USS Salem (CL-3)

History of USS Salem (CL-3)

USS Salem (Scout Cruiser #3), commissioned on August 1, 1908 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, is one of The U.S. Navy's first turbine-powered warship. Over the next few years, she was in and out of service at the New York Naval Shipyard or Boston Naval Shipyard, even serving as a receiving ship during this time.

Salem was returning to New York City with USS Chester (Reconnaissance Cruiser #1) on the liner RMS Carpathia with the help of survivors when the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912 . In April 1914, during the intervention in Veracruz, Mexico, she was assigned to the cruiser squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. After the United States entered World War I and replaced the original Curtis turbines with General Electric turbines, she joined a reconnaissance cruiser to support convoys across the Atlantic. After the war she was assigned to the West Coast.

In July 1920, Salem was designated CL-3. Decommissioned at Mare Island, California in August 1921, removed from the Navy list in November 1929, and sold for scrap early the following year.

A model of Salem in the World War I section of the National Museum of the United States Navy.

Specification

Basic

Year of Service

1908

Origins

United States

supplement

368

staff

Class information

Class

Chesterclass

Class Size

3

ships

Class

USS Chester (CS-1); USS Birmingham (CS-2); USS Salem (CS-3)

Operators

United States

Characters

Sea Bombing

Maritime bombardment/attack of surface targets/areas primarily through ship-based ballistic weapons.

Land Assault

Littoral attacks against surface targets primarily through ship-based missiles/missile weapons.

Sea Patrol

Active patrolling of critical waterways and sea areas; also serves as a local deterrent against air and maritime threats.

Airspace Denial/Deterrence

Neutralization or deterrence of flying elements by airborne missile weapon ballistics.

Fleet Support

Provide support (fire or materiel) to major surface fleets in blue water environments.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

423. 0 feet

128.93m

Ray

47. 0 feet

14.33m

Draft

16.8 feet

5.12m

Shift

3,800 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

12 x Fore River boiler units power 2 x Curtis steam turbines producing 19,578 hp and driving 2 x axles.

Surface Velocity

24. 0 nodes

(27.6 km/h)

Weapon

2 x 5" (130 mm) /50 caliber Mark 6 main gun. 6 x 3" (76 mm) /50 caliber Rapid Fire (RF) gun. 2 x 3 lb (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder salute. 2 x 21" (533mm) torpedo tubes.

Aircraft

None.