Hi
BurningPixels, I play the version of the game with the proprietary launcher which from what I've heard is more stable than the Steam one.
For low tiers, calculating a win rate of 50% and an average of 10 minutes per game (the maximum time is 20 minutes) would give 16.66 hours, rounding up I would say 20 hours in total.
To try the game maybe it is not a bad idea, but if you like it, I would recommend you to leave the Steam version and use the proprietary launcher version (as far as I know the account isn't shared on both platforms).
There are only a few patches of that theme, all that content is old and recycled from the proprietary launcher version.
The problem with WoWS (which it surely shares with other MMO games) is that since it doesn't have a proper tutorial, to learn how to play well you have to watch videos on YouTube.
Plus they are getting more predatory with monetization over time.
Greetings.