Difference between revisions of "USS Newport News"
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<!-- ''Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.'' --> | <!-- ''Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.'' --> | ||
| − | + | USS Newport News, as a member of the [[Des Moines (Family)|Des Moines-class]], has a broadly similar armour layour to the [[Baltimore (Family)|Baltimore-class]] developed earlier in the war. This includes extending the main armour belt to provide protection for the forward magazines, vastly improving the protection underneath the forward turrets from {{Annotation|0.75 inches|19.05 mm}} to {{Annotation|5.8 inches|147.32 mm}} of armour. The belt overall is slightly thinner as the [[Baltimore (Family)|Baltimore-class]] has a {{Annotation|6-inch|152 mm}} belt, but the extra coverage provided for the Newport News is a welcome addition. The fore and aft of the citadel are protected by {{Annotation|4.8 inches|121.92 mm}} of bulkhead armour, with thinner {{Annotation|0.75-inch|19.05 mm}} bulkheads interspersed throughout the citadel. The decks above the citadel are protected by {{Annotation|1-inch|25.4 mm}} of anti-fragmentation armour, the same found on earlier destroyers in the US tree. Lower in the ship is a {{Annotation|3.4-inch|86.36 mm}} deck armour plate to deal with heavier incoming fire from longer ranges as well, this will protect against most cruiser calibre fire. | |
| − | Her main battery turrets are | + | Her main battery turrets are well protected, with {{Annotation|8 inches|203.2 mm}} of armour on the turret face, angled at degrees to provide extra protection. This renders the turret face essentially impervious to any cruiser or destroyer fire, so long as it is facing within approximately 20 degrees of the enemy. This is not the case for the turret sides, with only {{Annotation|3.75 inches|95.25 mm}} of armour; this can be penetrated by all cruiser calibre and many destroyer calibre guns at close range. The roof is better protected to defeat plunging fire, with {{Annotation|4 inches|101.6 mm}} of armour. The barbettes have less armour, with {{Annotation|6.1 inches|154.94 mm}} of protection. These lead into the magazines, and the second turret magazine in particular. It is placed in an exposed position above the waterline unlike the Baltimores, so every precaution should be taken to avoid taking fire to this section. |
| − | |||
| − | + | Similar to other American cruisers, she lacks any form of torpedo bulges, instead relying on fuel tanks along the hull. These cover the entirety of the hull between the turrets, and can absorb some smaller torpedos, though most will easily punch through. Captains should watch out for torpedo attacks at all times. If taking a hit is inevitable, try to manoeuvre the ship so that it takes the hit as close to the bow as possible, as the bow is mostly empty space and Newport News can survive a hit here with just some flooding. Any hits below the turrets, especially the second, should be avoided at all costs. | |
=== Mobility === | === Mobility === | ||
Revision as of 05:53, 15 May 2023
Contents
Description
The Des Moines-class, USS Newport News (CA-148), 1972 is a gift rank V American heavy cruiser with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Apex Predators" as a reward for the 2022 Winter Quest event.
The Des Moines-class heavy cruiser is the final evolution of the "all-gun" American cruiser. Being largely based on the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, the Des Moines-class retains the same layout with several optimization and improvement, most notably the introduction of an autoloading mechanism for her 8-inch guns, doubling its rate of fire. However, as they were completed during the dawn of the jet and missile age, they were largely reduced to a fleet carrier escort. By the year 1961, two out of three ship of the class were already decommissioned.
The USS Newport News, the third and final Des Moines-class, is the sole active ship of the class during the outbreak of the Vietnam War. After being converted into a flagship cruiser in 1962, she was deployed in a bombardment roles off the coast of Vietnam. In 1972, she suffered a gun breech explosion and deemed too expensive to repair, resulting into her decommission three years later.
