Just south of Boston in Quincy, Mass is the USS Salem. This is essentially the cruiser we have in our game. It is a modified version of the USS Baltimore, the upgrade taking place about halfway through the 25+ ships of this class built. My personal connection is my Dad served as a fire control director on the USS St Paul (CA-73) during the Korean War, part of the first batch. This ships were designed with fast shooting guns, and speedy enough to stay with the Essex class CVs. Later versions of these ships could shoot an amazing 5 broadsides of 8" guns a minute! Each broadside being over a ton of shells, that is 10,000lbs of ordinance a minute!
Anyway, enjoy...
From the bridge looking forward
The bridge, surprisingly sparse. In fact, does not even have a door to keep the elements out
Last ships in the US Navy to be built with teak wood decks. My Dad was always thankful to not clean them
You can see along the waterline a layer of armor, the anti-torpedoe belt. About 6 inches thick
Good view of the secondary guns, 5" dual mounts. These are the ones my Dad controlled
The business end of the heavy cruiser
Only the Baltimore class had this. My Dad called it their "7-11" convenience store
This one even has a ghost. The gentleman on the left was instrumental in getting the Salem as a museum, gave tours for years. Since his passing a dozen or more people tell stories of a very knowledgeable, friendly person answering questions. They would spot the picture and insist it was him.
How did this get in there? Oh, I played on these for a few years. Gotta love'm!
