USS Olympia and matter of longterm survival of air artifacts

[Pat Carry]

Hi,
I am glad this was posted here, as it coincides with my personal interest in the Olympia. I grew up not to far from the Olympia's location and never got a chance to visit her until a few weeks ago. The ship is the oldest floating steel warship in existence, and as noted was Admiral Dewey's flagship during the battle of Manilla Bay. The cruiser also had a distinguished history before WWI and immediately. The ship and company was present for convoy duty in the Atlantic, cruised the Mediterranean at the end of WWI, and was present at Murmansk during the Russian Revolution. Including summer cruises for Mid-Shipmen, one of the last duties of the ship was to return the unknown soldier of WWI. Then she was decommissioned. At present time, the ship will be open from August 22nd to November 22nd, and then will be closed until future disposition is made of the vessel. I recommend getting there in that time, as it may be years before it is open again.

The ship is in need of help. I'm going to disregard talking about the issues with the Philadelphia Seaport Museum, as that can be found on the web and rehashing them here is not going to help the ship. I attended the last board meeting of the Friends of the Cruiser Olympia (FOTCO) on Sunday, August 15th, as I was asked to assist that organization's board and possibly be a board member if required. My purpose attending was to ask questions of the board in order to "vet" them for future aid; basically, I didn't want to endorse a group without knowing more about them. This is what I found, and is current information approved by them for release to the public.

1. The Friends of the Cruiser Olympia was founded about a year ago to gain stewardship of the vessel from the US Navy and retain the ship in Philadelphia as a floating museum. Their website is http://www.cruiserolympia.org.

2. The Philadelphia Seaport museum has determined that the ship no longer suits their organization, and has asked the USN to take back the ship. FOTCO intends to work with the museum to transfer stewardship of the ship and the 5000 plus artifacts which are part of the ship's collection and are not currently on display due to conservation issues.

3. FOTCO has incorporated in Delaware as a 501C3 organization, but submission of their IRS paperwork for federal recognition and designation has just been submitted. Therefore, donations at this point are NOT deductible from your taxes. This will change when they have IRS designation as a 501C3.

4. FOTCO has qualified US Naval engineering personnel on staff to guide conservation and public presentation of the ship. Also present in FOTCO is Bruce Harris, former executive officer of Amistad, and very well-versed in public historical education and conservation.

5. FOTCO requires $2.5 million in the bank by January 2011 to show responsibility inherent for designation by the USN as steward of the vessel. They are seeking pledges or donations at this time for this effort.

6. Immediate stabilization in place can be done with that money noted in item 5. In the next 5-8 years, the organization will require $10-20 million to haul the ship to the Rhodes shipyard down the road and do maintenance. The last time the ship was hauled was 1945. This time period, 5-8 years, is considered a critical period; delay past that point may lead to permanent irreversible decay.

7. There are other organizations which have expressed interest in the ship, including the great people who took such good care of the USS Cabot, the last jeep carrier. Being exposed to the board as I was on Sunday, and based on my experience with historcal conservation, I can't imagine a better-poised organization than FOTCO. However, I recommend doing due diligence with this organization as you would with any other. I am still learning about them myself, and am willing to pass what is appropriate on to anybody willing to donate to the FOTCO.

If you have any questions, head to http://www.cruiserolympia.org. If you want my opinions, please contact me here or at my webpage, http://www.forgottenfield.com. Do not delay!

Like all of us here, I dont want to see the ship disappear so I'm going to send in a small donation. I wish I had lots of cash I could send them.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

On the front page of todays section C of the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, there is a headline story about the Olympia. It was written by former Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman.

Secretary Lehman along with former Congressman Curt Weldon have over the last 6 months have formulated a plan that calls for federal funding under the "shovel ready" projects.

The article is not available on line and that is a shame as there are some great photos with it.

Secretary Lehman points out that this is the kind of project that could start in a few weeks as plans for the restoration and dredging have ben already drawn up.

The preservation and restoration of this ship are essential so a precedence is not established for future museum ships. Who knows who might want to scrap the Hornet or some other signifigant aviation based relic in the unforseen future?

.

[Cherrybomber13]

2. The Philadelphia Seaport museum has determined that the ship no longer suits their organization,

Having been involved with the Hotel and Casino Redevelopment in the area a few years back, all I will say is "Thats Philly for ya"
I wonder if the re-developers are still fiending for NAS Willow Grove...

I wish the FOTCO all the best. Shes a beautiful ship.

[mrmoto]

Rather than wait for the Government to fund the restoration of the Olympia, I sent them $20 in the hope that the museum uses the money wisely

[Pat Carry]

Rather than wait for the Government to fund the restoration of the Olympia, I sent them $20 in the hope that the museum uses the money wisely

I sent money in as well. Hope it helps out with saving the ship.

[Andy in West Oz]

I only found out about Olympia about a month or so ago when the first stories of her being sunk as a reef, ahem, surfaced. I was gobsmacked that, firstly, such an historic ship survives and, secondly, she has been left to rot. I've since done a lot of reading about her actions and Dewey's career and am just astounded. I believe a fund-raising event attended by interested and influential business types was held recently?

Have noted Missouri and Midway are particularly successful and I think, no offense to the obvious historic value of both vessles, they are lucky to be where they are. I mean, Missouri is pefectly placed in Pearl Harbor from a patronage point of view.

