USS Newport News
Contents
Description
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.
Des Moines-class, USS Newport News (CA-148), 1972 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.
General info
Survivability and armour
USS Newport News, as a member of the Des Moines class, has a broadly similar armour layout 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 torpedoes, 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
With a flank speed of 33 kn, USS Newport News sits firmly in the middle of the pack for American cruisers; this speed allowed the Des Moines class to keep up with the existing cruisers, along with the carriers and Iowa-class battleships. This speed places her slightly ahead of the Brooklyn class, and captains shouldn't have any issues making it to capture zones and other key locations. This speed falls to 23 kn in a turn, which although leaving her as an easier target, is still faster than the Standard-type battleships' flank speeds.
The rudder takes around 2 seconds to induce movement to the ship, and while USS Newport News is relatively responsive, at 20,950 tons there is a lot of momentum behind her movements. Newport News is relatively manoeuvrable for a heavy cruiser, but captains should still be wary when traversing narrow passages as she is unable to make many of the turns that a destroyer or light cruiser could make.
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 comes equipped with 6 dual 5-inch/38 calibre guns. These are arranged with 4 in the wings and 2 mounted amidships, giving a broadside of 8 5-inchers. This gives the firepower of a destroyer strapped to the side of the Newport News, in addition to the main battery. The 5-inch/38 calibre is a dual purpose gun, with both competent common shells for use against lightly armoured ships and HE-VT shells with a proximity fuse; these are extremely effective against enemy aircraft. When combined with the radar lead indicator, planes flying in a predicable course can very easily be destroyed well outside their minimum engagement range. Manual control of the secondary battery is recommended but not required, as the anti-aircraft battery for USS Newport News is rather light in the 1972 refit. In most cases the gunners are still capable of protecting the ship, but captains should take appropriate caution.
| 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
- Videos
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 |
