I have elite acc gunners level 105 which I classed ACC>REL>ACC. They always finish reloading faster than when I make an angle adjustment. So im pretty happy with the result. If you go like me all you need to do is BVE them and you should be fine

For BB 5-6, the only thing that might have any value if your gunners aren't total trash, is reload.
You should have capped both acc and reload quite a few levels ago and reload gunners you can either make the lightest or get the best reload for WaW.

It is nearly impossible to not acc and reload cap USN gunners.


+9s will cap for US with 100ish vets (Which is easy to achieve, even for free). 




The best classing for USN is straight reload, especially if you have a boost and 100+ vets early.


If you don't expect to be able to boost your gunners or get 100 vets, acc/rld/rld is the best classing for 100% Free gunners. It gives you the early accuracy boost to counter the spread on the early USN BBs, with minimal sacrifice in total reload ability down the line.

What about heros? Im typically a Uk player but im starting a Usa line now. with a pair of hero gunners and i just hit the first classing so im here reading. What do you think?

I wouldnt waste a pair of hero sailors on gunners unless i was super ocd about repair rate. Even then i would just use elite bve repairers as gunners.

Also i would never fine tune a crew specifically for waw mode. 

my elite usa gunners i made acc all the way on eu server lvl 109, 170 vets and they shoot just fine :)