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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Shawmut (CM-11)
ex-Salem (CM 11)



Call sign:
Nan - Charlie - How - Nan
Salem Class Minelayer:

  • The third Shawmut was laid down in 1916 as SS Joseph R. Parrott by the William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA
  • Acquired by the Navy 8 June 1942
  • Renamed Salem and converted to a Minelayer, CM-11
  • Commissioned USS Salem (CM-11), 9 August 1942
  • Renamed Shawmut 15 August 1945 to permit a new cruiser to be named Salem [CA 139]
  • Decommissioned 6 December 1945
  • Struck from the Navy Register 3 January 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 20 June 1946 for disposal
  • Sold 7 March 1947 to the West India Fruit and Steam Ship Co. of Port Everglades, FL for use as a Car Ferry between Florida and Cuba, renamed Joseph R. Parrott and served under the Honduran flag
  • Scrapped in 1970.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 5,300 t.
  • Length 350'
  • Beam 57'
  • Draft 15'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 219
  • Armament: Three 3"/50 dual purpose mounts and nineteen 20mm
  • Propulsion: Two 2,700 shp William Cramp vertical triple-expansion engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Salem 39k . Hyperwar U.S. Navy in WWII
    Salem 80k
    Salem 387k 7 September 1942
    Norfolk Navy Yard Portsmouth, VA
    Norfolk Navy Yard photo 3697(42)    		 David Buell
    Salem 112k 7 September 1942
    At the Norfolk Navy Yard soon after completing conversion
    National Archives photos 19-N-34502 and 19-N-34503 from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Salem 90k
    Salem 119k Original photo: 29 April 1944
    U.S. Navy photo
    Replacement photo: Seen in an aerial photo at Norfolk on 29 April 1944, in camouflage 32/2m. Photo taken by NAS Norfolk
    National Archives photo 80-G-229561, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage    		 Original photo: United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum and USS
    Salem (CA 139)
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    Salem 109k 29 April 1944
    Near the Norfolk Navy Yard. Her forward superstructure has been rebuilt and now resembles that of her sister Weehawken [CM 12]
    National Archives photo 19-N-67241 from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Salem 239k Original photo: U.S. Navy photo
    Replacement photo: Underway off Norfolk, Virginia, on 29 April 1944. She is wearing Camouflage Measure 32,
    Design 2M
    National Archives photo 80-G-229558    		 Original photo: United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum and USS
    Salem (CA 139)
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Henry Goodman Williams, USN9 August 1942 - 25 November 1943
    02LCDR George Carlton King, USN25 November 1943
    03LCDR Dana Charles Wrightington, USN30 August 1945 - 6 December 1945
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Shawmut (CM-11)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minelayer (CM) Photo Index
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