USS SALEM Scout Cruiser 3 / (CL 3)

CLASS - CHESTER
Displacement 3,750 Tons, Dimensions, 423' 1" (oa) x 47' 1" x 19' 3" (Max)
Armament 2 x 5"/50, 6 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt.
Armor, 2" Belt.
Machinery, 22,242 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 25.95 (trial) Knots, Crew 356.
Operational and Building Data
Keel laid on 28 AUG 1905 at Fore River Shipbuilding Co. Quincy, MA
Launched 27 JULY 1907
Commissioned 01 AUG 1908
Decommissioned 20 APR 1912
Commissioned 23 APR 1914
Decommissioned 1 DEC 1914
Commissioned 21 MAY 1916
Decommissioned 02 DEC 1916
Commissioned 21 APR 1917
Decommissioned 23 APR 1917
Commissioned 25 JUL 1917
Reclassified CL 3 17 JUL 1920
Decommissioned 16 AUG 1921
Stricken on 13 NOV 1929
Fate: Sold for scrap to D. G. Seagraves of San Francisco, CA on 11 FEB 1930

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0400308	NR	LAUNCHING OF CRUISER SALEM. Greeted by a chorus of steam whistles and cheered on by an enthusiastic assemblage of thousands of spectators, the scout cruiser Salem, sister ship of the Birmingham and the Chester, glided from the ways today at the Fore River shipyard. As the vessel swept down to meet the water of the Fore river, Miss Lorna Pinnock, the 13-year-old daughter of Mayor Pinnock of Salem, Mass., broke the traditional bottle of champagne and formally named the ship. Included in the christening party were Mayor Pinnock and a large number of other citizens of Salem, together with a bevy of girls friends of the young sponsor....	Image and text provided by Idaho State Historical Society. Photo from Lewiston Evening Teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 27 July 1907, Image 2, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400302	1.16k	Salem (Scout Cruiser #3) Underway, circa 1908. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1973.	Photo NH 78271 courtesy of history.navy.mil
0400320	777k	USS Birmingham (CS-2) and USS Salem (CS-3) completing, at the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Massachusetts, circa early 1908. Original is a color tinted postcard, mailed at Quincy on 9 September 1909. Courtesy of Captain Don Fink, 1983	Photo NH 94937 courtesy of history.navy.mil
	1.94k	Port Bow, Underway. 1908.	Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships 1940 to 1966 Series: Naval History Photographs: 1883 to 1941 National Archives Identifier: 512977 Local Identifier: 19-N-11288 Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
0400312	NR	Uncle Sam to Race Three Ocean Greyhounds Across Ocean At Top: Cruiser Chester in Center: Cruiser Birmingham, and at Bottom Cruiser Salem, three Scout Boats from the Navy Department Which Are to Negotiate a 5,000-Mile Race. The navy department is about to institute a naval race unprecedented in naval history. To the Azores and back, a distance of some 5,000 miles, three scout cruisers are to be sent away on a record defying trip for the purpose of settling the much mooted question of superiority of different types of engines used in American naval construction.	Image and text provided by State Historical Society of North Dakota. Photo from The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 17 March 1909, Image 7, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400319	NR	TWO SEASICK OPERATORS Reason the Wireless Equipment on Scout Cruisers Salem and Birmingham Failed to Work	Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library. Photo from The Salt Lake Herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 30 December 1909, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400304	129k	Starboard quarter view while underway, location unknown, sometime between 1910 and 1915. Library of Congress photo #LC-DIG-ggbain-09977	Bill Gonyo
0400326	NR	NO SIGN OF THE NINA Battleship Louisiana (BB-19), tug Apache and Salem Report Failure of Search. TO NARROW ITS EXTENT Warships Will Not Look North of Fenwick Island Light. She would be found in 1978.	Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from Evening Star. [volume] [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 15 February 1910, Image 2, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Titanic Tragedy
0400310	NR	Millionaires Perish Among 1,300 Lost in Sea Tragedy MAP SHOWING APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF THE TITANIC'S DISASTER AND THE POSITIONS OF THE RESCUE SHIP AND OTHER VESSELS MENTIONED IN THE DISPATCHES.	Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA. Photo from The San Francisco Call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 17 April 1912, Image 2, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400315	NR	CRUISER CHESTER CONVOYING THE CARPATHIA. MANY BODIES OF THE TITANIC'S PASSENGERS BEING TAKEN TO BOSTON BY THE CALIFORNIAN CHESTER TO REACH THE CARPATHIA IN NEXT FEW HOURS Scout Cruiser Salem Transmits Wireless Message Here, Thus Establishing Chain of Communication An unbroken chain of wireless communication between the steamship Carpathia, bearing the survivors of the lost Titanic, and the Navy Department, was established shortly before noon today. The first official message coming through addressed to the Secretary of the Navy gave information that the scout cruiser Chester was about to pick up the Carpathia, and start the convoy to port. The message was received at the radio station at the Washington Navy Yard from the scout cruiser Salem, which is making good speed in a northeasterly course from Hampton Roads to pick up the Carpathia and the Chester.	Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from The Washington Times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 17 April 1912, LAST EDITION, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400316	NR	WASHINGTON AROUSED TO ORDER RIGID INVESTIGATION OF TITANIC TRAGEDY Sketch of Titanic After Crash, Showing Work of Loading Passengers Into Lifeboats The scout cruiser Chester won a thrilling race over her sister ship, the Salem, up the New England coast today and established communication with the steamer Carpathia which has on board the survivors from the steamship Titanic. The names of all the first and second-class passengers who had been aboard the Titanic have been sent to shore by the Carpathia, and the lists as transmitted are complet and accurate, the message reads.	Image and text provided by Rutgers University Libraries. Photo from Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 17 April 1912, HOME EDITION, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400313	NR	ABANDON ALL HOPE FOR THOSE NOT ON CARPATHIA "GRAVEYARD OF THE SEAS" IS STORM CENTER OF BATTLE FOR NEWS OF DISASTER	Image and text provided by University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. Photo from The Birmingham Age-Herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 17 April 1912, Image 11, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400317	NR	No Definite Information Can Be Had From the Carpathia, Even When Asked for in the Name of the President of the United States, J. Bruce Ismay, a Director of the White Star Line Holds Strict Sensorship Over Carpathian Wireless Operator.	Image and text provided by University of Nevada Las Vegas University Libraries. Photo from Tonopah Daily Bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 18 April 1912, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400314	NR	PRESIDENT TAFT SENT FAST SCOUT CRUISERS TO MEET THE CARPATHIA HOPING TO LEARN DEFINITE NEWS OF MAJOR ARCHIBALD BUTT	Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library. Photo from The Evening Standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, 22 April 1912, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400318	NR	SECRETARY MEYER TO INVESTIGATE Commanders of Cruisers Are Told to Produce Their Log Books. The log books of the scout cruisers Salem and Chester, two ships dispatched by President Taft to get the official report of the sinking of the Tltanic from the Carpathia and which failed in their mission, to-night were ordered sent here for examination by Secretary of Navy Meyer. Oparators of the Cunard line have stated that there was failure because the navy operators were inefficient.	Image and text provided by Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA. Photo from The Times Dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 21 April 1912, Image 37, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Early Teens & Later Life
0400322	344k	Crew of the Salem appear for a crew photo, circa mid teens?	Photo courtesy of Dave Howie.
0400323	423k	Bow view of the Salem in the Quincy drydock.	Photo courtesy of Dave Howie.
0400324	293k	The propulsion side of Salem in the Quincy drydock.	Photo courtesy of Dave Howie.
0400325	300k	Broadside view of Salem outside the Quincy drydock.	Photo courtesy of Dave Howie.
0400307	NR	THE SCOUT CRUISER SALEM. One of the fastest ships of the navy, which sailed for Veracruz, yesterday	Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from New-York Tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 29 April 1914, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400305	912k	Starboard bow view, date and location unknown. Prior to modifications to bridge area. From "The Marine Steam Turbine", 1919. Image scanned by the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Library	Christopher Edwards
0400311	NR	Rear Admiral David F. Sellers in 1915 commanded the scout cruiser Salem.	Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 17 June 1929, Image 7, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
0400309	1.34k	Original Caption: GUARDING GERMAN SEA RAIDERS AT PHILA. NAVY YARD. U.S. scout cruiser Salem guarding the Prinz Eitel Friederich and the Kron Prinz Wilhelm the two interned German Raiders at the League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia., Pa. The fence enclosing the two small buildings is the "stockade" and the interned German sailors are not allowed outside it. The sailors will be transferred to fortresses in Georgia for internment until the end of the war.	Photographer: International Film Service National Archives Identifier:45499724 Local Identifier: 165-WW-272C-14 Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
0400303	644k	Salem (Scout Cruiser #3), model. This model was on display in the World War I section at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Bldg. 76, until 2022.	Photo courtesy of history.navy.mil
0400306	128k	USS Salem (CL 3) anchored off Naval Station (NAS) San Diego, circa 1920. US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, Photo No. 1985.055.001.025	Mike Green

(Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves - Photos courtesy of Bill Gonyo)

This Page Was Created By Paul R. Yarnall And Maintained By Tom Bateman & Michael Mohl