KevinJ is correct, and knows what he is talking about here.

One thing to add, Converting to vets becomes VERY difficult after level 50 or so. Keep this in the back of your mind for refrence, as it will become very important later on.

J-n

ok, alot of these advisers are much lower level (i myself have gold gunners).... i'll tell you what you need......

1 Bridge Operator- Fletcher, Somers, DDX, Atlanta, Brooklyn path...

1 Nuetral Sailor with +13 or better (preferably 14) potential and +10's in repair restore and engine (you will class him at level 55 into a bridge operator, taking the Fletcher Somers, DDX, Atlanta, Northhampton, Portland, Bogue, Independance)

2 Armament sailors lvl 12, RLD lvl 22, Acc lvl 42, Rld lvl 65 (plus 10 MIN in acc and rld)

use these two in your R slots until the other one is level 56, then swap them out and use this one for AAA purposes

2 Armament sailors lvl 12, ACC lvl 22, Rld lvl 42, your choice at lvl 65 (plus 10 MIN in acc and rld)

put these in the T slot until they are level 56, then swap them into your R slot

1 Support lvl 12, 2nd Repairman lvl 26, 1st repairman level 50 (min +11 in Repair +9 in restore and engine)
2 Support lvl 12, 2nd Restorer lvl 28, 1st Restorer level 52 (min +11 in Restore +9 in repair and engine)

(For CV)
3 Special Forces lvl 12, Rookie pilot level 25, Fighter lvl 40 (min +10 in Plane and +11 in fighter)
2-4 Special Forces lvl 12, Rookie pilot lvl 25, Torpedo Bomber lvl 45 (min +10 in Plane and +11 in bomber)

take 2 of those last two special forces and class into Dive Bomber (lvl 53)


also take a look at my crew (consolidated picture... too bad i cant post it on the forums...)

http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/5730/crewpictures6ig.jpg

highlight it and ctrl-c into another browser/tab


also...
"IMHO, your wrong bluto, I designated a torpman @ LVL 25, and he is almost LVL 30 now.
His ratio of hitting targets is tremendous. A specialized torpman ,is much preffered over a support sailor."

trust me, a support sailor can do the job just as well (pre classification) torpedos hit ONLY because of your aim, merely your getting better not the torpedomen, the only advantage he has over a support is the ability to load them faster.... (which is pointless on USN ships, as your main weapon should be guns)

I'll give my 2 torpmen (i had a somers) away for 20k (they're level 30ish)....

As for auto-aa, yes they only work after the fact, but can own torp bombers.

IMHO, your wrong bluto, I designated a torpman @ LVL 25, and he is almost LVL 30 now.
His ratio of hitting targets is tremendous. A specialized torpman ,is much preffered over a support sailor.

bluto, I've read speculation that AA gunners are effectively useless. They only add to the auto-AA, which in practice only ever shoots down dive bombers that have already dropped their bombs on you, i.e. too late to be of any use.

Instead, I've seen it recommded to just add more repair/resore crew. Any thoughts on that?

hmm while oi am german now i want to have a us carrier so thanks for the info

Personally would alter that a little bit myself with changes in quotes to 2, 3, 5, 6. This is what I was told:

#1, 1 BO, Bridge Operator, LVL 12

#2, 2 Armament Sailors for GUNNERS, LVL 12,Then "Reload" Gunners @ LVL 22

#3, No Torpedo men. Your support sailor can use torpedoes at low levels. Not useful at higher levels.

#4, 1 Radioman @ LVL 6

#5, "2" Armament Sailors @ LVL 12, Then Anti-Aircraft Gunner @ LVL 20

#6, 3-4 Support Sailors @ LVL 12,Then 1 Repairman @ LVL 26, "2" Restoreman @ LVL 28 and "possibly" 1 Engineer @ LVL 30

#7, 2-5 Special Forces @ LVL 12, For Rookie Pilots @ LVL 25, Fighter and Bomber Pilots @ LVL 40.

Excellent. This is the kind of advice I'm looking for so I don't find out later that I screwed up on my sailors and then will be looking at weeks of re-training. Thanks again!

For Americans the following ,I reccomend...

#1, 1 BO, Bridge Operator, LVL 12

#2, 2 Armament Sailors for GUNNERS, LVL 12,Then Accuracy Gunners @ LVL 22

#3, 1 Armament Sailor for TORPEDOS,LVL 12,Then Torpedoman @ LVL25

#4, 1 Radioman @ LVL 6

#5, 1 Armament Sailor @ LVL 12, Then Anti-Aircraft Gunner @ LVL 20

#6, 3 Support Sailors @ LVL 12,Then 1 Repairman @LVL 26, 1 Restoreman @ LVL 28 and 1Engineer @ LVL 30


#7, 2-5 Special Forces @ LVL 12, For Rookie Pilots @ LVL 25, Fighter and Bomber Pilots @ LVL 40.

These are the Basic needs for American Sailors.

Here is a quicky, either path you choose * brooklyn or NH* you will need and want AA gun's so train up AA gunners earily on when they are about lv 35ish they should be good cause by then you can use the good 3"70's AA guns, also if your going for a CV you"ll want atlest 6 pilots so thats another thing you might want to train up on also we dont get dive bombers till lv 53 and you will need to get the torpedo bombers at lv 45 to get the bombers in the first place so you might be stuck with torp bombers for awhile if you get your CV early