Atlanta Class CruisersStatistics/Operating History

The following information has be provided by Don Cavanaugh of Gibbs & Cox, Inc. the designers of the Atlanta Class.

In the late 1930's, Gibbs & Cox, Inc. was tasked to design a new type of vessel for the US Navy. This class was developed to satisfy the need for a light displacement, high speed vessel whose mission was primarily combating large scale attack by aircraft, but which also possessed the ability to perform certain types of cruiser duty. The design consisted of many novel features, including the provision of an innerbottom extending to the second deck and following the contour of the outer shell. The side armor was of watertight reveted construction forming part of the watertight envelope of the hull. Armor protection was moderate, due to the weight limitation dictated by speed requirements, and consisted of side armor in way of the machinery spaces, bulkheads enclosing magazines, conning tower and steering engine room, with lighter protection on decks and on the boundaries off other vital areas. The propelling machinery was of improved design based on experience gained in the operation of destroyer machinery. Manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, each set of turbines consisted of one cruising, one high pressure and one double flow low pressure. The cruising turbine conected to the forward end of the high-pressure turbine rotor shaft through a single reduction gear. Reduction gears were locked train, double reduction type manufactured by DeLaval. The four boilers were designed by Babcock & Wilcox. Shaft horsepower was 75,000, maximum speed was 33 knots with a standard displacement of 6,000 tons, overall length of 541'9", and beam of 52'10". Armament consisted of sixteen 5-inch guns in twin mounts, three quadruple 1.1" antiaircraft machine guns, and two quadruple mount torpedo tubes.

There were 8 ships in this class.

• USS Atlanta (CL-51) sunk by explosives after suffering heavy damage,11/13/42
• USS Juneau (CL-52) sunk by Japanese torpedoes, 11/13/42
• USS San Diego (CL-53) decommissined 11/04/46, scrapped 1960
• USS San Juan (CL-54) decommissi0oned 11/09/46, scrappped 1961
• USS Oakland (CL-95) decommissioned 7/01/49, scrapped 1959
• USS Reno (CL-96) decommissioned 11/04/46, scrapped 1962
• USS Flint (CL-97) decommissioned 5/06/47, scrapped 1966
• USS Tucson (CL-98) decommissioned 6/11/49, scrapped 1971

Three follow-on ships (Juneau Class) were commissioned in 1946 and were distinguished from the Atlanta Class by a reduction of the superstructure height by one level, a reduction in the distance between the stacks, and a substantial increase in the antiaircraft batteries. This class had an array of various types of radar antennae installed on the fore and main masts.

• USS Juneau* (CL-119) decommissioned 7/23/56, scrapped 1962
• USS Spokane (CL-120) decommissined 2/27/50, scrapped 1973
• USS Fresno (CL-121) decommissioned 5/17/49, scrapped 1966

*The Navy often reused names of lost ships.

Note that the Atlanta was credited with a speed of 40 knots on trials but a more realistic speed was 33.67 knots at 78,985 SHP at 7,400 tons. The trial board considered her good for 90,000 SHP and 34 knots. Atlanta actually acheived 85,000 SHP at an unmeasured speed during her acceptance trials in March 1942. The subsequent classes gained weight and used 4 blade propeller's to reduce vibration. The result was Oakland acheiving only 31.4 knots at a weight of 8,150 tons. The Atlanta class used high pressure plants at 600 lbs/750 degrees.

*Atlanta - Severly damaged by gunfire and torpedo by Japanese warships (and friendly fire from USS San Francisco) during night surface action, Nov 13th, 1942. Ship had to be scuttled the following morning due to an approaching Japanese task force.

**Juneau - Damaged by torpedo from the Japanese destroyer Yudachi (later sunk by USS Portland) in the port forward engine room which broke the keel during night surface action, Nov 13th, 1942.. Ship was again torpedoed in nearly the same position that next morning,igniting the forward magazine resulting in the complete destruction of the ship.. The ship sunk within a minute leaving only approximately 140 survivors out of over 700 men. After a week in the water before being rescued, only 10 men ultimately survived! One of the greatest blunders and sea tragedies in US Navy history.

*Reno - Severly damaged by a submarine torpedo off Leyte Nov. 4th,1944. She was hit 16 feet abaft her after engine room in way of a fuel oil tank. The torpedo tore a 33x22 foot hole and flooded 132 feet of the ship as many of the water tight doors were open at the time in that area. Water leaked through the electrical cables, short circuiting the main switchboard in the forward engine room causing an electrical fire and a loss of power. The ship had to be towed to base.

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