USS Atlanta (CL-51)
The Atlanta-class light cruisers were designed as "destroyer leaders"--cruisers capable of keeping up with destroyers, with similar armament, and with communications equipment to lead flotillas of destroyers. Because the ships were not intended for pitched battle with anything bigger than enemy destroyers, the Atlantas were equipped with rather paltry armament for a cruiser: 16 5-inch guns arranged in eight twin turrets. The only concession to the possibility that the Atlantas might need better stopping power against surface targets were the eight torpedo tubes on either side of the aft superstructure--the only American cruisers to be equipped with torpedo tubes. Armor was only slightly better than destroyers, sacrificed for speed.
If the Atlanta-class was at a disadvantage in a surface action, they would be deadly to the growing threat of aircraft. The 16 5-inch guns had overlapping fields of fire and could fire over 17,000 pounds of shells per minute, which would fill the air with antiaircraft fire. If anything survived that barrage, the Atlantas had a secondary battery of 16 1.1-inch antiaircraft guns and six 20mm light guns. If the Atlantas were in trouble against enemy ships, they were lethal to enemy aircraft.
The US Navy ordered eight of the Atlanta-class; the class leader, USS Atlanta (CL-51) was commissioned on Christmas Eve, 1941--only a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (The Atlanta was sponsored by Margaret Mitchell, the author of "Gone With the Wind.") The fourth ship of the initial batch (USS San Juan, CL-54) was finished just two months later. These four ships would be committed to the war in the Pacific, and would see a great deal of action in the seesaw fighting around Guadalcanal. The first two ships, Atlanta and Juneau (CL-52), would be sunk at or immediately after the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; the Juneau was sunk with heavy loss of life, namely the five Sullivan Brothers. Only 10 men survived out of a complement of 670.
The other ships of the class fared better. The last four were commissioned between 1942 and 1945, and were unofficially known as the Oakland-class. These ships deleted their torpedo tubes and replaced the 1.1-inch with the far deadlier quad 40mm Bofors cannon. The six survivors of the Atlanta/Oakland class proved very useful against the kamikaze threat in 1944-45, and the class would be awarded a combined 54 battle stars for action in World War II--not a bad achievement for a limited class of ships. Sadly, none of the survivors were saved as museum ships: all were retired after the war and scrapped in the late 1960s.
This model represents the Atlanta as she would have appeared at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 12-13 November 1942. Soon after they were commissioned, the Atlantas received a fourth 1.1-inch quad mount on the afterdeck and radar; the model lacks masts. By the time of First Guadalcanal, the Atlanta had already been instrumental in helping to repel attacks against American carriers at Midway, Eastern Solomons, and Santa Cruz. Despite their unsuitability to surface combat, a lack of available ships forced the Navy to commit the Atlanta and Juneau to Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan's scratch force. None of Callaghan's force were larger than heavy cruisers; they would be facing two Japanese battleships.
The wild First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is also known as the "Bar Room Brawl." as both sides engaged each other at pointblank range in pitch darkness--so close that at one point American destroyers were dueling with the Japanese battleship Hiei at machine gun range. The Atlanta's 5-inch guns could do little to battleships or cruisers, but their sheer firepower and quick firing enabled the Atlanta to sink the Japanese destroyer Akatsuki and damage two others. The cruiser fired so fast that the surviving Japanese later reported that the Americans possessed some sort of heavy machine gun.
Unfortunately for the Atlanta, she simply was not designed for this sort of battle. A Japanese torpedo knocked out her engines, which caused her to drift into the line of fire of Callaghan's flagship, USS San Francisco. The San Francisco accidentally raked the Atlanta with 8-inch guns, which further crippled the cruiser; it also killed Rear Admiral Norman Scott, Callaghan's second-in-command. Despite attempts to save her that lasted into the next day, the Atlanta was too far gone, and on 13 November, she was scuttled. A third of her crew had been killed in her final action.
Here the Atlanta is shown in Measure 12, which used dark gray streaks to break up the ship's outline; the decks were also dark gray to give some camouflage against the ocean from aircraft. I'm not sure if the Atlanta was in Measure 12 when she was sunk--the Juneau was, but paint jobs were rapidly changed and altered during the Guadalcanal campaign. As a native of the Atlanta area, it was a honor to paint this legendary ship.
