Wickes
| Hitpoints8900 |
| Armor6 - 13 |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction0 % |
| 102mm Mk124x1 |
| Firing Range8.7 km |
| Reload Time7 s |
| 180 Turn Time15.7 s |
| HE Max Damage1500 |
| HE Fire Chance6 % |
| HE Penetration17 mm |
| AP Max Damage1700 |
| Torpedoes Bliss Leavitt Mk94x3 |
| Reload Time40 s |
| Max Damage9900 |
| Detectability by Sea1 km |
| Range5 km |
| Speed56 kn |
| 12.7 mm Browning M2 mod.2x1 |
| DPS8 |
| Range1.2 km |
| 76.2mm/23 Mk71x1 |
| DPS1 |
| Range3 km |
| Maximum Speed34 kn |
| Turning Circle Radius520 m |
| Rudder Shift Time2.4 s |
| Detectability by Sea5.8 km |
| Detectability by Air2.9 km |
| Detectability firing in smoke2 km |
Modules
 |
Hit Points | Min Armor (mm) | Max Armor (mm) | Torpedo Damage Reduction (%) | Main Battery Turrets | Torpedo Launchers | Rudder Shift (s) | Purchase Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock | 8100 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 4x1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Hull B | 8900 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 4x1 | 4 | 2.4 | 2600 |
 |
Turret Arrangement | Reload Time (s) | 180° Turn Time (s) | Max HE Damage | HE Fire Chance (%) | Max AP Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 102mm Mk12 | 4x1 | 7 | 15.7 | 1500 | 6 | 1700 |
| 102mm Mk12 | 4x1 | 7 | 15.7 | 1500 | 6 | 1700 |
 |
Firing Range Increase (%) | Main Battery Firing Range | Purchase Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock | 0 % | 8 km | 0 |
| Targeting System Mk2 mod. 2 | 10 % | 8.7 km | 320 |
 |
Launcher Arrangement | Reload Time (s) | 180° Turn Time (s) | Max Damage | Range | Speed | Detection | Purchase Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 533mm triple | 4x3 | 32s | 7.2s | 6400 | 4.5 | 48 | 1 | 0 |
| Torpedoes Bliss Leavitt Mk9 | 4x3 | 40s | 7.2s | 9900 | 5 | 56 | 1 | 320 |
 |
Maximum Speed |
|---|---|
| Stock | 34 kn |
Modifications
Consumables
 |
| Accelerates repairs to damage modules, firefighting efforts and recovery from flooding. |
|
 |
| Generates a smoke screen behind the ship that reduces the risk of being detected by the enemy. |
|
 |
| Temporarily increases the maximum ship speed. |
|
Player Opinion
Pros:
- Excellent maneuverability.
- Quick turret traverse speed.
- Able to drop waves of torpedoes from both sides.
- Low detection range.
Cons:
Performance
History
USS Wickes (DD-75) was an american destroyer and the lead ship of her class, laid down for the US Navy in 1917. One of the “four-stackers” destroyer class (alongside the Caldwell and Clemson class), they were designed to operate with a fast fleet composed of the planned Lexington class battlecruiser (represented in-game with a fictional modernisation by the premium Constellation) and the Omaha class light cruiser, as well as ASW operations. Their design was known as “flush deck”, to give the ships a better hull strength. However, it led to the bridge and main battery being very wet, and the tapered stern fitted to facilitate deep-charge deployment led to an increase of the turning radius, causing the ship to be less effective in ASW capability. They were also pretty short-ranged, limiting their scouting abilities.
Wickes was commissioned in mid-1917, shortly after the entry of the United States in World War I. Less than a month after her shakedown trials, she was deployed to escort convoys through the atlantic until her crew was hit by the Influenza, leading to the hospitalisation of a third of her mens. Soon after the outbreak of flu, the ship was rammed by an unidentified vessel during a convoy escort, destroying the keel and dealing major damages. There was no casualty, however, but the ramming ship disappeared in the night without any clue about her identification. When the Armistice was signed, she was still under repairs, but returned to service to escort President Wilson transport to France in the end of 1918.
After the end of the war, Wickes did a cruise to multiple northern Europe ports - where she collided with the German merchant vessel Ljusne Elf - before returning to France to escort President Wilson home. Assigned to the Pacific, where she got through a huge overhaul, William F. Halsey took command of her and got an excellent souvenir of the ship, writing in his memoirs that Wickes was "the best ship I ever commanded; she was also the smartest and the cleanest." After multiple exercises and training in the Pacific, Wickes was decommissioned and put into reserve in the first half of 1922.
Recomissionned in 1930 after eight years of inactivity, Wickes was assigned to the Atlantic to do multiple exercises and patrols in the central-America water before returning to the Pacific in 1932 until 1937, when she was shortly put into reserve. Recomissionned in 1939, one month after the start of World War Two in Europe, Wickes was brought back in war condition with her destroyer division (DesDiv 64) and transferred to the east coast for patrol duties. In early 1940, Wickes division was merged with two other destroyers divisions and two heavy cruisers to form the "Antilles Detachment" of the Atlantic Squadron. During one of her patrols, she destroyed her sistership USS Twiggs (DD-127) propellers, receiving in the process a small hole above the waterline.
When the British prime minister Winston Churchill requested the USA assistance in the summer of 1940, Wickes was chosen as one of the 50 “overaged” destroyers. Passing through a complete overhaul, she was transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Montgomery (G95), and stricken from the US Navy list the following year.
In World of Warships Legends, USS Wickes is represented in her late-1930 configuration, even if her first hull is fictional : she was never equipped with a lone 76mm anti-aircraft gun.
Source :
- Friedman, Norman, US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised ed.). Annapolis, Naval Institute Press, 1982 (2004)
Gallery
Legends Ship Map 