Messina is a Tier IX Italian Premium cruiser built for close-to-mid range support. She excels at helping destroyer fights, punishing poorly angled cruisers, and farming penetrable sections of battleships with fast 152 mm SAP. She is fast and agile, carries improved Hydroacoustic Search together with Exhaust Smoke Generator, but fires SAP only: armor knowledge and target selection directly determine your damage output.
Getting Messina: Holiday Convoy and 84,000 Tokens
Holiday Convoy starts in Update 15.7 and runs across six Updates through 16.0. Messina is one of seven returning ships in the reward pool and is priced as a Rare Tier IX ship: 84,000 Holiday Convoy Tokens.
Tokens can also be obtained by converting resources: 10 Coal = 3 Tokens, 1 Steel = 3 Tokens, and 2 Research Points = 3 Tokens. A Coal-only conversion would therefore cost 280,000 Coal.
Gameplay and role
Messina · Italy · Tier IX · Premium
The ship library contains the full stat profile including mobility, concealment, torpedoes, secondaries, and AA.
Open the Messina ship profile →Messina is strongest as an aggressive support cruiser at close-to-mid range, not as a blind cap brawler. Her speed and turning circle let her change direction quickly, dodge salvos, or reposition.
The ideal situation is a contested area where your destroyer spots an opponent, your 6 km Hydro helps keep the fight controlled, and nine high-velocity SAP shells arrive every 8.9 seconds. Lightly armored targets are a priority.
- Play close enough for Hydro, shell velocity, and accuracy to matter.
- Always preserve an exit route: island, kiting angle, or Exhaust Smoke.
- Punish poorly angled cruisers rather than wasting salvos on armor that is too thick.
- Against battleships, choose a penetrable section before firing because you cannot swap to HE or AP.
Strengths and weaknesses
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| High main-battery DPM | SAP is the only main-battery shell type |
| 945 m/s shells and 2.05 sigma | Armor knowledge matters enormously |
| 42.3 mm SAP penetration | Cannot compensate for a bad matchup with fires |
| High speed and strong maneuverability | Getting trapped with no escape route is extremely punishing |
| 6 km Hydro and Exhaust Smoke at the same time | Only two base Exhaust Smoke charges |
| Repair Party at Tier IX | Smoke does not save bad positioning inside enemy Hydro/Radar |
Armament: understanding the 152 mm SAP
Messina carries 3 × 3 152 mm guns with 16.76 km range, 8.9-second reload, 15-second 180° traverse, and 2.05 sigma. Each SAP shell deals up to 3,600 damage, leaves the barrel at 945 m/s, and has 42.3 mm of fixed penetration.
Nine shells × 3,600 damage every 8.9 seconds works out to roughly 218,000 listed raw SAP DPM.
SAP penetration does not scale with velocity. It penetrates when its fixed value is sufficient for the plate hit. Messina's SAP begins ricocheting at 70° and always ricochets at 80°. SAP cannot start fires, does not overpenetrate, and IFHE does not affect it.
Where to aim with Messina SAP
Destroyers
Aim at the visible hull. Velocity, reload, and penetration make Messina excellent at supporting DD fights.
Cruisers
Look for sides, ends, decks, and upper hull sections at or below 42 mm. Do not treat SAP like AP and hunt citadels through thick belts.
Battleships
Superstructure, bow, stern, deck, or upper belt when the armor scheme allows it. 32 and 38 mm are valid; 50 mm is not.
Against a bow-in battleship, shift the aim point toward the superstructure or extremities rather than blindly shooting the center. If a section is saturated, move your salvos to a fresher part of the ship.
Torpedoes and consumables
Torpedoes are an opportunistic tool, not the core plan: 2 × 4 533 mm tubes, 8 km range, 72 knots, 20,433 maximum damage, and 140-second reload on the current site profile. They matter during pushes, island ambushes, and route denial.
| Slot | Consumable | Current data | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damage Control Party | Unlimited · 5 s · 60 s cooldown | Standard damage control. |
| 2 | Repair Party | 3 charges · 28 s · 218 HP/s · 80 s cooldown | Recover trading damage. |
| 3 | Exhaust Smoke Generator | 2 charges · 40 s · 150 s cooldown | Disengage, turn out, survive critical focus. |
| 4 | Hydroacoustic Search | 3 current charges · 120 s · ships 6 km · torpedoes 4 km · 120 s cooldown | DD fights, island pushes, torpedo safety. |
| 5 | Patrol Fighter | 3 charges · 60 s · 90 s cooldown | Local air pressure. |
Exhaust Smoke is excellent when you need to briefly expose more broadside to turn away or when focus fire becomes dangerous. Use it before the enemy gets an easy shot.
Positioning tips
- Opening: support a flank with a destroyer and cover. Be close enough to influence the DD fight without becoming the first cruiser focused.
- Before firing: identify a plate your 42.3 mm SAP can penetrate. With one shell type, aim-point selection replaces ammunition selection.
- Open water: actively vary speed and rudder rather than sailing at 37 knots in a straight line.
- Smoke: try to retain one charge as an exit tool rather than spending both purely for farming.
- Hydro: activate it when it protects a cap, push, or torpedo lane.
- Late game: speed, heal, and Hydro become more valuable as the map opens. Hunt DDs, create crossfires, and relocate quickly.
Messina 21-point build
This build leans into the ship's identity: survival and mobility under pressure, plus main-battery and consumable uptime.
- Consumables Specialist (1)
- Last Stand (1)
- Consumables Enhancements (2)
- Adrenaline Rush (3)
- Superintendent (3)
- Survivability Expert (3)
- Top Grade Gunner (4)
- Concealment Expert (4)
The upgrades shown prioritize armament and engine reliability, accuracy, acceleration, concealment, and main-battery reload. That is coherent for a mid-range cruiser that must accelerate, turn, disappear, and resume firing.
Messina vs Brindisi, Venezia, and San Diego
| Ship | What it does better | What Messina brings instead |
|---|---|---|
| Brindisi IX | 12 × 203 mm, 54.9 mm SAP plus AP, heavier alpha. | Much faster reload and the Hydro + Exhaust Smoke combination. |
| Venezia X | 15 × 203 mm, huge broadside weight and 54.9 mm SAP. | Continuous 152 mm pressure and a more active support role. |
| San Diego VIII | 16 × 127 mm, very high rate of fire, AP alongside SAP, Reload Booster. | 42.3 mm SAP penetration versus 36 mm, Exhaust Smoke, and stronger repositioning tools. |
Brindisi is the most natural comparison: same nation, same tier, same SAP concept. Brindisi is about the large 203 mm salvo. Messina is about repeated 152 mm salvos and playing closer to the action with Hydro.
Is Messina worth 84,000 Holiday Convoy Tokens?
Yes, if the playstyle fits you. Messina is much more attractive to players who enjoy active cruiser play, armor knowledge, DD support, and repositioning than to someone looking for easy HE farming or a forgiving armored cruiser.
| Prioritize Messina if… | Lower priority if… |
|---|---|
| You understand common armor thresholds. | You want simple superstructure HE and fires. |
| You enjoy helping DDs and fighting around caps. | You prefer staying at maximum range all game. |
| You actively use speed, rudder, and smoke to disengage. | You want a ship that forgives broadside exposure. |
| You want an Italian Premium that feels distinct from Brindisi/Venezia. | You would spend large amounts of Steel/RP without actually preferring Messina. |
At 84,000 Tokens, the key issue is how you pay. Daily missions make it 70 max-token days. A pure Coal conversion makes it 280,000 Coal. Those are very different opportunity costs.
