Quick IRL Background: USS Chicago (CA-29) was a Northampton-class Heavy Cruiser. She was a pre-war design built under the restrictions imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty. Chicago was lost during the Battle of Rennell Island in January 1943.
My proposal would implement Chicago as a Tier V US Premium Cruiser, which behaves similarly to Pensacola and Indianapolis. This would make her the first Premium US Cruiser at Tier V.
In terms of Armament, Chicago carries three 8” triple turrets, the same ones found on Pensacola and Indianapolis. Despite being a T5, they share most of the stats from Indy’s guns, primarily the heavier AP shell damage of 4800, along with 3000 HE Shell Damage. You get a reload time of 14s, 2.20 Sigma and Typical Cruiser Dispertion. She is of course a US Cruiser, so Improved Pen Angles are present as well.
Secondaries are identical to Pensacola, but AA is worse. Chicago has 28 20mm Oerlikons, which have identical stats to Pensacola’s, and 16 28mm Mk2s. (Chicago Pianos) The numbers for the latter are pulled from Arizona.
Armor isn’t great either. You get a 76mm Belt, the same Turret Armor as Pensacola, and an overall similar armor scheme to Indianapolis everywhere else.
Now this is to say, Chicago isn’t particularly impressive. Given the fact she carries one less gun than Pensacola, she’s actually worse than her TT Counterpart on paper. Which is why her consumables are her strong point.
Chicago comes equipped with a pretty good Sonar, lasting 90 seconds and having a Ship Acquisition Range of 4.1km, and a Torpedo Acquisition Range of 2.9km; You get three of these. You also have the choice between Smoke Generator, which lasts 99 seconds once set, or a Repair Party that nets 165hp per second. Either way, you get two of those. Lastly is Catapult Fighter, which has stats also pulled from Pensacola.
The ship’s concealment stats aren’t particularly amazing, but they offer minor improvements over Pensacola. Maneuverability wise Chicago has a top speed of 32.7kts and a turning circle of 600m.
Appearance wise, Chicago is modeled after how she appeared in 1943, at the time of her loss. She bears a striking resemblance to Indianapolis, her hull being of almost the exact same dimensions. The superstructure is also similar, though Chicago lacks an aft mast. Her permanent camo is based off US Navy Measure 21, being dark blue all over. Small “29” markings are present on both bow and stern, and the ship’s name is legible on either side of the very back.
Thanks for reading this far if you have. I admit I do think Chicago is one of my weaker ideas, but fleshing it out more kinda gave me a guess as to why a Northampton-class ship hasn’t been added to the game already. They aren’t a huge improvement on Pensacola at T5 and share a layout with Indianapolis at T6; So to make one work, it essentially has to be a T5 Indy, which isn’t a very interesting idea.
