Sorting HE from SAP from AP Nail your shell choice, and you delete destroyers in two salvos. Pick wrong, and you’re pinging off hulls like a toy gun. War Thunder’s naval fights dump every trick in the book on you – proximity AA shells, torpedoes that gut cruisers. Each round’s got quirks, and sorting HE from SAP from AP flips your games from ragequit to rampage.
Ammo isn’t raw numbers after grinding naval for ages. It’s reading the target – punch plating, ignite superstructures, shred crews. Shells act wild differently; coastal trash gets smoked by one type, heavies laugh it off.
Here’s the breakdown on what makes naval rounds work, main battery shells to plane-dropped payloads.
Main Gun Shell Types on Naval Vessels
Main guns deliver the pain. DDs, cruisers, BBs – they lean on specific ammo to wreck, wrong pick means watching duds splash or pop outside armor. Core types let you swap on the fly. Penetration beasts or filler monsters – the fit decides if you gut ’em.
High-Explosive (HE) and Variants
HE’s your everyday blaster. Fat filler blows on smack, shreds area, lights ships up easy. Tiny boats, foils, flimsy bits like stacks – HE carves ’em. No deep pen needed for chaos.
Fires chew crew and gear slow. No fire upgrades? One spark snowballs to shutdown. Coastals and thin skins scream for HE – max boom, zero pen stress.
HE base-fuzed shifts fuze rearward. Bites light plate better pre-boom – HE lite with AP edge. Less filler than plain HE. Thin armor shrugs stock HE but folds to AP? Base-fuzed drills in, dumps solid blast after.
HE sucks vs thick decks though. Belt or turret shot? Surface scratches, no guts spilled.
Semi-Armour-Piercing (SAP)
SAP bridges HE and AP. Bites light-med plate, then booms inside – pen plus fat filler. Crew bays, ammo? One-shot wipeouts.
Common Mk.32 packs top filler in class. Pens DD hull, erupts – comps gone, crews mulched, racks cooked. SAP owns DDs, light cruisers.
Armor shrugs HE but no AP needed? SAP pens decent, internals pulped. Trans, engines, stows – brutal.
Can’t crack heavy belts or BB plate reliably though. Need raw pen there.
Armour-Piercing (AP), APHE, and Variants
Thick skins call AP kin. Pure AP smashes through kinetic, keeps trucking. 
APHE amps it – pens, fuzes, internal kaboom.
APHECBC adds cap for better pen, speed hold. Crack deck, then shred behind. Mods, crews, racks – toast post-boom.
Heavies where pen rules – cruiser belts, BB turrets. Mod hunts too – concentrated hell.
Tradeoff: skimpy filler (or none on solid). Lights? Overpens, less wreck than SAP/HE.
Special Purpose Shells: HE-TF, HE-VT, Shrapnel
Niche rounds for AA or duds.
HE-TF (High-Explosive, Time Fuse) times out midair. AA roots for shrapnel clouds. Surface? Meh, bursts miss ships.
HE-VT (High-Explosive, Variable/Proximity Time Fuse) senses close, pops – no direct tag. AA godsend with radar. Lock plane, fire, shrapnel shreds.
Bonus: hull smack acts like HE. Players say near-identical to stock vs surface, maybe lighter filler for fuze.
Shrapnel? Junk in surface. Frag bags flop vs hulls. Skip unless ammo’s free.
Quick Reference Table: Main Gun Ammo Types
Here’s a snapshot of the main shell types and when to use them:
| Ammo type | Description / behaviour | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| HE | Explosive filler; causes fires and area damage. Base-fuzed variant has better pen. | Small boats, superstructures, setting fires, light armor |
| SAP | Semi-AP with explosive filler; penetrates then detonates (e.g., Common Mk.32) | Destroyers, crew compartments, ammo stowage |
| SP / AP | Increased penetration; APHE/APHE variants detonate after penetration | Heavily armored targets, internal compartments |
| HE-TF | Timed-fuse HE; detonates after set time/distance | Anti-air, situational airbursts |
| HE-VT / AAVT | Proximity-fused HE; detonates near target (anti-air focus) | Anti-air, dual-purpose with radar, still works vs surface targets |
| Shrapnel | Thin-cased round with metal fillings | Reported ineffective vs surface ships |
Torpedoes, Depth Charges, and Mines
Torpedoes one-shot. Main guns aside, underwater/area tools shift fights. Torps one-shot; DCs/mines… picky.
Torpedoes
Torps nuke. Submerged run, contact boom – floods, breaches massive. Smalls? Dead on tag, pumps fail.
