The U.S.S. Olympia served as Commodore George Dewey's flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. In that engagement, the U.S. defeated Spanish naval forces, securing the Philippines for the United States and embarking the nation on an expanded role as a major force in world affairs. The cruiser was born out of a program of ships for the "New Navy" of the 1880s and 1890s, designed to correct the deficiencies of a neglected naval force. This program was directly responsible for the rise of the steel shipbuilding industry in the U.S. The Olympia is the last remaining ship built during that program and the sole surviving naval combatant of the Spanish-American War.
Olympia returned home in triumph from the Spanish-American War in 1899 and continued to serve until 1909. Reactivated for World War I, Olympia patrolled off New York and participated in the allied landings in Murmansk in 1918. Olympia's last major mission was the return of the Unknown Soldier from World War I for reburial in Arlington National Cemetery. Olympia was decommissioned in 1922, and saved in 1954 from being scraped. It was docked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 1922 to 1959, and was then moved to Pier 11 (Race St pier) by the Benjamin Franklin Bridge until 1976, when it was moved to Penn’s Landing. In 1996, the Independence Seaport Museum assumed responsibility for maintaining the vessel.
USS Olympia is a National Historic Landmark. It is the world’s oldest floating steel warship.
1895 1960's by B.F. Bridge Today
5Paul Kleiman, Mary Jenkins and 3 others
Comments