Very Fire VF700908DX 1/700 USS Salem CA-139 DX Deluxe Version

USS Salem (CA-139) - one of the three American Des Moines-class heavy cruisers, which entered service after the end of World War II. They were the last American cruisers armed only with muzzle artillery. The ship is currently moored in Quincy (Massachusetts) as a museum ship.

The cruiser was launched on March 25, 1946 at the Fore River Shipyard of Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts, and commissioned into the US Navy on May 14, 1949. The ship's first commander was Commander JC Daniel. On her first voyage, the ship visited Salem and then went to Guantanamo Bay for three months to regroup the crew, then returned to the United States to the Boston Navy Yard for necessary repairs. By the end of 1949, the cruiser made two more trips to Cuba. In early 1950, the ship took part in maneuvers of the Atlantic Fleet. On May 17, 1950, Salem became the flagship of the 6th Fleet operating in the Mediterranean, switching in this task with another Des Moines-class ship, USS Newport News (CA-148). On this first of seven missions, which Salem served as the flagship of the 6th Fleet from 1950 to 1958, visited Malta, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Algeria. On September 22, 1950, Newport News changed Salem as flagship and the cruiser returned to the United States. In early 1951, the ship participates in gunnery exercises at Guantanamo Bay and returns to the Mediterranean in March to become the flagship of the 6th Fleet once again in place of Newport News. On September 19, 1951, Salem was replaced by her sister ship, Des Moines (CA-134), and returned home. In February 1952, the ship sails off the coast of Cuba, and on March 29, she calls at Boston for minor repairs. On April 19, she departs for the Mediterranean, where she operates until September 29. Redesignated flagship of the 6th Fleet by Des Moines, she arrives at Boston 9 October. In January 1953, the ship participates in exercises in the waters of Guantanamo Bay. It then sails to the Mediterranean Sea in April. During her next mission in the waters of the Mediterranean, "Salem" takes part in helping the victims of the earthquake that devastated the Ionian Islands. The action takes place on August 13 - 17, 1953. On October 24 "Salem" returns to Boston. In February 1954, the cruiser sails to Guantanamo Bay, in May of the same year she returns to the flagship of the 6th Fleet, returns to the country on September 29, and in October and November takes part in exercises of the Atlantic Fleet. In early 1955, the ship made a training cruise in Guantanamo Bay, then returned to the Mediterranean Sea, where he participates in NATO exercises. From the deck of the cruiser, the exercises are observed by the Secretary of the Navy (United States Secretary of the Navy) Thomas S. Gates. In October, the ship arrives in Boston, where it undergoes repairs at the shipyard. In February 1956, the ship, as every year, goes on a training cruise to Guantanamo Bay. The cruiser calls in Boston in April. Salem then begins her 20-month service as the flagship of the 6th Fleet. He returns to Poland only in July 1958. From August to October 1958, the cruiser was the flagship of the 2nd Fleet, and in this role she made one more Mediterranean cruise in September. On January 30, 1959, Salem was placed in reserve, moored, and preserved in Philadelphia. Stricken from fleet list same day as Des Moines. In October 1994, the ship reached Quincy on tow, where moored in the former Fore River shipyard, it is the main attraction of the local United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum.

The third USS Salem (CA-139) is one of three Des Moines-class heavy cruisers completed for the United States Navy shortly after World War II. Commissioned in 1949, she was the world's last heavy cruiser to enter service and is the only one still in existence. She was decommissioned in 1959, after serving in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. She is open to the public as a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Salem was laid down on 4 July 1945 by the Bethlehem Steel Co.'s Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Mass.; launched on 25 March 1947; sponsored by Miss Mary G. Coffey; and commissioned on 14 May 1949, Captain JC Daniel in command. Her main battery held the world's first automatic 8" guns and were the first 8" naval guns to use cased ammunition instead of shell and bag loading.

After a visit to Salem, Mass., on 4 July 1949, Salem underwent three months of shakedown at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, between July and October 1949, followed by post-shakedown repairs at the Boston Navy Yard. She then made two cruises to Guantanamo in November and December 1949, and participated in maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet in early 1950.