Wichita

USS Wichita (CA-45) anchored at Seidisfjord, Iceland on 30 June 1942.

History

Design

With the adoption of the London Naval Treaty in 1930, the United States Navy came to the realization that it had reached the end of the design progression they could get from the New Orleans-class cruisers. As a result of the treaty, however, the development of light cruisers boomed worldwide — both the British and the Japanese began to furiously progress their own designs — and the result for America was the Brooklyn-class.

Curiously though, the treaty still allowed the construction of two heavy cruisers: one in 1934 and one in 1935. In order to fill the latter slot, the US Navy opted to adapt the hull of a Brooklyn-class ship into a heavy cruiser that would differ significantly from preceding designs. The goal was to have a heavy cruiser with better protection and handling, while in addition improving the anti-air defenses and increasing the fuel capacity. The result of this odd mix of circumstances was USS Wichita (CA-45). As a one-of-a-kind ship, no sister ships were considered during Wichita’s construction.

Displacing up to 13,000 tons at maximum load, Wichita was noticeably larger than the New Orleans class. The armor protection consisted of a main armor belt up to 152mm thick, which tapered to as little as 102mm at the ends. The forward and rear citadel bulkheads were 152mm strong and a 57mm deck provided protection against plunging fire and bombs. The barbettes were armored with 178mm strong walls, and the main battery turrets had 203mm strong faces, 95mm thick sides, and 70mm of roof plating. The armored conning tower carried up to 152mm of armor.

The 8-inch main battery guns were placed in three new triple-barreled turrets, which placed the guns further apart to reduce dispersion and allowed an individual elevation of each gun. These wound up being the same turrets that the following Baltimore class would mount; however, Wichita did not not have the improved hoists installed necessary to handle the famous USN super-heavy shells. Instead, she fired the same armor-piercing shell as the New Orleans class, at a rate of fire of around four rounds per minute. Just like the preceding classes, no torpedo armament was planned or installed.

The secondary battery armament was significantly improved, and a eight single-mounted 127mm/38 guns were installed. They featured a better rate of fire and range than the old 127mm/25, and four turrets were also enclosed to protect against weather and splinters. They were spread out over the length of the superstructure, with two mounted along the centerline. Initial concerns regarding the stability of Wichita led to only six secondary guns being installed at first, with the last two not added until 1939. The designed close-range AA defense consisted of eight .50-caliber machine guns on the superstructure. This was later deemed insufficient, and two 28mm quad mountings were added in 1941. In 1943, a major AA refit took place which saw the removal of all the .50-caliber and 28mm guns; four quadruple and two twin 40mm Bofors mounts and 18 single mounted 20mm Oerlikons took their place. Towards the end of World War II, another two 40mm Bofors twins were installed.

Sporting similar machinery to the Brooklyn class, Wichita’s propulsion consisted of eight boilers which supplied steam for her four turbines, generating up to 100,000 shaft horsepower. The designed speed was 33 knots, and a fuel capacity of 1,984 tons provided for a cruising range of up to 10,000 nautical miles.

Wichita stood out even more from the older heavy cruisers of the US Navy due to the arrangement of her aviation facilities. Just like on the Brooklyn class, they were mounted on the stern of the ship, saving space at the midsection of the ship which could be used for smaller armaments. Two catapults and a crane were used to launch the planes and to lift the returning planes out of the water, and a hangar below the deck allowed Wichita to carry up to four floatplanes.

Service

Laid down as the sole ship of her class on 28 October 1935, launched on 16 November 1937 and commissioned on 13 February 1939, USS Wichita (CA-45) was the final American cruiser designed under the limitations of the Washington and London Naval Treaties. She marked a change in design philosophy of US cruisers that led into the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers and the Cleveland-class light cruisers. Departing from her home port of Philadelphia, she sailed for Houston, Texas, then returned to Philadelphia by early September for post-shakedown repairs. After World War II began, Wichita’s first duties were neutrality patrols in the Caribbean Sea and along the eastern seaboard of the United States. These were intermittently done with training exercises that lasted until May 1940.

