Salem (CA 139) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 7 text:

I have a proud history I am a ship. My name is The USS SALEM ICA-I39I. My hisTory began on March 27, I934 when 'Congressman George BaTes rose before Congress To ask for an appropriaTion of funds Tor The con- sTrucTion of a new uniT To be added To The naTion's naval forces. The vessel he proposed was To be a heavy cruiser Type of The IaT- esT design. IT was also decided ThaT I would be named aTTer The hisTorical mariTime ciTy of Salem, MassachuseTTs. Independence Day, July 4, I945, my keel was laid aT The Befhle- hem Shipyards, Ouincy, MassachuseTTs. I was launched on March 25, I947, and Two years Iafer, on May I4, I949, I was commissioned, The ceremony Took place aT SouTh BosTon Naval Shipyard and dignifaries I played hosT To on The oc- casion included Admiral Louis E. Denfield, Chief of Naval OperaTions, The laTe Congressman BaTes, and The Honorable Joseph B. Harring- Ton, Mayor of Salem. I Think now iT is Time ThaT I Tell you a few facTs abouT myself, I am The second cruiser To carry The name SALEM. My predecessor was launched in July I907 and served during World War I from April, I9I7 unTil November, I9I8, In November of I929 she was decommissioned, having served in The TIeeT for over TwenTy-Two years. I am The Third 2I,O00 Ton heavy cruiser To be commissio-ned, my Two sisTer ships being The USS NEWPORT NEWS ICA-I48l and The USS DES MOINES ICA-I34I. I am 7I7 TeeT long and 77 feeT wide. Each of my Two anchors weighs II Tons and my anchor chain is made up of 70 pound links. My I20,000 horsepower sTeam power pIanT, Turning my Tour propellers, is capable of driving me aT speeds in excess of 30 knoTs. Three TurreTs, each housing Three eighT-inch guns comprise my Main BaTTery. My Secondary BaTTery includes Twelve Tive-inch guns, and my AnTi-aircraTT BaTTery con- sisTs of Twenfy-Two rapid fire Three-inch guns. Besides being com- pIeTeIy airecondifioned, conveniences for my crew are provided in my Tailor shop, Cobbler shop, soda founTain, library and lounge, laundry, and barber shop. MoTion picTures are shown on board me every nighT. CapTain John C. Daniel lnow RADM Daniell, my TirsT Commanding Officer, Took me on my firsT voyage Trom Bosfon Tor a Three day visiT To Salem, visiTing The ciTy on Independence Day, July 4, I949. On July I2, I leTT on my TirsT lengThy cruise, my Shakedown To Guanfanamo Bay, Cuba. Since ThaT day, l have made seven more Trips To GiTmo. While cruising in The Carib- bean, I visiTed KingsTon, Jamaica: PorT-au-Prince, HaiTi: San Juan, PuerTo Rico and ST. Thomas, Virgin Islands. On May 3, I95O I IeTT BosTon on my firsT Mediferranean Cruise and since Then I have made seven voyages, each Time carrying The Tlag of Commander SixTh FIeeT, and visiTing in every parT of The sea from Gibralrar To Venice in The NorTh: around To Isfanbul and BeiruT in The EasT and Algiers in The SouTh. During These cruises I have carried The flags of Vice Admirals John J. BaIIenTine, MaTThew B, Gardner, Thomas S. Combs, John H. Cassady. Ralph A. Ofsfie, Harry D. Felf, and Charles Randall Brown. I have been commanded by eighT diTTerenT CapTains: John C. Daniel, Donald C, Varian, William K. Romoser, Brook Schumm, Liles W. Creighfon, Jack Maginnis, Allan Roby, and Francis T. Williamson. While on my Tour of duTy in The MediTerranean in I9S3, I Took parT in The rescue operaTions in The earThquake devasTaTed Greek Ionian Islands. I was The firsT American ship To arrive on The scene and my officers and men worked Tirelessly Tor Tour days lAugusT I3-I7l unTil my own supplies were becoming dangerously low. I was forced To wifhdraw, buf only afTer receiving The perse-nal praise of The King and Oueen of Greece, noT To menTion The hearT-given Thanks of The inhabiTanTs of The island. I have parTicipaTed in exercises which involved more Than 200 ships and approximaTeIy 50,000 naval and 26,000 Marine personnel, made up of The navies of The U.S., GreaT Brifain, France, ITaIy, and Greece. In I953, I was awarded The coveTed BATTLE READINESS PEN- NANT, for my ouTsTanding performance of The pasf fiscal year, I wear The OCCUPATION MEDAL WITH EUROPEAN CLASP and The NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL. I have received a well done or ouTsTanding during each of my cruises To Guan- 3 - Tanamo Bay, Cuba. During The refresher Training in GiTmo in I956. l Turned in a remarkable performance: aT an approximaTe range of nine miles, my eighT-inch guns pounded away aT a Towed TargeT wiTh a resulTing 59 hiTs in 59 salvos. In OcTober, I95I I was awarded The BaTTIe Readiness Pennanf honoring me as BesT in Cruiser Force, ATIanTic FIeeT, in baTTle readiness compeTiTion. In February, I952, during my cruise in Cuban waTers, I received The Navy's highesT mark, ouTsTanding, for general overall readiness in my annual inspecTion aT GiTmo, In my presenT capaciTy as permanenT SixTh FIeeT Flagship, I am The TirsT U.S. Naval vessel To be homeporTed in The MediTerranean, aT Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. In my many porTs oT call, I am frequenfly visiTed by noTed per- sonaIiTies in a varieTy of fields. Some of These have been The Honorable Thomas S. GaTes, presenT SecreTary o-T The Navy: John Davis Lodge, U.S. Ambassador To Spain: King Paul and Oueen Frederika of Greece: YugosIavia's Marshall TiTo: The Honorable Charles S. Thomas, former SecreTary oT The Navy: Admiral Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval OperaTions, and The Shah of Iran. Though primarily a Tighfing ship, I also serve as a good will emissary To The many counfries I visiT. In The Mediferranean I have called aT Naples, Genoa, Venice, Taranfo and San Remo, ITaIy: MalTa and GibralTar, B.C.C.: VilleTranche and Toulon, France: AThens, Salonika, Corfu, PaTras and Rhodes, Greece: Isfanbul and Ismir, Turkey: BeiruT, Lebanon: Souda Bay, CreTe: Algiers and Oran, Algeria: Cagliari, Sardinia: SpIiT and Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia: TriesTe, F.T.T.: Barcelona and Palma, Spain: Tangiers, Morocco-: Lisbon, PorTugal: Messina, Augusfa, and Palermo, Sicily and Tripoli, Lybia. Each and every evenT in my hisTory has made me one of The proudesT ships in The Unifed STaTes Navy.

