Save-the-Olympia Summit Held
Efforts to save the historic warship Olympia, currently corroding at the waterline and along the keel in her berth at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum, intensified with the convening of a summit at the museum 30 March–1 April.
The museum and partners including the National Park Service, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and Naval Sea Systems Command, as well as such groups as the National Maritime Historical Society, Council of American Maritime Museums, Historic Naval Ships Association, Naval Historical Foundation, and National Trust for Historic Preservation, gathered to evaluate preservation alternatives for the Olympia and facilitate development of fund-raising, business, and educational plans for parties interested in taking on stewardship of the beleaguered vessel.
Representatives of five potential Olympia-adoption groups from around the country attended the summit. The multi-phase transfer-application process for those interested in acquiring the historic cruiser began in March with the museum’s issuing of relevant documents and deadlines—the first of which, for an official letter of intent and summary application, falls on 1 September.
The salient urgency in efforts to rescue the ship is her advanced stage of decrepitude, literally worsening with every tide. Any nonprofit group aspiring to give the Olympia a new home first must face the fact that an overhaul, with estimates as high as $10 million, will be required before the ship can even leave Philadelphia.
Those daunting up-front costs, plus the fact that disparate groups working to save the ship share common cause but might be considered at cross-purposes from a fund-raising standpoint, led to a consensus at the museum summit that a centralized, national push is needed to streamline the effort. An umbrella entity could raise the money needed for the ship’s preliminary overhaul before a new site for the Olympia is selected from among the contenders. At press time, a national heritage organization has tentatively agreed to spearhead the Olympia campaign. For updates and more information, visit the Independence Seaport Museum website at www.phillyseaport.org.
A Banner Month For Sunken Submarines
Two submarine-shipwreck discoveries—one a German U-boat from the First World War, the other a Soviet Cold War relic—were announced in March.
The German boat, the U-106, was found by the Royal Dutch Navy at a depth of 130 feet, about 40 miles north of the Dutch island of Terschelling. According to the Netherlands Defense Ministry, the wreck site actually was first noticed in late 2009. It was originally thought that the remains were those of a long-lost Dutch sub, the O-13, from World War II. The March announcement came after dive teams and remote underwater cameras verified the shipwreck’s German World War I provenance, and the submariners’ families had been notified.
The U-106 was built at Kiel and launched in June 1917 with a 39-man complement. She managed to sink a British destroyer, HMS Contest, but was fated to have a short career, hitting a mine and going to the bottom on 28 July 1917. The Royal Dutch Navy has declared that the site will be designated as a war grave.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Armed Forces also announced in March the discovery of a Soviet submarine wreck in the Baltic Sea off the island of Gotland. Like the Dutch, the Swedes first located the wreck in 2009 but kept the news from the public while research was undertaken. The boat is a Soviet sub dating to the Cold War, but the vessel’s identity remains a mystery. It may have sunk while being towed, victim of an early-1980s Swedish depth charge.
Historic Pearl Harbor Tower Preserved
The Pacific Aviation Museum officially began a $7.5 million stabilization project to preserve the historic Ford Island Control Tower with a Hawaiian blessing on 25 February.
The tower, a Ford Island landmark, survived the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. “It’s time to begin this long-awaited and badly needed tower-stabilization project,” said Pacific Aviation Museum Executive Director Kenneth DeHoff.
$3.8 million for the stabilization and restoration of the historic tower was secured through Department of Defense appropriations, thanks largely to the efforts of former Congressman and current Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie.
“Without a doubt, the Navy has a responsibility to our history and preserving our history. We have to meet that,” said Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, in remarks delivered during the February ceremony. “This is a win-win for all of us, to be able to preserve the history of this great tower.”
“We look forward to assisting Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor in the stabilization of the historic building and control tower that defines the skyline in Pearl Harbor,” said Lance Wilhelm, senior vice president of Kiewit Building Group, the project contractor.
The Ford Island Tower complex was constructed in 1941. It consists of a third-story aerological center and observation deck on top of the two-story operations building, and the air-traffic control center on top of a 158-foot steel water-tank tower. The tower played a major role in naval activity at Pearl Harbor, especially during World War II.
Over the past 30 years, the steel components throughout the structure—stairs, landings, ladders, beams, fascia, flanges, and the tower’s “skin”—have experienced severe corrosion. Many of the components require repair and refinishing, and in some areas complete removal and replacement.
Were These the Guns of Henry Morgan?
January 1671: Admiral Henry Morgan—a valued privateer to the English crown, a detested pirate to his enemies—led 1,400 men on a raid to sack Panama City. Having just captured the fortress of San Lorenzo, Morgan now set his sights on the city through which moved the gold and silver Spain was plundering from the New World. Morgan’s sacking of Panama would become one of his most (in)famous exploits—but it came at the cost of his flagship, the Satisfaction, which ran aground on Lajas Reef and sank in the mouth of the Chagres River en route to the Panama pillage-party.
Now, archaeologists have announced the discovery and recovery of six cannon from the river, guns they assert could have come from Morgan’s flagship. Based on the location of the find and the dimensions of the iron guns, the discoverers believe the circumstantial evidence points to a Morgan connection.
The research, a joint effort of the Waitt Foundation for Discovery and the National Culture Institute of Panama, is ongoing; the cannon eventually may be exhibited to the public.
Formal Royal Navy Flagship for Sale—Online
She served in the Bosnian War and the Iraq War. She was launched by Queen Elizabeth II herself. But now, the Invincible-class aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, former flagship of the Royal Navy, is available for purchase—on the Internet.
Decommissioned this year as part of the United Kingdom’s defense-budget slashing, the Ark Royal is not on eBay, at least; the website where she’s for sale is called edisposals.com, a military-surplus cyber-megamart run by the British Ministry of Defence.
But not just any would-be sea brigand can pony up the money for the 22,000-ton warship; all sales are subject to approval. “We need to be assured of the viability of the person or organization . . . including how they intend to store, maintain, and dispose of the ship before the sale can be agreed,” MoD spokesman Tim Foreman told Reuters in March.
The online fire-sale approach seems to be working. The Ark Royal’s sister ship HMS Invincible also was offered up on edisposals.com and was sold to a Turkish scrapyard.
The Ark Royal carries a storied legacy; she is the fifth Royal Navy ship to bear the name. The first Ark Royal was built to Sir Walter Raleigh’s specifications, became flagship of the fleet, and saw action against the Spanish Armada in 1588.
With the decommissioning of the latest Ark Royal, the Royal Navy is now without an operational carrier.
“The MoD considers all options when disposing of military equipment to ensure the best financial return for the taxpayer,” according to a statement issued by the MoD. “Difficult decisions had to be made . . . due to the severe financial constraints facing the department.”
Those interested in owning an aircraft carrier have until 13 June to submit bids.