USS Salem's Main Battery - Navy Video from 1955

1955 US Navy video on the main battery guns of USS Salem. Originally saw it on the Salem herself and managed to get it up here. Enjoy!
Credits:
Created by: US Navy

[@captiannemo1587]

Electrically complicated but when it works it’s just jaw dropping.

[@jarodstrain8905]

Not just jaws.

[@matthewnewton8812]

Think about how monumentally complex it was to go from idea to implementation for one of these boys. The blueprints alone must have been thousands of pages long- every system, sub-system, and sub-sub-system had to have its own detailed instructions for how to machine engineer bespoke parts, assemble, and build each large section. Then it took thousands of men 8 to 18 months to put them altogether into something resembling a ship, with tolerances on the order of hundredths of an inch. While all that was going on, some other enormous team was working on creating handbooks, operating procedures, manuals and training films like this for every single shipboard system. And at the very top, one man had to somehow be in control of all of this simultaneously to make sure the parts matched the systems, the systems matched the ship, and the ship and its manuals were identical. It’s a miracle they made 1 of them. Let alone the thousands they built for WWII alone.

[@MrFFFTTTT]

Cool! I had fun climbing through the turret one night during a scout overnighter. Other dads & myself got a guided tour and got to climb from the bottom all the way up to the gun pits.

[@BELCAN57]

USS Salem is now a museum ship berthed in Quincy, Massachusetts.

[@geographyRyan]

Yes! She is very nice to visit, and I took the thumbnail photo while visiting her

[@tomhenry897]

Amazing how advanced they were then

[@daniel-it2lw]

the technology for the time is amazing, everything analog

[@Droopybear]

Can't imagine wear on those barrels. Too bad we don't have this class of ship in service anymore...with upgrades of course.

[@carlfromtheoc1788]

You can visit the Salem in Quincy MA - short train ride and a bus ride that drops you off right at the ship. Dad was a freshly minted 2nd Lt. and served on board the Salem, he also served on the light cruiser Worcester - both were part of the Mediterranean Fleet. Lots of ports of call, including Havana.

[@tomcurda4203]

Were Marines stationed on the USS Salem?

[@carlfromtheoc1788]

@@tomcurda4203 Yes. Someone had to guard parts of the ship and take csare of the brig. In combat they would man various combat stations.

[@tomcurda4203]

@@carlfromtheoc1788 Much Obliged.

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

8" Guns are 203mm and pack much more of a punch than the USN 5" 127mm guns currently in current use.

[@gravelydon7072]

Interesting that it was filmed the year I was born. Dad's first ship had a larger array of guns. Nine 16"/55s and 20 5" and a batch of 40mm and 20mm guns. You can guess, he was a Battleship sailor. USS Missouri to be sure as in 1947, it was the only US Battleship in active service. He left that ship not of his own choice. He was an ET at the time and they decided he needed to go to more schooling at Great Lakes. And then they kept him there as an instructor for three long years. He never got back to his ship again.

[@echohunter4199]

I’m proud of my Navy.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

My buddy's I grew Up With. Every front all services, and the Merch marines.

[@michaelfederico2873]

My Grandfather Served on the Newport News

[@geographyRyan]

Very cool! There is a memorial to the Newport News on Salem.

[@christophergallagher531]

Me too. 1972 CA 139 has a memorial

[@christophergallagher531]

Remember T2

[@Ganiscol]

At "point blank" range (less than 10 miles), where armor becomes increasingly irrelevant, that firing rate would certainly outperform a battleship with larger caliber guns. But that was probably not a very common scenario to encounter. Under normal circumstances, a major issue would be to not get triggerhappy and run out of ammo ... 😅

[@henriyoung3895]

To my surprise my first night at LZ SALLY, RVN 68-69. They said wait for the 8 inchers. I was awoken and tossed out of my cot on the floor in pure terror. Did a NVA 122 rocket hit my building ?? No, it was a 8 inch gun performing a fire mission near by. Next day I stood aways behind the gun and in the sun light behind me, I watched the projectile flying in the air. It was slow...sorta like watching a .45 shoot. SGT DOUG, RECON, 101ST

[@christophergallagher531]

@@henriyoung3895 Marines would call in for the 8s to dig fox holes.

