The USS Newport News was the final Des Moines class to be completed. Laid down in November 1945 and commissioned in January 1949, she would go on to be the only ship of her class to continue in service past the early '60s. This would notably include serving as the flagship of the Atlantic fleet during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where she would also assist with counting the missiles once the crisis abated. She would go on to serve extensively during the Vietnam War and was eventually decommissioned in 1975.

USS Newport News was introduced during Update "Apex Predators" as a reward for the 2022 Winter Quest event. Compared to her sister ship USS Des Moines, she's in her 1962 refit, which stripped out much of her anti-aircraft firepower. While this does mean that she isn't nearly as capable against aircraft with her two double 3-inch autocannon mounts, she also has the same crew count, so she is much more capable of taking sustained fire from smaller vessels, as there's less crew exposed on deck for small calibre shells to knock out. With her quick fire rate of 6 seconds for the main battery, Newport News is capable of brawling with any ship smaller than a battlecruiser, and can even punch above her weight class provided the range is close enough.