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USS Salem CA-139
Jun. 23rd, 2012 08:36 pmToday, I went and visited the USS Salem. Retired US navy heavy cruiser. She is moored in the former Fore River Shipyard, Quincy Mass, next to the commuter boat terminal to Boston and the Fore river bridge. Designed and laid down late in WW2, the unexpected end of the war put her construction back on a peacetime schedule, and was not commissioned until 1947. Served until the end of the 50, when she got laid up into the reserve fleet until she got converted to museum status. Only eight bucks for admission. I didn't realize that I could have paid a little extra for a guide, which would have been nice.
What I could see was in actually fairly good shape. Lots of little pieces and parts were missing. Either raided by other ships while she was in reserve status, or nabbed by souvenir hunters. The exterior had a lot of peeling paint, and and the wooden main deck was showing it's age. Definitely should have brought a flashlight for some of the darker areas off the main tour route. But they had a fair number of volunteers working on various projects around the ship. Many as guides, but there was a painting party and evidence of lots of partly completed projects in the various spaces.
One of the engine rooms was open, and other than a few access ports opened up on the boiler and replaced with plexiglass, looked largely intact and could have been ready to make steam. that is to say, cramped and difficult to move around. It would have been even worse when all those steam pipes were hot enough to burn you.
One of the things about ships that I had pretty much forgotten about from when I was in the navy was the scent of the ship. Mostly the lingering smell of fuel and lubricating oils that was the lifeblood of a ship, and the added spice of curing paint and old rubber. The galley was a lot smaller than I expected. It was only a little bit larger than the galley on my ship (USS Glover, FF-1098) which fed a crew of around 200 men, this galley fed a crew of 1800 men. I guess that the galley was in operation pretty much 24 hours and fed the crew in shifts.
Another thing that struck me was the habitability of the ship. Lots of things sticking out to hit your head on and trip over if you were not paying attention to where you were going. Every cubic inch seemed to be designed to be usable for something. A ship of that size would consume vast amounts of food and spare parts in active service. But equipment and armor protection definitely was first priority for the designers. I shudder to think about the conditions that other navy's sailors endured, as the USN in WW2 had a reputation for having ships that were far more nice to live on for the crew.
One of the 8 inch mounts was open. Very different from the 5 inch 38 that I was familiar with. The shell flats and magazines were not open to the public though, as interesting as I would have found them. They said that the only access was down vertical ladders, which are not very tourist friendly.
I am thinking that I might spend some of my spare time volunteering on the ship. They need lots of clueful volunteers who are willing to work, and being less than an hours drive from home. Hmmm.....
No, I did not see any ghosts or paranormal activity, for those who claim it is haunted.
What I could see was in actually fairly good shape. Lots of little pieces and parts were missing. Either raided by other ships while she was in reserve status, or nabbed by souvenir hunters. The exterior had a lot of peeling paint, and and the wooden main deck was showing it's age. Definitely should have brought a flashlight for some of the darker areas off the main tour route. But they had a fair number of volunteers working on various projects around the ship. Many as guides, but there was a painting party and evidence of lots of partly completed projects in the various spaces.
One of the engine rooms was open, and other than a few access ports opened up on the boiler and replaced with plexiglass, looked largely intact and could have been ready to make steam. that is to say, cramped and difficult to move around. It would have been even worse when all those steam pipes were hot enough to burn you.
One of the things about ships that I had pretty much forgotten about from when I was in the navy was the scent of the ship. Mostly the lingering smell of fuel and lubricating oils that was the lifeblood of a ship, and the added spice of curing paint and old rubber. The galley was a lot smaller than I expected. It was only a little bit larger than the galley on my ship (USS Glover, FF-1098) which fed a crew of around 200 men, this galley fed a crew of 1800 men. I guess that the galley was in operation pretty much 24 hours and fed the crew in shifts.
Another thing that struck me was the habitability of the ship. Lots of things sticking out to hit your head on and trip over if you were not paying attention to where you were going. Every cubic inch seemed to be designed to be usable for something. A ship of that size would consume vast amounts of food and spare parts in active service. But equipment and armor protection definitely was first priority for the designers. I shudder to think about the conditions that other navy's sailors endured, as the USN in WW2 had a reputation for having ships that were far more nice to live on for the crew.
One of the 8 inch mounts was open. Very different from the 5 inch 38 that I was familiar with. The shell flats and magazines were not open to the public though, as interesting as I would have found them. They said that the only access was down vertical ladders, which are not very tourist friendly.
I am thinking that I might spend some of my spare time volunteering on the ship. They need lots of clueful volunteers who are willing to work, and being less than an hours drive from home. Hmmm.....
No, I did not see any ghosts or paranormal activity, for those who claim it is haunted.
