Philadelphia Independence Seaport Museum

[Ignatius27]

Had some friends visit from out of town and we brought them to see the Independence Seaport Museum, which included tours of the submarine U.S.S. Becuna and the battle cruiser Olympia. Also got to see the Moshulu and, from a distance, the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey. Tomorrow we tour the Philadelphia Navy Yard (now under private ownership). More pics to follow.

 

[Ignatius27]

More pics from Independence Seaport Museum, the Becuna and the Olympia.

 

[Roger Pellett]

I know that there’s been an ongoing effort to raise money to get Olympia drydocked or perhaps to find an organization better able to take care of her. Any new developments?

Roger

 

[Ignatius27]

I know that there’s been an ongoing effort to raise money to get Olympia drydocked or perhaps to find an organization better able to take care of her. Any new developments?

Roger

Roger - The Olympia is at a real crossroads, unfortunately. She started taking on water in 2010 due to corrosion of her hull below the waterline and the failure of 130 year old rivets. The Seaport Museum raised enough money to stabilize the water intrusion about a year later, but she really needs to get dry docked for the first time since 1945 (she was decommissioned in 1922). The cost estimate to stabilize her for towing to the Philadelphia Navy Yard (where they refurbished the Battleship New Jersey), replace her lower hull and upgrade many systems is between $20-30 million. That would have to come from federal and state money plus philanthropy and they are nowhere close. So she can go the way of the New Jersey, which got all sorts of money and is now like a floating hotel. Or go the way of the S.S. United States a few piers down, once the fastest cruise liner in the world, and now on its way to be a sunken reef off the Florida coast. Sad that the Independence Seaport Museum is having financial troubles of their own, so they may have to partner with another organization to keep Olympia afloat - that external partner never materialized for S.S. United States.