USS Atlanta (CL-51)

USS Atlanta (CL-51)

USS Atlanta (CL-51) of the United States Navy was the lead ship of the Atlanta class of 11 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 of Midway and the Eastern Solomons. Atlanta was mistakenly sunk by an American vessel in a night surface action on 13 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

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 in (127 mm) guns were dual-purpose (DP) guns, and were capable of being used against both air and surface targets, able to fire proximity-fused, high-explosive and armor-piercing shells. Also, the Atlanta class was the only class of World War II American cruisers to be armed with a battery of torpedoes.

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" guns, than a light cruiser, which were generally equipped with 6" guns; but at well over 500 feet in length, and combined with their large battery of 16 5 in (127 mm) guns (reduced to 12 in later ships of the class), they were designated as light cruisers. Typical destroyers of the time only carried five or six 5-inch guns. Despite being under-armored for light cruisers, they had thicker armor than destroyers, which were notoriously underprotected.