Wichita puts heavy-cruiser guns on a light-cruiser hull

What happens when a navy combines one cruiser's guns with another cruiser's hull?

USS Wichita is the practical answer: the US Navy adapted a successful light-cruiser hull to carry a heavy-cruiser battery.

The US Navy reused a successful light-cruiser hull and changed the armament problem. The resulting Wichita is a clear case of design lineage: formal classification followed the guns, while much of the underlying architecture came from a light-cruiser solution. Wichita gives viewers a precise ship to examine when comparing cruiser hulls and batteries.