High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Atlanta (CL-51) of the United States Navy was the lead ship of Atlanta class cruiser of light cruisers. She was the third Navy ship named after the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Designed to provide anti-aircraft protection for US naval task groups, Atlanta served in this capacity in the naval Battles of Midway and the Eastern Solomons. Atlanta was sunk in night surface action on 13 November 1942 in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Atlanta, in some works, is designated CLAA-51 because of her primary armament as an Anti-Aircraft cruiser. Hence, all of the Atlanta-class ships are sometimes designated as CLAA. However, her entire battery of 5 in (130 mm) guns were dual-purpose (DP) guns, and were capable of being used against both air and surface targets, able to fire proximity-fused, high-explosive and armor-piercing shells. Also, the Atlanta-class was the only class of World War II American cruisers to be armed with a battery of torpedoes.