The heavy cruiser Des Moines, the second ship of that name in the US Navy, was the lead ship in the heavy ship class.
Des Moines entered production a year after the end of WWII by the Bethlehem Steel Company, launched by the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts. The production of the ship was sponsored by Mrs. E. T. Meredith. The cruiser was commissioned 3 years later. This vessel was the first in its class to be equipped with semi-automatic 8-inch Mark 16 turrets and new Sikorsky HO3S-1 seaplanes instead of conventional ones. You can see photos of Des Moines cruisers of various types in this article. All of them are quite typical in their appearance.
These ships are considered classics among all people who are fond of the history of the navy. They are present in numerous strategies dedicated to naval battles, where they are in the first lines in terms of strength and power. Whether the Des Moines-class ships really were like that is a very big question.
History of the Des Moines cruisers
Between 1949 and 1957, the ship sailed to the Mediterranean Sea, serving for the first seven years as flagship for the 6th Operational Fleet (known as the 6th Fleet from 1950). In 1952 and every subsequent cruiser through 1957, midshipmen were transported for summer training cruises to northern European ports. He also participated in Northern Europe in NATO exercises in 1952, 1953 and 1955. On February 18, 1958, she once again sailed from Norfolk to the Mediterranean, this time being the flagship of the 6th Fleet until July 1961.
The hard way
The history of the creation of the cruiser "Des Moines" is very archetypal. Through its Mediterranean exploits, Des Moines was one of the reasons the 6th Fleet was so successful in representing American power and interests in southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. He has also contributed to activities such as NATO exercises throughout the Mediterranean. The story of this vessel sailing with other ships of the US 6th Fleet was reflected in the production of the film "John Paul Jones" starring Robert Stack.
Decommissioning
After decommissioning in 1961, the cruiser was "mothballed" at the South Boston Naval Wing and eventually placed at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Center in Philadelphia, in a reserve reserve. In 1981, the US Congress ordered that the Navy conduct a survey to determine whether the Des Moines and her sister ship could be recommissioned. Salem (instead of two Iowa-class battleships) to support the 600-ship navy proposed by the Reagan administration. The study concluded that while both ships would have been useful in an active fleet, there was not enough deck space to add modern weapon systems (Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Phalanx CIWS mounts, radars and communications systems). In addition, the costs of reactivating and upgrading the ship (which were deemed feasible) were close to those of the Iowa, but for a much less capable ship. Therefore, both ships remained in reserve until they were removed from the reserve list in August 1993.
After trying to turn the cruiser into a museum ship in Milwaukee in 2005, it was sold and then towed to Brownsville, Texas for scrap. By July 2007, the ship was completely dismantled. On August 16, 2007, its status officially changed to "dismantled and dismantled". Two of its twin 5-inch guns were donated to the USS Lexington (CV-16) museum in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Its sister ship Newport News was scrapped in New Orleans in 1993. Des Moines' third cruiser, the Salem, is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts. Learn more about him below.
Des Moines-class cruisers
What can be said about ships of this type? The Des Moines-class cruisers were a trio of US Navy heavy cruisers. They were the last of the heavy cruisers equipped with allguns larger than only the Alaska-class cruisers in the US Navy, which occupied positions between a heavy cruiser and a battlecruiser. Two of these were retired by 1961, but one, Newport News (CA-148), served until 1975. The Salem (CA-139) is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Derived from the B altimore-class heavy cruisers, they were larger, had an improved layout and a new self-loading rapid-fire 8-inch/55 gun (Mk16) design. The improved Mk16 guns were the first auto-loading 8-inch guns fielded by the US Navy and offered a much higher rate of fire than earlier designs, capable of seven rounds per minute per gun, or about twice as much as previous heavy cruisers supported.
The automatic loading mechanism could function at any altitude, giving even these large caliber guns some anti-air capability. While the additional battery of six twin 5-inch/38 Mk12 DP guns is virtually unchanged from the Oregon City and B altimore class cruisers. The Des Moines class had a more powerful battery of small caliber anti-aircraft guns, including 12 twin 3-inch/50 Mk27 and later Mk33 guns, which were considered superior to the older ships' earlier 40mm Beauforts (especially against the then existing air threats).
