USS Wichita(CA-45); The Greatest Treaty 8in Cruiser

The opening explains Wichita as a Brooklyn-derived heavy cruiser shaped by the distances and hostile encounters the US Navy expected in a Pacific war.

Treaty heavy cruisers grew from the large light-cruiser tradition, while cruiser-number limits increased the value of separate eight-inch carrier escorts.

Wichita's mix of open and enclosed five-inch positions shows how human eyesight still shaped antiaircraft fire control before radar.

Wichita combined improved Class A armor, nine eight-inch guns, and a five-inch battery that could begin a surface engagement before an enemy cruiser reached useful belt-penetration range.

Wichita's antiaircraft battery grew during the war, although the formal record may lag behind when Bofors and Oerlikon weapons actually appeared aboard.

A shipyard digression connects Wichita to Philadelphia's long record of building American warships and to the later loss of major construction there.

Wichita's five-inch positions form the star arrangement that became characteristic of US cruiser secondary batteries during World War II.

The service history follows Wichita from commissioning through Caribbean and Atlantic patrols to Iceland's strategic role in the Battle of the Atlantic.

A patrol through the Denmark Strait shows how severe weather could produce collisions and a grounding even without enemy action.

The Atlantic crossing becomes a study in command disruption when Rear Admiral John Wilcox disappeared overboard and Robert C. Giffin took command from Wichita.

Wichita's PQ convoy service shows why heavy covering forces had to balance air and submarine exposure against the possibility of a German surface sortie.

The Operation Torch section shows Wichita engaging Jean Bart, coastal batteries, and Vichy French vessels during the naval battle of Casablanca.

Wichita's move to the Pacific leads into Rennell Island, where an anti-submarine formation was caught by Japanese torpedo bombers.

Wichita later served in the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf, Okinawa, and Task Force 34 under Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee.

Wichita inspected Japanese ships after the surrender, carried American personnel home, entered reserve at Philadelphia, and lost out on guided-missile conversion.

The conclusion ranks Wichita as the best treaty heavy cruiser because her armor let her use eight-inch firepower before rivals could damage her decisively.