Pensacola
| Tier V | Type: Cruiser | |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by |
| Omaha | New Orleans Baltimore |
| Cost | 2 400 000 |
| XP Required | 55 000 |
| Hitpoints32 700 |
| Armor6 - 102 |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction4 % |
| 203mm Mk14 mod. 22x2 |
| 203mm Mk14 mod. 12x3 |
| Firing Range14.6 km |
| Reload Time13 s |
| 180 Turn Time45 s |
| HE Max Damage2800 |
| HE Fire Chance14 % |
| HE Penetration34 mm |
| AP Max Damage4600 |
| 127mm Mk19 mod. 68x1 |
| Firing Range4.5 km |
| Reload Time4.5 s |
| HE Max Damage1800 |
| HE Fire Chance9 % |
| HE Penetration21 mm |
| 20mm Oerlikon Mk417x1 |
| DPS61 |
| Range2 km |
| DPS95 |
| Range3.5 km |
| 127mm Mk19 mod. 68x1 |
| DPS58 |
| Range4.2 km |
| Maximum Speed32.5 kn |
| Turning Circle Radius620 m |
| Rudder Shift Time6.3 s |
| Detectability by Sea11.7 km |
| Detectability by Air7 km |
| Detectability firing in smoke6.5 km |
Modules
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Maximum Speed |
|---|---|
| Stock | 32.5 kn |
Modifications
| SLOT 1 |
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| SLOT 2 |
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Consumables
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| Accelerates repairs to damage modules, firefighting efforts and recovery from flooding. |
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| Increases the range of guaranteed acquisition of enemy ships and torpedoes, including those within smoke screens. |
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| Follows the ship and automatically attacks enemy aircraft. |
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| Increases the efficiency of AA fire. |
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Player Opinion
Pros:
- Large amount of high caliber guns that can easily cripple any ship.
- Access to Sonar
- Very little armor means that higher caliber armor piercing shells will overpen at close range.
Cons:
- Glacial turret traverse means that Pensacola has trouble quickly switching targets. This can be fatal if you are ambushed as you have no torpedoes.
- Pensacola has very little armor protecting it, and as such, even destroyers with armor piercing loaded can citadel you if you are showing your broadside.
- Pensacola cannot accelerate very quickly, so you must always be vigilant for torpedoes, as you will not be able to dodge them if you are at a standstill.
Performance
Pensacola is the Tier V American cruiser, and is the first Heavy Cruiser in the line. Pensacola combines characteristics of New Orleans and Omaha, inheriting Omahas weak armor and huge stockpile of guns, while getting New Orleans' fire arcs and higher caliber guns. You are recommended to invest your commander skills into extending your range and your AP shells. Pensacola is best played from behind an island as this negates her glaring problem of paper armor, while also giving you a hard shield against torpedoes. You should prioritise targeting cruisers, then destroyers and then battleships. Later in the match, if the coast is clear, you can take up anti-destroyer duties by using your sonar to detect their torpedoes and to detect them in their smoke, before smashing them with a well placed salvo of high explosive shells.
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 armour, 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
Gallery
Legends Ship Map 