USS Pensacola
Contents
Description
The Pensacola-class, USS Pensacola (CA-24), 1941 is a rank IV American heavy cruiser
with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.93 "Shark Attack".
General info
Survivability and 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.
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 | 70 | 21 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 60 | 18 | |
Armament
Primary armament
The Pensacola carries a main armament of ten 8’’/55 Mk.15 Guns in two triple and two twin mounts. These guns are the standard armament for American heavy cruisers, and pack an impressive punch. The guns have good ballistics, and can access four shell types: Mk.14 Common, Mk.19 APCBC, Mk.25 HC and Mk.17 SP Common. Of these shells, the Mk.17 Special Common shell is most effective against cruisers, as it has a great explosive mass and enough penetration for most cruiser main armour belts. The Mk.19 APCBC shell can be used against heavily-armoured targets, but has a relatively small explosive mass of 1.65 kg. Finally, the HC shell, with almost 10 kilograms of explosive filler, is highly effective against destroyers and unarmoured vessels.
However, the guns have two main drawbacks. Firstly, they have the slowest reload speed of any 8’’ gun, with a fire rate of just three rounds per minute (20-second gun reload). This means that they fire much slower than their contemporaries, which typically have a fire rate of five rounds per minute (12-second reload). As well, the guns have the slowest horizontal turret rotation speed of any heavy cruiser, at just 3.1 degrees/second (comparatively, the Admiral Hipper’s guns rotate at 6.8 degrees/second).
Secondary armament
The Pensacola carries a secondary armament of eight 5’’/25 Mk.13 anti-aircraft guns, mounted on single open-mounts. These cannons are very effective medium-to-long range anti-aircraft guns, but are not effective against any armoured targets. They have access to just two shell types - Mk.36 AAC (HE-TF) and Mk.28 AAC (HE-VT). The former is a time-fuse shell (meaning that the fuze is set before the weapon is fired), while the latter is a proximity fuze shell that explodes automatically upon reaching the target. Both shells are ineffective against armoured targets, having ~35mm of penetration. However, they are both capable of dealing with air and unarmoured targets quite effectively. The HE-VT shell is typically the better pick, as it offers greatly-improved efficiency against air vehicles.
The guns themselves are relatively good at short-range defence, being capable of firing at 20 rounds per minute (3-second reload). As well, they have very good vertical and horizontal firing angles. However, take note that the guns fire at a low muzzle velocity of 657 m/s which should be accounted for when manually aiming.
Anti-aircraft armament
The 1.1 inch/75 Mk.1 Gun, otherwise known as the “Chicago Piano” (because it was the size of a baby grand-piano), was the standard anti-aircraft armament for most American ships prior to the introduction of the 40 mm Bofors cannon - Pensacola carries two of these quad-mount guns. These guns are mediocre at best; though they have a good fire rate (similar to the AN/M2 Browning), they aren’t too effective at dealing damage, and also jam rather quickly. As well, take note that the gun doesn’t have ammunition options.
Pensacola also carries four AN/M2 anti-aircraft guns. The AN/M2 is a navalized anti-aircraft version of the popular Browning machine gun. This gun is rather ineffective at dealing significant damage to enemy aircraft, and is only effective within ~1.5-2 kilometres at most. As well, keep in mind that these guns have a long 12-second reload after the gun’s magazine has been used.
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).
Modules
| Tier | Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Dry-Docking | Tool Set | 8 inch Mk.19 APCBC | Anti-Air Armament Targeting | ||
| II | Rudder Replacement | Fire Protection System | Smokescreen | 8 inch Mk.25 HC | Auxiliary Armament Targeting | |
| III | Propeller Replacement | Shrapnel Protection | Ventilation | 5 inch Mk.28 AAC-VT | Improved Rangefinder | Primary Armament Targeting |
| IV | Engine Maintenance | New Pumps | Ammo Wetting | 8 inch Mk.17 SP Common | ||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- If you do manage to connect it can cause high damage
Cons:
- Fire rate so slow compared to other nations you are better off sticking to Helena, Cleveland, and Brooklyn
- No torpedoes
- Poor AA
- Players will target you assuming you are most dangerous ship in US fleet
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
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
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
| Brooklyn Navy Yard | |
|---|---|
| Cruiser, Light (CL) | |
| Brooklyn-class | USS Brooklyn · USS Helena |
| Heavy Cruisers (CA) | |
| Pensacola-class | USS Pensacola |
| Battleships (BB) | |
| Pennsylvania-class | USS Arizona |
| 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 |
