• Hit Points: 42,000
• Torpedo Protection Damage Reduction: 15%

Aircraft: 

• Attack Aircraft: A6M2 Zero
• Torpedo Bombers: Nakajima B5N2 Kate
• Dive Bombers: Aichi D3A Val

Artillery:

• Secondary Armament: 6x2 127mm/40 Type89 A1

AA Defense: 

• AA Guns 14x2 25mm/60 Type96 Twin mod.1
•  AA Guns 6x2 127mm/40 Type89 A1

Maneuverability: 

• Speed: 34kts
• Turning Circle: 900m
• Rudder Shift: 11 seconds 

Concealment:

• Detectability Range by Sea: 11.0km
• Detectability Range by Air: 8.0km

Why Wargaming should make it:

Soryu is a tier 6 version of her tier 7 sister ship Hiryu, which was in the game before 8.0, so the modeling is pretty much done except for some minor changes.  All WG has to do is make the stats more balanced.

Thanks for reading!

[Shannon_Lindsey]

Actually, they would have to mirror image everything from Hiryu, because everything on Soryu was opposite.

[Rustyhole]

15 minutes ago, Shannon_Lindsey said:

Actually, they would have to mirror image everything from Hiryu, because everything on Soryu was opposite.

Well that is...something I completely missed while comparing photos. 

As long as WG does not have to build my suggested ship completely from scrap, I still have a chance.

All I want is a couple more premium CVs at tier 6, so I figured Wasp and Soryu are the best options because they will not require too much effort from WG.yu

ninja edit: WG could always just ignore the mirror issue and roll out Soryu looking like Hiryu; its not like WoWs cherishes historical accuracy.

[Shannon_Lindsey]

Honestly, Soryu should be a tier 8 like Hiryu is going to be when it returns. Akagi might be a better choice for tier 6. As for modeling, Soryu is already modeled, although it may need updating. Soryu was originally going to be the tier 7 tech tree carrier. 

[Rustyhole]

7 hours ago, Shannon_Lindsey said:

Honestly, Soryu should be a tier 8 like Hiryu is going to be when it returns. Akagi might be a better choice for tier 6. As for modeling, Soryu is already modeled, although it may need updating. Soryu was originally going to be the tier 7 tech tree carrier. 

I thought of squeezing Akagi at tier 6 but she is too similar to Kaga at tier 8; at least Soryu has enough differences from Hiryu that she could be considered her own class at a lower tier. 

I did not want another light carrier with Ryujo already present as the tech tree teir 6, so I looked next for the first carrier built after the two conversions and the light carriers: Soryu.

Another reason I decided on Soryu was because apart from the mirror problem, in my mind she was literally a weaker Hiryu, so down tiering a tier 7 Hiryu to tier 6 and calling it a Soryu would make sense logically.

Making Agaki tier 6 would be like making Yorktown or Hornet a tier 6 while Enterprise sits there at tier 8;  Wasp would make much more sense as a smaller, down tiered Enterprise.