USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 5: Served in World War II

In 1941, as war with Japan looked likely, the Oregon was redesignated  IX-22 in February and after Pearl Harbor, it was decided that the best thing for the ship would be to be broken up for scrap.  She was struck from the Naval Registry on 2 November 1942 and was sold to ship  breakers on 7 December.  

In March 1943, she was towed to Kalama, Washington to be broken up, but after the work was begun, the Navy  decided that the Oregon could be of use in the planned invasion of  Guam scheduled for mid-1944, either as a storage hulk or a breakwater.

The breakers were ordered to stop after clearing the superstructure and internal equipment was removed.  The Oregon was then loaded with ammunition and towed to Guam as part of the invasion fleet.

After capture of that island, the Oregon remained through the end of the war in 1945 and for several more years after that.  On the night of 14-15 November 1948, the ship broke free of her moorings during a typhoon and drifted away.  After an extensive search, aircraft located the ship some 580 miles southeast of Guam.

It was then towed back to Guam and remained there until 1956 and she was sold for scrap and broken up in Japan.

Several parts of the ship remain in Portland.  Her foremast was placed at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and her ship's wheel is at the Oregon Historical Society.  Both of her funnels also remain but are not on public display.

--Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 4: Service in the Pacific, the Boxer Rebellion, WW I, Pres. Wilson and the Washington Naval Treaty

 After the war, the Oregon had an overhaul and was assigned to the U.S. Asiatic Squadron and participated in the Philippine-American War (Philippines Insurrection).  It also sailed to Japan and reinforced the Eight-Nation Allied Force in China's Boxer Rebellion.  

In 1901, she returned to the U.S. for a refit before returning to her Asiatic Station before being decommissioned in 1906.  During the next several years, the Oregon was modernized and then recommissioned in 1911 and patrolled off the west coast of the United States.

During World War I, the ship saw no action but did  escort troop ships carrying soldiers bound for the Russian Civil War. Afterwards, she was decommissioned for a short time in 1919 before recommissioned for a short time the same year and hosted President Woodrow Wilson during a review of the Pacific Fleet in Seattle, Washington.

In 1920, she was assigned the hull number BB-3 and beginning a year later, a group of naval enthusiasts started a campaign to turn her into a naval museum to be based somewhere in her namesake state.  The Washington Naval Treaty in 1922 required the Oregon to be demilitarized which she was.

By 1924 she had become listed on the Naval register as an "Unclassified Relic."

In 1925, the Navy loaned the Oregon to that state and she was moored in Portland and restored as a museum vessel.

But, That Was Not Her End.  --Cooter

A Streetcar Named Milwaukee-- Part 1

From the October 25, 2012, Chicago Tribune "Milwaukee's transit debate: Streetcar desire vs. disaster" by Richard Wronski.

"The last time a streetcar rattled along the rails in this city, in 1958, the Braves played at County Stadium and Pabst, Schlitz and Miller were the brewers that made the city famous.

Today the Brewers play at Miller Park and the Braves are long gone, but the streetcars may be making a comeback."

And, who knows where Schlitz and Pabst are made these days?

Mayor Tom Barrett wants a brand-new streetcar system to traverse a 2-mile route theough the city's East Side, downtown and Historic Third Ward areas.  He wants to base it on Portland, Oregon's popular and successful system.  Its system has also been the model for cities nationwide, including Kansas City, Missouri which is planning a $93 million line.

Chicago hasn't caught on, however, preferring to work on bus and rapid-transit lines.

Stella!!  Stella!!!  --Cooter