Throughout 1940 until late 1941, Wichita went on goodwill cruises and took part in training operations around the Caribbean, occasionally going on neutrality patrol. Her neutrality patrols had taken her as far as 800 nautical miles off Ireland, but her next mission would take her all the way to Reykjavik, Iceland. Iceland was a sovereign kingdom under a personal union with Denmark, but when Germany invaded Denmark, Iceland remained neutral. As part of the United Kingdom’s efforts in blockading Germany, they had effectively invaded Iceland to prevent it from falling into German hands, but the UK transferred the defense of Iceland to the United States on 7 July 1940, when the USA was also still technically neutral. Wichita sailed for Reykjavik with a cadre of US Army troops, fighter aircraft, and alongside carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) and battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41). Two days before they arrived, the US Navy ordered all ships of the Atlantic Fleet to protect any and all ships engaged in commerce in US defensive waters and had authorization to attack any German or Italian naval forces encountered. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in early 1941, the USA entered World War II, and at the time, Wichita lay at anchor in Iceland.

Her first wartime mission was a patrol of the Denmark Strait in early January 1942. On the 15th, a powerful storm hit Iceland, and Wichita was damaged in the storm, colliding with Allied merchant and auxiliary ships and running aground. She was subsequently forced to return to the United States mainland for repairs. She returned to the European theater on 26 March, when she joined Task Force 39 and departed to reinforce the British Home Fleet. After arriving in Scapa Flow, Wichita and her fellow American ships spent several weeks training with their British counterparts. In late April 1942, she took part in her first major operation with the British – escorting the vital Arctic supply convoys going to and from the Soviet Union. Wichita spent the period of April to mid-August 1942 covering Arctic convoys and patrolling the Denmark Strait, occasionally encountering German reconnaissance planes. Wichita had the honor of being inspected by King George VI during her stay at Scapa Flow.

Near the end of October 1942, Wichita joined Task Group 34.1, bound for the western Mediterranean to provide gunfire support for Operation Torch: the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa, under control of the puppet Vichy French government serving under Nazi Germany. On 8 November, Wichita fought her first real battle as she took part in the Naval Battle of Casablanca. The American warships were tasked with neutralizing French defenses around the port of Casablanca, whose defenses included the incomplete battleship Jean Bart in the harbor. The Vichy French forces put up a fight, with Wichita, New Orleans-class heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and South Dakota-class battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59) leading the assault, with Wichita and Tuscaloosa sinking two Vichy French destroyers and damaging a third, later joining Massachusetts in her assault on Jean Bart. She patrolled the waters around French North Africa until her part in the amphibious assault was complete, returning to New York for repairs, arriving back home on 19 November.

Come 1943, Wichita set sail for the Pacific Ocean to join Task Force 19 operating around Guadalcanal. Wichita made it in time to participate in the Battle of Rennel Island on the night of 29 January 1943, where US warships came under attack from Japanese bombers. This was the last major naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign. Following this, Wichita sailed for Alaska via the New Hebrides and Pearl Harbor, where she was assigned to the amphibious force tasked with liberating the Aleutian Islands from Japanese forces in early May. She bombarded the island of Kiska twice in July, but made no contact with Japanese forces, who had evacuated before the Americans even invaded. She spent the next few months exercising off Hawaii, before returning to the USA for a three-month long refit that lasted into December 1943.

On 16 July 1944, Wichita departed Pearl Harbor to take part in the invasion of the Marshall Islands. Joining Task Group 58.3, Wichita provided anti-air support for the carriers while they struck the Kwajalein and Eniwetok atolls in late January. On 4 February, she was transferred to Task Group 58.2 based in Majuro. On the 12th, the force departed on Operation Hailstone, a major air strike on the lynchpin Japanese base at Truk. On the night of the 16th, Essex-class carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) was torpedoed by Japanese aircraft, and Wichita joined Task Force 58.2 which was then detached to escort Intrepid back to safety. TF 58.2 arrived back in Hawaii on 28 February, and on 8 March, Wichita became the flagship of Cruiser Division 6. She arrived back in Majuro on the 20th, and re-joined the screen for the Fast Carrier Task Force as they struck the Japanese-controlled Caroline Islands from March through April. By early May, she was back in Majuro for a month of training, returning to the fleet in June, to prepare for operations against the Mariana Islands. Joining Task Force 53.10.8, Wichita shelled Japanese positions on the islands of Saipan and Guam in mid-June. On 19 June, Japanese carriers struck the American Fleet, starting the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Wichita was part of the anti-air screen, and her gunners claimed the destruction of two torpedo bombers. Wichita was detached following the battle to escort troop transports around Saipan until early July. She continued bouncing around the Marianas, Carolines, Philippines, and Dutch East Indies, covering troop transports, shelling Japanese locations, and screening the Fast Carrier Task Group.

