U.S. Cruiser - Resources and Discussion

[HogHammer]

I Erie
II Chester
II Albany 
III St. Louis
III Charleston     (LWM Review)
IV Phoenix
V Omaha
V Marblehead 
V Marblehead Lima 
VI Pensacola
VI Dallas
VII Atlanta 
VII New Orleans
VII Helena
VII Indianapolis     (LWM Review)
VII Atlanta     (LWM Review) 
VII Boise     (LWM Review)
VII Flint 
VIII Baltimore
VIII Cleveland
VIII Wichita     (LWM Review)
VIII Anchorage     (LWM Review)
VIII Congress     (LWM Review)
VIII Rochester 
VIII San Diego     (LWM Review)
VIII AL Montpelier     (LWM Review)
IX Buffalo
IX Seattle
IX Vallejo 
IX Alaska     (LWM Review)
IX Tulsa 
IX Alaska 
X Des Moines
X Worcester
X Puerto Rico 
X Salem     (LWM Review)
★ Annapolis

Highlighted links to ship information

[Jakeshuffle]

I picked the Des Moines line for a reset and I'm wondering if I played Buffalo incorrectly the first time? Baltimore and Des Moines play alike but, and I'm not sure why, the Buffalo felt different? Does it not perform well comparatively at T9?

[MidnightPhoenix07]

32 minutes ago, Jakeshuffle said:

I picked the Des Moines line for a reset and I'm wondering if I played Buffalo incorrectly the first time? Baltimore and Des Moines play alike but, and I'm not sure why, the Buffalo felt different? Does it not perform well comparatively at T9?

Because of the extra turret, Buffalo isn’t quite as good as an island camper (otherwise it loses 50% of its firepower rather than 33%). It’s also a bigger target, with somewhat marginal improvements over Baltimore.

Buffalo actually works a bit better as a flanking/open water kiting cruiser, not an island hugger like many of the preceding heavy cruisers. It’ll take a bit of getting used to, since the guns still have the same floaty ballistics, but it works better if you can get them all into play.

I actually really liked Buffalo when I did that grind (and did pretty well in it), but a lot of people don’t particularly like it. 

[SunkCostFallacy]

I'm enjoying the Buffalo at the moment. But mandatory disclaimer ... I'm only playing it in COOP.

I find her sufficiently tanky as long as you don't let them spam torps at your broadside, because given her size and the fact that she's not all that maneuverable, dodging isn't as easy in other ships.

The extra turret means that I play the Buffalo a bit like the Roon ... I tend to stand off more than I do in other cruisers so that I can risk exposing my broadside to let me bring all my guns to bear. Obviously not a tactic that one can risk in Randoms though :D

 

[Jakeshuffle]

Ahh that's where I'm at fault, I forget that ships in lines can play a bit differently still. Makes sense why it's a bit uh, more awkward, to take a point with Buffalo in comparison to the former and ladder in the line.

[Justin_Simpleton]

Albany is a tier II US cruiser.  It has AA for some reason.  Curious since there were no aeroplanes when the ship was launched.

It also has deck cannons for something.

 

[Snargfargle]

20 minutes ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

Albany is a tier II US cruiser.  It has AA for some reason.  Curious since there were no aeroplanes when the ship was launched.

It also has deck cannons for something.

 

USS Albany (CL-23) served until 10 October 1922.

Armament

6 × 6-inch (152 mm) guns
4 × 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns
10 × 57-millimeter (2 in) 6-pdr Hotchkiss guns
4 × 1-pounder guns
4 machine guns
3 × 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes

The U.S. Navy Maxim-Nordenfelt 37 mm 1-pounder was the first dedicated anti-aircraft (AA) gun adopted by the US Navy.

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

4 hours ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

It also has deck cannons for something.

Many low-tier cruisers have wheeled cannons on deck- St. Louis and Charleston also have them. It was common in that era for cruisers on foreign stations, often operating independently, to send landing parties ashore to accomplish various objectives (raiding, evacuating VIPs from a conflict zone, etc.), if there were no land forces stationed in the area to take care of things. If the landing party had to go far enough inland that the ship couldn't see them (calling in fire support from the ship by radio wasn't a thing yet), they'd need to bring their own artillery with them, and it would have to be on a light enough gun carriage for the men to haul around themselves.

During WWI, man-portable infantry support weapons like light machine guns and mortars more or less replaced wheeled light field guns, and by WWII field radios allowed forces on shore to easily contact friendly ships for heavy fire support. By WWII, those kinds of operations also weren't conducted by cruisers' marine detachments or sailors anymore, but rather by dedicated special forces units, more often inserted by submarine or some smaller, faster surface ship that could get in and out undetected (thus, no need to risk a big, expensive ship like a cruiser). So, no more wheeled gun carriages on cruiser decks.

[Snargfargle]

3 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

It was common in that era for cruisers on foreign stations, often operating independently, to send landing parties ashore.

That's what the Albany itself did at Vladivostok during the Russian Revolution.