General info
Survivability and armour
USS Newport News, as a member of the Des Moines-class, has a broadly similar armour layour to the Baltimore-class developed earlier in the war. This includes extending the main armour belt to provide protection for the forward magazines, vastly improving the protection underneath the forward turrets from 0.75 inches to 5.8 inches of armour. The belt overall is slightly thinner as the Baltimore-class has a 6-inch belt, but the extra coverage provided for the Newport News is a welcome addition. The fore and aft of the citadel are protected by 4.8 inches of bulkhead armour, with thinner 0.75-inch bulkheads interspersed throughout the citadel. The decks above the citadel are protected by 1-inch of anti-fragmentation armour, the same found on earlier destroyers in the US tree. Lower in the ship is a 3.4-inch deck armour plate to deal with heavier incoming fire from longer ranges as well, this will protect against most cruiser calibre fire.
Her main battery turrets are well protected, with 8 inches of armour on the turret face, angled at degrees to provide extra protection. This renders the turret face essentially impervious to any cruiser or destroyer fire, so long as it is facing within approximately 20 degrees of the enemy. This is not the case for the turret sides, with only 3.75 inches of armour; this can be penetrated by all cruiser calibre and many destroyer calibre guns at close range. The roof is better protected to defeat plunging fire, with 4 inches of armour. The barbettes have less armour, with 6.1 inches of protection. These lead into the magazines, and the second turret magazine in particular. It is placed in an exposed position above the waterline unlike the Baltimores, so every precaution should be taken to avoid taking fire to this section.
Similar to other American cruisers, she lacks any form of torpedo bulges, instead relying on fuel tanks along the hull. These cover the entirety of the hull between the turrets, and can absorb some smaller torpedos, though most will easily punch through. Captains should watch out for torpedo attacks at all times. If taking a hit is inevitable, try to manoeuvre the ship so that it takes the hit as close to the bow as possible, as the bow is mostly empty space and Newport News can survive a hit here with just some flooding. Any hits below the turrets, especially the second, should be avoided at all costs.
Mobility
The Newport News is very large and heavy, even for a heavy cruiser. The ship is over 213 meters long at the waterline and weighs close to 21,000 tons in displacement. Because of this, her mobility is noticeably worse than the previous Baltimore-class, being somewhat sluggish to manoeuvre and control, especially when stock. When fully upgraded, the Newport News's mobility is noticeably easier to handle, though can still be unwieldy at times.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 71 | 29 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 61 | 25 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armament
Primary armament
USS Newport News has 8 inch/55 Mark 16 (203 mm) main guns. These are fundamentally the same gun barrels as those on the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, but now boast a much higher rate of fire (10 rpm with max level crew vs 4 rpm of its predecessors), thanks to an automatic loading mechanism. This provides USS Newport News formidable firepower and makes her a serious threat to enemy cruisers and even some capital ships at close range, though don't get cocky because they can still blast you out of the water as easily as any other cruiser when they turn their guns on you.
Being the same armaments as the Baltimore-class, the guns also have similar shell choices:
- The stock common SAP shells have very poor penetration statistics and explosive filler for their calibre. Featuring even worse penetration than some 6-inch or even 5-inch guns. The shell still have some niche use against destroyers and can certainly threaten other cruisers at close range. But they are completely useless against capital ships and anything smaller beyond 8 km range.
- The HE shell is reasonably effective, the 9.5 kg of filler capable of harassing deck mounts, setting fires and poking holes in enemy hulls, but it won't do well against ships with capable armouring and anti-fragmentation protection.
- The "super-heavy" APCBC shell features an average penetration and filler for 8-inch guns. It is noticeably heavier than an average 8-inch shell and has a slower muzzle velocity, intended to make it able to punch through relatively thin deck armour with its high ballistic trajectory, though this doesn't really work in practice. That being said, it's not a bad shell for using on major warships and the fast fire rate makes it fearsome in that regard.
