The last ship being introduced with the update 0.8.8, here is the Puerto Rico that we could as well call Minitana or Alaska+1.

The Puerto Rico is based on the CA2-D project of battlecruiser (or Large cruiser as Alaska was called to fool the congress). This project along others would eventually lead to the Alaska-class of large cruisers.

The design was presenting the same 305 mm guns as the Alaska-class but in 4 triple turrets instead of 3. The armor was also impressive on this design and was close to those of battleships of the time.

In World of Warships, the Puerto Rico represents fairly well the design from what I could see with the exception of the secondary batteries. The CA2-D project was meant to carry twin 127mm/38 gun turrets but the Puerto Rico carries the more modern twin 127 mm/54 gun turrets that can be found on the Montana or the Ohio. Surprisingly, they didn’t give her the 76.2 mm AA guns.

Modules Hull Engine Gun Fire Control System Main battery Puerto Rico Propulsion: 212 000 hp Mk 10 mod. 1 305 mm/50 Mk8

Characteristics General Main Battery Secondaries Air Defense Consumables Tier x Health 71 650 HP Main Armament Maximum Firing Range 18.810 km 305 mm/50 Mk8 4 x 3 305 mm Secondary Armament Maximum Firing Range 6.000 km 127 mm/54 Mk41 8 x 2 127 mm Maximum speed 33.5 kt Turning Circle Radius 910 m Rudder Shift Time 15.9 s Surface Detectability 17.6 km Air Detectability 11.89 km Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke 14.27 km 4 x 3 305 mm/50 Mk8 Reloading Time 22 s 180 Degree Turn Time 30.0 s Optimal front firing angle

35° Optimal rear firing angle 35° Sigma 1.90 sigma Maximum Dispersion 206 m Shells Type of Projectile HE – 305 mm HE Mk17 mod. 1

Alpha Damage 4 300 HP Damage 2 810 HP Penetration capacity 50 mm Explosion size 1.62 Fire chance 27 % Projectile Speed 808 m/s Air Drag 0.343 Projectile Mass 462.3 Projectile Krupp 1 Projectile Detonator 0.001 s Type of Projectile AP – 305 mm AP Mk18 mod. 1

Alpha Damage 8 900 HP Chance to Cause Fire -0.5 % Projectile Speed 762 m/s Air Drag 0.334 Projectile Mass 517 Projectile Krupp 2 470 Projectile Detonator 0.033 s 8 x 2 127 mm/54 Mk41 Reloading Time 4.00 s Sigma 1.00 sigma Shells Type of Projectile HE – 127 mm HE Mk41

Alpha Damage 1 800 HP Damage 550 HP HE penetration 20 mm Explosion Size 0.44 Chance to Cause Fire 9 % Projectile Speed 808 m/s Air Drag 0.279 Projectile Mass 31.75 Projectile Krupp 445 8 x 2 127 mm/54 Mk41 Sector range 0.1 km – 6.0 km Hit chance 90 % Sector’s damage 41 Sector’s damage frequency 0.29 s Sector’s damage per second 144 Flak clouds number Data unavailable Flak cloud damage Data unavailable 16 x 4 40 mm Bofors Mk2 Sector range 0.1 km – 3.5 km Hit chance 90 % Sector’s damage 120 Sector’s damage frequency 0.29 s Sector’s damage per second 420 26 x 1 20 mm Oerlikon Mk4 Sector range 0.1 km – 2.0 km Hit chance 70 % Sector’s damage 140 Sector’s damage frequency 0.29 s Sector’s damage per second 186 Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 Slot 4 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 90 s Number of charges: 3 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 120 s

Number of charges: 2 Number of charges: 2 Work time: 35 s Cooldown: 180 s Ship spotting range: 10 km Number of charges: 2 Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 120 s HP regeneration speed: 0.5%/s Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s Number of charges: 4 Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Number of charges: 3 Work time: 35 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting range: 10 km Number of charges: 3 Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: 0.5%/s Number of charges: 2 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 180 s Torpedo spotting range: 3.5 km

Ship spotting range: 5.0 km

Number of charges: 2 Number of charges: 2 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 135 s

Radius: 3.0 km Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Torpedo spotting range: 3.5 km

Ship spotting range: 5.0 km

Number of charges: 3 Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Radius: 3.0 km Number of charges: 3 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 360 s Boost: +20% maximum range Number of charges: 4 Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 360 s Boost: +20% maximum range

The armor

The Puerto Rico presents very strong armor protection and retains the underwater citadel combined with a spaced armor that was already on the Alaska.

The bow section

The external plating of the bow is the classic 27 mm of armor that you can find on all U.S. heavy cruisers. This will allow you to bounce 381 mm AP shells and under.

Inside the bow, there is a first casemate with 38 mm of armor. Just under it, there is a nice 305 mm thick bulkhead as well as the citadel’s athwartship (surrounded in black). There is, then, the classic armor tapering of U.S. warships with the lower parts of the athwartship being 254 mm thick and then 76 mm thick.

There are also 2 229 mm thick casemates on the sides to protect the internal citadel from shells that would slip between the main belt and the athwartship.

The middle section

The deck of the Puerto Rico is 38 mm thick giving her protection to the more and more frequent capacity to overmatch 30 mm platings that battleships have in high tier. The sides are, sadly, “only” 30 mm thick so still vulnerable to overmatch from 431 mm shells and above.

The Main belt is 254 mm thick for the biggest part but there is also a small 216 mm section.

When it comes to the citadel protection, the sides are 57 mm thick. It is a way better protection than the Alaska with her 229 mm main belt and 26 mm citadel side armor. With cruisers, I would say that you can forget about scoring a citadel on this ship.

The horizontal protection is decent with a 119 mm main armor deck and 19 mm citadel deck. Now, while the armor thickness isn’t great, since the citadel is quite deep, the ship MIGHT have a good protection against AP bombs. Sadly, I can’t remember right now how I was doing against the Alaska with my Hakuryu.

The stern section

As usual, the stern is the exact same as the bow with 27 mm external plating.

Just like on the bow, there is first the 38 mm casemate and then we have the 305 mm bulkhead with the citadel’s athwartship that then tapers to 254 mm and finally 76 mm of armor deep below the waterline.

The superstructure

For the superstructure, we have the classic 16 mm of armor except for the conning tower with 279 mm of armor. The secondary battery turrets are protected by 64 mm of armor and their barbettes are 38 mm thick.

The turrets

Frontal protection: 325 mm

Sides: 152 mm at first then 133 mm

Back: 133 mm

Roof: 127 mm

Barbette: 330 mm for the upper part and 70 mm for the lower part

Overall, these are solid turrets for a super-cruiser and the face presents a nice slope.

Personal opinion

When comparing to the Alaska, the ship isn’t a pure improvement and reminds me a bit of the Kitakaze vs Harugumo case.

While you gain in tankiness and firepower (even though here it’s debatable because worse accuracy, worse range and longer reload), you lose in range and a lot in concealment (17.6 km vs 15.5 km detection by sea). You also have much worse maneuverability and for some reason (even though here, it’s logically a bug) a tier IX radar.

I will wait for the tests on the ship but for now, I’m not 100% convinced.

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