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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSSalem |
| Namesake | |
| Builder | William Cramp & Sons,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania |
| Launched | 1916, as SSJoseph R. Parrott |
| Acquired | 8 June 1942 |
| Commissioned | 9 August 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 6 December 1945 |
| Renamed | Shawmut, 15 August 1945 |
| Stricken | 3 January 1946 |
| Honours and awards | 2battle stars (WWII) |
| Fate | Sold, 7 March 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship /Minelayer /Net laying ship |
| Displacement | 5,300 long tons (5,385 t) |
| Length | 350 ft (110 m) |
| Beam | 57 ft (17 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion | Vertical triple-expansion engine, 2 shafts, 2,700 shp (2,013 kW) |
| Speed | 12knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 219 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSSalem (CM-11) was a commercial cargo ship, that served as aminelayer and thennet laying ship of the United States Navy during World War II.
The ship was built in 1916 byWilliam Cramp & Sons,Philadelphia, as SSJoseph R. Parrott; was acquired by theU.S. Navy on 8 June 1942 from theMaritime Commission; and commissioned on 9 August 1942.
Following training exercises,Salem departedBrooklyn, New York, on 13 November 1942, as part of aconvoy, and arrived atCasablanca on 1 December. She laid 202 mines off that port on 27 and 28 December and helped fight off anair raid there on 31 December. On 20 January 1943, she sailed from Casablanca and arrived atNorfolk, Virginia, on 9 February.
After repairs, she left theUnited States again on 13 June and arrived atOran on 5 July. The minelayer got underway the next day as part of theSicily invasion force; and, on 11 July, laid 390 mines offGela, Sicily, in company withWeehawken (CM-12) andKeokuk (CM-8). Returning to Oran on 17 July,Salem subsequently carried 255 British troops fromGibraltar to Oran and then moved toBizerte in preparation for landings inItaly. However, her role in these landings was cancelled due to the Italian surrender. The ship leftMers el Kebir on 7 October and returned toNew York on 26 October.
Salem was repaired at Norfolk, Virginia, and carried out local operations along theAtlantic coast until 11 May 1944, when she departedHampton Roads, Virginia, for duty with Service Squadron 6 in thePacific. On 27 June, she sailed fromPearl Harbor with a cargo ofammunition, which she offloaded to shore facilities and combatant ships after her arrival atEniwetok on 8 July. She then shuttled between Eniwetok,Kwajalein,Makin,Majuro,Saipan, andTinian, helping to carry ammunition to forward areas for issue to the fleet. At Tinian on 4 October, her stern touched bottom in heavy swells, damaging both screws, andSirius (AK-15) and an Army tug towed her back to Pearl Harbor. After arrival on 5 November, she underwent repairs and temporary conversion into a net cargo ship.
Salem completed conversion on 10 February 1945 and departed Pearl Harbor on 18 February with a cargo of anti-torpedo nets. After stops at Eniwetok,Ulithi, andLeyte,Salem arrived offKerama Retto on 26 March 1945 as troops went ashore to secure the island and its harbor for use as a fleet base for the invasion ofOkinawa. During the next two days,Salem laidantisubmarine nets to protect the harbor.
Japanese air attacks were frequent; and, on 2 April,Salem's gunners helped shoot down a plane that was trying to crash intoLunga Point (CVE-94).Salem departed Kerama Retto two days later and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 27 April, where she picked up a new cargo of nets. Departing Pearl Harbor on 24 May, she unloaded her nets atGuam between 12 and 19 June, and then proceeded to Eniwetok where she repaired nets between 24 June and 31 July.
Salem returned to Pearl Harbor on 10 August, and on 15 August, the day fighting stopped in the Pacific, was renamed as USSShawmut to permit a new cruiser to be namedUSS Salem.
Departing Pearl Harbor on 31 August, she arrived atSan Francisco, California, on 10 September for inactivation.Shawmut was decommissioned on 6 December 1945, struck from theNavy List on 3 January 1946, and transferred to the Maritime Commission on 20 June 1946. She was sold on 7 March 1947 to theWest India Fruit and Steamship Company, and served asSS Joseph R. Parrott under theHonduran flag until 1970.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.