[@gravelydon7072]

@@christophergallagher531 In Vietnam, the USS New Jersey used the 16s to make LZs. Only problem was the hole could be 20' deep but the area around it was cleared for 100s of feet.

[@christophergallagher531]

@@gravelydon7072 Man I can't imagine. being on deck for just 8s was not possible. 16s!

[@gravelydon7072]

@@christophergallagher531 I never managed to ever be near anything other than 5" ones being tested. And those are loud enough. Dad watch from above one day when the Missouri disposed of a waste can. It was sitting on top of the forward turret. They fired off one of the guns from the second turret. The concussive force turned the can into a pancake. I would not have wanted to be around when one of those shells came in.

[@aleccrombie7923]

Ridiculous! 1955 and 10 x 8" shells a minute. I repeat , a 8" shell. That is huge! It must be approaching a battle ship weight of shot a minute. I had no idea. Thank you for a very informative video.

[@guyintenn]

10 shells per gun per minute. 9 guns is 90 shells per minute. 335 lbs per AP shell for the the 8"/55 caliber Mark 16 gun, so 30,150 lbs of projectiles per minute.

[@hapexamendar1093]

Wow, the entire thing spins, not just the top?! Amazing machine, what I want for Christmas this year!! (World of Warships Salem, not the real one!!!)

[@Sharky762]

Same for the Iowa class battleships and earlier ones

[@geographyRyan]

I've had Salem in WoWs for a while (made a video out of getting her) and she is a joy to play.

[@markmaher4548]

She famously portrayed the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the film "The Battle of the River Plate".

[@DOLRED]

Great movie because it is wholly based upon what took place. Sad the navy would not allow German Helmets on board the Salem. A somewhat distracting element since she was portraying The Graf Spee. The Graf Spee still remains where she was scuttled by her crew in December 1939, just outside Montevideo Harbor.

[@markmaher4548]

@@DOLRED Indeed she does, I passed by where she lies when I went into Montevideo whislt serving on RFA Grey Rover, Falkland Island fleet support tanker in '97. HMNZS Achilles (by 1955 INS Dehli) actually portrayed herself, HMS Exeter (sunk by the Japanese in '41) was portrayed by her sister HMS Sheffield & HMS Ajax by her sister HMS Jamaica.

[@JZsBFF]

@@DOLRED It's a good movie but the Graf Spee didn't look anything like the USS Salem. So it's not only the helmets. I didn't know that the Navy was the kiljoy behind this factual error.

[@markmaher4548]

@@JZsBFF Well, they couldn't use anything British, far too recognisable. The Germans had nothing left, they'd only just formed the Bundeswehr in 1955, so they picked a ship with similar dimensions. Graf Spee actually tried to pass herself off as a USN heavy cruiser. That part of the film, where Langsdorff explains how he disguised his ship is actually true.

[@JZsBFF]

@@markmaher4548 I thought that that would have been the reason. British warships have a pretty unique outline; unfortunately so is the pocket battleship. And the French didn't have anything that looked like it that still floated; courtesy of Cunningham and Somerville at Mers-El-Kebir.

[@wlpaul4]

Man, American late war tech and industrial capacity were just OP.

[@martineastburn3679]

I can see if fragment heads are used the oncoming wave of planes might be severely damaged before coming near. Something like Shotguns.

[@IrishCarney]

I wish we'd made a battleship with this technology

[@BobSchofield-el4hj]

Sorry for being protical..I know I spelled it wrong...but I grew up on the Virginia Peninsula...where the Uss. Newport News was built....people need to know...2024...how vital the NNSB&DDCo. Is to the protection to the free world....god bless these workers😎

[@warrenjones744]

NNSB&BBCo. is an interesting place to see as you drive by you can see that giant crane. I would love to see it close up. Another Vital and less known perhaps is the Bath Iron Works. Which also has some interesting infrastructure gracing the skyline

[@MarkFish-tk3mn]

I was in the army in the early 80s 3rd/bn6th FA I wish we had some of the case shells the but they would have been heavy as hell .when you think about it .I mean the 8 inch she'll weight was 200lb.

[@robertfane1312]

The date's wrong for a April fools joke. That's the Graf Spee... I saw it in the movie "The Battle of the River Plate".

[@Andy-gs1sm]

Something borrowed

[@Sharky762]

​@@Andy-gs1smsomething new

[@Julief4417]

Very cool

[@daviddavid5880]

Yikes. 10rds a minute times 9 8in guns? That's one scary machine. Holy Toledo.