Close brawls shine. High tier long shots? Dodge city, predict tough. Knife range distracted foes? Gone.
Usage tips for torpedoes:
- Aim oncoming long-range – path guess easy, time hit.
- Torp inbound, no dodge? Angle engine/bow/stern, not mid – less rack boom risk.
- Contact always pops – no defuse, no shoot-down.
High blues pack torpedo bulges – soak hits, shrink breach. Survive odds up, not immune.
Depth Charges
DCs sub-killers, hull-under blasts. Surface? Stretch. Direct keel pop needed – tricky setup. Some say crew taps possible, but ship-on-ship? Nah.
Subs around? Grab ’em. Else, bench.
Mines
Mines zone-lock. Cap spots, lanes, pins – detour or boom.
Catch? Extra racks, enemy bait – shot, chain pops friendlies. Situational; caps/deviates win, else gimmick.
Aircraft Ordnance Against Ships
Bombs king CAS flips navals, but payloads vary wild. Bombs king, torps/rockets iffy.
Bombs
Bombs reliable ship-eaters. CAS bombs tuned anti-ship – beat generics.
HE bombs drop like vert HE. Impact boom, fires, area. Salvo 50/100kg multisink smalls/coastals. 250kg+ cracks big hulls.
AP bombs deck-drillers. High/slow drops best – pen angle. Rarer, fiddly, but heavies eat internals HE skips.
Hull breaks scale. Low BR 250kg oneshots; high needs 1k+ for floods/breaks.
Torpedoes from Aircraft
Plane torps work, tougher drop. Low/slow key – high/fast flops angle.
AA chews low runners. Nail it? Ship-torp kill power.
Risky reward.
Rockets and Gunpods
Rockets ship-flop. Aim hell, spotty dmg – bombs/guns better.
Gunpods coastal strafes. Light boats shred fast. Bigs? No punch.
Guided Munitions
Guided bombs/missiles “best cheese.” High alt lock, precision sans dive.
Stay safe, tag – precision pilots swear by over dumb drops.
Autocannon and Dual-Purpose Gun Belts
Small guns flex Small guns flex, belts split surface/AA.
40 mm Oerlikons etc.:
- AP belts – boat BRRRTs, hull/mod pen.
- HE/HE-VT – AA go. VT radar pairs shred.
AAVT AA stars. Radar ships? Swap AAC HE – proxi downs planes, boats still pop like HE.
Role picks: AA? VT. Boats? AP consistent.
Recommended Loadouts and Player Strategies
No universal load No universal load – ships/scens dictate. Players grind what clicks.
General advice:
- Full racks. Navals tank racks better (US rears safe). Swap free mid-fight.
DD/bluewater:
- SAP default wrecker. DDs/light CLs melt.
- SP/AP armor walls.
AA:
- Radar? AAC HE to AAVT – plane delete, boats ok.
Smalls (20/40mm):
- Surface? AP.
- AA? HE/HE-VT.
Mortars:
- Depth lays, ASW. Surface? Zilch reports.
Example: USS Frank Knox Loadout
Frank Knox nails DD setup:
Main:
- Common Mk.32 (SAP) – pen + max filler. DDs/crews toast.
- Common Mk.46 (SP) – cruiser bite, less filler.
AA:
- AAC HE to AAVT – radar planes gone, boats fine.
40 mm:
- AP boat spam.
- HE AA dual.
Balances ship/AA multis.
Damage Mechanics and Targeting Tips
Aim seals kills Ammo dmg known – aim seals kills. Types hit vulns smart.
Damage paths:
- Fires – HE stacks light, ticks crew/mods. No extinguish? Crippled.
- Floods/breaches – torps/bombs perm bulkheads, sink slow.
- Ammo pops – racks/tubes/DCs/mines chain-kill.
- Crew KO – comp crews gone, no fix/fire/move.
- Hull breaks – big blasts instant small sinks.
Aim tips:
- Keys – bridge, mains, secs, engines, tubes. No fight/flank.
- Unsure? Spread length, crit chance up.
- Mains/bridge disrupt hard.
- Dodge torps > tank. Speed/angle king.
- Extinguish cuts fire ticks/time. Grab.
Special Notes and Warnings
Arsenal quirks Arsenal quirks bite.
- Shrapnel surface dud. Players trash it – ditch.
- DCs/mines picky – ASW/deny. Surface no-go.
- Torps/bombs breach perm – bulkheads dead, flood till sink.
- Ballistics WT odd. Long lead/drop practice.
Grind loads, mods, underdogs delete.
