Pensacola

Tier V \| Type: Cruiser
Preceded by	Succeeded by
Omaha	New Orleans Baltimore
Cost	2 400 000
XP Required	55 000

Pensacola — American Tech Tree Tier V Cruiser.

The first U.S Navy cruiser built under the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty with powerful artillery but weak armor, which was a characteristic of such ships. The cruiser was armed with 203mm main guns, on the basis of which she was redesignated as a heavy cruiser soon after commissionning. However, the ship's armor actually corresponded to that of a light cruiser.

Entered Service: 1930
Ships in a series: 2

Ship Traits

Sticky Shot: Reduced ricochet change - greater chance of penetrating enemy ship armor at sharper angles.	Guns Aplenty: A high number of guns allows for a lot of damage from a single salvo.	Compromising: High caliber AP shells overpen the armor, but may still arm, depending on shell velocity.

Modules

	Hit Points	Min Armor (mm)	Max Armor (mm)	Torpedo Damage Reduction (%)	Main Battery Turrets	Rudder Shift (s)	Purchase Price
Stock	31 200	6	102	4	2x2	8.2	0
Hull B	32 700	6	102	4	2x2	6.3	480 000

	Turret Arrangement	Reload Time (s)	180° Turn Time (s)	Max HE Damage	HE Fire Chance (%)	Max AP Damage	Purchase Price
203mm Mk14 mod. 2	2x2	15	45	2800	14	4500	0
203mm Mk14 mod. 2	2x2	13	45	2800	14	4600	60 000

	Firing Range Increase (%)	Main Battery Firing Range	Purchase Price
Stock	0 %	13.3 km	0
Targeting System: Mk5 mod. 2	10 %	14.6 km	60 000

	Maximum Speed
Stock	32.5 kn

History

USS Pensacola (CL-24, then CA-24) was the first vessel of her class, and the first US Navy ship designed based on the limitation of the Naval Treaty of Washington, which capped cruiser displacement to 10 000 tons and limited the armament to 8 inches/203mm main battery. She had a decent speed and a strong armament of 10 203mm rifles, at the cost of a really light armor scheme typical from the “first generation” of Washington cruisers. Due to their thin armor, Pensacola and her sister Salt Lake City (CA-25) were originally classified as light cruisers ; they were reclassified as heavys due to their armament in 1931.

She received 13 battle stars during world war two for her service in the pacific.

After her commission in 1930, Pensacola was in service in the Caribbean, doing occasional fleet exercises in the Pacific. She was transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1935, and received at Pearl Harbor one of the first CXAM radars delivered to the US Navy, in 1940.

When the second world war broke out, USS Pensacola was in transit to the Philippine, and was diverted to Australia due to the threat of a Japanese attack. Returning to Pearl Harbor shortly after, she was assigned to Task Force 11, the task force of USS Lexington (CV-2). Escorting the carrier during the first half of 1942, the air group returned to Pearl Harbor, where Pensacola left it to escort USS Enterprise (CV-6) to the Midway Atoll where they rendezvous with the Task Force 17. During the battle of Midway, two days after the meeting with TF17, Pensacola supported the carriers in the anti-air defences, trying to screen USS Yorktown (CV-5) when she started to sink. After the loss of Yorktown, Pensacola returned with Enterprise to chase the remaining Japanese carriers. After a short return to Pearl Harbor, she was assigned to Guadalcanal to protect USS Saratoga (CV-3), USS Hornet (CV-8) and USS Wasp (CV-7). Later the same year, Pensacola took action during the battle of Santa Cruz Islands, where she witnessed the sinking of Hornet, and helped receive 188 survivors from the sunken aircraft carrier. She protected Enterprise during the battle of Guadalcanal, and took part in action during the battle of Tassafaronga where she took a torpedo hit on the port side, disabling one of her turrets, one of her engines and damaging her oil tanks. A fire started onboard, and munitions exploded because of it, leading to the explosion of the Number 3 turrets 8 inches/203mm ammos, but the ship was kept functional thanks to the excellent damage control team of the vessel.

At the end of 1942 and the start of 1943, she was repaired, first by USS Vestal (AR-4) then at Pearl Harbor, where she stayed for more than half of the year. She took part in multiple coastal bombardments and provided anti-air support until early 1944 when she took part in action in the Marshalls islands, again providing land targets. She continued such duty in the Pacific until late 1944, when she was deployed to Saipan to prepare the invasion of Iwo Jima, where she mostly took part in shore bombardment, then Okinawa. After Okinawa, Pensacola returned to Pearl Harbor for a overhaul. When the war ended, she was deployed in Alaska, and sailed to Japan at the end of the war. From late 1945 to early 1946, Pensacola took part in the return of US Soldiers home.

After her decommission in mid 1946, she was chosen as a target for Operation Crossroad, and survived two nuclear explosions. She was scuttled in 1948, after the end of the study of her damaged hull.

The ship in-game is actually Salt Lake City, Pensacola sistership, after her 1944 refit. The tripod mast and search light were changed for a short tower on Pensacola after the damage of Tassafaronga in 1942. Her final configuration is also missing, as she was equipped with a quad 40mm Bofor AA mount at the bow, the starboard catapult removed and the turret rangefinder removed. Her foremast was also removed. Finally, her fighter is a Grumman F3F, which never had a floatplane variant.

Sources :

Friedman, Norman, U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History, Annapolis, Naval Institute Press, 1984
Snapp, Ray, Jarmane, Eugene & Grantham, Trevor, USS Pensacola (CA-24): "the Grey Ghost", Madison, Turner Publishing Company, 1992

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