USS Des Moines (CA-134)
41°42′11″N 93°42′42″W / 41.7029543°N 93.7116003°W
USS Des Moines
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Des Moines |
Namesake | Des Moines, Iowa |
Ordered | 25 September 1943 |
Builder | Bethlehem Steel Company |
Laid down | 28 May 1945 |
Launched | 27 September 1946 |
Commissioned | 16 November 1948 |
Decommissioned | 6 July 1961 |
Stricken | 9 July 1991 |
Identification |
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Honours and awards | See Awards |
Fate | Scrapped, 16 August 2007 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Des Moines-class heavy cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | |
Beam | 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m) |
Draft | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 33 kn (61 km/h) |
Range |
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Boats & landing craft carried | 2-4 × lifeboats |
Complement | 1,799 officers and enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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Aviation facilities |
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USS Des Moines (CA-134) was the lead ship of the class of United States Navy heavy cruisers. She was the first ship in the United States Navy to feature the auto-loading Mark 16 8-inch/55 caliber gun, the first of its type in the world. She was the second ship of the US Navy to be commissioned with the name of the capital of Iowa. Launched 1946, she was commissioned in 1948. She saw duty around the world until her decommissioning in 1961; she was permanently mothballed. A 1981 survey was done to determine if she was worthy of reactivation for the 600-ship Navy, but the cost was too great so she remained in the reserve. She was struck off the naval reserve in 1993, which was followed by a campaign to turn her into a museum ship. The campaign failed, and in 2005 she was sold for scrapping, and she was broken up by July 7. Parts of the ship have been donated to various places for display, including at the USS Salem museum, which is the only Des Moines-class ship to avoid the scrapyard.
Construction and career
Des Moines was launched 27 September 1946 by
In a varied operating schedule designed to maintain the readiness of the Navy to meet the constant demands of defense and
Through her Mediterranean services Des Moines contributed significantly to the success of the 6th Fleet in representing American power and interests in the countries of
Film footage of her cruising with other ships of the United States 6th Fleet was used in the introduction and conclusion of the movie John Paul Jones, starring Robert Stack (Warner Brothers 1959).
Decommissioning
After decommissioning in 1961 she was mothballed in the
After an attempt to turn her into a museum ship in Milwaukee, Wisconsin failed, she was sold in 2005, and then towed to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping. By July 2007, she had been completely broken up. Her status officially changed to "disposed of by scrapping, dismantling" on 16 August 2007. Two of her dual 5-inch/38 gun mounts were donated to the USS Lexington museum in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they can now be seen on display.[2]
Her sister ship Newport News was scrapped in New Orleans in 1993. The third Des Moines-class ship, Salem, is a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts.
USS Des Moines ' bell, nameplate and plaque are on display at Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa. The USS Des Moines ' port anchor resides in the roundabout at the entrance to Quincy, Massachusetts, which is adjacent to the USS Salem Museum.
Gallery
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Des Moines underway at sea, circa in the late 1950s
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Des Moines at anchor off Newport News, Virginia in 1957
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Des Moines at anchor off Villefranche, in July 1959
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Des Moines underway at sea on 30 November 1959
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Salem and Des Moines laid up in 1995
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Des Moines laid up at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 11 June 2004
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Des Moines being towed to the scrapyard, in October 2006
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Des Moines' anchor at USS Salem Museum, Quincy
Awards
- Navy Occupation Medalwith (Asia and Europe clasps)
- National Defense Service Medal
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
References
- ^ "New Cruiser Packs 8 inch Automatics". Popular Science. May 1949.
- ^ Big Guns Return to the Lex
This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.
External links
- NavSource photos of Des Moines
- ex-Des Moines being scrapped in Brownsville, Texas, January 2007
- Google Map picture of the Des Moines in Brownsville
- USS Des Moines – Reunion Allumni Association, official web site
- World of Warships article