Commodore George Dewey truculently began the battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898 on board the cruiser USS Olympia (C-6) with the famous words, “You may fire when you are ready Gridley.” In a matter of hours the Spanish fleet anchored near Manila was no more—and the United States was propelled to the status of a global power, joining European powers in the great game for colonies. Not only was the Philippines gained for the Stars and Stripes, but the morality of colonialism also would stir debate among Americans. Right or wrong, the Olympia led the Asiatic Squadron and demonstrated the naval might of the United States. She represented a stage of naval evolution between the steam ironclads of the Civil War and the steel-hulled dreadnoughts of World War I. More important, the technology incorporated into ships like her would be modernized and incorporated into the warships of today.
The Olympia was born out of the shipbuilding program for the “New Navy” of the 1880s and 1890s, meant to address the weaknesses of a neglected service. From 1885 to 1889, Congress authorized the construction of 30 vessels of different classes with an aggregate displacement of 100,000 tons. From this legislation came ships like the Maine, the Texas, and the New York (ACR-2), Admiral William Sampson’s flagship in the war against Spain. The-5,800-ton Olympia had four 8-inch guns and could make nearly 22 knots.
Commissioned on 5 February 1895 in San Francisco at a cost of $1,769,000, the Olympia joined the Asiatic Squadron in August of that same year. Decommissioned in 1899, she was reactivated in 1902 and served in the North Atlantic Squadron protecting U. S. interests and citizens in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Atlantic. From 1907 to 1909, she was called to serve as a training ship for midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy for each of those summers. She joined several allied warships off Murmansk in April 1918 during the crisis brought about by the Russian Revolution. The Olympia was on hand in July 1920 as General Billy Mitchell’s biplanes sank the ex-German warships Frankfurt and Ostfriesland off the Virginia Capes. In 1921, she transported the remains of an unknown American soldier from Le Havre, France, to be interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Her final duty was as training ship for Academy midshipmen during their summer 1922 cruise, and was decommissioned that December.
The only surviving U.S. warship of the Spanish-American War has been docked at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1996 and is part of the Independence Seaport Museum. More than 100,000 visitors walk through the museum and the Historic Ship Zone each year, stepping into our nation’s past with self-guided tours of the Olympia and the submarine Becuna (SS-319). Tourists, historians, and Navy sailors past and present can experience the rough life of the steel-hulled cruiser and her barber shop, sick bay, galley, bakery, and engine room. They can peer into her mighty 8-inch guns, which brought victory to Commodore Dewey at Manila Bay. She also houses galleries with paintings, photos, and artifacts.
The Independence Seaport Museum is embarking on a monumental task to halt the deterioration and eventual sinking of this grand historic ship. All donations today are focused on stopping the rusting of her hull and protecting the ship from damage. She needs between $10 and $15 million, however, to restore her to her original condition. The total cost would cover dry-docking, hull repairs, replacement of wooden decks, and restoration of deck and interior spaces, including her engineering plant and armament. The Olympia was featured on the History Channel’s Save Our Ships, which recently detailed the type of structural damage the elements have wrought on this historic landmark.
Aside from her value as a monument to military and engineering history, this grand old cruiser symbolized America’s sense of national unity at the dawn of the 20th century. Emerging from the divisiveness of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Northerners and Southerners came together against a common enemy in Imperial Spain. The Spanish-American War gave America a hero in Commodore Dewey and an icon in the Olympia. This old vessel is the only link left to a conflict that helped form the modem United States, and she deserves a place as a national treasure.