Three out of twelve
Initially planned12 ships of this type. But only three ships were completed: Des Moines (CA-134), Salem (CA-139) and Newport News (CA-148), with USS Dallas (CA-140) canceled when completed by about 28 percent.
Their speed made them valuable for escorting groups of aircraft carriers, and they were useful in displays of force on "goodwill visits". The first two were retired in 1961 and 1959 respectively, but the Newport News remained in service until 1975. These ships also served as flagships for the US Second Fleet and provided valuable support in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1973. The ships' missions included strafing military targets near the North Vietnamese coastline and destroying coastal batteries with counter-battery fire. In August 1972, one of the cruisers of this type raided Haiphong Harbor at night with other US Navy ships to knock out coastal defenses and other high-value targets, including the Cat Bi airfield.
Description of ships
Newport News had the distinction of being the last active cruiser of all guns (serving 25.5 years continuously) and the first fully air-conditioned surface ship in the US Navy. The Salem is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts. The Newport News was laid out at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and scrapped in 1993, while the Des Moines was scrapped in 2006-2007. The Dallas (CA-140) and eight other ships (CA-141 to CA-143 and CA-149 to CA-153) were canceled while still under construction at the end of World War II.
USS Salem (CA-139) is one of three Des Moines-class heavy cruisers completed for the US Navy shortly after World War II. Commissioned in 1949, she was the last heavy cruiser in the world to enter service, and the only one still in existence. It was decommissioned in 1959 after service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The cruiser is open to the public as a museum piece in Quincy, Massachusetts.
A ship named after the city of witches
Salem was laid down on 4 July 1945 by Bethlehem Steel Co.'s Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. Launched on 25 March 1947. Its construction sponsor is Miss Mary J. Coffey. She was commissioned on 14 May 1949 by Captain J. S. Daniel. The main arsenal of the cruiser included the world's first automatic 8-inch guns, which used jacketed ammunition instead of shells and bags.
Return to Guantanamo
Overview of Des Moines cruisers and their stories often begins with the Salem. Nevertheless, despite its outrageous (by American standards) name, this ship could just as well be called the Guantanamo, because it was there that the cruiser underwent regular repairs. He also went there two years before his official decommissioning. The drawings of the cruiser "Des Moines" are often studied precisely on the example of the "Salem". After all, according to many, he is the most archetypal representative of the entire series of ships.
Bimitation of the Germans
Like many other Des Moines-class heavy cruisers, the Salem was designed to replicate the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee featured in the 1956 film Battle of the River Plate, although the original German ship a single triple gun turret was installed forward of the superstructure, where Salem has two triple gun turrets. The Salem's original hull number, 139, is also clearly visible in many of the external photographs of this wonderful ship. These differences between the two ships were explained by the historical fact that shipbuilders often disguised their ships as the German Graf Spee to resemble foreign ships.
In 1958, the cruiser arrived in Monaco to celebrate the birth of Albert II, born to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and Princess Grace Kelly. Cruisers "Des Moines" at that time were already losing their former popularity and glory.
Last years of operation
Salem was scheduled to be inactivated upon her return from the Mediterranean, but a request from Lebanon on 15 August 1958 for support against an expected coup resulted in a short delay for the cruiser. Salem liberated Northampton on 11 August as the flagship of the US 2nd Fleet. She left Norfolk on 2 September, visited Augusta Bay and Barcelona on a ten-day Mediterranean cruise, and returned to Norfolk on 30 September. She entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for inactivation on 7 October, disembarked 2nd Fleet Commander on 25 October and was decommissioned on 30January 1959. It was retained with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The ship was surveyed in 1981 for possible reactivation as part of a Navy project, and although the results of the inspections showed that she was in excellent condition, funding for the maintenance of the Salem and her sister ships (the Des Moines-class cruisers) could not be supported by Congress.
