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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:

  • 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. Parrot
  • Fate unknown.

    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 152k U.S. Navy photo United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum and USS Salem (CA 139)
    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    		 Robert Hurst
    Salem 90k
    Salem 126k 29 April 1944
    U.S. Navy photo    		 United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum and USS Salem (CA 139)
    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    		 Robert Hurst
    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
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    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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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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