Don’t Sink the Olympia, Bring Her to Cape May

I read with horror a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer of the possibility that the USS Olympia, a cruiser from the Spanish-American War, could be sunk as an artificial reef off the coast of Cape May.
If you are middle aged, you probably remember taking a class trip in elementary school to tour the Olympia in Philadelphia. According to the Inquirer story, the Independence Seaport Museum and Navy have checked with state officials of the artificial reef program to possibly sink the ship off Cape May.
The seaport museum estimated the cost at $20 million to move, fully restore and maintain the Olympia.
Here’s my suggestion: don’t haul the Olympia past Cape May to sink as a reef, drop it off here to become a tourist attraction. I’m not sure how much water the Olympia displaces but I suspect she could be moored at the Cape May Lewes Ferry Terminal or near the U.S. Coast Guard base.
Why preserve the Olympia? She has quite a history and heaven knows we could use some additional attractions to bring folks to this county, especially things to do on our increasingly rainy summer days.
According to the website of Friends of the Cruiser Olympia (www.fotco.org), the Olympia is the world’s oldest surviving steel warship. It was launched in 1892 and served with distinction in two wars.
“On May 1, 1898 under the command of Commodore George Dewey, the USS Olympia catapulted the United States on to the world stage with her resounding victory over the Spanish Fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay. In 1921, Olympia was selected to carry the body of the Unknown Soldier from France to Washington DC. She is a National Historic Landmark, on the National Register of Historic Places, and a major generator of tourism for the region,” according to the website.
A newsreel filmed by one of Thomas Edison’s associates shows Dewey pacing the deck while the Olympia was arriving in New York, Sept. 28, 1899.
The ship needs repairs according to the organization and risks sinking with a severely corroded hull “compounded by weather leakage through her rotted exterior deck.” The Olympia has not been hauled out of the water since 1945 and currently has 62 patched holes below the waterline and two compartments that are flooded and tidal.
While the Friends of the Cruiser Olympia would probably prefer to keep her in Philadelphia and I’m fine with that rather than sinking her offshore, the Olympia would probably draw a bigger crowd here in Cape May County where history is in the forefront.
While I’m sure the almost $20 million price tag for full restoration is daunting, I have seen Mid Atlantic Center for the Arts and Naval Air Station Wildwood here take on big, nearly impossible projects with great success. In the 22 years since the Cape May Lighthouse was restored and reopened through MAC nearly 2 million people have visited the historic structure, according to MAC Executive Director Michael Zuckerman.
Perhaps the best fix is to take the Olympia out of the water and display her on land. She has been sitting in the Delaware River in fresh water which has kept her together this long, according to Harry Burkhardt, a member of Friends of the Cruiser Olympia.
Perhaps the project could be scaled back and done in phases to extend the cost across a number of years but please don’t turn the Olympia into a reef. Bring her the Cape May area even in unrestored condition until funds can be raised. Our visitors would no doubt pay $5-10 to tour the ship. MAC’s World War II Look-Out Tower drew 20,000 visitors in its first year of operation, so there is money to be made.
Maybe Delaware River and Bay Authority could become a part of the project. They certainly have the expertise.
In February, Independence Seaport Museum, where Olympia is moored announced that it had notified the U.S. Navy that it would relinquish the ship. The museum has spent in excess of $5.3 million on the maintenance, repair, preservation, and restoration of Olympia since agreeing to take possession of her in 1995. It said it is not able to raise the significant amount of money needed to dredge the Penn’s Landing Marina, transport Olympia to dry dock, and finance the repairs necessary to ensure she will remain afloat.
I wish Friends of the Cruiser Olympia well in their fundraising efforts but if that fails, bring her to Cape May. With the ingenuity of our local organizations and historians, we’ll find a way to keep the Olympia from becoming a home for fish at the bottom of the sea.