The U.S.S. Olympia: Once the Pride of the Navy Now an Endangered Ship!

USS OLYMPIA (C 6)

There's a common fact about America that sticks out like a nipple in cold weather, and that fact is that America loves old ships. Specifically ones that served in the navy, have big guns that go boom, or ones that carry airplanes. How could one not be at least awe-inspired by seeing an old navy ship? And how could one not want to save and preserve these old ships so that future generations could enjoy them? Take the USS Midway in San Diego, California. Surely an aircraft carrier that launched crucial air strikes against North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces during the Vietnam War is worthy of being saved for future generations. Or what about the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii? That battleship was host to the surrender of Japan on September 2nd, 1945. That fact alone renders it a museum ship permanently. How bout the USS Laffey in Charleston, South Carolina? That destroyer that survived 6 Kamikaze hits in World War II. I'd say that's grounds for preservation. And who could forget the USS Constitution in Boston, Massachusetts? That venerable ass-kicking frigate from the War of 1812 made British sailors crap their pants because of it's seemingly indestructible "iron sides"*. I'd say a ship that made the British navy nervous and gave Americans hope during a difficult war is worthy of being preserved. Now, one of the reasons this blog is in existence is to shed light on forgotten conflicts that involved Americans. World War II and Vietnam don't really fall into the "forgotten" category in my opinion, though this does NOT mean they are any less important to American history. And thanks to dedicated veterans of these conflicts and loads of support from American society today, these conflicts won't be forgotten. The War of 1812 is surely one of those wars that gets swept under the proverbial rug, but thanks to authors, preservation of battlefields, and a dedicated group of reenactors (myself included in this group), this war will be remembered. There is one very popular city that remembers the War of 1812 everyday, and that city is Boston. The USS Constitution exposes thousands of tourists each year to a war not highlighted by Hollywood or popular culture. But because of the Constitution, Those thousands of tourists won't forget the war it fought in. And the same type of mentality exists for the USS Olympia. Olympia never launched F-4 Phantom fighters off of it's deck to give Charlie** a taste of napalm, nor did it host the surrender of one of the most powerful empires in the world. And it certainly didn't sail out and blast cannonballs through bowls of figgy pudding on British warships. Hell, the Olympia doesn't even have sails. Olympia is a veteran of the Spanish American War, yet another forgotten conflict that Americans fought and died in. I first read about the Olympia in an issue of Military History magazine, and about how she is in danger of being scrapped. Angered by this, I had to do more research on her. And guess what I found out? Olympia is an awesome looking ship, there's no doubt about it. If a Carnival cruise ship and a navy warship were able to procreate, Olympia would be it's offspring. With it's hull painted white and it's gold painted superstructure, a person gets a taste of what turn of the twentieth century opulence was really like. I decided to go on phillyseaport.org's page for the Olympia to find out some more information about this boat. It turns out that Olympia is an old gal, not as old as the Constitution, but much older than the Midway. She was launched in 1892 in San Francisco, California. Yep, San Fran. Home of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the hippie subculture. Probably a good thing the Olympia wasn't docked back in her home port after her retirement...she'd look pretty goofy in tie dye!
somehow this just wouldn't look good on the Olympia



OLYMPIA'S BEGINNINGS

Olympia was designated as a cruiser, not as big as a Battleship but she didn't have to be. She's three hundred and forty-four feet long, and fifty-three feet at her widest point, or "beam" as it's called by nautical folk. Her displacement (mass) is five thousand eight hundred and seventy tons, and her top speed was twenty two knots- which equates to twenty five miles per hour...which isn't that fast by today's standards, but what she lacked in speed she made up for in firepower. According to the Spanish American War centennial website, she carried four eight-inch guns, two in each turret, ten five inch guns, fourteen six pound guns, six one pound guns, two machine guns manufactured by Colt, a "field piece" or cannon on a land carriage for landing parties, and six torpedo tubes. And don't let those inches and pounds designations make you think this thing is carrying a wide assortment of BB guns. Oh no. An eight inch gun means it fired a shell eight inches in diameter, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds. Imagine, getting hit with one of those would be like getting hit by an obese middle school student! Lay off the fries, kid!!

A six pound gun means that the shell that's fired through it weighs, yes you guessed it, six pounds. So in retrospect, the Olympia was armed to the teeth and ready for whatever was thrown her way. She's a hungry lass, too. She consumed coal at a rate of six hundred and thirty three pounds PER MINUTE while traveling at her top speed. And with all those guns to be fired and all that coal to be shoveled, she needed a pretty good sized crew to keep her going. Three hundred and ninety-six enlisted men and thirty-three officers saw to it that Olympia was in a constant state of readiness and awesomeness.

