How to Move Divisions by Sea?

Quick take

How to move them. Put the division in a port (or next to your / friendly naval base), select it, and right-click another owned or allied port. The game sends it on a naval transfer using transports.

What you need. Free convoys. Simple rule: 1 Weight = 1 convoy. Check Weight in the division designer. No special research for this move — just the ships. Short on convoys — the division stays put until you build or free some up.

Don’t confuse with a landing. Transport is port to your / allied port. Naval invasion is landing on an enemy coast, with its own prep, caps, and sea control. A friendly transfer does not need “big landing” sea supremacy, but sailing through raiders is still dangerous.

Naval transfer and naval invasion are different

Beginners often hit the invasion tool when they only need to shift a division from Britain to France, or Japan to Korea, through friendly ports. Different buttons, different rules.

This article is about transport: move a division by sea to a shore you already control.

How to transport a division by sea, step by step

1. Get the division to a port. Without access to the sea through a port / naval base, a normal transfer will not start.
2. Select the division (several at once is fine if they can all board).
3. Right-click the destination port — yours, occupied, or allied, where you have access.
4. Check the tooltip: it shows how many convoys you need. If available is less than required — fix convoys first.
5. Wait out the trip. On the map it is a naval transfer; the division sails and unloads in port.

Base transfer speed is about 6 knots — not an instant teleport. Long routes take real time, especially if the path bends around enemy zones.

Convoys and division Weight

In HoI4, “transports” are not separate landing ships in a dock — they burn convoys from the country stockpile. Trade, overseas supply, and Lend-Lease eat convoys too. That is why “0 convoys” often shows up the first time you try to ship divisions.

How many convoys one division needs — look at Weight in the division designer. Rule: 1 Weight = 1 convoy. Weight 5 needs 5 free convoys; Weight 8 needs eight. If Weight is fractional, the game rounds up: 4.5 Weight already means 5 convoys.

Infantry is usually lighter; tanks and mechanized are heavier — so assault divisions eat more ships per trip. Moving many divisions at once — add up their Weights and keep convoys free (not just “total in stock,” but not locked by trade and supply).

No special research is required for a normal port-to-port transfer. You need the convoys from dockyards and a workable route. Landing-craft research is for invading the enemy, not this move.

If you are short on convoys:

• queue convoys at dockyards;
• cut spare trade / Lend-Lease that keeps ships busy;
• ship divisions in waves, not the whole front in one click.

How not to lose a division at sea

A transfer can be intercepted. Enemy fleets and air on the route are a real risk — especially wartime Atlantic runs or narrow straits.

• Watch the path. If the line goes through red water with raiders — expect losses or pick another route.
• Cover convoys with a fleet. Convoy escort / zone control cuts the chance transports just get eaten.
• Don’t send everything at once. Losing one stacked batch of assault divisions hurts more than waiting for a second trip.
• Destination port must be usable. No access to an ally base, port held by the enemy, or path blocked — the transfer will not go.

Tips

• Convoys first, division fleet second. Without spare ships, the “move the army” plan stays a red tooltip.
• Ship for the job. Light infantry and garrisons — freely; heavy assault — short waves on a safe route.
• Don’t mix transport and invasion. Your port is a right-click. Enemy coast is a naval invasion plan.