USS Atlanta (CL-51)

USS Atlanta (CL-51) was the lead ship of her class of United States Navy light cruisers, designed primarily as a fast, heavily armed escort for aircraft carrier task forces. Commissioned in late December 1941, just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, her service in the Pacific War was intense but brief. The cruiser is most remembered for her valiant but doomed role in the fierce night actions of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, where she was sunk with heavy loss of life.

Design and description

The *Atlanta*-class design emerged from the London Naval Treaty limitations and the evolving need for powerful anti-aircraft warfare escorts. Unlike traditional light cruisers armed with 6-inch guns, *Atlanta* and her sisters were built around a primary battery of eight twin 5"/38 caliber gun mounts, providing a formidable volume of fire against both aerial and surface targets. Her propulsion plant, consisting of four General Electric geared turbines fed by four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, was designed for high speed to keep pace with fast carrier task forces. The ship's protection scheme was light, with a narrow armor belt and deck plating intended mainly to shield against shell splinters and aircraft ordnance.

Construction and career

*Atlanta*'s keel was laid down on 22 April 1940 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company yard in Kearny, New Jersey. She was launched on 6 September 1941, sponsored by author Margaret Mitchell of *Gone with the Wind* fame, and commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 24 December 1941, with Captain Samuel P. Jenkins in command. Following shakedown and training exercises in the Caribbean Sea and the Chesapeake Bay, she transited the Panama Canal in early 1942 to join the Pacific Fleet at San Francisco.

World War II service

*Atlanta*'s combat career began in earnest in the summer of 1942. She screened the carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the opening phases of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August. In October, she was part of the carrier force built around USS Hornet (CV-8) at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Her most significant service, however, was in support of the critical Guadalcanal campaign. In early November, she escorted transports carrying reinforcements to Lunga Point and was subsequently detached to join a cruiser-destroyer force under Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan to oppose a major Japanese bombardment mission.

Loss

On the night of 12–13 November 1942, *Atlanta* engaged a powerful Japanese force in the intense close-quarters brawl of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Illuminated by enemy searchlights and friendly fire, she was struck by an estimated 19 shells from Japanese warships, including the battleship Hiei and possibly the cruiser IJN Nagara. A critical hit likely from a Type 93 torpedo fired by the destroyer IJN Akatsuki or IJN Inazuma caused severe flooding. Despite damage control efforts, she was scuttled the following afternoon by demolition charges from the destroyer USS Cushing (DD-376), sinking three miles east of Savo Island. Of her crew, 172 men were killed, including Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who was aboard as a task group commander.

Legacy

*Atlanta*'s sacrifice, alongside other Allied ships lost in the brutal campaign, contributed directly to thwarting Japan's effort to retake Guadalcanal and Henderson Field. Her wreck was discovered in 1992 by the research team of Robert Ballard and lies upright in approximately 430 feet of water. The ship received three battle stars for her World War II service. The design lessons from the *Atlanta* class influenced subsequent American anti-aircraft cruiser development, leading to the improved Oakland-class cruiser and the dedicated 5"/38 caliber gun-armed destroyer leaders of the later Worcester-class cruiser.

Category:Atlanta-class cruisers Category:World War II cruisers of the United States Category:Ships built in New Jersey Category:1941 ships