OLYMPIA GOES TO WAR...AND KICKS ASS.

Lets flash forward a few years in time. Six years after Olympia is launched, she finds herself steaming towards the Philippines. She's been painted gray, and she's under the command of Commodore George Dewey, who has received orders via telegraph from President McKinley to get his ships ready. McKinley ordered Dewey to travel to the Philippines and "capture or destroy" the ships of the Spanish fleet at Manila. At Dawn on May 1st, 1898, Olympia led five other ships into Manila Bay, and opened fire on a Spanish fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Passarón. Here we see Dewey and his men in action on board the Olympia. GO USA! WOOHOO!











BANG!!! BOOM!!! KA-POW!!! KA-oh you get the idea.


Viva España?? No! GO AMERICA!!!

At first glance, it would appear that the Spanish fleet would have had the upper hand. They had shore batteries, plus one extra ship than the Americans. Now as school children, we're all taught at an early age that the Spanish kicked some serious ass throughout history. Guys like Coronado and Cortez were the epitome of macho men, and not the kind the Village People sung about, either. Not only did the Spanish have tough dudes, but they had a lot of money back in the day and had a ton of colonial possessions. But the Spanish waiting for the American fleet that morning in Manila Bay were at a disadvantage. All the ships in the Spanish fleet were next to obsolete. Take the Castilla for example. Here's a pretty bad ass looking ship, right? Wrong. Not only was it's hull made completely out of WOOD, but her screw shaft was inoperable because Spanish mechanics had to stop a leak around the shaft with CONCRETE. Yep. You heard me. Now when you throw a ship like that in with a whole bunch of other ships of mediocre condition...you've got yourself a fleet that isn't going to do a whole hell of a lot to stop an opposing fleet made up of steel warships that work really well. It'd be like taking a whole bunch of piece 'o' shit cars from a demolition derby and having them race against NASCAR cars on a NASCAR track. Those shitboxes won't even make it through the first lap! And that's what happened to the Spanish. Their technological setbacks led to their demise, And the Olympia was right there to gain a decisive victory for the United States.
Not the best cars in the world...but I've seen and driven worse...


OLYMPIA TODAY

Olympia served in the First World War as well, before she was decommissioned in 1922. But her actions at Manila Bay that day in 1898 are what she is most remembered for. So if this ship kicked so much ass, why the hell is it in danger of being scrapped? Well, the U.S. navy conducted studies of Olympia's hull, and said that she is in danger of sinking right where she is docked, which is in Philadelphia. It's going to take a lot to fix her up, but again, think about what was said earlier in this entry. Would you want to see the Constitution sunk? How bout the Missouri? the Midway? What I'm trying to say is this: Every preserved ship out there is preserved for a reason. This ship meant something to our nation once. She and her crew were heroes, who gave future generations something to look up to. She STILL means something to America today, let's not let her go to waste. Olympia has sat on the Delaware River for decades now. She's a beautiful ship, and tons of tourists board her every year to step back in time and see what life was like for sailors at the turn of the century. Time is quickly running out for this jewel of history. The Philly Seaport museum will cease tours on November 22nd 2010- that's in little over a month. Olympia will probably go to a scrapyard somewhere next year if funds aren't raised to save her. I know there's gotta be people out there who want to see this ship get refurbished so she can remain a monument to one of the proudest moments in American history. There's a link here to the USS Olympia's website , where you can donate funds to help keep Olympia afloat. I'm not asking you to donate your life savings, even if you donate two bucks, that's at least something. Don't just sit there and selfishly hoard your money. Don't make up the excuse that you have "bills to pay", cause donating two dollars isn't going to kill you or make you broke. I bet if you go out to your car right now you'll find two dollars in change in your seat cushions! So come on what are you waiting for! Do it! SAVE THE OLYMPIA! SAVE HISTORY!!!





UPDATE: As of November of this year, the Philly Seaport Museum announced that it had acquired funds to make "interim repairs", and has chosen to keep the USS Olympia open to the public on a limited basis while repairs take place. Doesn't sound like the Olympia is completely out of the woods yet, but it's a start!


* "Old Ironsides" was the nickname given to the Constitution, because her live oak hull was virtually impregnable to British cannon fire.
** "Charlie" was a slang term given to communist forces like the Viet Cong in Vietnam.