User:wolftale/TITLE

Below is a draft of a page on naval crew mechanics:

Ship Crew Mechanics

The crew is the lifeblood of any war machine. Boats and ships can require as little as a handful of men or as many as thousands of personnel to operate efficiently. In War Thunder naval battles, the crew loss mechanic is used to simulate victory through attrition, whether that's by sailor casualties or by structural damage that otherwise makes the vessel un-salvageable. Damage to critical components as well as special compartments reduces the percentage of crew who are able to perform their duties. Once the number of remaining usable crew drops below the minimum number required to operate the vessel, the ship will be scuttled instantly.

Percentage of Available Crew

The percentage of available crew is displayed on the HUD. Starting out in naval battles, you will notice that your crew percentage does not add up to 100%, even if you have just entered the battlefield and taken no damage at all. This is because the term "100% crew" is used to represent the maximum possible degree of readiness afforded to crews that have maxed out the "Crew Interchangability" and "Leadership" skills as well as upgraded their qualification on the vessel to Ace status.

This vessel is brand new and has an untrained crew. Note that despite taking no damage, the crew readiness is set at 93%

This vessel is crewed by expert team with the maximum possible crew skills

Minimum Crew to Repair

On most vessels classified as frigates or larger, there is a threshold at which there is no longer enough free crew to carry out repairs. At this point, the hull will fail in multiple places and the ship will take on water until it sinks. During this time you will be unable to perform any method of damage control. Exactly where this threshold is located depends on the number of crew on board the vessel as well as the aforementioned crew skills affecting the ship's survivability. However, the threshold is usually reached once the percentage of available crew has dropped to the low double or high single digits.

For example, the destroyer USS Mitscher carries 350 men. For an expert crew with the maximum possible skill level, the vessel will become unrepairable and start to sink once only 122 men remain, listed as around 5% on the HUD. For an untrained crew, the ship will start to sink at 14%.

	Stock	Maximum
Minimum to Repair	171	122
Percentage on HUD	~14%	~5%

Destruction Threshold

All vessels will be destroyed instantly once the percentage of free crew hits 0%. However, the exact number of crew this percentage represents changes depending on the skills referenced above. Using the USS Mitscher as an example again, we can see that she will always instantly sink at 0%, but where that threshold is placed is heavily dependent on the interchangability skills of the crew.

	Stock	Maximum
Minimum to Survive	147	105
Percentage on HUD	~0%	~0%