# World of Warships Update 15.4 | Hunt for Bismarck & Italian Subs in Early Access!

- Product: World of Warships (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/world-of-warships)
- Vendor: Wargaming Group Limited
- Date: 2026-05-20
- Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/552990/view/676247378514149405
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/world-of-warships/releases/2026-05-20-update-15.4-hunt-for-bismarck-italian-subs-in-ear

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Bounty Hunt event where players sail Tier VI+ battleships, cruisers, or destroyers with a Bounty Marker to earn Bounty Hunt Tokens redeemable for camouflages, effects, and collection containers
- **added** — Hunt for Bismarck Wishing Wharf special Armory event offering Naval Legacy ship Eiserner Kanzler based on Bismarck '41, Tier VIII Bismarck '41, Tier VIII Prince of Wales, and various camouflages
- **added** — Three Italian gun-toting submarines Foca, Pietro Micca, and Pietro Calvi introduced in Early Access with SAP shells, improved Main Battery Reload Booster, and Combat Instructions
- **added** — Exhaust Smoke Generator added to Italian submarines, with Repair Party available on Tiers VIII and X
- **added** — Italian Submarines Event Pass with two progression lines of 15 levels each offering Italian Commander Salvatore Capitano, Tier VI submarine Foca, British Commander William Pakenham, and German Tier VI Premium cruiser Leipzig
- **added** — Repair Party consumable added to most Tier VI–VIII cruisers with 2 base charges or 3 charges for some ships that already had it
- **added** — Time-based consumable modifiers for select signal flags, upgrades, Commander skills, and talents that extend usage time of Smoke Generator, Engine Boost, Spotting Aircraft, Main Battery Reload Booster, and Repair Party
- **added** — Three new Brawls introduced for Ranked Battles Season 29 with week-one setup featuring buffs to HP, speed, armament, reload, torpedo damage, and accuracy
- **changed** — Clan UI overhauled with revised Clan Base main page, improved Hall of Fame and Clan Missions tabs, and new Treasury tooltips
- **changed** — Clan cooldown for changing reduced from 3 days to 2 hours
- **changed** — Fighter or Spotting Aircraft on certain ships now share a slot with another consumable so Repair Party has its own dedicated slot
- **changed** — Asymmetric Battles Last Stand adjusted with lower bot HP and damage and economic rewards adjusted by 15–20%
- **removed** — Belfast, Belfast '43, Bayard, and their variants will not receive Repair Party
- **deprecated** — Dockyard ZH-1 being removed with Update 15.5

Here's an overview of the major highlights introduced in Update 15.4. Be sure to check out the full details on our website:

[**EU**](https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/game-updates/update-154-the-hunt-for-bismarck/#down-content style=button) [**NA**](https://worldofwarships.com/en/news/game-updates/update-154-the-hunt-for-bismarck/ style=button) [**ASIA**](https://worldofwarships.asia/en/news/game-updates/update-154-the-hunt-for-bismarck/ style=button)

##### Bounty Hunt: Bismarck

Inspired by the legendary 1941 pursuit of the iconic German battleship. Become a high-value Bounty or relentless Hunter to earn rewards.

- **Bounties:** Sail Tier VI+ battleships, cruisers, or destroyers with a Bounty Marker—claimable from special free random bundles in the Armory. The status lasts 24 hours or 5 battles.

- _**Hunters:** Fight Random Battles playing any Tier V+ ship or supership and destroy enemies marked as Bounties (up to 3 confirmed targets per day)._

- Earn Bounty Hunt Tokens to spend on the Hunt for Bismarck permanent camouflage, the "Hunt Continues" camouflage for King George V, the Last Sortie enemy destruction effect, and "The Hunt for Bismarck" collection containers.

- _Bonus Tokens will be given for playing ships that took part in the historical hunt._

##### Hunt for Bismarck Wishing Wharf

Try your luck in this special Armory event for a chance to get Naval Legacy ship Eiserner Kanzler, based on Bismarck '41—with a battle-scarred hull from her last sortie. Other possible rewards include Tier VIII Bismarck '41, Tier VIII Prince of Wales, the "Hunt Continues" camouflage for Cossack, and the Rheinübung camouflage for Prinz Eugen. Owners of Eiserner Kanzler will gain access to the new four-piece Operation Rheinübung collection, rewarding Seasoned Commander Ernst Lindemann.

##### Early Access: Italian Submarines

Three new gun-toting Regia Marina submarines, _Foca, Pietro Micca,_ and _Pietro Calvi_, surface during the update's second week.

- **Armament highlights:**
- Strong main batteries, SAP shells, and access to an improved Main Battery Reload Booster.
- Combat Instructions (charged by main gun hits) boost ship speed and torpedo reload time.
- Powerful torpedoes with decent range but slower maximum speed."

- _The first submarines to feature Exhaust Smoke Generator; Tiers VIII and X have Repair Party at their disposal._

- High battery replenishment rate, balancing out a small dive capacity. Improved marked sector duration but with a longer sonar ping cooldown.

- _New permanent camouflages for Pietro Micca, Pietro Calvi, and cruiser Ferrante Gonzaga._

##### Italian Submarines Event Pass

A standalone Event Pass with two progression lines of 15 levels each. Extra levels grant a More Signals container (first line) and Rare Bonuses container (second line).

- First progression line: Italian Commander Salvatore Capitano, the Fields of Tuscany permanent camouflage, 3 days of Warships Premium Account, and Italian Tier VI submarine _Foca_ (final reward).

- _Second progression line: British historical Commander William Pakenham as an instant unlock; Hot Wind permanent camouflages for V. Cuniberti and L. Tarigo; German Tier VI Premium cruiser Leipzig; and the Remembering Skagerrak permanent camouflage for Leipzig (final reward).

_

##### Balance Changes & Gameplay Improvements

##### Repair Party for Mid-Tier Cruisers

Most Tier VI–VIII cruisers gain access to the Repair Party consumable.

- Cruisers without Repair Party gain the consumable with 2 base charges; some that already had it now have 3 charges.

- _On certain ships, Fighter or Spotting Aircraft will share a slot with another consumable so Repair Party can have its own dedicated slot; key bindings are updated accordingly._

- Belfast, Belfast '43, Bayard, and their variants will not receive Repair Party; Vrijheid and Congress retain their current 2 charges.

##### Time-Based Consumable Modifiers

_Select signal flags, upgrades, Commander skills, and talents now

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/552990/view/676247378514149405]_