USS Salem (CA-139)

• 9x 8 "( 20.3 cm) guns in three triple turrets
• 12x 5 " (12.7 cm) guns in 6 twin towers
• 22x (originally 24x) 3 " (7.62 cm) guns in 11 (originally 12) twin mountings

The third USS Salem ( CA -139 ) is the second of three completed ships of the Des Moines - class of the U.S. Navy, in addition to the USS Des Moines (CA -134 ) and the USS Newport News (CA -148 ). She was laid down on 4 July 1945 by Bethlehem Steel Fore River Shipyard on in Quincy, Massachusetts on Kiel, had placed their launch on 25 March 1947, was on 14 May 1949 in service. She participated in any armed conflict, but worked within their ten years of service as the flagship of the 6th Fleet stationed in the Mediterranean, as well as temporarily the second fleet in the Atlantic. In the former capacity, she participated in several NATO exercises and was able to prove themselves multiple times, eg 1953 for disaster relief after the earthquake on Kefalonia and Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea in 1953, where Salem was the first American ship on the spot, furthermore, during the Suez crisis of 1956, and as U.S. support for the Jordanian government during a period of great risk of them falling in 1957.

In their period of service, the Salem also being hosted by celebrities such as the U.S. Ambassador to Spain, John D. Lodge; Thomas S. Gates, Under Secretary of the Navy in the U.S. Department of Defense; Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations; the Shah of Persia; the Lebanese President and the Greek royal couple.

After its deactivation in 1959 Salem for a long time was moored as part of the reserve fleet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before it was finally deleted from the registers of the U.S. Navy on 12 July 1991. On 13 October 1994, Salem was transferred to Quincy, Massachusetts in the United States Naval and Shipbuilding Museum, to serve as its centerpiece. There they can be visited today.

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In 1956, the Salem, the Admiral Graf Spee in the British feature film Battleship Graf Spee ( The Battle of the River Plate) represents the ships differed considerably in their appearance. In particular, the main artillery of the German battleship consisted of only two that the USS Salem, however, of three triple turrets.

Notes

Swell

• Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Vol IV Washington, DC: Naval History Division, 1969.