Salem (CA 139) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 17 text:

L r l 4 I 1. 1 yi - I Y F K I .Qi 9 it t M-. of the ship. .Xt this time, Captain C. Daniel was relieved by Captain Edmund B. Taylor. NVe wel- comed Captain Taylor and continued as before with our efforts to make the ship worthy of its name and Captain Taylor proud of his ship and his men. Several days later we were under way for Operation Portrex. Operation Portrex was our initiation into the maneuvers of the fleet. This exercise lasted from the first week of February to the middle of March. Although we were not perfect during this exercise, we showed the rest of the fleet that the Salem was a ship to watch and be wary of. IVe were out to give some ships some competition and we did! IfVe started back to the states about the 21st of March and arrived in Norfolk, Va., on the 25th. IfVe stayed there until the 28th, then left for Newport, R. I., where we arrived on the 29th. April 15th saw us under way for Boston and a few days in Dry Dock before our forthcoming Medi- terranean cruise. I'Ve welcomed Boston and our favorite port with eager and anxious hearts. Our stay here lasted until May lst, l950. May lst, 1950 was a day we had long awaited. Although it meant leaving the U. S. for several months, it also gave us the opportunity to see a major part of the world. Thus, we welcomed it with great expectation. Ive left Boston on May lst, and after spending a day at sea went into Norfolk, Ya., on the 3rd to embark the George Company Fleet Marine Force. Later that same day we began our Atlantic crossing. May 13th, which marked our arrival in Lisbon, Portugal, and thus to the end of the cruise in Mediterranean waters, we visited many different ports and countries. Lisbon, Portugal, Gibraltar, Valetta, Malta, Augusta and Palermo, Sicily, Na- ples, Italy. From Naples, we made excursions to Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento and over the sea routes via ferry to the Isle of Capri. Then came Genoa and LaSpezia, Italy and at long last our long awaited trip to Villefranche, France. -IfVe arrived in France on the 3rd of july and stayed until the l6th. During this time the ship's company wasted no time in learning all they could of the French Riviera. This included taking in the cities of the Gold Coast of France which included Cannes, Gulf Juan, Juan les Pins, Nice, Villefranche, and Monte Carlo, to name those which were most frequented by us. After France came our visits to Athens, Greece, Istanbul, Turkey, and Beirut, Lebanon. .I I K U ,Q-gflq' f The new U.S.S. SIll0lll CA-139. These cities we visited during the period July 16th, 1950 to August 16th, l950. W'hile the Salem was in Athens, Greece, Commander IE. S. Miller arrived to relieve Commander E. L. Robertson, Jr., as Executive Officer. This took place on the 29th of July. August 16th saw the ship once more anchored in the harbor at Villefranche, France. We stayed there till the 5th of September and that date found us at sea enroute to Algiers, Algeria. September 9th to 19th .saw us ashore in Algiers and Oran, Algeria. Slowly our Mediterranean cruise was draw- ing to a close. Our last ports of call were Orancia Bay where we were relieved by the U.S.S. Des Moines QCA-13415 and Admiral Ballantine moved his flag aboard her. At the same time, we embarked Admiral Stokes, Commander Cruiser Division Four. After Orancia Bay, we visited Marseilles, France from the 26th to the 29th of September and then made a return trip to Gibraltar before bidding au revoir to the Mediterranean and were at last homeward bound for the good old U. S. A. i-- 11-1,,1- l- ii N??? .Y '--I 5

Page 16 text:

The .S.S. ALE -139 HE U.S.S. SALEM QCA-1395 was built at the Fore River Ship Yard of the Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass. Her keel was laid on july 4, 1945 and she was launched on March 25, 1947. On May 9, 1949 the Bethlehem Steel Co. delivered her to the Navy. Finally on May 14, 1949, the Salem became a part of the active fleet of the U. S. Navy through the commissioning ceremonies at the Boston Naval Ship Yard, Boston, Mass. Highlights of the Commissioning Ceremonies were many but perhaps most important was a speech by Admiral Louis Denfeld, then Commander Naval Operations. During the period from May 19119 through Feb- ruary 1950, Captain C. Daniel, the Salenfs hrst CO3 Commander E. L. Robertson, Jr., the ship's Exec., Commander R. WV. Pono, the ship's Opera- tions Oflicerg LCDR Roberts Qnow Commander Robertsj and LCDR Bradshaw, the ship's Doctor and Dentist respectivelyg LCDR F. Cearan, the ship's Chaplaing LCDR P. S. Smith, the Gunnery Officerg and LCDR Harris, lingineering Officer plus all other officers and the crew were busy mold- ing together each separate function of the ship into one united force. These activities included shake- down cruise from -Iuly 19-19 to October 19-19 and two other cruises, one in November 19-19 and one in December 1949. During this period too. we made a trip to Salem, Massachusetts to celebrate the Ll-th of July with the townspeople of the city for which the ship was named. During shakedown cruise, we paid visits to Port- au-Prince, Haiti, and Kingston. Jamaica during i I Us V The Old l'.S.S. Salem. E., , 'Y X August and then over the Labor Day holiday.in September, spent a week going to, in, and returning from the Panama Canal Zone. XfVhi1e in Panama we were tied up in Colon on the Atlantic side. From here, most of the crew visited Christobal, also on the Atlantic, and Balboa, and Panama City on the Pacific side. .-Xfter our brief holiday in Panama, we returned to Ctmo Bay, Cuba to finish shakedown. On Oc- tober 5th, 19-19, we started the return trip to Boston stopping enroute at Newport, R. I. for one day. XVhile in Newport, we embarked Commander, Cruiser Division Four. The next day, October 8th, we arrived in Boston, amid a heavy fog, strains of music from the shipyard band and the welcoming cheers from friends and relatives on the dock. Again, around the lst of November, we were under way to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This time to conduct tests of trial gear. XfVe returned to Boston a few weeks later. ln December, the mighty U.S.S. Salem. was to be found once more in Caribbean waters. Speed trials were our major concern and after three days of them we returned to Boston. During this cruise to Ctmo, we made a return visit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to participate in the opening of the Haitian Bicentennial lixposition. At home we made the newsreels-our Marine Detachment was shown marching in the parade that marked the opening of the bicentennial. On the 18th of December we arrived in Boston and thus ended our many trips to Ctmo and put an end to the nick-name the ship had received from its crew- The Gtomo Express. Upon arrival in Boston, Christmas leave parties imme- diately left the ship and those of us who stayed, immediately plunged into the preparations for the holiday season. On shipboard, it included deco- rating the ship both topside and below decks and making preparations for a Christmas party for the children of the Ship's Company on December 24th. Finally, the Christmas Season came to an end and s - all aboard the mighty U.S.S. Salem returned to normal. 1949 had come and gone and all of us were looking for- ward to 1950 which promised to be a busy and interesting year for all of us. February 2nd, 1950, is a date which most of us aboard since commissioning will long remember. It marked the first major change in the command 1

Page 18 text:

,,,,gg ,J I 11 A 5 ,.,-5 1 If. , , , Q,y V V I T ,Gu I , 'Aiwa .. ,d3':N n':,. ,w i vw Z -. . , 4fq, ,.,Qw 1-X , ' W f MJ f V,-f ,df if lilllllllill li. . : ll I lylor on I Sul:-ln In' hridgv R A. 1 + 1 ,G ll 4 , A f '- ' .xl-1.-. - ' ' . Au Ll , ', A I '. yi l.N.N. QIIIPHI in Wlmliivr ' ,l5'uw N l'Illll'Zl ll W 4 o vuh' .HA --nllfal'