Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: mthrockmor on February 08, 2012, 04:42:06 PM
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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...
(http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/4598/bostonsept2009242.jpg)
From the bridge looking forward
(http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/9717/bostonsept2009240.jpg)
The bridge, surprisingly sparse. In fact, does not even have a door to keep the elements out
(http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/862/bostonsept2009220.jpg)
Last ships in the US Navy to be built with teak wood decks. My Dad was always thankful to not clean them
(http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/700/bostonsept2009204.jpg)
You can see along the waterline a layer of armor, the anti-torpedoe belt. About 6 inches thick
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7453/bostonsept2009279.jpg)
Good view of the secondary guns, 5" dual mounts. These are the ones my Dad controlled
(http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/3990/bostonsept2009224.jpg)
The business end of the heavy cruiser
(http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/4234/bostonsept2009267.jpg)
Only the Baltimore class had this. My Dad called it their "7-11" convenience store
(http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/6488/bostonsept2009261.jpg)
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.
(http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2521/llfindit.jpg)
How did this get in there? Oh, I played on these for a few years. Gotta love'm!
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Small world. My uncle served on the St. Paul and I'm pretty sure it was the St. Paul we got a tour of in '59 when we visited them in San Diego.
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Battleship_Texas.jpg)
BB35 located at the San Jacinto battlefield. First ship with 14" guns.
:aok
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any chance you could post a higher-res pic there shuff? I cant quite make out the individual rivets :D
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Battleship_Texas.jpg)
BB35 located at the San Jacinto battlefield. First ship with 14" guns.
:aok
the BB-35 :D. One of my favorite times was walking around on that.
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I proudly wear a scar on my right shoulder compliments of the battle ship Texas from a piece of protruding metal I walked into when I was 14 on a school trip.
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Read about when they were going to move the Texas from its old birth where it had been sitting in mud for years to its new birth. Because it had been sitting in the mud for so long they dident know if when the tryed to refloat the Texas if the keel and the whole bottom was so rusted it would break away.
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Read about when they were going to move the Texas from its old birth where it had been sitting in mud for years to its new birth. Because it had been sitting in the mud for so long they dident know if when the tryed to refloat the Texas if the keel and the whole bottom was so rusted it would break away.
They floated it out.... took her to dry dock and did repairs. She is now a floating exhibit.
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and all these pictures make me want to make the 4 hour drive to Quincy..... :cry
few months MAYBE I will be able to afford it.....