The USS Olympia
Background
The USS Olympia is the world’s oldest steel-hulled warship afloat. Launched in 1892, it served as the US Navy’s flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, marking the United States’ emergence as a world naval power. It was from Olympia’s bridge that Commodore George Dewey remarked to Olympia’s captain during the Battle of Manila Bay, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” After subsequent service around the world, Olympia’s last official naval mission was to carry the body of the Unknown Soldier from France to the United States in 1921.
In 1957, the Cruiser Olympia Association assumed stewardship of the vessel, and began to develop an extensive collection of artifacts related to the ship, its crew, and its history. In 2000, the contract and the care of the ship were transferred to the Independence Seaport Museum (ISM) on the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia. In early 2010, the Independence Seaport Museum announced that it could no longer afford the upkeep of the ship, nor raise the funds necessary for its restoration.
Over the years, Olympia, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, has benefitted from Save America’s Treasures, Pennsylvania’s Keystone Fund, and Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grants. Stipulations for these grants include covenants which tie the interests of the National Park Service and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) to the future of the ship. The Independence Seaport Museum also received a challenge cost-share grant from the National Park Service intended for developing an interpretation plan for the ship. When ISM announced that it was no longer interested in keeping the ship, the National Park Service and PHMC sponsored a summit on the future of the USS Olympia.
The summit’s purpose was to bring together all the known non-profit groups which had to date expressed interest in becoming the new steward of the Olympia, along with other interested parties and organizations whose expertise or technical knowledge could contribute to finding a new home for the ship.
USS Olympia National Fund
The National Park Service and PHMC have worked with NAVSEA (the Naval Sea Systems Command, which is responsible for managing the transfer of decommissioned ships) to adopt a two-year timeline and transfer application process, for the interested groups vying for the Olympia. Groups will have to submit their business, financial, and environmental plans, along with plans for mooring, towing, maintenance, and museum/curatorial plans. The last part of the transfer application process (known as TAPP) has a deadline of November 1, 2012. The hope is that toward the end of 2012, a new steward will be identified and announced.
The fund is established to support the long term repair and restoration of the USS Olympia. The funds will be held by the National Trust and will be distributed to the new receiving organization once a new steward of the Olympia is confirmed (or if necessary, used for emergency repairs). Should a new steward not be identified at the end of the transfer application process, the National Trust will use the funds for the documentation, preservation, and/or public interpretation of objects and artifacts from the ship itself, and/or for preservation of the ISM’s accessioned Olympia Collection.
The Independence Seaport Museum has indicated that it will provide a very basic level of stabilization funding and maintenance for two years.
