Battle of Rennell Island
Shortly after repairs were completed, "Wichita" was transferred to the Pacific theater. She was assigned to Task Force 18, commanded by Rear Admiral Giffen, and tasked with operations off Guadalcanal. She was joined by the heavy cruisers and , the light cruisers , , and . In addition, the escort carriers and , and eight destroyers were present in the task group. On the night of 29 January 1943, the Task Force was steaming off Rennell Island; wary of the threat from Japanese submarines, which Allied intelligence indicated were likely in the area, Giffen arranged his cruisers and destroyers for anti-submarine defense, not expecting an air attack. The cruisers were aligned in two columns, spaced apart. "Wichita", "Chicago", and "Louisville", in that order, were to starboard, and "Montpelier", "Cleveland", and "Columbia" were to port. The six destroyers were in a semicircle ahead of the cruiser columns. That evening, the ships came under attack from Japanese torpedo bombers. In the ensuing Battle of Rennell Island, "Chicago" was hit by several torpedoes and sunk; "Wichita" was hit by one torpedo, though it failed to explode.