USS Atlanta (CL-51)

USS Atlanta (CL 51), steaming at high speed, probably during her trials, circa November 1941.
History
United States
Name:	Atlanta
Namesake:	City of Atlanta, Georgia
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey
Laid down:	22 April 1940
Launched:	6 September 1941
Sponsored by:	Margaret Mitchell
Commissioned:	24 December 1941
Struck:	13 January 1943
Identification:	Hull symbol:CL-51
Honors and awards:	5 × battle stars
Fate:	Scuttled after severe damage in Naval Battle of Guadalcanal by friendly fire from USS San Francisco, 13 November 1942
Notes:	Approximate location of sinking: 9°23′S 159°58′E / 9.383°S 159.967°E / -9.383; 159.967
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Atlanta-class light cruiser
Displacement:	6,718 long tons (6,826 t) (standard) 8,340 long tons (8,470 t) (max)
Length:	541 ft 6 in (165.05 m) oa
Beam:	53 ft (16 m)
Draft:	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) (mean) 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) (max)
Installed power:	4 × Steam boilers 75,000 shp (56,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × geared turbines 2 × screws
Speed:	32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Complement:	673 officers and enlisted
Armament:	16 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber Mark 12 guns (8×2) 12 × 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 anti-aircraft guns (3×4) 8 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 1.1–3 3⁄4 in (28–95 mm) Deck: 1 1⁄4 in (32 mm) Turrets: 1 1⁄4 in (32 mm) Conning Tower: 2 1⁄2 in (64 mm)

USS Atlanta (CL-51) of the United States Navy was the lead ship of the Atlanta-class of 8 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 in (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" 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.

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., 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, Captain Samuel P. Jenkins in command.