The USS Newport News still carries the same amount of main battery ammunition as the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, which have substantially lower rates of fire. Captains will need to allocate their ammo types carefully and keep an eye out on the ammo count during battle, or they might find themselves out of shells in the middle of a firefight.
| 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.14 Common | Common | 110 | 98 | 80 | 66 | 56 | 43 |
| Mk.21 APCBC | APCBC | 390 | 348 | 289 | 243 | 207 | 165 |
| Mk.25 HC | HE | 61 | 61 | 61 | 61 | 61 | 61 |
| Mk.17 SP Common | SP Common | 131 | 116 | 95 | 79 | 66 | 50 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| Mk.14 Common | Common | 823 | 117.9 | 0.035 | 9 | 4.84 | 47° | 60° | 65° | |||
| Mk.21 APCBC | APCBC | 762 | 151.9 | 0.035 | 9 | 2.21 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
| Mk.25 HC | HE | 823 | 117.9 | 0 | 0.1 | 9.49 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Mk.17 SP Common | SP Common | 823 | 117.9 | 0.035 | 9 | 4.61 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Secondary armament
USS Newport News has 6 dual-purpose, double-barrel 127 mm turrets, a common layout found on late-war US light and heavy cruisers. They have an excellent SP Common shell for use against lightly armoured destroyers, and a VT-fused HE shell for use against aircraft.
| 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 | ||
| AAC Mk.34 | HE | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| AAVT Mk.31 | HE-VT | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| SP Common Mk.46 | SP Common | 150 | 125 | 93 | 71 | 56 | 45 |
| 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% | ||||||||||
| AAC Mk.34 | HE | 792 | 25 | 0 | 0.1 | 3,220 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| SP Common Mk.46 | SP Common | 792 | 25 | 0.01 | 6 | 906.5 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
| Proximity-fused shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Arming distance (m) |
Trigger radius (m) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| AAVT Mk.31 | HE-VT | 792 | 25 | 0 | 0.1 | 457 | 23 | 3,220 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |
Anti-aircraft armament
USS Newport News is in her 1962 state, after modifications to be a fleet flagship. The installation of flagship facilities required removal of most of her 3-inch AA guns, leaving only one dual mount on each side of the bridge. As a result, USS Newport News relies mostly on her secondary 5" guns for air defense. That said, these 3" guns, firing VT-fused HE shells by default, are powerful in their own right, and can be a last resort defense against aircraft and small boats.
Usage in battles
Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Well-armoured and resistant against small-to-medium calibre fire
- Excellent crew distribution, At least 30% crew is allocated among citadel machineries
- Formidable firepower, The 8 inch/55 Mark 16 guns can fire 10 rounds per minute
- Has air search and tracking radars
- Strong long-medium range AA with the numerous 127 mm secondaries
- Has two fire control rooms and 10 fire directors for both main battery group and auxiliary battery group
Cons:
- Very large and heavy, hampering the overall mobility and makes the ship easily spotted and targeted by any enemies
- Extremely fragile against battleships and battlecruisers. 305 mm and above calibre guns can overmatch the bulkhead and pierce the athwartship armour fairly easily
- The magazine of her second turret is above waterline
- Terrible stock SAP shell, forcing the ship to get close to the enemy to deal damage
- Limited light AA capability. Only two dual-mount 76 mm guns for AA; one for each side of the ship
- Relatively low ammo capacity. 1,350 rounds only support 15 mins of non-stop fighting with maximum crew
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
- Related development
External links
| Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. | |
|---|---|
| Gun Destroyers (DD) | |
| Clemson-class | USS Welborn C. Wood · HMS Churchill* |
| Heavy Cruisers (CA) | |
| Des Moines-class | USS Newport News |
| Battleships (BB) | |
| New York-class | USS Texas |
| New Mexico-class | USS Mississippi |
| *USS Herndon in UK service | |
| USA heavy cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Pensacola-class | USS Pensacola |
| Northampton-class | USS Northampton |
| Portland-class | USS Portland |
| New Orleans-class | USS New Orleans |
| Baltimore-class | USS Baltimore · USS Pittsburgh |
| Des Moines-class | USS Des Moines · USS Newport News |