[@DonaldWheelis-xb1lu]

I believe I saw them mothballed in Philly back in the mid 80s.

[@guyintenn]

USS Salem CA-139, the ship in this vid, is a museum ship anchored in Quincy MA.

[@DonaldWheelis-xb1lu]

@@guyintenn I looked her up and that was her. She was stricken in 1994 and went on as a museum ship. I am glad she is still around.

[@geographyRyan]

She's only been in Quincy since 1995, she was in Philadelphia for most of her time in reserve from 1959-1995.

[@petergibson2318]

I learned 2 new words today "Parbuckler" and "Gypsy Head". I promise not to tell the Russians.

[@williamgibb5557]

When they had to flood the powder room, how was that accomplished? Was the water pumped in or was the water just valved in from a sea chest in the bottom of the powder room?

[@corporalpunishment1133]

How many ships had theses rapid fire guns? The three Des Moines class cruisers did but were there other classes cruiser?

[@geographyRyan]

Nope, only the Des Moines trio :)

[@corporalpunishment1133]

@@geographyRyan thanks 👍

[@stephensmith3708]

Just like the Iowa class, if this was developed durring ww2 Pacific campaign, I bet this ship would have a devistating affect! Can anyone tell me how many of this Sale class were made? It better not be just one.

[@geographyRyan]

Salem was the second ship of the Des Moines class, and she had 2 sisters: Des Moines and Newport News. Of them, only Salem survives today.

[@stephensmith3708]

@@geographyRyan well I sure the government should reactivate them, unless they scrapped them out. Todays tech and them type of firing time, I bet it would be devistating!!!@

[@hotlanta35]

Bad ass

[@ThePrader]

So after the grade school day trip to the USS Salem the teacher asked her class, "What did you see or learn on our visit to the Navy ship?". Little Suzy said, "They feed over 800 men three times a day!". Little Billy said, " That ship can sail at over 30 mph!". Little me said, "The Master Chief told me to -"Get the fu** off that 40m gun mount!".

[@geographyRyan]

Interesting, since she doesn't have any 40mm mounts.

[@ThePrader]

@@geographyRyan It was a joke.

[@samstewart4807]

hmmm shi- happens so why not automatic 8 inch guns?

[@elfontanero1484]

Compare this to the unreliable automatic 6 inch guns of the Royal Navy's Tiger class cruisers.

[@xc8487]

They should've kept these in service instead of the Iowa class.

[@Yaivenov]

They kept both. The cruisers were just worn out after Vietnam. Should have built nuclear powered replacements with the forward turrets kept and the aft turret area redesigned as a missile farm.

[@xc8487]

@@Yaivenov For the price of the Zumwalt program and littoral ship program they could've built more landing ships and fire support vessels like cruisers.

[@Yaivenov]

@@xc8487 boondongles gonna dongle them boons. It would be nice if our government wasn't so rife with private interests.

[@jacksons1010]

@@xc8487 _Zumwalt_ was intended to be a shore bombardment platform! It had 2 auto-loading 6” guns and large capacity magazines. The problem was the cost of the long-range ammunition for those guns, which the US Congress decided not to buy. The USN planned a purchase of 32 Zumwalts, which would have placed the unit cost in line with most other ships of this size. The boondoggle was Congress mandating the USN to maintain a shore bombardment capability in the first place.

[@THEZEKER1964]

Well, the Iowa class had better range, thicker armor (see Falklands War and British Navy) space enough to remove twin 5 inch mounts and supplant with Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles as well as the ability to carry gobs of fuel and act as a high speed fuelers to other smaller ships (done in WWII and Korean war). And above all it is the outline of an Iowa Class Battleship that adorns the box of the game Battleship. Also the Iowas were in better shape. The Des Moines were constantly used and not mothballed.

[@bebo4807]

If we had had this in Iraq we could have won that war.

[@legiran9564]

Blame the penny pinching Carter administration of the late 70s that cancelled the 8 inch gun project. We could have had Arleigh Burke destroyers with 8 inch autoloaders today.

[@BOORAGG]

We did win. Where you been?

[@henriyoung3895]

WELCOME HOME. SGT DOUG, RECON, 101ST, RVN 68-69 LZ SALLY