- USS Olympia (C-6)
USS "Olympia" (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40) was a
protected cruiser in theUnited States Navy during theSpanish-American War . She is most notable for being the flagship of CommodoreGeorge Dewey at theBattle of Manila Bay . The cruiser continued in service throughoutWorld War I and was decommissioned in 1922.As of 2008 , "Olympia" is amuseum ship at theIndependence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania .Design and construction
"Olympia" was laid down
17 June 1891 byUnion Iron Works ,San Francisco, California ; launched5 November 1892 ; sponsored by Miss Ann B. Dickie; and commissioned5 February 1895 , CaptainJohn J. Read in command. She was built in a transitional period for warship design and for the US Navy. The Navy was expanding is fleet to move beyond coastal defense onto the world stage. "Olympia" was larger and faster than the previous generation of Navy ships, built with a new type of vertical triple-expansion steam engine. Yet she retained a vestigial suit of sails for emergency propulsion. She was one of the first naval ships to have electricity and powered steering gear.ervice history
Her initial service was as
flagship on theAsiatic Station . In that role, she participated in Philippines-areaSpanish-American War operations, including theBattle of Manila Bay , and returned to the U.S. in September 1899. It was from her deck that CommodoreGeorge Dewey spoke the famous words "You may fire when ready, Gridley", which launched the attack that resulted in the sinking or capture of the entireSpanish Pacific fleet underAdmiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón and silenced the shore batteries atManila , all within the span of six hours. The precise spot where Dewey is believed to have stood when he gave the order is marked on the ship today.From 1902 to 1906, "Olympia" was active in the
Atlantic ,Caribbean andMediterranean . She also saw occasional service as aUnited States Naval Academy training ship into 1909. She was a barracks ship atCharleston, South Carolina , from 1912 to 1916, and recommissioned for sea duty in the latter year. "Olympia" spentWorld War I and the early post-war years in the Atlantic, theRussia nArctic as part of theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War and in the Mediterranean area. She was briefly reclassified as CA-15 on July 17, 1920, then CL-15 on August 8, 1921. In October-November 1921, she brought home the body of the "Great War's" Unknown Soldier. The "Olympia" was the first ship in the U.S. Navy to have a mechanically chilled fresh water dispenser, or "Scuttlebutt ", and is the oldest steel warship still afloat.Preservation of "Olympia"
Decommissioned on
9 December 1922 , "Olympia" was preserved as a relic, being again reclassified IX-40 in June 30, 1931. On September 11, 1957 she was released to the Cruiser "Olympia" Association and modified back to her 1898 configuration and became amuseum ship under their auspices until 1995 when faced with mounting debt, the Cruiser "Olympia" Society merged, on January 1, 1996 with theIndependence Seaport Museum inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania .Investigators studied the Olympia for clues to the explosion of the USS Maine. Two of its guns are located in the Captain's and Admiral's Quarters, which resemble Victorian sitting rooms, complete with tall cupboards, overstuffed furniture, and fireplace.
Today the Olympia is a museum at the
Independence Seaport Museum , atPenn's Landing in Philadelphia. She is the sole floating survivor of the U.S. Navy's Spanish-American War fleet. NROTC Midshipmen fromVillanova University NROTC regularly work on the Olympia, functioning as maintenance crew. [Cooling, Benjamin Franklin. "USS Olympia: Herald of Empire." Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1557501483]References
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Further reading
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*External links
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* [http://www.phillyseaport.org/historicships/olympia.html Independence Seaport Museum: USS "Olympia"]
* [http://www.spanamwar.com/olympia.htm Cruiser Olympia at Spanish-American War Centennial website]
* [http://www.hnsa.org/ships/olympia.htm HNSA Ship Page: USS Olympia]
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