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by David F. Winkler.
Hardback (6.3×9.3 inches). 254 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: The Short, Heroic Life of the USS Atlanta (CL-51)
Subtitle: America’s First Warship Commissioned After Pearl Harbor
This WWII cruiser was the third ship to bear that name. The first was the CSA Atlanta that was salvaged and repaired. The second, commissioned 1886, was a protected cruiser. The third was CL-51, designed in 1938 and commissioned on Dec 24, 1941. Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind, did the champagne bottle honors.
This is the first book I’ve read about the warship launching process and the details keep coming throughout the pages. The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock company in Kearny, NJ, built the USS Atlanta and sister ship USS Juneau, being paid $12,226,000 each (p10).
Teething problems came early and often. Severe vibration of one propeller, plumbing woes, and burning hydraulics in the shell hoist were a few of the mechanical and engineering problems that needed fixing before the ship could be sent off to battle.
Bios of officers and some crew are included as the ship sails for operations in and around Guadalcanal. Not only are the sea battles and air attacks well told, but you get a sense of shipboard life and liberty calls. It’s all quite engaging.
One interesting tidbit: The US used radio-controlled target drones for AA drills (p64). Radio-controlled drones were a lot more prevalent than I thought — Germans and Italians used them in the Med. Now the US used them in the Pacific.
Typos: “announcing the promotion seven of the..” (p126) needs an “of” after “promotion,” and, “halting to offloading operation” (p158) probably needs to replace the “to” with “the.”
The book contains 23 black and white photos and one black and white map.
Incidentally, the USS Atlanta was lost during a naval night action near Guadalcanal, which included being hit by friendly fire. This is a “mighty” fine ship profile.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
