Philadelphia is a city rich with history. It was the nation’s original capital and where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It’s a city with many impressive museums, but one often overlooked is the Independence Seaport Museum, home to the oldest steel warship afloat anywhere in the world. That vessel, USS Olympia (C-6), is also the warship that arguably ensured that the United States would become a major world power.
Constructed nearly 130 years ago, the vessel has survived wars, economic downturns, and even the harsh passage of time, but there was one battle that the USS Olympia, flagship of the American Asiatic Fleet during the Spanish-American War (1898), was almost unable to win.
Until recently, the future of the ship remained very much in jeopardy due to the rising costs of maintaining the protected cruiser. As a result, for a while it looked like the once majestic vessel would meet a fate that no great warship deserves. She was to be sunk and converted to an artificial reef. Yet efforts have continued, including interim
