USS Roanoke
Contents
Description
The Worcester-class light cruisers are the final class of "gun cruiser" built for the United States Navy, being laid down just a few months before the end of World War II. The class was, in concept, built as a distinctive hybrid between the Cleveland-class and Atlanta/Juneau-class light cruiser, featuring twelve 6-inch guns mounted in six twin turrets arranged in linear configuration. Each 6-inch gun was intended to be dual-purpose, and as such they were housed inside a turret with high elevation and firing angles to engage air targets, not dissimilar with the 5-inch dual-purpose guns onboard the Cleveland and Atlanta. However, with the advent of guided anti-ship and surface-to-air missile, the Worcester-class, along with its heavier counterpart the Des Moines-class, were considered obsolete. Out of ten original ships ordered, only two ships; Worcester and Roanoke were completed. Neither saw any action during their relatively short 11-year career before being decommissioned in 1958.
Introduced in Update "Air Superiority", the Worcester-class, USS Roanoke (CL-145), 1949 features an alternative take on the "gun cruiser" design of the Cleveland and Brooklyn, featuring twelve 6-inch guns that were capable of engaging surface and air targets. As the ship is optimized for anti-air duties using her 6-inch guns, she lacked the 5-inch dual-purpose guns that were a common feature of American cruisers, thus captains may often find her dedicated air defense to be somewhat lacklustre. Nevertheless, once the HE-VT shell options are unlocked, the Roanoke is capable of easily eliminating both ground and air targets, even at longer ranges.
General info
Survivability and armour
The USS Roanoke, as a late-war US light cruiser, has a similar armour layout to ships such as the USS Cleveland or USS Fargo. Similar to those, its main armour belt is a 5-inch plate angled at 3-4° to increase its effectiveness. This plate, though thin in vertical coverage area, does cover the area from the waterline to the top of the machinery spaces along with the two highest-placed (i.e., above waterline) magazines. It is resistant to 6-inch fire at typical engagement ranges and is almost immune to 5-inch fire from nearly all ranges except for point blank. Slightly below the waterline, this drops to a 3-inch plate, intended to catch any stray shells which may manage to make it through the water. The entirety of the hull is covered in 0.625 inches of armour plate. This will not defeat any destroyer calibre SAP or AP shells, but may lessen the damage from HE shells or anti-aircraft gun fire.
Like every other US cruiser, Roanoke has no access to torpedo bulges; this leaves her only torpedo protection as internal bulkheads and the fuel tanks lining the sides of the ship. These fuel tanks cover every magazine, but essentially every torpedo will blast straight through them. It is recommended to attempt to avoid torpedoes at all costs. However, if a hit is inevitable, it is preferable to take the hit amidships, where the fuel tanks have the most coverage. Avoid taking a torpedo hit below the turrets at all costs.
The armoured deck covering the machinery spaces and citadel was increased heavily to 3.5 inches of armour; this is intended to stop the blast from long-ranged, arcing shells already fuzed by the 0.875 inch deck armour. The turrets are well armoured for a light cruiser, with a face of 6.5 inches angled from 10 to 85° depending on the area. This means the armour is less effective against 6-inch shells, especially at closer ranges, but should still be frontally immune to most destroyers. The sides and top of the turrets have 3 inches of armour, and the rear only 1.5 inches. Take care to avoid any fire to the sides and rear of the turret, as essentially any ship will be able to penetrate armour of this thickness at all but extreme ranges. The turret barbettes have 6 inches of armour, and these lead all the way down to the magazines.
The magazine protection varies wildly, with no armour besides the fuel tanks at the front of the ship. The rear magazines do have an additional 5-inch plate protecting them from any shock or stray explosions. This means that by far the most vulnerable magazines are those in the bow of the ship. Captains would be wise to avoid concentrated fire to this area.
Mobility
Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 71 | 25 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 61 | 22 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 1,000 m | 2,500 m | 5,000 m | 7,500 m | 10,000 m | 15,000 m | ||
| Mk.34 HC | HE | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 |
| Mk.35 AP | APCBC | 266 | 230 | 182 | 146 | 120 | 96 |
| Mk.34 HC-VT | HE-VT | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| Mk.34 HC | HE | 812 | 47.6 | 0 | 0.1 | 5,880 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Mk.35 AP | APCBC | 762 | 58.9 | 0.03 | 7 | 866.32 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
| Proximity-fused shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Arming distance (m) |
Trigger radius (m) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| Mk.34 HC-VT | HE-VT | 812 | 47.6 | 0 | 0.1 | 874 | 23 | 5,880 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |
Secondary armament
Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 100 m | 1,000 m | 2,000 m | 3,000 m | 4,000 m | 5,000 m | ||
| HC Mk.27 | HE | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| HC Mk.27 | HE | 823 | 5.9 | 0 | 0.1 | 500 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Proximity-fused shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Arming distance (m) |
Trigger radius (m) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| AA Mk.31 | HE-VT | 823 | 5.85 | 0 | 0.1 | 548 | 15 | 352.8 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |
Anti-aircraft armament
An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select anti-aircraft weapons. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.
Usage in battles
While having good firepower, the survivability of the USS Roanoke is rather poor, mostly owing to its ammo placement. Not only is its magazine huge, but the number 1, 3, and 4 turrets have ammo placed right at the waterline, in contrast to most other ships that have their ammo stored at the bottom of the hull. The 127mm armour belt won't stop any AP shells at this BR or higher, so even a single salvo from an enemy cruiser is very likely to cause instant destruction from an ammo detonation. Therefore, the USS Roanoke should avoid the most heated confrontations, instead helping allies take out isolated enemies, aircraft or small, nimble boats and destroyers, a job it does well thanks to its radar and fast rangefinder. If forced into combat against enemies of equal or greater rank, the USS Roanoke should try to have hard cover or allies nearby to hide behind. Even shallow cover like low-lying islands can be helpful; as long as the vulnerable magazines near the waterline are hidden, the USS Roanoke will become just as durable as other cruisers at this BR.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Twelve fast-firing 6-inch guns in six turrets, thus being able to keep more firepower in case some were disabled
- Main guns has very good handling and elevation, capable of engaging surface and air targets
- Very well protected for a light cruiser, with layer of anti-frag armour and thick citadel armour along the length of the ship
- Numerous 3-inch AA guns are effective at harrassing deck mounts and countering PT boats
- Generally fast and manoeuvrable despite the size
- Has an air search radar and fast rangefinding system
Cons:
- Very large in size, can be easily spotted and targeted
- Six turrets in linear configuration resulting in a huge ammo rack size, any shot that went through citadel are likely to detonate it
- Much like other American cruiser, it has no torpedo armaments
- Lack of 5-inch dual-purposes guns resulting into mediocre anti-air capability while stock, forcing the usage of 6-inch guns to manually engage air targets
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
- Skins
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| New York Shipbuilding Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Gun Destroyers (DD) | |
| Porter-class | USS Porter |
| Cruiser, Light (CL) | |
| Cleveland-class | USS Cleveland |
| Fargo-class | USS Fargo |
| Worcester-class | USS Roanoke |
| Large Cruisers (CB) | |
| Alaska-class | USS Alaska |
| Battleships (BB) | |
| Wyoming-class | USS Arkansas |
| USA light cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Omaha-class | USS Detroit · USS Raleigh · USS Trenton |
| Atlanta-class | USS Atlanta |
| Brooklyn-class | USS Brooklyn · USS Helena |
| Cleveland-class | USS Cleveland |
| Fargo-class | USS Fargo |
| Worcester-class | USS Roanoke |
