@ siraldenb
how were the US ships nerfed?? Most of them have been the same for a long time now, especially CL/CA. If you are going to be asking questions on every ship you get, it's probably a good idea to leave out your random assumptions since they are most likely wrong.
trip 6" Ls. always LHE, and use AP on any armored ships. It only takes 1 salvo to find out whether or not someone is armored. Don't use heavy shells - not even in blitz.
dont be using torps on the Ts. AA is not really an option. The ship aaw is enough to protect you from most bombers in blitz (if you dodge bombers correctly).