Constructed at Union Iron Works, San Francisco,
and commissioned in 1895, the USS Olympia
was designed as a fast commerce raider. The resulting ship more than met expectations. She
was capable of a sustained 19 knots and had an exceptionally long range, 13,000 nautical
miles. Had the US Navy not opted for a sea-control battleship fleet, the USS Olympia likely would have been the name ship
of a large protected cruiser class. Nevertheless USS Olympia occupies an
illustrious place in US Naval History. She was the flagship of Admiral Dewey's Asiatic
Squadron when it vanquished the Spanish Fleet at Manila Bay in 1898. This greatly enhanced
the prestige of a US Navy starting to flex its muscles on the world stage.
Today the USS Olympia is a museum ship on display at Penn's
Landing in Philadelphia, PA. Surviving ships from the turn-of-the-century, a period of
great experimentation and progress, are very scarce. Olympia is the only US
example, and naval enthusiasts should make it a point to check her out if they're in the
vicinity. I live across the continent near San Francisco and have never had the
opportunity to pay my respects. But thanks to Bob Steinbrunn's beautiful photos, we can
all admire this graceful relic of a bygone era.
USS Olympia
Vital Statistics
Displacement: 5,870 tons
Coal bunker capacity: 1,085.6 tons (400 tons normal)
Length: 344'1" Beam: 53' Draft:
24'10" fully loaded
Engine Type: vertical triple expansion engines, 17,313hp
Armament: four 8" (2x2), ten 5", fourteen 6-pounders
six 1-pounders, two Colt Gatling guns
Torpedoes: six 18" Whitehead above-surface torpedo tubes
Complement: 33 officers, 378 enlisted men |
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