Page 6 text:

This book commemorales my recenl' and longed cruise in +l1e Medilerranean. ,l dedicale if men. My proud posi+ion as Firs+ Lady of fhe was made possible by 1'l1eir honorable and galla duc+ under many 'frying and unusual circumslances

Page 8 text:

T, ,,,, Q f' CAPTAIN ALLAN ROBY, USN My Former Commanding OTTicer BeTore CapTain Williamson Took The Veins, my commanding oTTicer was CapTain Allan BanlchursT Roby, 50, a naTive KenTucl4ian. From The Time he was s Midshipmen in 1926 will ms, he served on Three baTTleships, MARYLAND. CAUFOR- NIA and WEST VlRC5lNlA. Then came desTroyer duTy unTil TQ37, when he wenT back To Annapolis Tor a year oT posT graduaTe school. l-le was aboard The baTTleship lDAl-lO when she wenT inTo The SouTh PaciTic during World War ll, operaTing as a supporT uniT in The baTTle oT Midway lsland and aT The Japanese wiThdrawal Trom Guadalcanal. More SouTh PaciTic duTy came aboard The de- sTroyer KIDD, which CapTain Roby puT inTo com- mission. As her commanding oTTicer. Commander Roby received The Silver STar Tor engagemenTs wiTh enemy aircraTT and The Bronze STar wiTh combaT clasp Tor The rescue oT 30 aviaTors whose planes crashed or were shoT down. ATTer The war CapTain Roby wenT To Ohio STaTe UniversiTy Tor a masTer's degree in poliTical 4 science. l-le spenT l947 as Commander, De- sTroyer Division l42 and Took a one year course aT The NaTional War College in l95l. The nexT year he was CO oT The aTTaclc TransporT SARA- SOTA. BeTore coming To me, CapTain Roby was wiTh The Bureau oT Naval Personnel. l-Te came aboard in January l956, deparTed Tor The lasT Time in February l957. CapTain Roby married Francis lvlcCandless oT FranlcTorT, KenTuclcy. They have Two sons, Allan Jr., 23, and David. l9. The Roby's home is Bards- Town, KenTucl4y. l l l