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From Shore

Citadel
The Citadel & Visual Table of Contents

A view of the citadel, showing the starboard five inch mounts and most of the major directors. The main directors, normally used target the sixteen inch guns, are "Spot One" and "Spot Two." These are at the highest points of the main and aft towers. There are four secondary directors, "Sky" one through four. These were normally used to guide the five inch guns, but could be used for the main battery if necessary.

The above image has many links to the other pages. One can click on many (not all) parts of the picture to get a closer view.

Full Length
Backing off

Forward Turrets
The Forward Turrets from shore

Note the George the Gremlin cartoon on turret two.

Comparing WW II Ship Classes
Mothball Row
Top left, two Fletcher class DDs
Center, USS Salem, CA 139
Right, USS Massachusetts, BB 59

Ship
??
Salem
MA
Iowa

Designation
DD ?
CA 139
BB 59
BB 61

Class
Fletcher
Des Moines
S. Dakota
Iowa

Displacement
2,100
17,000
35,000
45,000

Length
376' 3"
716' 6"
680' 10"
887' 3"

Beam
39' 8"
76' 4"
108' 2"
108' 2"

Draft
13'
26'
36' 2"
37' 9"

Primaries

9x8"/55
9x16"/45
9x16"/50

Secondaries

12x5"/38
16x5"/38
20x5"/38

Heavy AA

24x3"/50
72x40mm
80x40mm

Light AA

24x20mm
lotsx20mm
29x20mm

Aircraft
0
4
3
3

Belt Armor

6"
12.25"
12.125

Turret Armor

8"
18"
17"

Deck Armor

3.5"
6.33"
6.625"

Tower Armor

6.5"
15"
17.25

Machinery HP

120,000
130,000
212,000

Screws

4
4
4

Speed (knots)
36
33
27
33

Crew size
273
1799
1793
1921

Modernized USS Iowa

The second picture up, Mothball Row, was taken in the late 1950s. The Massachusetts and Salem both later became museum ships, currently located in Fall River Massachusetts and Quincy Massachusetts, respectively. Below is the USS Iowa, lead ship of the class that followed Massachusetts. The armament and armor on the Iowas are only slightly improved. The primary difference is 5 knots extra speed and the fuel capacity to sustain it. The result was a considerably longer hull. While the Iowas look long and slender compared to Massachusetts and her sisters, they are exactly the same width, the 108' 2" maximum if the ship is going to pass the Panama Canal. The other interesting comparison is that Salem is longer than Massachusetts.

Last - Next

Shore - Dock - Engines - Dry-dock - Perspectives
Anchor - 16 Inch - George - Turret 3 - Shells - Magazines - Jean Bart - Armor
Hatches - Five Inchers - Inside 5" - Quad 40s - Turkey Trot
AA Directors - Sky - Spot - Radar - Last Look - History - BB Names
Massachusetts - Galveston - Homepage - NavShips & NavRing