USS Wichita: Уникальный тяжелый крейсер ВМС США

US Navy unique heavy cruiser

USS Wichita was a unique heavy cruiser of the United States Navy built in the 1930s. The last American cruiser designed to meet the limits of the London Naval Treaty, she was originally intended to be a heavy cruiser, accordingly with the maximum main armament of three triple gun turrets. These were instead placed on an improved hull derived from the Brooklyn class light cruisers, with increased armoring. This design would go on to form the basis for the later World War II–era heavy cruisers such as the s. The ship was authorized by the 1929 Cruiser Act, laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in October 1935, launched in November 1937, and commissioned into the US Navy in February 1939. Following her commissioning, Wichita was assigned to neutrality patrols in the Atlantic. After the United States entered World War II, the ship saw heavy service throughout the conflict. She was first assigned to convoy escort duty on the Murmansk Run in early 1942, and supported amphibious landings during Operation Torch in November 1942. During the Naval Battle of Casablanca, Wichita engaged several French coastal batteries and warships, including the battleship Jean Bart. In 1943, Wichita was transferred to the Pacific Theater, where she remained for the rest of the war. She frequently provided antiaircraft defense for the Fast Carrier Task Force during operations in the central Pacific, including the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf in 1944. During the latter engagement, Wichita assisted in the sinking of the Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda. Wichita was heavily engaged during the invasion of Okinawa, where she provided heavy gunfire support to ground troops ashore. After the Japanese surrender, the ship served as part of the occupation force in Japan and assisted in the repatriation of American military personnel under Operation Magic Carpet. After returning to the United States, she was decommissioned and placed in the mothball fleet in 1947. She remained in reserve until 1959, when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold for scrapping in August 1959.

In the early 1930s, the Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur, pushed for a new construction program for light and heavy cruisers. Wilbur succeeded in passing the Cruiser Act in 1929, which authorized several new cruisers. Five heavy cruisers, the last of which was Wichita, were ordered between 1931 and 1934. The ship was originally intended to be built to the design of the , but the design was reworked before construction began. Instead, the design for Wichita was based on the of light cruisers. The Brooklyn design was modified heavily, to give the new ship higher freeboard and better stability, and an increased cruising radius. The secondary battery of eight guns was identical in number to the light cruisers, but was arranged to give better fields of fire. The main battery of nine guns was mounted in a new gun turret design that rectified problems discovered in earlier cruisers.

Wichita was 600 feet (183 m) long at the waterline and 608 feet (185 m) long overall. She had a beam of 61 feet (19 m) and a draft of 23 feet (7 m). She displaced at standard displacement and at full combat load. The ship had a crew of 929 officers and enlisted men. She was equipped with four seaplanes and a pair of aircraft catapults and a crane for handling the aircraft which were mounted on the stern. Wichita was powered by four Parsons steam turbines and eight Babcock & Wilcox oil fired water tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated at and a top speed of She carried of fuel oil, which gave her a maximum cruising range of at The turrets allowed each gun to elevate and fire individually. Her secondary battery consisted of eight 5 inch /38 Mark 12 dual purpose guns, four in single, enclosed Mark 30 high angle mounts, and four in open mounts. These guns fired projectiles at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. Muzzle velocity was ; against aerial targets, the guns had a ceiling of 37200 feet (11339 m) at 85 degrees. At 45 degrees, the guns could engage surface targets at a range of Wichita was the first cruiser in the US Navy to be equipped with the new 5 inch /38 gun. The 20 mm gun had a rate of fire of 465–480 rounds per minute; they had a ceiling of 10000 feet (3048 m). By the end of the war, the ship was armed with a variety of fire control systems for her guns, including Mark 34 fire control gear and Mark 13 and Mark 28 fire control radars. Over the next three months, Wichita served as a training ship for Naval Reserve midshipmen and conducted gunnery practices off the Virginia capes. On 7 January 1941, Wichita departed Hampton Roads for Guantanamo, arriving four days later. She participated in fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean through March and took part in practice amphibious landings at Puerto Rico. She returned to the United States, docking at the New York Navy Yard, on 23 March. Wichita went to sea again on 6 April, bound for Bermuda; she reached her destination two days later. She then joined the aircraft carrier Ranger and the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa for a patrol in the North Atlantic, during which the ships sailed to