USS Atlanta (CL-51) of the United States Navy was the lead ship of the Atlanta class of eight light cruisers. She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Designed to provide anti-aircraft protection for US naval task groups, Atlanta served in this capacity in the naval battles Midway and the Eastern Solomons. Atlanta was heavily damaged by Japanese and friendly gunfire in a night surface action on 13 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The cruiser was sunk on her captain's orders in the afternoon of the same day. Atlanta, in some works, is designated CLAA-51 because of her primary armament as an anti-aircraft cruiser. Hence, all of the Atlanta-class ships are sometimes designated as CLAA. However, her entire battery of 5-inch (127 mm) guns were dual-purpose (DP) guns, and were capable of being used against both air and surface targets, able to fire anti-aircraft, high-explosive and armor-piercing shells. The Atlanta-class ships were lightly armored, making them poor surface combatants compared to a typical light cruiser. In terms of armament, the Atlanta-class was closer to a destroyer, being armed with 5-inch guns, than a light cruiser, which were generally equipped with 6-inch guns; but at well over 500 feet (152 m) in length, and combined with their large battery of sixteen 5-inch (127 mm) guns, reduced to twelve in number for later ships of the class, they were designated as light cruisers. The unusual features of the Atlanta-class is a result of the class originally being intended to be a destroyer leader. A destroyer leader is larger than its destroyer counterparts to accommodate command staff and resources as well as other general utilities to support the destroyers that they would be paired with. In-line with this intended role the ship was given a complement of torpedoes and relatively thin armor compared to other contemporary light cruisers. Later, the dimensions and tonnage of the ship resulted in a change in designation of the Atlanta-class from a destroyer leader to a light cruiser. Despite this change in designation, the Atlanta-class of ships maintained their destroyer leader features, including their destroyer-caliber guns, albeit while mounting significantly more 5 in guns than most contemporary destroyers.
Construction and commissioning The first of the new class of ships was laid down on 22 April 1940 at Kearny, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.. She was launched on 6 September 1941, sponsored by Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 24 December 1941, with Captain Samuel P. Jenkins in command.
Armament Atlanta was fitted with eight twin 5-inch gun mounts, placed in a unique configuration. She had three forward mounts and three aft mounts, mounted inline and increasing in height toward the midships, giving her a symmetrical appearance, with a "gap" in the middle superstructure. The aft battery also had one "wing-mounted" mount on each side, for a total of 16 five-inch guns. The firing arcs of the forward and aft batteries intersected at a very limited angle, giving her an arc of 60° in which she could fire all of her guns broadside, excluding the wing mounts. Because Atlanta was able to bring all her guns to bear only within that narrow arc, her ability to engage surface targets was limited. Her firing arcs were ideally suited to bringing her guns to bear on an aircraft, with a minimum of six guns available from any angle.
Service history After fitting out, Atlanta conducted shakedown training until 13 March 1942, first in Chesapeake Bay and then in Maine's Casco Bay, after which she returned to the New York Navy Yard for post-shakedown repairs and alterations. Adjudged to be "ready for distant service" on 31 March, the new cruiser departed New York for the Panama Canal Zone on 5 April. She reached Cristobal on 8 April. After transiting the isthmian waterway, Atlanta cleared Balboa on 12 April with orders to reconnoiter Clipperton Island, a tiny barren, uninhabited atoll about 670 mi (1,080 km) southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, in the course of her voyage to the Hawaiian Islands, for any signs of enemy activity. Finding none, she reached Pearl Harbor on 23 April.
Battle of Midway
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