Thread:Vcharng/@comment-1915363-20151222114321/@comment-26574811-20151222140812

Hmm...

1. Yes, they used quad launchers, equivilant to Kitakami/Ooi Kai in-game. Their K2 based on the same design, but instead used quint launchers. Historically they were remodeled into CLT in August 1941, and then into a high-speed transport in August 1942, then again into Kaiten carrier in 1944. It should be noted that they were never able to carry Ko-Hyouteki, and thus the ability to carry one should be considered as a replacement for Kaiten, due to political sensitivity (as well as KTKM's own will, maybe).

2. What's the difference? No offense but I think you should ask what's the same instead, as they are very different. To begin with...

(a) The Shoukaku-class features absolutely no armor whatsoever except her boiler room/ammo storage, while Essex-class features armors from hangar deck and below.

(b) Essex has a deck-edge elevator, which allows better efficiency and less interference to other operations on the deck or in the hangar.

(c) Essex-class generally has two catapults, something the Japanese never had. That means far better launching ability.

(d) Essex-class carries 91+9 (regular+reserve) aircrafts, while Shoukaku-class carries 72+12. In other words, even with her reserves, a Shoukaku-class still carries less aircrafts than an Essex-class' regular air arm.

And for the next question... umm, well, what exactly is "same tier"? Real life is not WoWS, you know...

Theoretically, the IJN fleet air arm boasts far better air-launched torpedo, as its US counterpart was a very out-dated design, being only capable to be dropped at a very slow speed and very low altitude. But the USN has far better dive bombers, in terms of survivability, bomb capacity, and general flying performance. USN's fighters were also surperior, as the Zeros' only effective armament against heavyly-armored US aircrafts, the 20mm cannon, carries just 50 rounds per gun. This means the IJN's combat air patrol is prone to be overwhelmed after 1~2 waves of attackers. And then, the USN also have better communications like radioes for aircrafts, while the IJN only have something like telegraph machines on torpedo bombers only. The US is also a bit (at least after Pearl Harbor) more advanced in tactics (as in treating naval aviation as the real punch instead of supportive power) and how they run aerial recons.

To sum up, an Essex-class should have the upper hand.

3. I think you have misunderstood. What I meant by "U-511 was nerfed" was that the devs made her weaker than what she should be, in terms of real-life stats.

If you compare Kaitai Type VIa versus U-boat Type IXc, you should notice that a Type IXc carries more torpedoes as well as better deck guns, but in the game, I-168 Kai has firepower and torpedo both superior to U-511 Kai.

4. I think the biggest reason why the USN lost interest in bigger battleships was that

(a) Their ship design was seriously limited by the width of Panama Canal, as a warship unable to pass through the Canal is pretty much useless to the USN. You know, for bigger caliber guns, your ship has to be wider, so that it don't shake when you fire her guns, and this was certainly not quite possible for the USN.

(b) Pearl Harbor means, to the USN, the end of the era of battleships. If that alone wasn't enough, they still have Midway.

I don't know much about AP shell technology, however, I do know that the USN used the heaviest shells for the same caliber in the world. In fact, for the same caliber guns, the USN battleships fire shells almost twice as heavy as their British counterpart. This resulted in a more curved trajectory, meaning that it would hit the weaker deck instead of belt armor, along with a shorter range and more preserved kinetic energy on impact.

5. If I remembered correctly, the devs have stated that her K2 will be based on Operation Rei-Go, aka the last organized victorious combat operation of the IJN. Kasumi was the flagship of this operation.

After a certain remodeling in 1938, Abukuma became the only Nagara-class CL capable of launching oxygen torpedoes, while Kasumi do also feature 2x quad 61cm torpedo launcher, she wasn't all that special in terms of torpedo capabilities. Besides, giving a DD preemptive torpedo strike ability is reaaaaally OP, you know.

I hope these answers your questions.