within of Ireland. Wichita then returned to the New York Navy Yard on 17 May and went into drydock on 21 June. Repairs were completed on 2 July, after which Wichita was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island. She sortied again on 27 July bound for Iceland as part of Task Force 16 under Operation Indigo II, the occupation of Iceland. The cruiser returned to the United States by 20 August. Wichita returned to Iceland in September, arriving in Reykjavík on 28 September. Two days prior to Wichitas arrival, the US Navy ordered the units of the Atlantic Fleet to protect all ships engaged in commerce in United States defensive waters. The orders authorized the Navy to patrol, escort merchantmen, and attack any German or Italian naval forces encountered. Wichita was assigned to Task Group 7.5, which was engaged in patrolling Icelandic waters through the end 1941. On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II; on the day of the attack, Wichita lay at anchor at Hvalfjörður, Iceland. The following day, the ship's crew evaluated her condition; she had suffered minor damage from the collisions, including some leaks, and damage to the hull from the grounding. Temporary repairs were effected in Iceland to allow Wichita to return to the New York Navy Yard for more thorough repairs. She arrived on 9 February, and repairs lasted until 26 February, when she left port for training maneuvers off Maine in early March. After arriving in Scapa Flow, Wichita and the other American ships spent several weeks training with their British counterparts. After successfully escorting the convoys, Wichita returned to Hvalfjörður, arriving on 6 May. The convoy escort also included Washington, Victorious, and the battleship The Germans organized a powerful task force, centered on the battleship German battleship Tirpitz and three heavy cruisers, to attack the convoy; the operation was codenamed Rösselsprung (Knight's Move). Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the British Admiralty, which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected, the Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to U boats and the Luftwaffe. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports. The next day, while south of Spitzbergen, the ships were spotted and shadowed by a pair of Fw 200s. Both Wichita and Tuscaloosa opened fire with their antiaircraft guns, but the Fw 200s escaped without damage. The ships were assigned to provide gunfire support for Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. Wichita participated in the Naval Battle of Casablanca, which began early on the morning of 8 November. The ships were tasked with neutralizing the primary French defenses, which included coastal guns on El Hank, several submarines, and the incomplete battleship French battleship Jean Bart which lay at anchor in the harbor. Wichita and Tuscaloosa initially engaged the French batteries on El Hank and the French submarine pens, while Massachusetts attacked Jean Bart. French naval forces, led by the cruiser French cruiser Primauguet, put up a stubborn defense. In response, the French launched a pair of attacks to break up the American landings. During the first French attack, either Wichita or Tuscaloosa damaged the French destroyer French destroyer Milan and forced it aground. A second French attack was also defeated; one of the two cruisers sank the destroyer French destroyer Fougueux and damaged French destroyer Frondeur. Wichita, Tuscaloosa, and Massachusetts also engaged Jean Bart. At 11:28, Wichita was hit by a shell, fired by a gun on El Hank. The shell penetrated her deck and exploded below, injuring fourteen men. Hewitt broke off the attack temporarily, but by 13:12, several American warships began firing on French vessels exiting the harbor. Wichita and Tuscaloosa closed on the port to engage the cruisers Primauguet and French cruiser Gloire, still in the harbor. Heavy fire from El Hank forced the American cruisers to retreat shortly after 15:00. For the remainder of the operations off North Africa, Wichita patrolled between Casablanca and Fedhala. Her part in the amphibious assault complete, Wichita departed the area on 12 November, bound for New York for repairs; she arrived on 19 November. On the night of 29 January 1943, the Task Force was steaming off Rennell Island; wary of the threat from Japanese submarines, which Allied intelligence indicated were likely in the area, Giffen arranged his cruisers and destroyers for anti submarine defense, not expecting an air attack. The cruisers were aligned in two columns, spaced apart. Wichita, Chicago, and Louisville, in that order, were to starboard, and Montpelier, Cleveland, and Columbia were to port. The six destroyers were in a semicircle 2 mile (3 km) ahead of the cruiser columns. That evening, the ships came under attack from Japanese torpedo bombers. In the ensuing Battle of Rennell Island, Chicago was hit by several torpedoes and sunk; Wichita was hit by one torpedo, though it failed to explode. Wichita then steamed to Efate in the New Hebrides for a training period. She then departed on 7 April, bound for Pearl Harbor and arriving there a week later. On 18 April, she steamed out of Pearl Harbor for Adak, Alaska, again flying Giffen's flag, for Task Group 52.10. On 6 July, Wichita, three other cruisers, and four destroyers bombarded