On 2 October 1944, Wichita was underway to support a raid on Okinawa. She reached Okinawa by the 10th and launched the strike, moving down to hit Luzon and Taiwan, intent on taking out critical Japanese airfields for the upcoming assault on the Philippines. On 13 October, Japanese aircraft attacked the fleet and badly damaged Baltimore-class heavy cruiser USS Canberra (CA-70), and Wichita broke off to take Canberra under tow, escorting her back to safety. By 21 October, the damaged ships were in safe waters and Wichita joined the fleet off Luzon, under Task Force 34. Wichita had an active role in the ensuing Battle of Leyte Gulf that started 2 days later. On the 25th, the Fast Carrier Strike Force steamed north, attacking the Japanese Northern Force in the area. Wichita screened the carriers, before Task Force 34 detached to finish off the crippled Japanese ships with gunfire; Wichita and 3 Allied cruisers sank the Japanese converted light carrier Chiyoda and Akizuki-class destroyer Hatsuzuki. After this, Wichita returned to screening the carriers, intermittently providing gunfire support for troops fighting in the Philippines and screening against Japanese airstrikes. By the middle of November, however, her crew discovered severe vibrations in her No. 4 engine, and she had to head back to mainland America for repairs via Ulithi atoll. While in Ulithi, further inspection found that only two of her four propellers were operational. She reached San Pedro, California on 15 December 1944, remaining there until late February 1945.

On 28 February 1945, Wichita departed for Pearl Harbor. She arrived in Hawaii on 6 March, departing for Ulithi five days later. Upon arrival, she was assigned to Task Force 54, and put to sea to take part in the invasion of Okinawa. It was her duty to cover minesweepers, bombard Japanese positions, and defend against airstrikes; her crew claimed one aircraft. When the invasion began on 1 April, Wichita provided gunfire support to the southern landing locations, bombarding the shore through to the 3rd, covering minesweepers on the 4th, then resuming bombardments on the 5th. On the 6th, a Japanese A6M Zero attempted to attack Wichita. Suddenly appearing on her port side, her AA guns opened fire and hit the plane, causing it to veer off out of control, its 500-pound bomb falling short of its target. The Zero’s wing clipped Wichita’s deck before crashing into the sea, wounding eleven men. She remained in Okinawan waters, taking minor damage that necessitated repairs twice, returning to Okinawa each time such repairs were completed. She remained on station off Okinawa, and it was there on 15 August that the ship’s crew received word that the war with Japan was over.

Her combat service over, Wichita was assigned to the occupying force after the end of the war. She sailed for Nagasaki, and was one of the first major warships to reach Japan. Wichita moved back and forth from Nagasaki to Sasebo, until 5 November when she was assigned to Operation Magic Carpet. Following a quick refit in San Francisco, Wichita ferried men from Saipan to San Francisco, then onwards to Philadelphia by 14 February 1946. Wichita earned 13 battle stars for her service, having fought in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and across the Pacific. She was placed in reserve on 15 July 1946, decommissioned on 3 February 1947, and finally sold for scrap on 14 August 1959... the last pre-war American cruiser sent to the breakers.

Historical Inaccuracies

• Wichita is depicted in her final 1945 refit. None of her early war configurations are represented.
• Wichita was never painted in Measure 32 camouflage. A drawing exists but it was never adopted.
• Historical Measure 12 modified and Measure 22 camouflage schemes are missing.

• 

  The launching of USS Wichita (CA-25), 16 November 1937.

• 

  Wichita, in pre-war light gray, underway off Norfolk, Virginia on 1 May 1940.

• 

  Wichita weathering a storm off Iceland.

• 

  USS Wichita (CA-45), 22 April 1942.

• 

  Wichita underway near Seidisfjord, Iceland in June 1942.

• 

  Wichita anchored at Seidisfjord, Iceland on 30 June 1942. The image shows a view amidships looking towards the bow.

• 

  Wichita in a gunnery duel with Jean Bart, 8 November 1942.

• 

  USS Louisville (CA-28) and USS Chicago (CA-29), photographed from Wichita, off Rennell Island.

• 

  Wichita leading a column of cruisers bombarding Kiska Island on 22 July 1943.

• 

  Wichita underway in the Pacific, May 1944.

• 

  Wichita’s 5" guns bombard Saipan during battle, 26 June 1944.

• 

  Wichita firing a broadside.

• 

  Wichita and hospital ship USS Haven (AH-12) in Nagasaki harbor, September 1945.