Qualla: USS Atlanta (CL-104)

USS Atlanta (CL-104): Introduction

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit US Navy Employee, Public domain. Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, broke a bottle of champagne across the hull of USS Atlanta on February 6, 1944. It was the second time she had performed this ritual for a Navy ship named Atlanta, and neither vessel would survive the wars that followed. This Cleveland-class light cruiser, built at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey, would go on to serve in the Pacific during the closing months of World War II, witness Japan's formal surrender in Tokyo Bay, and endure one of the most unusual second acts in naval history before meeting her end in waters just offshore from where she now rests.

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Image: US Navy Employee | Public domain

USS Atlanta (CL-104): Steel and Steam

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The Cleveland-class cruisers emerged from the urgent naval expansion of the early 1940s. With the Second London Naval Treaty abandoned after war broke out in Europe, American shipyards adapted existing designs rather than starting from scratch. Atlanta measured just over 600 feet...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

USS Atlanta (CL-104): War's Final Act

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Atlanta joined the Pacific Fleet in December 1944, assigned to Task Force 58's carrier screen during operations around Okinawa. The work was dangerous. On June 5, 1945, a major typhoon damaged most ships in the fleet, including Atlanta. After repairs in the Philippines, she retur...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

USS Atlanta (CL-104): Peacetime Wanderer

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The postwar years brought Atlanta across much of the Pacific. In 1946, she toured the Far East, visiting Manila, Shanghai, Qingdao, and multiple Japanese ports. A 1947 deployment took her to Sydney, Australia, with stops at Guadalcanal and Tulagi on the return voyage. She sailed ...

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Image: Public domain

USS Atlanta (CL-104): Operation Sailor Hat

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit US Navy Employee, Public domain. In 1962, the Navy struck Atlanta from the register, but she would not be broken up for scrap. Instead, she was selected for a unique mission: weapons testing. Workers at San Francisco Naval Shipyard stripped her upper works and installed experimental superstructures designed for ...

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Image: US Navy Employee | Public domain

USS Atlanta (CL-104): Final Position

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit US Navy Employee, Public domain. Atlanta remained at Stockton until 1970, when she was struck from the naval register for the final time. On October 1, 1970, she was towed out to sea and expended as a target off San Clemente Island. The coordinates 32.88 degrees North, 118.51 degrees West mark her final resting ...

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Image: US Navy Employee | Public domain