American heavy cruiser USS Wichita bound for South America according to the Dutch Newspaper Soerabaijasch handelsblad dated 8 June 1940

An item dated Washington, USA referred to an announcement of the Department of Navy reporting that the second American cruiser like earlier already was said on 1^st of June departs towards Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the 10.000 tons measuring Wichita with the intention to pay a friendly visit to Argentina?(1)

Note

1. Built under the London Naval Treaty restrictions was she originally planned to be part of the New Orleans-class. Instead of this was a hull used of a modified Brooklyn-class light cruisers design. The Wichita-design was used for developing the American heavy cruiser designs like the Baltimore-class. Building approved under the 1929 Cruiser Act, laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 28 October 1935, launched on 16 November 1937, commissioned on 16 February 1939, decommissioned on 3 February 1947, stricken on 1 March 1959 and sold to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation to be broken up on 14 August 1959.