USS ''Atlanta'' was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with as the ''Atlanta'' class, in others as the ''Boston'' class. ''Atlanta'' was laid down on 8 November 1883 at

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works The Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works (founded in 1871) was a major late-19th-century American shipyard located on the Delaware River in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the industrialist John Roach (shipbuilder), John Roac ...

; launched on 9 October 1884; sponsored by Miss Jessie Lincoln, the daughter of

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Robert Todd Lincoln Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 – July 26, 1926) was an American lawyer and businessman. The eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, he was the only one of their four children to survive past the teenage years ...

and granddaughter of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

; and commissioned at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

on 19 July 1886,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Francis M. Bunce in command.

Design and construction

''Atlanta'' was ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisers and and the dispatch vessel . All were ordered from the same shipyard,

John Roach & Sons John Roach & Sons was a major 19th-century American shipbuilding and manufacturing firm founded in 1864 by Irish-American immigrant John Roach. Between 1871 and 1885, the company was the largest shipbuilding firm in the United States, building mo ...

. However, when

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

William C. Whitney William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent member of the Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland from ...

initially refused to accept ''Dolphin'', claiming her design was defective, the Roach yard went bankrupt and ''Atlanta'' was completed at the New York Navy Yard, which had little experience with steel-hulled ships.Friedman, pp. 18–22, 457 As-built armament included two /30 caliber Mark 1 guns, six /30 caliber Mark 2 guns,DiGiulian, Tony, US 6"/30 and 6"/35 guns at Navweaps.com
/ref> two 6-pounder () rapid fire guns, two 3-pounder ()

Hotchkiss revolving cannon The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different types of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun. There were also navy (47 mm) and 3-inch (76 mm) ...

, two 1-pounder () Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two .45 caliber (11.4 mm)

Gatling gun The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon. The Gatling gun's operatio ...

s. The 8-inch guns were initially in open

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...

s with gun shields added later.Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 150 Armor protection was light, with 2-inch (50.8 mm)

gun shield A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery pie ...

s and

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

, and a 1.5-inch (38.1 mm) deck extending over the machinery spaces.Bauer and Roberts, p. 141 The as-built engineering plant included eight coal-fired cylindrical

fire-tube boiler A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler invented in 1828 by Marc Seguin, in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tube ...

s producing steam and a horizontal

compound engine A compound engine is an engine that has more than one stage for recovering energy from the same working fluid, with the exhaust from the first stage passing through the second stage, and in some cases then on to another subsequent stage or even s ...

producing driving one shaft. Like the other "ABCD" ships, ''Atlanta'' was built with a sail rig to increase cruising range, though it was later removed. The ship carried up to 490 tons of coal, with a cruising range as built of at .Gibbons, pp. 232

Refit

In 1897–1899 ''Atlanta'' received a new

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) Cylinder (engine), cylinder, then ha ...

of and the 6-inch guns were converted to rapid firing with brass case ammunition replacing powder bags.

Service history

''Atlanta'' remained at New York fitting out and undergoing modifications until July 1887, when she joined the North Atlantic Squadron. For a little over two years, she cruised the Atlantic coast, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. On 30 September 1889, she was reassigned to the

Squadron of Evolution The Squadron of Evolution—sometimes referred to as the "White Squadron" or the "ABCD ships" after the first four— was a transitional unit in the United States Navy during the late 19th century. It was probably inspired by the French "Escadre ...

with which she voyaged to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

that winter. On the return voyage the protected cruiser paid a friendship visit to the Republic of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

before returning to New York at the end of July 1890. There, she resumed duty along the east coast and in the West Indies. Between February and April 1891, she cruised the Gulf of Mexico. From May–October, the ship operated along the Atlantic coast and participated in exercises and maneuvers at Boston and New York, training members of the Naval Militia. Between October 1891 and July 1892, she served successively along the east coast, in the West Indies, and in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n waters. On 2 September 1892, the cruiser was transferred from the Squadron of Evolution back to the North Atlantic Squadron. Between December 1892 and February 1893, she operated in the West Indies protecting American interests. From March–May, the warship participated in the

Naval Review A Naval Review is an event where select vessels and assets of the United States Navy are paraded to be reviewed by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Navy. Due to the geographic distance separating the modern U.S. Na ...

held at

Hampton Roads, Virginia Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean. ...

. In May–June, she returned to the Gulf of Mexico. On 18 July 1893, ''Atlanta'' was placed out of commission at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. There, she remained until recommissioned on 2 April 1894. She returned to duty on the North Atlantic station for the next 17 months. During that assignment, she put a landing party ashore at Boca del Toro,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, on 8 March 1895 to protect American lives and property threatened by a Liberal Party revolt and the activity of filibusters. In September 1895, she was placed out of commission at the New York Navy Yard where she was laid up for the next five years. On 15 September 1900, she was placed back in commission at New York, Comdr. E. C. Pendleton in command. Late in October, the ship put to sea to join the South Atlantic Squadron off the coast of Brazil. She cruised those waters until November 1902 when she was transferred to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Squadron. During the latter tour of duty, she again landed shore parties to protect American interests; first at

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

in April 1903 and then at Porto Bello,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, the following December. She made a voyage to the Mediterranean in 1904 and returned in October, via the western coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, to the South Atlantic station. She arrived back at Hampton Roads on 26 December and, in January 1905, moved to

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, where she was placed in reserve on 12 January. ''Atlanta'' remained inactive only until 8 May, at which time she was returned to full commission for service in the Coast Squadron to participate in midshipman training missions. In November 1905, the warship moved to Norfolk where she served as a

barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...

for sailors of the Torpedo Flotilla until 1909. At that time, she moved to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, where she resumed duty as a barracks ship. On 23 March 1912, ''Atlanta'' was relieved of duty, and on 24 April her name was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

. The ship was sold at Charleston on 10 June to Frank Rijsdyk's (ship scrapping yard).

References

Bibliography

* * * * * Rentfrow, James C. ''Home Squadron: The U.S. Navy on the North Atlantic Station.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2014. * Spears, John Randolph. ''A History of the United States Navy.'' New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1908. * ''The White Squadron''. Toledo, Ohio: Woolson Spice Co., 1891. * ''The White Squadron: Armed Cruisers, U.S.N.'' New York: International Art Publ. Co, 1800. * ''The White Squadron of the U S Navy.'' New York: James Clarke Publisher, 1894.

External links

Photo gallery of USS ''Atlanta'' at NavSource.orgLetterbook of the U.S.S. Atlanta, 1889-1893, MS 106
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta (1884) 1884 ships Ships built by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works Protected cruisers of the United States Navy