USS Wichita (CA-45) was a unique heavy cruiser of the United States Navy built in the 1930s. She was authorized by the 1929 Cruiser Act, laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in October 1935, launched in November 1937, and commissioned into the US Navy in February 1939. The last American cruiser built under the terms of the London Naval Treaty, Wichita was a heavy cruiser variant of the Brooklyn class of light cruisers, and formed the basis for the later Baltimore-class cruisers. She was armed with a main battery of nine guns in three triple turrets. Following her commissioning, Wichita was assigned to neutrality patrols in the Atlantic.