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| - USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40) is a protected cruiser that saw service in the United States Navy from her commissioning in 1895 until 1922. This vessel became famous as the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The ship was decommissioned after returning to the U.S. in 1899, but was returned to active service in 1902. She served until World War I as a training ship for naval cadets and as a floating barracks in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1917, she was mobilized again for war service, patrolling the American coast and escorting transport ships. After World War I, Olympia participated in the 1919 Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and conducted cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to promote peace in the unstable Balkan countries. In 1921, the ship carried the remains of World War I's Unknown Soldier from France to Washington, D.C., where his body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. Olympia was decommissioned for the last time in December 1922 and placed in reserve. In 1957, the U.S. Navy ceded title to the Cruiser Olympia Association, which restored the ship to her 1898 configuration. Since then, Olympia has been a museum ship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it is now part of the Independence Seaport Museum. Olympia is the oldest steel US warship still afloat. However, the Museum has been unable to fund essential maintenance for the aging vessel and attempts to secure outside funding have failed.[citation needed] Therefore the current steward, under direction of the U.S. Navy, has put the ship up for availability to new stewards. It will take an estimated ten million dollars to restore Olympia to a stable condition. Olympia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. , Olympia's future was uncertain; repairs are desperately needed to keep her afloat. Four entities from San Francisco, California, Beaufort, South Carolina, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., are vying to serve as a new steward, but it is a race against time due to the waterline deterioration of the hull. While the current entities remain in competition for the ship, no significant repairs have been made, although the current steward has done some minor repairs. In reaction to this gap in coverage, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has set up a fund repository that, if funds are raised, will be directly applied to immediate repairs of the vessel with the cooperation of the current steward. At of March 2012, the NTHP is considering a triple application by the Naval Historical Foundation, the Historic Naval Ships Association, and the National Maritime Association to have Olympia placed on the NTHP's list of the eleven most endangered "places". The steward applicants from San Francisco (Mare Island), and Beaufort, S.C., have endorsed the application. Despite these positive steps, Olympia is in critical danger due to the lack of funds. Since 2011, Independence Seaport Museum has renewed its commitment to the continued preservation of the cruiser Olympia until the Transfer Application Process reaches its conclusion in summer 2014. The museum has invested in extensive stabilization measures including reinforcing the most deteriorated areas of the hull, expanding the alarm system, installing a network of bilge pumping stand pipes (which will provide greater damage control capability in the unlikely event of a hull breech), extensive deck patching and extensive repair and recoating of the ship’s rigging. Although still in need of dry docking and substantial restoration, the Olympia is in a more stable condition now than it has been for years. This work was made possible by donations from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The U.S. Cruiser Sailors Association and many individual donors. Of the six candidates that originally applied for stewardship of Olympia, only two remain: an organization in California and an organization in South Carolina. The Museum continues to seek resources to preserve the ship for education and interpretation. The ship will remain open to the public seven days a week from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and until 7:00 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
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