Japanese positions on the island of Kiska. The bombardment convinced the Japanese that the Americans intended to invade the island in the near future; they therefore planned an evacuation by July. On 19 July, a powerful American fleet, including the battleships New Mexico, Idaho, and Mississippi joined Wichita to conduct another attack on Kiska three days later. Five days later, malfunctioning radar equipment led to a battle with radar phantoms (the "Battle of the Pips"); Wichita, two battleships, and two other cruisers expended over a thousand rounds of ammunition from their main batteries on the empty sea. That same day, the Japanese successfully evacuated the island, which was invaded by American troops two weeks later. Wichita participated in exercises off Hawaii for the remainder of the year. On 16 January 1944, she departed to take part in the invasion of the Marshall Islands. She was assigned to Task Group 58.3, under the command of Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman. Wichita provided anti aircraft support for the carriers while they conducted air strikes on Kwajalein and Eniwetok on 29–31 January. On 4 February, Wichita arrived at Majuro; she was transferred to Task Group 58.2. The force departed Majuro on 12 February and conducted Operation Hailstone, a major air strike on the Japanese base at Truk, four days later. Wichita departed Guam on 10 August, bound for Eniwetok. She arrived three days later and remained there until 29 August, when she put to sea to join Task Group 38.1. She screened for the fast carrier task group while they launched airstrikes on Japanese targets in Palau, the Carolines, the Philippines, and Dutch East Indies. By mid September, TG 38.1 provided air support for the assault on Morotai; the operation lasted until 21 September. The following day, the carriers launched an airstrike on Manila in the Philippines. Early on 22 September, Japanese aircraft launched a counterattack. At 07:34, Wichita shot down a bomber approximately 50 yards from her. She shot down another bomber at 07:45. She continued to provide antiaircraft defense for the carriers while they struck Japanese installations on Cebu, Negros, and Coron. Wichita joined the screen for Canberra; the squadron was joined by the badly damaged cruiser Houston. The ships were attacked again the following day, and Houston was torpedoed again. Wichita left the damaged ships on 21 October, after they had successfully reached safer waters. Wichita then rejoined the fleet off Luzon, assigned to Task Force 34 under Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee. Wichita expended twenty two percent of her armor piercing rounds at the two ships, which amounted to 148 rounds at Chiyoda and 173 against Hatsuzuki. In the aftermath of the battle, Wichita returned to screening for the carriers off Samar. On 28 October, she provided gunfire support to troops ashore on Leyte. Two days later, she defended against a Japanese airstrike on the fleet. The following day, Wichita steamed into Nakagusuku Bay to shell a coastal battery. Shells from the Japanese guns landed close to the ship, but no hits were scored before Wichita neutralized the battery. Over the next two days, the ship continued to bombard Japanese defenses on the island, until she retired to replenish ammunition on 10 April. A 5 inch round struck the port aircraft catapult; shell fragments hit the shield of an antiaircraft director, killing one man and injuring eleven others. She departed the area to rest and refit at Leyte, returning to Okinawa on 18 June. On 15 August, the ship's crew received word that the war with Japan was over. Wichita was awarded 13 battle stars for her service during World War II. Wichita was transferred to Sasebo on 25 September for four days before she returned to Nagasaki on 29 September. She returned to Sasebo shortly thereafter, and while she was there, a severe typhoon struck the area on 9–11 October. Wichita was not damaged during the storms. While at Sasebo, Wichitas crew inspected the Japanese ships and harbor installations to ensure Japanese compliance with the terms of surrender. On 5 November, Wichita was assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, the repatriation of American military personnel. She refueled in Tokyo before departing for San Francisco. The ship reached San Francisco on 24 November, where she went into drydock at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard two days later. Repairs and modifications for further Magic Carpet duty were completed by 1 December. Wichita departed for Hawaii on 6 December, reaching Pearl Harbor on 12 December before proceeding to the Marianas. There, the ship loaded servicemen from Saipan and steamed back to San Francisco, arriving on 12 January 1946. She left port on 27 January bound for the east coast of the United States; she transited the Panama Canal on 5–9 February and reached Philadelphia on 14 February. There, she was assigned to the Sixteenth Fleet and was placed in reserve on 15 July. Wichita was decommissioned on 3 February 1947 and laid up at Philadelphia. In the late 1940s, the Navy considered converting Wichita into a guided missile cruiser, but Boston and Canberra were chosen instead. On 1 March 1959, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold on 14 August to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation.