Hi everyone, glad this video got so much traction! I keep seeing a lot of comments in regard to other cruisers that are preserved today. I just wanted to make a note: Salem is the only preserved Heavy Cruiser left, not the only cruiser preserved in the world. There are a number of cruisers of different types (armored, light, etc) that are out there, examples like HMS Belfast, the Averof in Greece, USS Little Rock and USS Olympia.

@Pyro-et9vs

Жыл бұрын

I love ww2 warships, i just wish there was a practical contemporary use for them beyond preserving the memories of the past.

@johnjackson5142

Жыл бұрын

We rondayvo

@johnjackson5142

Жыл бұрын

We rendezvous with the Salem in the Mediterranean, she was a beauty if I'm not mistaken she was our sister ship,uss Des Moines.

@gurjeetsingh-gd1wr

4 ай бұрын

Excuse me, you don't seem to know wether it's 8, 9 inch or 9 ,8 inch guns

@svgproductions72

4 ай бұрын

@@gurjeetsingh-gd1wr hi, it’s 9 8-inch guns on this ship

It's awful how poorly that ship has been maintained. Just from that clip alone, I can tell that it desperately needs to be repainted on the waterline, the wood decking is badly rotted, and even the paint on the upper deck is showing clear signs of rust. Before it becomes a USS The Sullivans situation, they really need to secure further funding to bring her back to shape. Otherwise she may be involuntarily destined for the scrap heap, which would be an enormous tragedy.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Agreed, she needs some work. I just think she doesn’t get as much love as the museum battleships, but we have to thank her crew and volunteers for their continuous work! Hopefully one day she’ll get a new paint job and deck to help her looks

@TheEDFLegacy

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 Hopefully! Though for me the bigger concern is her buoyancy; unlike the Sullivans, if she were to sink at her moorings, she'd very likely be a write-off, because being such a large (and relatively unarmoured) ship, she'd break her back way more easily. :(

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

@@TheEDFLegacy I understand that, I watched the Sullivans incident happen and was upset about it, we will just have to hope the same thing doesn’t happen to the Salem

@frankbodenschatz173

Жыл бұрын

It's amazing how much it costs to drydock a ship. A go fund me would be a great way to start. Far better than all these panhandlers.

@daxlucero2437

Жыл бұрын

I went there years ago and a AA battery was fully rusted

For all the people who served in the Navy, respect and restoration of this ship is deserved.

@terrywadsworth5645

Жыл бұрын

Maintaining these ships not only preserves history but represents the service and spirit of the many who crewed them.

@christianfreedom-seeker934

Жыл бұрын

Pointless to keep her afloat. Either completely bring her onto land and do a multi-million dollar restoration (who is going to pay for that?) And then built a shed around her to keep her out of the elements. Or just take out the oil tanks and sink her to create a new reef or just have her scrapped. I like the "reef" idea better because it helps ocean life and divers can still dive the ship.

Massachusetts has a very impressive Museum Fleet, The South Dakaota Class USS Massachusetts, Guided Missile Cruiser Joseph P. Kennedy, Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Cassin Young, 1 WWII Era submarine, an East German Tarantul Class Missile Boat, the National PT Boat Museum and The USS Salem. The Salem is the least visited, yet still the largest of them all.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

I visited her a few years ago! It was the first time I’ve visited a battleship. I didn’t know about Salem until I heard about her on the Battleship New Jersey KZread channel

@metaknight115

Жыл бұрын

Massachusetts is the only preserved American battleship to sink, or even come into contact with an enemy battleship. She is also the only preserved American battleship to sink, or even come into contact with something larger than a destroyer

@metaknight115

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 That's so cool. She's my favorite US battleship of all time

@AcePilotX2

Жыл бұрын

@@metaknight115 what do u mean sink?

@metaknight115

Жыл бұрын

@@AcePilotX2 During the battle of Casablanca, Massachusetts engaged the Nazi controlled French battleship Jean Bart, and sank her in port. She also sank around 1-2 light cruisers and a 2 destroyers. Most American battleships encountered a destroyer or two at the most.

I visited USS Salem a couple of weeks back. I was really impressed. I have visited a variety of battleships, carriers, destroyers an subs. What USS Salem did best was the tour guides. They had volunteers that took each group coming aboard on a tour. No other museum ship I have been to offered free personalized tours. Definitely visit if you get the chance.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately I didn’t get a tour while I was there, I roamed the ship by myself. A tour would have given me a lot more insight on the history of the ship

@JonatasAdoM

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 Freely roaming sounds like a dream honestly.

Now that's a battle ship

@peterson7082

Жыл бұрын

Well cruiser

@erichvonmanstein6876

Жыл бұрын

Nah it's not a BB though

“What do you need son?” We need to borrow your boat!

@ignaciosindhu6779

Жыл бұрын

proceed to drift that ship to dodge some bullets

@DRUNKRUSSAIN2

11 ай бұрын

@@ignaciosindhu6779TOKYO DRIFT DAT MOFO

@Audictator_Zeaxxous

10 ай бұрын

🤩 Battleships vibes 🤩

I would love to visit her. I didn't even know that there were any heavy cruisers left. This former sailor thanks you for posting this video!

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome Jon! And thank you for your service

We had a brass model of one in the lobby at the COs building in San Diego that was very beautiful and impressive

That's one beautiful girl!! Glad to see she's still alive. Beautiful just plain beautiful!! Love those heavy cruisers.

I live 5 minutes from the ship and been on it a few times, AMAZING

@donarthiazi2443

Жыл бұрын

Next time you visit the ol girl see if you can get them to clean her up a bit. She deserves as much

They are truly beautiful ships.

And she was a movie star... She played the KMS GRAF SPEE in the movie "battle of the river plate"

I live 5 minutes away from the Salem. Always donate everytime i go.

She looks like a mini Iowa

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Agreed, it really does!

@jadeorbigoso5212

Жыл бұрын

Well Des Moines Class Cruisers was based in Iowa but smaller version in order to escort the carriers

@lmo1960

Жыл бұрын

Not at all. The Des Moines class is the follow-on to the Baltimore and Oregon City classes of heavy cruisers, and is the ultimate heavy cruiser design. No relationship to battleships at all, different roles.

I spent the night on that ship several times in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. A great ship. I joined the Navy at 23. I still work for the Navy, 19 years later.

It really annoys me that Britain preserved almost none of the big older warships.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Agreed! Would have been great to see a King George V class or even a Queen Elizabeth like Warspite

@ep5019

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 absolutely

@ragingassassin6659

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 it blows my mind they didn't save the warspite considering its droves of achievements compared to the rest of the fleet.

@kenlawton1531

Жыл бұрын

@@ragingassassin6659 Warspite is legendary, what a shame.

I live a 2 minute walk away and love my special ship, there’s also tons of models of ships and planes inside the ship

I've been aboard the Salem many times and each time I love it, thanks for doing a short on her and getting the word out there about her.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Wanted to spread the word!

@middleman9596

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 and you are spreading it well

I have been here numerous times and even stayed overnight a few times. It is crazy how much of the ship is open to explore compared to other museum ships like the Missouri or the Intrepid

I recently visited the USS Salem and had a incredible visit! A big shout out to the Chief & Jim for amazing tours of the ship!

@rabidsquirrel22ben

Жыл бұрын

I was just there yesterday and got an amazing tour from Jim including all sorts of hidden areas like the hangar and fire control room. What a great guy!

Thank you for pronouncing Des Moines correctly. Salem and her sisters were pretty impressive.

Very interesting! I wish I'd known this when I visited Boston. Definitely going to visit the next time I'm there!!

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment, part of why I made this video was to spread awareness of this historic ship and hopefully get people to visit!

Damn that’s 72rpm of 8” shells ! That’s a lot of bang and boom per minute

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

She could really lay down some supporting fire!

Artillery ships could be a thing again with more modern long range cannons with auto loaders and modern armor and engines.

@wstavis3135

Жыл бұрын

Germany has mounted the turret from one of their panzerhaubitze2000 on a warship to test it. 155mm auto loading gun with 60km range.

@Cailus3542

Жыл бұрын

Given that that the railgun concept failed, this is honestly unlikely. Missiles are simply far more versatile and have ten times the range. It'd be amazing, but still.

@thebigsad5402

Жыл бұрын

@@Cailus3542 missiles are about to peak in their role. Once that happens, defense will catch up

@thalmoragent9344

Жыл бұрын

@@Cailus3542 Yeah but you can shoot down missiles and rockets, and that'll only get easier. Sometimes, Old Fashioned still has a place. Don't know if an Aegis Class Defense System can take down a good old fashioned Shell, since there's no rocket signature to speak of on it

@wrecker8236

Жыл бұрын

@@Cailus3542 yeah but slugging lead down range is way cheaper than an expensive high tech missiles. You can make 500 shells with same amount of money that one missle would take

I remember her. My old science teacher served aboard and took us out on the occasional field trip to visit the Salem. Glad to see she's still seaworthy.

Been there done that. I was happy to visit the Salem since I’ve been on basically every basic ship type except a cruiser. I think the Buffalo is up in NY if I ever wanna visit a light cruiser too. And Massachusetts is my favorite museum ship because I’ve been visiting her my entire life.

Second only to the Alaska class in size *in US Naval service*

The Sea Witch

My grandad was on that ship! He Talked about her all the time. I Still Got his hat that says uss salem.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

That’s amazing!

The fast 8"s!

I did not know that this was available in Boston. I have been to the Battleship Massachusetts museum almost 50 years ago. But I’ve always wanted to see one of these cruisers.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Just south of Boston! The Massachusetts apparently is going through some overhaul so she’ll look pretty good soon enough

I believe that she is only one of three remaining post dreadnaught era cruisers, aside the US Cleveland class light cruiser Little Rock, and the UK Town/Edinburgh class light cruiser Belfast

@jeffpotipco736

Жыл бұрын

Where is Galveston?

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

@@jeffpotipco736 I think they meant the Little Rock, it’s up in Buffalo NY sitting next to the destroyer USS The Sullivans

@metaknight115

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 Oh yes, that is what I meant.

@jeffpotipco736

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 yes little rock is there.

@frankbodenschatz173

Жыл бұрын

She is not a dreadnought era but post WW2 built ship. The Cleveland class was 10 yr prior.

I'm from New Hampshire I've been to the Salem the Massachusetts the lionfish the cassin young and constitution. Awesome stuff

Btw, please do more ship content. My father was a sailor for 22 years, so I love hearing about ships again.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that, I was focusing on aircraft but love all of this stuff, there’s a pretty big naval museum where I live so I’ll drop by there soon for another video

A film star too....played graf spee in battle of the river plate

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

I should have put that fact instead of it’s length what a great one I realized after the fact !

Des mones class 👌

Imagine her and the "Iowa" class ladies ( USS New Jersey, USS Missouri ( aka "mighty Mo") in battle together 🤔

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

A force to reckon with!

Beautiful 👍🇬🇧. I wish we kept some of our big ships

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Even though I love American battleships and cruisers, I’ve always had a soft spot for the British KGVs and Queen Elizabeths! Shame none were saved at all

@matjov

Жыл бұрын

Warspite should have been preserved.

Back in the early 90’s she was birthed in a mothball fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. I was just out of college and worked at the base. I loved walking past her and the Des Moines. I knew guys who inspected them in Phila and they said they were both in excellent shape at the time

@lmo1960

Жыл бұрын

When museum people visited from Quincy, the Des Moines was offered first. When the director saw that Salem was in much better shape (far less scavenging) he asked for Salem instead.

Such a beautiful old lady!

Man she’s a beauty

She's still beautiful to me

I served on the Heavy Cruiser, USS Newport News CA 148 on its 2nd Vietnam deployment. Great ship and good memories. There were 3 Heavy Cruisers with 8” rapid fire guns all of the same class. The DeMoines, the Newport News and the Salem. Only the USS Salem is left. On board the USS Salem is a memorial to the 20+ sailors killed on board the USS Newport News on its 3rd Vietnam deployment by an exploding 8” shell in turret 2. RIP

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your service William! Thanks for the comment

@williamwest5827

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 Thank you sir!🇺🇸

Need to visit this. Ive been on the Massachusetts at fall river but didnt even know about this

I saw her she was amazing

Awesome machine to see maybe one day God bless I'll get the chance to see such great history

@middleman9596

Жыл бұрын

I'm lucky enough to have been multiple times, it's absolutely worth visiting her

My dad's ship in the late 1950s . He was the Admirals writer.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

I’m sure he’s got some great stories! Love to hear that he was a part of this ship’s history, thanks for the comment

I was a sailor aboard USS Salem's sister ship the USS Newport News (CA-148) these were the greatest cruiser class, ever built 1968-1970.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

It’s a Beautiful class of ship! Thank you for your service!

I absolutely love battleships and ships with guns in general. I find them super interesting and incredibly impressive looking.

Saw ship not to long ago. Pretty cool. Hope bit more funding for upkeep. That said almost looks like a battleship lol

Damnit I was in Boston TWICE last summer and I had no idea or I’d have gone to see her!

Nice - so sad to see what shape she is in. Beautiful ship, thanks for showing it ! ! 🙂😎👍

This video is educational and mind expanding.

"Only heavy cruiser in existance" Kirov: 😭

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Lol, if I said just cruiser you could call me out! Kirov technically isn’t a heavy cruiser

@colejosephalexanderkashay683

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 it's a battlecruiser, right?

