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CA-45 Wichita

USS Wichita, a 10,000-ton heavy cruiser, was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Commissioned in February 1939, her initial cruise took her to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. In early October 1939, a month after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Wichita began regular U.S. Fleet activities. During the next two years, she participated in Neutrality Patrols in the western Atlantic and West Indies areas, made a diplomatic cruise to South America, served as a training ship for Naval Reserves, and took part in the occupation of Iceland and in subsequent "short of war" operations in that area.

Wichita was in Icelandic waters when the United States entered World War II in December 1941 and remained in the north Atlantic for most of the next year. She served with the British Fleet during April-August 1942, guarding against the threat of German surface raiders and protecting convoys sailing between Iceland, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. In November 1942, Wichita took part in the invasion of North Africa. During that operation, she engaged French warships and shore batteries near Casablanca, Morocco, and was lightly damaged when hit by a hostile shell.

Early in 1943, Wichita arrived in the south Pacific to join in the Guadalcanal campaign. She participated in the Battle of Rennell Island, an action against Japanese torpedo planes, in late January. In April 1943, she left the tropics and went to the chilly north Pacific to take part in the Aleutians Campaign. Wichita's next combat operations were in the central Pacific, where she screened aircraft carriers during the invasions of the Marshall Islands in January-February 1944 and the Marianas in mid-year, as well as during strikes on Japanese positions throughout the region. She also participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and provided heavy gunfire support for troops ashore on Saipan and Guam.

Later in 1944, Wichita helped take the war into the western Pacific, supporting the carriers in the raids that led up to the Leyte invasion. When the cruiser Canberra (CA-70) was damaged by a torpedo in mid-October, Wichita took her under tow. Later in the month, she used her guns to sink two Japanese ships during the Battle off Cape Engaño. In March, April and May 1945, the cruiser's guns were again busy, supporting the conquest of Okinawa and fighting off suicide plane attacks. In the last four months of the year, after the fighting had ended, Wichita took part in the occupation of Japan and brought war veterans home during Operation "Magic Carpet". She left the Pacific in January 1946 and was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in February 1947. After twelve years in "mothballs", USS Wichita was sold for scrapping in August 1959.