Thursday, August 2, 2012

USS Olympia Battles for Survival-- Part 3

The Olympia took part in the 1918 Allied landings at Murmansk, Russia, during the Russian Civil War.  Its final mission was to bring home the body of the U.S.'s Unknown World War I soldier from France in 1921 before being decommissioned in 1922.

The ship remained aflaot, though mostly forgotten until the 1950s when it was nearly scrapped, but citizens ralleid and donations were sent in and the ship was saved.  It opened as a museum in 1958.  Later, the former president of the Seaport Museum was convicted of bilking $1 million from the organization.

The battleship USS New Jersey is a museum across the river in New Jersey and the 1950s ocean liner SS United States is also in Philadelphia. More information at:
http://www.phillyseaport.org. Independence Seaport Museum
http://cruiserolympia.org  Friends of the Cruiser Olympia
http://www.teohs.org  Cruiser Olympia Historical Society

Hope The Olympia Makes It.  --Cooter

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