Sea Defense values for naval units?

[Caesar_Augustus]

Are Sea Defense values for naval units “reversed” in HOI 3?, i.e., the lower the rating, the higher the defense during ship-to-ship battles?

I notice that heavier ships have a lower sea defense rating, whereas lighter ships have a higher sea defense rating... A vanilla BB has a sea defense of 3 whereas a vanilla BC has a sea defense of 5... intuitively, these values should be reversed, hence my query...

Are these values related to a given ship’s hull value?

Thanks for any clarification!

 

[Kovax]

Bigger ships are easier to hit, and start with lower Sea Defense values, but higher Hull values mean that the hits do less damage.

 

[Caesar_Augustus]

Ah, I see! So my intuition was correct: the sea defense values are related to the hull points. So lower sea defense rating in heavier ships is compensated by higher hull points.

Thanks so much for clarifying this.

 

[Kovax]

That's also why you use escorts. The higher sea defense values of DDs and CLs mean that inbound shots will be distributed among the escorts as well, instead of only the capital ships, and most of those shots will miss the escorts, rather than hitting the bigger ships. Engine ratings tend to boost Sea Defense, as the ships become faster and harder to hit. Armor boosts hull points, making the ships harder to kill with the shots that do hit.

 

[Caesar_Augustus]

Yes, seems quite logical. It makes a great deal of sense. Also explains the practical usefulness of escort screens for capital ships.

Thanks again for explaining this dynamic.