Supertest: U.S. Tier VIII Premium Cruiser Rochester
4 min readHistorical background
USS Rochester was an Oregon City-class heavy cruiser from the U.S. Navy. The ship was laid down in May 1944, launched in August 1945 and commissioned in December 1946.
While her early career was very quiet, the ship would play an active role in the Korean War, supporting ground units by blazing her 203 mm and 127 mm guns on Korean forces.
She came very close to being heavily damaged when, on the 17th of September 1950, North Korean aircrafts targeted the ship. While the Yak-9 and Il-2 were initially identified as friendlies by the anchored cruiser, it quickly turned out that they very much weren’t when they dropped 4 bombs on the ship. Thankfully, all of them but one missed and the one that managed to hit the ship failed to detonate when it smashed the crane of the ship.
In April 1953, the ship steamed back home and during her refit, all of her 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns were replaced by twin 76.2 mm AA guns. She then spent the rest of the 50s and early 60s participating in training and operations in the Pacific. While it was planned to convert her into an Albany-class guided-missile cruiser, a lack of funds led to the project being abandoned and she was put in reserves in 1961 until being sold for scrap in 1974.
In World of Warships, we are getting Rochester as she was after her refit from 1953. Compared to Baltimore, she carries both Defensive AA Fire and Hydroacoustic Search on top of her Surveillance Radar. This comes at the cost of getting fewer consumable charges on the Hydro and Radar as well as weaker firepower than Baltimore.
Ship’s commemorative flag
Ship’s preview
Camouflage
For the classic reminder, this is a ship in testing, anything can change so don’t look at her like she would already be released.
Modules
Hull | Engine | Gun Fire Control System | Main battery |
Rochester |
Propulsion: 120 000 hp |
Mk8 mod. 1 |  203 mm/55 Mk.15 on a triple mount |
General Characteristics
| Tier | VIII |
| Health | 41 900 HP |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction | 13 % |
| Displacement | 17 070 tons |
| Dimensions | |
| Overall length | 205.78 m |
| Beam | 21.59 m |
| Overall height (keel to the highest point on the ship) | 24.0 m |
| Freeboard | 5.36 m |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 15.860 km |
| 203 mm/55 Mk.15 on a triple mount | 3 x 3 203 mm |
| Secondary Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 6.600 km |
| 127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount | 6 x 2 127 mm |
| Maximum speed | 33 knots |
| Turning Circle Radius | 750 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 10.5 s |
| Surface Detectability | 12.06 km |
| Air Detectability | 7.25 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Guns in Smoke | 6.79 km |
Main Battery
| 3 x 3 203 mm/55 Mk.15 on a triple mount | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 15.860 km |
| Reloading Time | 11.5 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 30.0 s |
| Optimal firing angles at the front | 30° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear | 27° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 142 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE – 203 mm HE/HC Mk25 |
| Alpha Damage | 2 800 HP |
| Damage | 1 220 HP |
| Penetration capacity | 34 mm |
| Explosion size | 0.86 |
| Fire chance | 14 % |
| Projectile Speed | 823 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.333 |
| Projectile Mass | 118 kg |
| Type of Projectile | AP – 203 mm AP Mk21 |
| Alpha Damage | 5 000 HP |
| Projectile Speed | 762 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.356 |
| Projectile Mass | 152 kg |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 919 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.033 s |
| Detonator threshold | 51 mm |
| Ricochet Angles | 60° – 67.5° |
Secondary battery
| 6 x 2 127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 6.600 km |
| Reloading Time | 6.0 s |
| Sigma | 1.00 sigma |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE – 127 mm HE Mk32 |
| Alpha Damage | 1 800 HP |
| Damage | 380 HP |
| HE penetration | 21 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.38 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 792 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.347 |
| Projectile Mass | 24.5 kg |
Anti-air Armament
| 6 x 2 127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 5.8 km |
| Hit chance | 90 % |
| Sector’s damage | 31 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 109 |
| Flak clouds number | 5 |
| Flak cloud damage | 1 540 |
| 10 x 2 76.2 mm/50 Mk.22 on a Mk.33 mount | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 4.0 km |
| Hit chance | 90 % |
| Sector’s damage | 101 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 354 |
Consumables
Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 | Slot 4 |
Damage Control Party  Work time: 5 sCooldown: 60 s | Defensive AA Fire  Number of charges: 4Work time: 40 s Cooldown: 80 s Continuous Damage: +50% Damage from shell explosions: +300% | Surveillance Radar  Number of charges: 2Work time: 25 s Cooldown: 120 s Ship spotting range: 9.0 km | Hydroacoustic Search  Number of charges: 2Work time: 100 s Cooldown: 120 s Torpedo spotting range: 3.5 km Ship spotting range: 5.0 km |
The Armor
External armor protection:
Front and rear armor protection of the middle section:
Citadel armor protection:
Turrets armor protection:
Personal Opinion
Right now… I don’t really see the point of this ship compared to Baltimore.
Weaker firepower, worse radar (less range, fewer charges and shorter duration) and less maneuverable. All of these downsides just to have both Defensive AA Fire and Hydroacoustic Search and better concealment.
With Rochester, they could have pulled a smart move by putting her at tier IX and giving her the stats of the old Baltimore but instead, we get this. At least, the ship is ultra sexy.
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