@alistairdiren5790

Жыл бұрын

Wasn't there a soviet Heavy from the 1950s that still around?

@peterson7082

Жыл бұрын

@@alistairdiren5790 Nope. Mikhail Kutuzov is light

i just can't believe how big she is!!!😳

She's a beaut

The actress who played Graf Spee in River of the River plate.

Hopefully, she will be around for a long time!

@JP-uk9uc

Жыл бұрын

More like sink into the mud and roll over because her lower hull is flooded and rotted to the point she'd collapse under her own weight in dry berth just like Texas, the last dreadnaught that fight in both world wars and the battle of Jutland. No money to preserve these amazing machines that secured peace for generations and brought to heel the violence of the axis.

I flew over this yesterday and thought she was a BB. Awesome that I found this video - I was wondering which ship she was!

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Just on looks, she could honestly pass as a BB, she was used as the German Admiral Graf Spee in a film once!

Looks like an awesome ship and looks like fun to go and see when I'm there in the US I might go and see it

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Lots of museum ships on the east coast to visit! If you like battleships, be sure to check out the USS Massachusetts, USS New Jersey and USS North Carolina

I wish there were still an Alaska around. They looked like baby Iowas, which themselves were my favorite BBs and looked better than every other BB ever except the Bismarcks and the Vittorio Venetos

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Favorite looking BB for me is the Roma actually, the Vittorio Venetos were beautiful ships!

@krakhedd

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 functionally crap but absolute stunners 😝

My dad served on this ship.

Looking at her condition she needs serious repairs if she wants to stay the only Heavy Cruiser in existence. There is significant hull rust at, just above, and probably below the Waterline, significant damage to her wooden deck, rust along the railing base and there's likely much more wrong with the ship that needs repaired. Other than that the vessel looks incredibly good for it's age and I'm hoping she stays around for decades to come.

@middleman9596

Жыл бұрын

most of that is superficial but soon she will absolutely need to go into drydock for preservation

@lmo1960

Жыл бұрын

The hull is 98-99% sound and all through hull openings, including shafts, are sealed. She needs paint at the waterline and a new teak deck, but otherwise she is in fantastic material condition

I love us warships

My father was stationed on a Baltimore class heavy cruiser.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

We thank him for his service! What a beautiful class to be sailing on !

They should have kept 1 Baltimore class heavy cruiser. My father was on the St. Paul

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

What beautiful ships, it’s a shame none of those were saved.. but I understand they weren’t unfortunately. Also, a big thank you to your father for his service to our country!

@lunabranwen

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 thanks 👍🙏

My fav Modern Warship game ship

I love the badass history of the USS Massachusetts (BB-59). From initially being made under treaties to prevent an arms race (practically everyone agrees to not make their sh&t overpowered asf) before ww2. And as a consequence, it among other South Dakota class battleships had to compete against literal Japanese and Nazi (and French early in war) dreadnoughts armed to the teeth with the best guns, armor and speed made solely for war. But what makes the USS Massachusetts so special is that during its entire use during ww2. Not one soul on board was lost in combat. Its the ultimate form of going into not just a gun fight, but several gunfights time and time again with a knife and coming out a consecutively flawless victor. Not even a hair on your head being lost.

My grandfather was a plank owner on USS Louisville CA 28

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Wow! Love the Northampton class, I hope you were able to hear some stories!

@mikestanley9176

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 his service on Louisville was all pre war. after that he transferred to sub duty. So not too many stories.

Wow, imagine getting hit with 72 of those rounds a min. That’s shits crazy an will f shit up

Beautiful

Fun fact: that shell next to the ticket booth and gang way isn’t an 8in shell or even a 16in. It’s taller than I am, weighs more than my car, and I can stand up inside it almost. It’s a 46cm shell. I heard that and I go “but there’s only one ship class that ever used anything that big…” “Yeah, that’s from a Yamato class battleship.”

the USS Salem was also used as the german pocket battleship Graf Spee in the 1954 Movie The Battle Of River Plate which saw her flimed along side the Achilles one of the leander class light crusiers in the real battle. the USS Salem looks pretty wreid in the movie however as she was very different to the Graf Spee pocket battleship.

