Navy Links

[lordroel]

Originally Posted by Olefin

Keep in mind too that a lot of ships that got put in the boneyard or storage yard may not have been put there in V1 where the Cold War never ended. One reason for the big draw down was the Cold War ending.

Example

USS Salem

The ship was surveyed in 1981 for possible reactivation as part of the 600 ship navy project, and while the inspection results showed she was in excellent condition, funding to reactivate Salem and her sister Des Moines could not be secured from Congress.

Given the Cold War not ending there is every chance she got reactivated prior to the Twilight War (both were reactivated for sure at the very least during the war) and Newport News might not have been scrapped in 1993

Or for that matter the last light cruiser the USS Oklahoma City that was expended as a target in 1999 but would have definitely been back in the Navy if possible with the Twilight War, especially after the losses the USN took

Would the Salem be turned into a missile cruiser ore be kept as a gun cruiser.

[Olefin]

Originally Posted by lordroel

Would the Salem be turned into a missile cruiser ore be kept as a gun cruiser.

Always wondered if the modernization would have added Tomahawk's and Harpoon missiles like they did to the Iowa's

[lordroel]

Originally Posted by Olefin

Always wondered if the modernization would have added Tomahawk's and Harpoon missiles like they did to the Iowa's

Would that fit on the Salem.

[Brit]

Originally Posted by lordroel

Would the Salem be turned into a missile cruiser ore be kept as a gun cruiser.

Wow. I don't know how often the film is shown in other countries but 'The Battle of The River Plate' is on TV a lot here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Salem_(CA-139)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ba...er_Plate_(film)

[Raellus]

@Brit: I lived in Montevideo, Uruguay from 1990-'93. You could still see one of the Graf Spee's masts protruding above the river surface from the harbor. Don't know if that's still the case. IIRC, one of its main guns is on display at the Uruguayan naval museum (yeah, that's a thing).

Originally Posted by Olefin

Always wondered if the modernization would have added Tomahawk's and Harpoon missiles like they did to the Iowa's

If the USN brought it back into active service (very likely, IMHO), I think the Salem would definitely have been fitted with Harpoons, at least (assuming there were still SSMs in US stockpiles by the time the refitting was completed). As Lordroi pointed out, there might not be enough room on board for the larger Tomahawks (without removing one of the gun batteries).

-

[Olefin]

Originally Posted by Raellus

@Brit: I lived in Montevideo, Uruguay from 1990-'93. You could still see one of the Graf Spee's masts protruding above the river surface from the harbor. Don't know if that's still the case. IIRC, one of its main guns is on display at the Uruguayan naval museum (yeah, that's a thing).



If the USN brought it back into active service (very likely, IMHO), I think it would definitely have been fitted with Harpoons and Tomahawks (assuming there were still SSMs in US stockpiles by the time the refitting was completed).

-

I suspect that they were retrofitted but with less of them than the Iowa's had -but that by 2001 any she was equipped with would have been fired - or maybe just one or two "magic bullets" left

FYI that is the reason my GM changed the weapons in the Last Submarine from torpedoes to harpoons and tomahawks - i.e. by 2001 there would be hardly any left whereas the Navy most likely had enough torpedoes for a full weapons load out still around - though some may have been older "dumb torps" instead of guided torps