VERY FIRE 1/350 USS Light Cruiser Atlanta CL-51 VF350922

USS Atlanta (CL-51) of the United States Navy was the lead ship of the Atlanta-class of eight 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 Midway and the Eastern Solomons. Atlanta was heavily damaged by Japanese and friendly gunfire in a night surface action on 13 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The cruiser was sunk on her captain's orders in the afternoon of the same day.

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-inch (127 mm) guns were dual-purpose (DP) guns, and were capable of being used against both air and surface targets, able to fire anti-aircraft, high-explosive and armour-piercing shells.

The Atlanta-class ships were lightly armoured, making them poor surface combatants compared to a typical light cruiser. In terms of armament, the Atlanta class was closer to a destroyer, being armed with 5-inch guns, than a light cruiser, which were generally equipped with 6-inch guns; but at well over 500 feet (152 m) in length, and combined with their large battery of sixteen 5-inch (127 mm) guns (reduced to twelve in number for later ships of the class), they were designated as light cruisers. The unusual features of the Atlanta class is a result of the class originally being intended to be a destroyer leader. A destroyer leader is larger than its destroyer counterparts to accommodate command staff and resources as well as other general utilities to support the destroyers that they would be paired with. In line with this intended role the ship was given a complement of torpedoes and relatively thin armour compared to other ships of its size. Later the dimensions and tonnage of the ship resulted in a change in designation of the Atlanta class to a light cruiser. Despite this change in designation the Atlanta class of ships maintained their destroyer leader features. 

For more information on Atlanta's history, check out her Wikipedia page, where this history was taken from.