There is a heavy cruiser sitting in the Philadelphia ship yard.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Hi Joe, I’m curious, which ship are you referring to? I know the cruiser Olympia is in Philadelphia but she’s an Spanish American War era vessel

@lmo1960

Жыл бұрын

There are no cruisers of any type left except for the Salem and Olympia museums. All others have been scrapped

Wow the USS Alaska, the only USS Alaska that I knew of was a submarine so this is really cool thank you you got a new subscriber I love ships

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Glad to see a new subscriber, hopefully making some more museum ship videos soon

@greendragon4058

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 ooh I can't wait

my god it looks huge ;D

Main guns ( 8inch ) were also capable of AA fire with their ( iirc ) 60° vertical maximum elevation.

it now seems i have a birthday destination :D i have to come from across the country though :(

The Alaska class were monsters

@svgproductions72

9 ай бұрын

It’s a shame they didn’t get to see the service careers they deserved!

I’ve slept on this ship before

Been there a few times! And the USS Constitution the Navy’s oldest and only wooden vessel left afloat! Plus the submarines in Fall River and Groton!

I’ve been to the USS Salem and she needs better maintenance, but I loved seeing her, believe it or not the South Dakota class are very short for there size, both USS North Carolina and USS Washington are longer than them, the North Carolina class were also longer than the Des Moines class

Don't forget the cruiser USS Long Beach CGN-9. She was 721 feet long.

i went on this on my birthday this year

Technically Averof in Athens is also a Heavy Cruiser but she's a Pre-Dreadnought period

Man if we still had the Prinz Eugen.

Cool !

The ship played as German pocket Graf Spee in 1950s color film battle of Riverplate though questioned of using US Heavy cruiser for some exterior shots instead of using miniature model of Graf Spee I think USS Salem should play as USS Los Angeles for Tintin movie Red sea shark since Des Moines had similar turret positions of Baltimore but only one funnel

So I live in Massachusetts and never knew about this We goinggg on a field tripppp to my favorite fucking shippppp🤣

Thank you!

My grandfather served on the Massachusetts, apparently his name is carved into the brig.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

What an interesting story! I’d say go visit the ship and see if the carving is still there

@johndreyer9730

Жыл бұрын

@@svgproductions72 they took him about 15 years ago right before he died, he was shot in the knee in Korea from a fighter and lost his leg later in life after 4 knee replacements. I would love to go see the ship and see his station and all.

Don't forget the USS Massachusetts less than an hour away from there too

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Yes she’s a great museum to visit! Plus there’s a few other vessels there and PT boats to cover everyone’s interests

It is said by the volunteer staff that the Captain & crew of the USS Salem;along with the soldiers coming in from the frontlines who had died on the tables in the ship's or rooms during the Korean & Vietnam wars,their spirits can be felt & seen walking down the corridors & decks of the ship.Along with hearing the distinctive sound of voices & footsteps of the departed U.S. Army,Marines & Navy personnel throughout the ship.Some of the U.S. Navy personnel who served aboard her,had so many fond memories,making friends,and forging strong bonds with eachother,that when they passed away decades later from cancer as a result of being exposed to asbestos while serving aboard her in the U.S. Navy;their departed soul would return to the last place that they had a very strong bond & connection to when they were alive,such as the USS Salem.The deceased victims of an earthquake that struck Greece back in the 1970's,their departed souls also haunts the ship.

@lmo1960

Жыл бұрын

The Salem never served in combat, so no war dead on her at all. She was first on site for the earthquake in Greece, and some people *may* have died on board. 2-3 babies were born on board, as there was no hospital standing

I would take this over the zumwald any day!! Just add missle cells!!!!!

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Agreed, I’ve always loved the look of pre-war and World War II naval vessels over the more contemporary designs. A great mix of the two is the Iowas after conversions in the 80s!

@metaknight115

Жыл бұрын

The Zumwalt literally can't fire rounds. The rounds that they are designed to fire are way too expensive to fire. She's just a glorified target practice dummy. I would also take this over the Zumwalt any day as well

The Salem is also a movie. Star THE BATTALIONS OF RIVER PLATE NOVEMBER 1939 it played part of thee German pocket battleship the ADMIRAL GRAF SPREE kid you want to see #139 in all its glory

I love em

I don't know if they do it anymore. But years ago they did a haunted house aboard the ship, where you could travel through the ship from bow to stern. It was a fun experience for the whole family, so I hope it's still going on.

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

I think they still do it

@lmo1960

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately no. The volunteer run Haunted Ship was replaced by the commercially run Ghost Ship Harbor, and they went out of business years ago. Paranormal adventures are done on board year round

Ithink of alaskas more as battleships. Just petsonally. Love em

I would love to visit this one only it is about 4000 miles from my home

@svgproductions72

Жыл бұрын

Hopefully one day you can!