After finding out about Olympia, subsequently was very pleased to discover a fine RN survivor - http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/Three_Hist ... alier.html

Have also been following the ups and downs of trying to buy the former HMS Whimbrel from the Egyptians - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Whimbrel_(U29) (sorry, Wiki gives a nice little overview as the 'official' websites are a bit dodgy)

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -25884781/

[old iron]

The news today is that they are looking for a new owner for the USS Olympia. The owner would need to come up with $2-5 million for immediate repairs and $10-20 million for dry dock and restoration.

Why is there no US Navy museum to take care of these things? Every service has one if not service air museums for old planes but no museum that preserved and presents to history of the old ships. Surely this could be justified as a recruiting tool and to communicate the esprit de coups for active service personnel. What would the annual costs be as ratio to the daily costs of a carrier fleet?

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

They have no problem manning the "Museum Ship " Constitution ! Why not Re-commission the Olympia ?

[k5083]

Why is there no US Navy museum to take care of these things? Every service has one if not service air museums for old planes but no museum that preserved and presents to history of the old ships. Surely this could be justified as a recruiting tool and to communicate the esprit de coups for active service personnel. What would the annual costs be as ratio to the daily costs of a carrier fleet?

Well, there sort of is.

This would fall under the US Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command.
http://www.history.navy.mil/index.html

This Command operates 12 museums. The Constitution is one of them. The Command preserves the submarine Nautilus in CT. It appears that the Navy used to preserve and operate the Wisconsin in Hampton Roads but has transferred it to the city.

So your question is why doesn't the NHHC preserve more ships.

I guess they have weighed the heritage, publicity, recruiting, and training value of maintaining old ships, and no doubt the Olympia in particular, in view of the cost and available resources and concluded that it just isn't worth it. They seem to feel that they get more bang for buck in preserving pieces of ships, such as gun turrets or sub sails.

It would be interesting to know more about the thought process and economics involved. One problem with heritage preservation of large, high-maintenance artifacts is that the benefits are vague and intangible whereas the costs are very specific and very tangible. Many of the benefits accrue not to the Navy but to the society at large. So they are externalities from the Navy's perspective.

We live in a time when most parts of government have been required to cut back, even in economically trivial areas that are more for show than for any real budget impact, and activities ancillary to the department's main mission are the first to go. This is probably not a good time to be lobbying for the navy to expand its side business of historical caretaking. Government support of culture, whether it be art, history, literature, etc., generally is under siege. It is left to communities, corporations, and philanthropists to pick up the ball of preserving even some of the most important artifacts. The Olympia is a big ball.

Temporary economic woes aside, this is a wealthy society that would seem to have enough surplus resources to preserve quite a lot of historical assets like this. It's a matter of getting the various constituencies that would benefit from saving a ship like this to acknowledge their interests and pony up.

August

[Cherrybomber13]

Why can't they drydock the darn ship. Fill it in with sand around the hull and get rid of the sinking issue. Just a suggestion.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

I am member of the Navy League. Every year on of the monthly magazines is dedicated to the Defense contractors. I can't believe that with all the money they spend on advertising and lobbyists that they can't find a way to throw a few bucks towards the preservation of this ship and its trove of history and technology.

Lets see if all the ones listed just kicked in a hundred thousand dollars..Bingo Money enough to repair her and provide for a sustaining fund for upkeep.


I know pie in the sky !

[agent86]

I cant imagine them sinking the olympia but then again the navy scrapped the original Enterprise.both are criminal in my mind.can you believe they scrapped the enterprise.fought and survived the entire pacific war.the fact it was scrapped still amazes me

[Robbie Roberts]

I cant imagine them sinking the olympia but then again the navy scrapped the original Enterprise.both are criminal in my mind.can you believe they scrapped the enterprise.fought and survived the entire pacific war.the fact it was scrapped still amazes me

And they used one of the ORIGINAL aircraft carriers, Saratoga, in the A-bomb tests at Bikini. Dam-n Shame

Scott

[APG85]

I cant imagine them sinking the olympia but then again the navy scrapped the original Enterprise.both are criminal in my mind.can you believe they scrapped the enterprise.fought and survived the entire pacific war.the fact it was scrapped still amazes me

Unfortunately, you can't save them all. It's wildly expensive to save and maintain an aircraft carrier as a museum attraction...not only the maintenance of the ship, but the infrastructure to support it. Not many communities have the ability to tackle something like that...

I've been watching with great interest the situation with the SS United States for years and I'm still not confident in a happy outcome...

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

I cant imagine them sinking the olympia but then again the navy scrapped the original Enterprise.both are criminal in my mind.can you believe they scrapped the enterprise.fought and survived the entire pacific war.the fact it was scrapped still amazes me

And they used one of the ORIGINAL aircraft carriers, Saratoga, in the A-bomb tests at Bikini. Dam-n Shame

Scott

The Sara was a shame, but remember that in 1946-47 we had how many fleet carriers. The war was just over and no body was rushing to remember it. The Sara was only 25 or so years old and the Enterprise CV-6 was only 20 years old when it went to the breakers in Kearny NJ. The Olympia is over a hundred and played historical parts in 2 Wars.