Was U.S. Navy night fighting inherently inferior?

Does the loss of USS Atlanta demonstrate that U.S. night fighting was inferior?

Not by itself; American forces were less practiced because their doctrine preferred to use mass in daylight, whereas British and Japanese navies emphasized night fighting more heavily.

One friendly-fire disaster does not prove inherent inferiority. American doctrine preferred daylight conditions where mass could be exploited, so the fleet devoted less practice to night fighting. The Royal Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy placed greater emphasis on training for combat after dark. The underlying American concepts and skills existed, but familiarity lagged.