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US Navy Atlanta-class Light Cruisers 1940–49
Series: New Vanguard
Brief Description
A comprehensively illustrated account of the Atlanta-class cruisers, warships that found a surprising key role in the Pacific War as the US Navy's superb antiaircraft warships. In the late 1930s, the US Navy created a class of small, light cruisers intended as a versatile destroyer leader....
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US Navy Atlanta-class Light Cruisers 1940–49
$6999
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A comprehensively illustrated account of the Atlanta-class cruisers, which found a surprising key role in the Pacific War as the US Navy's superb antiaircraft warships.
A comprehensively illustrated account of the Atlanta-class cruisers, which found a surprising key role in the Pacific War as the US Navy's superb antiaircraft warships.
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Description
A comprehensively illustrated account of the Atlanta-class cruisers, warships that found a surprising key role in the Pacific War as the US Navy's superb antiaircraft warships.
In the late 1930s, the US Navy created a class of small, light cruisers intended as a versatile destroyer leader. The Atlantas could provide antiaircraft support, lead and launch torpedo attacks, serve as antisubmarine vessels, and outgun other light warships in a surface engagement. The wartime reality was different. In every surface action they fought, they found themselves pitted against bigger cruisers (or even battleships) instead of the destroyers they were designed to defeat.
In this book, naval historian Mark Lardas explains that despite their flaws, they proved one of the most useful warships in the US Navy: with a main battery of sixteen 5in guns, they proved to be superb antiaircraft cruisers. From the battle of Midway onwards, they protected the Navy’s most valuable ships – its aircraft carriers – so effectively that later Atlantas were built to a modified design as specialist antiaircraft ships. The Navy even ordered a follow-on class postwar and considered building a “super-Atlanta,” armed only with heavy antiaircraft guns.
Packed with illustrations, US Navy Atlanta-class Light Cruisers 1940–49 examines the history, development, and modifications of these unusual warships, and their impact on the Pacific War.
Series: New Vanguard
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781472866523
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 17 July 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Osprey Publishing
Illustration: Illustrated throughout with 40 photos and 8 pages of colour illustrations
Contributors:
- Illustrated by Stefan Draminski
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 6.0mm
Width: 182.0mm
Height: 248.0mm
Weight: 160g
Pages: 48
About the Author
Mark Lardas has been fascinated by all things related to the sea and sky his entire life; from building models of ships and aircraft as a teen to studying Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at college. He worked as a navigation engineer on the Shuttle program and is now employed at Johnson Space Center on the Lunar Gateway program. He has written extensively about aircraft and warships, and lives in Texas.
Stefan Draminski is among the world’s leading illustrators of historical warships.
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