USS Atlanta (CL-51)
The Atlanta-class light cruisers were designed as "destroyer leaders"--cruisers capable of keeping up with destroyers, with similar armament, and with communications equipment to lead flotillas of destroyers. Because the ships were not intended for pitched battle with anything bigger than enemy destroyers, the Atlantas were equipped with rather paltry armament for a cruiser: 16 5-inch guns arranged in eight twin turrets. The only concession to the possibility that the Atlantas might need better stopping power against surface targets were the eight torpedo tubes on either side of the aft superstructure--the only American cruisers to be equipped with torpedo tubes. Armor was only slightly better than destroyers, sacrificed for speed.
If the Atlanta-class was at a disadvantage in a surface action, they would be deadly to the growing threat of aircraft. The 16 5-inch guns had overlapping fields of fire and could fire over 17,000 pounds of shells per minute, which would fill the air with antiaircraft fire. If anything survived that barrage, the Atlantas had a secondary battery of 16 1.1-inch antiaircraft guns and six 20mm light guns. If the Atlantas were in trouble against enemy ships, they were lethal to enemy aircraft.
The US Navy ordered eight of the Atlanta-class; the class leader, USS Atlanta (CL-51) was commissioned on Christmas Eve, 1941--only a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (The Atlanta was sponsored by Margaret Mitchell, the author of "Gone With the Wind.") The fourth ship of the initial batch (USS San Juan, CL-54) was finished just two months later. These four ships would be committed to the war in the Pacific, and would see a great deal of action in the seesaw fighting around Guadalcanal. The first two ships, Atlanta and Juneau (CL-52), would be sunk at or immediately after the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; the Juneau was sunk with heavy loss of life, namely the five Sullivan Brothers. Only 10 men survived out of a complement of 670.
The other ships of the class fared better. The last four were commissioned between 1942 and 1945, and were unofficially known as the Oakland-class. These ships deleted their torpedo tubes and replaced the 1.1-inch with the far deadlier quad 40mm Bofors cannon. The six survivors of the Atlanta/Oakland class proved very useful against the kamikaze threat in 1944-45, and the class would be awarded a combined 54 battle stars for action in World War II--not a bad achievement for a limited class of ships. Sadly, none of the survivors were saved as museum ships: all were retired after the war and scrapped in the late 1960s.
This model represents the Atlanta as she would have appeared at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 12-13 November 1942. Soon after they were commissioned, the Atlantas received a fourth 1.1-inch quad mount on the afterdeck and radar; the model lacks masts. By the time of First Guadalcanal, the Atlanta had already been instrumental in helping to repel attacks against American carriers at Midway, Eastern Solomons, and Santa Cruz. Despite their unsuitability to surface combat, a lack of available ships forced the Navy to commit the Atlanta and Juneau to Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan's scratch force. None of Callaghan's force were larger than heavy cruisers; they would be facing two Japanese battleships.
The wild First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is also known as the "Bar Room Brawl." as both sides engaged each other at pointblank range in pitch darkness--so close that at one point American destroyers were dueling with the Japanese battleship Hiei at machine gun range. The Atlanta's 5-inch guns could do little to battleships or cruisers, but their sheer firepower and quick firing enabled the Atlanta to sink the Japanese destroyer Akatsuki and damage two others. The cruiser fired so fast that the surviving Japanese later reported that the Americans possessed some sort of heavy machine gun.
Unfortunately for the Atlanta, she simply was not designed for this sort of battle. A Japanese torpedo knocked out her engines, which caused her to drift into the line of fire of Callaghan's flagship, USS San Francisco. The San Francisco accidentally raked the Atlanta with 8-inch guns, which further crippled the cruiser; it also killed Rear Admiral Norman Scott, Callaghan's second-in-command. Despite attempts to save her that lasted into the next day, the Atlanta was too far gone, and on 13 November, she was scuttled. A third of her crew had been killed in her final action.
Here the Atlanta is shown in Measure 12, which used dark gray streaks to break up the ship's outline; the decks were also dark gray to give some camouflage against the ocean from aircraft. I'm not sure if the Atlanta was in Measure 12 when she was sunk--the Juneau was, but paint jobs were rapidly changed and altered during the Guadalcanal campaign. As a native of the Atlanta area, it was a honor to paint this legendary ship.