Getting damaged BBs out of Pearl

[Sarganto]

So I am probably not the only one faced with this question as Allies: What to do with the damaged BBs in Pearl Harbor, which you will most likely have after the first turn attacks.

In my current game, I have the West Virginia and California with 76/77 major floatation damage, 50/70 system damage and 45/37 engine damage sitting in Pearl Harbor, currently occupying the shipyard for 1297 days and 1556 days (lol)

As far as I know, moving a ship with over 50 floatation damage is a bad idea. However I would still like to repair them if possible, just not in Pearl Harbor.

Any ideas on how to handle them? Should I just take them out of the shipyard and let them sit pier side until the end of the war? Or is there a way to float them over to the West Coast with some specific escorts by their side to keep them afloat?

[rockmedic109]

Repair all the non-major damage. Get Sys damage under 50. Set to Cruise Speed. I think you want Flotation Damage under 50 as well.

GIVE THEM AN ESCORT!!!!! You don't want them getting sunk by a sub within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge unless you want your kids to be able to go fishing after the war.

[LGKMAS]

One Question I asked myself at the outset was were they worth it? Slow Battleships, really only good for shore bombardment. I know others will have found another use for them, but just saying! so long as they haven't sunk, the Japanese cannot claim Victory points.
So yes, move them out of the Shipyard if you have other more valuable units that need to be repaired. Such as the Carriers after the first few battles.
Leave them pier-side to get rid of the non-major damage.
Now is the difficult part. If, after getting rid of the minor damage, they still have major damage over 50 then they are liable to sink on the way back to the West Coast.
I managed to get one under 50 and it limped at a very slow speed back to Seattle. Took about a month I think. And a few flotation fails on the way. Heart in mouth all the way!
The other was still a flotation damage of 65. So I waited until the ARD was available, sent it to Pearl and put the California in it to reduce flotation damage.
Took time but in Jan 44, I have West Virginia ready to rejoin the fleet and California 5 days away from East USA with only 40 Flotation damage. It should be ready to rejoin the fleet before the Japanese surrender.
Up to you as to the priorities you assign to getting two elderly BBs back into the battle line, but to me it was not a high priority.

[CaptBeefheart]

I'd keep them pierside until SYS is close to zero, then switch to shipyard and get ENG and FLOT to at least less than 50 each. While you're bringing SYS down at pierside you can put less damaged BBs and smaller ships in the shipyard.

SYS should definitely be 0 so the crew can assist on the voyage to the West Coast if necessary.

Cheers,
CB

[btd64]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

I'd keep them pierside until SYS is close to zero, then switch to shipyard and get ENG and FLOT to at least less than 50 each. While you're bringing SYS down at pierside you can put less damaged BBs and smaller ships in the shipyard.

SYS should definitely be 0 so the crew can assist on the voyage to the West Coast if necessary.

Cheers,
CB

Plus one....GP

[Nomad]

ORIGINAL: btd64

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

I'd keep them pierside until SYS is close to zero, then switch to shipyard and get ENG and FLOT to at least less than 50 each. While you're bringing SYS down at pierside you can put less damaged BBs and smaller ships in the shipyard.

SYS should definitely be 0 so the crew can assist on the voyage to the West Coast if necessary.

Cheers,
CB

Plus one....GP

And plus another one.

[WEXF]

I don't believe any specific escort is better for helping a severely crippled ship making a long trip at sea. I agree that the best thing to do is to move your ships in and out of the SY using the yard to work on the major flotation damage until you get below 50. Also setting priority to high might speed things up a bit. It all depends on what you need to get done in the yard. You have lots of flexibility.
WEXF

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: LGKMAS
One Question I asked myself at the outset was were they worth it? Slow Battleships, really only good for shore bombardment. I know others will have found another use for them, but just saying! so long as they haven't sunk, the Japanese cannot claim Victory points.

Those battlewagons are also great for opposed landings, which Allies wold have a lot of later in the war. Embed them in the amphiboius group and watch coastal guns silenced or wasting ammo on the BB armor. Priceless for those pesky atolls

[BananaConvention]

I have 3 standards that are basically sufficiently repaired to safely make the trek back to the West Coast without sinking. Do you recommend I send them combined as one large TF or individually with a couple escorts per BB?

[BBfanboy]

Splitting the escort gives more opportunities for the I-boats to take a shot. Escorts are in short supply, so I would send them combined in one TF, best escorts available and all float planes flying Naval Search. You aren't trying to sink the subs with ASW missions here - you want to see them and avoid them. You could possibly keep one on CAP over the TF to down any Glen FPs that show up.

Very important is devious routing - use waypoints to take them in unexpected directions, and add more waypoints as they proceed if you spot trouble along their route. Also consider sending them to Eastern USA if they are not too badly damaged - it is easier to avoid subs going toward the Canal Zone than to try and sneak into WC USA ports.

[Moltrey]

One theory I put to use immediately following the attack is other than putting as many surviving BBs Pierside as possible; DON'T clog the limited shipyard capacity at Pearl that you have with them.
There are most likely (but not always) DDs, CLs, CAs and all sorts of support ships that are IMO much more important to get fixed ASAP and operating for the Allied war effort.
There are a bunch of Destroyer types at PH on December 7 and they are sorely needed everywhere, so I make them top priority most games.

Other than the above, I concur with what most have said to maximize the chance of getting the BBs stateside for major repair. It's going to take a long time to fix them, no sense in clogging up the works at PH on their behalf in my estimation.

[RangerJoe]

What I like to do as the Allied player is to get the battleships non-major flooding and engine damage repaired and the system damage down to 20 or so along with the ships able to move in a convoy with xAKs to a West Coast port.

Playing Japanese, I will try to line up a lot of subs so I can get several chances to torpedo the wounded whales and they try to reach the West Coast. It is terrible if an IJN carrier or two can have their air units also visit the wounded whales - even if they have no torpedoes!