photo #1388964

A pair of ships destined to fill the sky with flak in a war the US had yet to join; Atlanta-class light cruisers USS San Juan (CL-54) (at center) and San Diego (CL-53) under construction at Bethlehem Steel Company’s Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, in Winter 1941. San Juan had launched on 6 September, while San Diego had hit the water on 26 July. Fitting out is well advanced on both ships, though San Juan’s status as the younger ship is evident by the primer on her forward director, lack of paint on her 5” mounts, and the absence of anchors and their chains. A dusting of snow covers San Juan’s forward mounts and much of the shipyard.-These two ships, intended as essentially destroyer leaders along the same lines of tactical thought that guided the British and German use of light cruisers in previous decades, combined to bring home 31 battle stars. Of the four original Atlanta-class ships, these were the only two to survive 1942, and went on to complete the war. San Diego earned 18 battle stars, while San Juan earned 13. San Diego’s total was second-highest among all US Navy warships, trailing only USS Enterprise (CV-6), which was bestowed with twenty. While not indicative of performance, battle stars were nevertheless representative of participation in a specific campaign or theater, and illustrated the widespread use these two ships found as anti-aircraft escorts.-Photo from NARA, 19-N-29987