Yimeng is a Tier IX Pan-Asian premium battleship built around volume of fire rather than raw gun caliber. She carries twelve 356 mm guns with improved AP ricochet angles, HE shells capable of penetrating 59 mm of armor, and a very unusual Torpedo Defense System that dramatically reduces incoming torpedo damage for just five seconds.
She is not a battleship that wins by simply pointing huge guns at things. Yimeng works best when you read the situation well, choose the right ammunition and make good use of the tools she gives you.
Yimeng returns in the 2026 Holiday Convoy
Yimeng is one of seven ships returning in the Holiday Convoy. As a Rare Tier IX ship, she costs 84,000 Tokens.
Unlike New Jersey, Yimeng is not a brand-new ship whose characteristics are still being adjusted during testing. Her statistics are already established, so we have a much clearer idea of what she can actually do in battle.
Yimeng: the important statistics
Yimeng · Pan-Asia · Tier IX · Premium
The site's ship library includes Yimeng's full API profile, covering mobility, concealment, artillery, secondaries and AA.
Open the full Yimeng profile →| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 73,500 |
| Main battery | 3 × 4 356 mm guns |
| Range | 18.57 km |
| Reload | 27 s |
| Sigma | 1.90 |
| Maximum dispersion | 245 m |
| AP | 9,800 damage · 895 m/s · 50°–65° ricochet |
| HE | 4,950 damage · 59 mm penetration · 30% fire chance |
| Maximum speed | 29 kt |
| Turning circle | 880 m |
| Rudder shift | 13.3 s |
| Sea detectability | 16.7 km |
Twelve 356 mm guns: plenty of firepower, but no 457 mm hammer
If one number defines Yimeng, it is probably 12.
Three quadruple turrets, a 27-second reload and shells leaving the barrels at 895 m/s give her an impressive amount of firepower. She can put a lot of shells into the air, and she can do it regularly.
The mistake is looking at those numbers and expecting her to behave like a large-caliber battleship.
She does not.
The 356 mm guns lack the overmatch potential of ships such as Musashi or battleships armed with 457 mm guns. Against heavily angled targets, you cannot simply ignore armor geometry and expect AP to punch through.
What Yimeng gets instead is better AP behavior.
Her shells begin checking for ricochets at 50°, with automatic ricochets only occurring at 65°. That makes her AP noticeably more forgiving when enemies are angled but not perfectly protected.
And when the angle becomes too steep for AP, switching to HE does not feel like admitting defeat.
Yimeng's HE penetrates 59 mm of armor, deals 4,950 damage per shell and carries a 30% fire chance. Against battleships determined to keep their nose pointed at you, that gives Yimeng a perfectly respectable Plan B.
Five seconds of torpedo defense: brilliant if you time it properly
Yimeng's strangest feature is her Torpedo Defense System.
Its listed characteristics are:
- 3 charges
- 5-second action time
- 150-second cooldown
- 70% reduction to incoming torpedo damage
- Works against both ship-launched and aerial torpedoes
Five seconds is almost comically short.
That is also exactly what makes the consumable interesting.
This is not something you activate because a destroyer appeared on the minimap two grids away. It is an emergency tool designed for the moment when the torpedoes are already coming and avoiding all of them is no longer realistic.
Activate it too early and the effect disappears before the torpedoes arrive. Activate it too late and, well, the Port screen will be waiting for you.
Used properly, however, it can turn what should have been a devastating torpedo strike into something manageable.
The important point is that the consumable does not make Yimeng immune to torpedoes. It rewards awareness. You need to watch the minimap, anticipate where the spread is coming from and resist the temptation to press the button until it actually matters.
Yimeng strengths and weaknesses
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Twelve guns with a 27 s reload provide excellent volume of fire. | 356 mm caliber limits overmatch at Tier IX. |
| Improved AP ricochet angles make AP more forgiving. | 18.57 km firing range is fairly short for the tier. |
| HE offers 59 mm penetration and a strong 30% fire chance. | 16.7 km base sea detectability is poor. |
| Torpedo Defense System can heavily reduce a dangerous torpedo strike. | The consumable lasts only five seconds and has a 150 s cooldown. |
| Good secondary range and access to Heavy Repair Teams. | Only two base Repair Party charges. |
Gameplay: a mid-range battleship built around ammunition choice
Yimeng is most comfortable at mid range.
Her 18.6 km firing range already tells you that sitting at the back of the map for ten minutes and pretending to be a sniper is not really the plan.
The opposite extreme is not much better. Charging straight into a cap because you have twelve guns is a fairly efficient way of discovering that 73,500 HP and two heals are not infinite resources.
The ship works best when you stay close enough to pressure targets but far enough away to preserve room to maneuver.
More importantly, you need to keep changing your answer depending on what the enemy gives you.
A cruiser exposes too much side? AP.
A battleship angles heavily and assumes your 356 mm guns are no longer a threat? Switch to 59 mm HE.
A destroyer launches a torpedo spread you cannot completely avoid? Wait, then use the Torpedo Defense System at the last useful moment.
That is really the theme of Yimeng.
She does not have one enormous gimmick that plays the ship for you. Instead, she gives you several good tools and expects you to know which one to use.
Verdict
Yimeng does not have the instant appeal of the biggest Tier IX battleship guns. There is no giant-caliber AP salvo waiting to erase anything unfortunate enough to show broadside.
Her strength is more subtle.
Twelve guns provide excellent volume of fire. Improved ricochet angles make the AP more flexible than the caliber suggests. The HE gives you a reliable answer against angled armor. And the Torpedo Defense System can save an enormous amount of HP when your timing is right.
Played lazily, Yimeng can feel limited.
Played with good positioning, ammunition choice and awareness, she has an answer for a surprising number of situations.
And sometimes having the right answer twelve times every 27 seconds is more useful than carrying the biggest hammer on the map.
