71ST CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session

PROVIDE FOR THE USE OF THE U. S. S. "OLYMPIA" AS A MEMORIAL TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN

MARCH 13, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. BRITTEN, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 10296]

The Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 10296) to provide for the use of the U. S. S. Olympia as a memorial to the men and women who served the United States in the war with Spain, having had the same under consideration, report favorably thereon, without amendment, and with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

The purpose of this bill is to provide for the preservation of the U. S. S. Olympia, the flagship of Admiral George Dewey in the battle of Manila Bay.

It was from the bridge of the Olympia that Admiral Dewey, commander of the fleet, said to the commander of the flagship, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." Without the loss of a man nor serious damage to a ship in the United States Fleet, the Spanish fleet was destroyed.

During the Boxer rebellion in 1900 the Olympia was on duty ready to protect the interests of the country if necessary.

After the World War the body of the Unknown Soldier was brought to this country from abroad on the Olympia. Completing this assignment the vessel was sent to Philadelphia and tied up at the navy yard, soon to be forgotten.

A historical sketch of the ship, furnished by the Navy Department in a letter to the author of the bill, follows:

U. S. S. Olympia, cruiser, second class; 5,865 tons normal displacement; 6,558 full load displacement; length between perpendiculars, 340 feet; length over all, 344 feet 1 inch; breadth on load water line, 53 feet one-half inch; mean draft, 21 feet 6 inches; full load draft aft, 25 feet; speed on trial, 21.69 knots; coal capacity, 1,169 tons; 2 funnels; schooner rig; 2 propellers; engines, vertical triple

expansion; boilers, 4 double ended and 2 single ended; indicated horsepower on trial, main engines, 16,850-total maximum, 17,313; electric generating sets, four 32-kilowatts, each 80 volts, and two 24-kilowatts, each 80 volts, General Electric; submarine signal sets, 1 sending set type keel oscillator; battery, ten 5-inch 51-caliber guns and two 1-pounders; protection deck thickness afnidship, flat, 2 inches-slope, 44 inches; complement, 13 wardroom officers, 10 junior officers, 5 warrant officers, 20 chief petty officers, and 391 men; built by the Union Works, San Francisco, Calif.; contract price, hull and machinery, $1,796,000; building authorized by act of Congress approved September 7, 1888; contract signed July 10, 1890; keel laid June 17, 1891; launched November 5, 1892; named Olympia in honor of the capital city of the State of Washington; date of preliminary acceptance February 20, 1894; commissioned first, February 5, 1895. Assigned to United States Asiatic Squadron under command of J. J. Reed, captain United States Navy. Cruised in Japanese and Chinese waters and at the Sandwich Islands as the flagship of Rear Admiral F. V. McNair.

January 3, 1898, became the flagship of Admiral George Dewey, Capt. G. V Gridley, commanding officer.

May 1, 1898, at the Battle of Manila Bay, led the attack on the ships of the Spanish squadron. Admiral Dewey in his autobiography states:

"At 5.40, when we were within a distance of 5,000 yards, I turned to Captain Gridley and said 'You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.' While I remained on the bridge with Lamberton, Brumby, and Stickney, Gridley took his station in the conning tower and gave the order to the battery. The very first gun to speak was an 8-inch from the forward turret of the Olympia, and this was the signal for all the other ships to join in the action."

At the beginning of the World War, April 6, 1917, the Olympia was in dry dock at the navy yard, Norfolk, Va., undergoing repairs and was attached to the United States patrol force as flagship, Henry B. Wilson, captain, United States Navy, commander of patrol force, Waldo Evans, commander, United States Navy, in command.

April 13, 1917, sailed for Tompkinsville, N. Y., and was on duty off New York to June 24, 1917.

June 25, 1917, while en route from Tompkinsville to Gardners Bay, Long Island, for target practice struck bottom on the port side near Cerberus Shoal. The vessel began to list to port and it was decided to run the ship into shoal water and beach her, which was done. The vessel was later salvaged and towed to Nepeague Bay, Long Island, and later towed to navy yard, New York, and entered dry dock July 13, 1917.

February 4, 1918, the Olympia moved to Tompkinsville, N. Y. During repairs her twelve 4-inch guns of an old type were replaced with 10 modern 5-inch guns and a submarine signaling apparatus was installed.

February 6, 1918, sailed in obedience to secret orders on convoy duty and patrol duty off Nova Scotia.

April 15, 1918, arrived at Charleston, S. C., and entered dry dock to prepare for distant service. All kinds of workmen swarmed aboard for the purpose of making necessary repairs as quickly as possible.

April 28, 1918, left Charleston, S. C., for Russia.

May 13, 1918, arrived at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, Scotland.

May 19, 1918, under way for Russia.

May 24, 1918, arrived and anchored in the harbor of Murmansk, Russia. June 8, 1918, at 4.40 p. m., in obedience to orders issued by Rear Admiral Kamp, Royal Navy, senior naval officer afloat, 80 officers and 100 men, with full equipment, under command of Lieut. H. C. Floyd, United States Navy, were landed at Murmansk. This small contingent constituted the second, if not the first, armed American forces to land in Russia during the World War. Owing to the fact that the British forces had not moved out of the barracks which the American forces were to occupy, the American contingent returned to the ship at 7.19 p. m. However, the next day they were put ashore in Murmansk, where they were to assist in preserving order and to offer such resistance as should become possible to the Germans and Finns.

October 26, 1918, went to Archangel, Russia.

February 21, 1919, Rear Admiral A. P. Niblack, commander United States naval forces operating in eastern Mediterranean, left the Olympia, taking passage on the U. S. S. Maury to Pola. Olympia sailed for Spalato, Dalmatia, and arrived next day and came to anchor in Cavale Castelli between the two interned Austrian battleships Radetzsky and Zrinyi.

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February 25, 1919, Lieut. Commander R. S. Field, United States Navy, left the Olympia to assume the duties as chief officer of the interallied patrol ashore at Spalato. A patrol force of 12 men also left the ship equipped with rifles and ammunition, Lieut. Henry F. Floyd, United States Navy, in charge, to cooperate with other sections of the interallied patrol in the matter of maintaining tranquility ashore in Spalato.

August 18, 1919, in accordance with orders from commander of United States naval forces, Eastern Mediterranean, got underway for Constantinople, Turkey, and arrived there August 23.

August 26, 1919, began cruise of the Black Sea, stopping at Batum, Russia; Trebizond, Turkey; Kerasunt, Turkey; Unich, Turkey, where American refugees were taken aboard for passage to Samsun, Turkey; Sinub, Turkey; Ineboli, Turkey; Sungal, Turkey, and returned to Constantinople September 8, 1919. September 23, 1919, under way for Trau, Dalmatia, having been informed by the Italian senior naval officer present of the occupation of Trau by renegade Italian troops from the Italian occupied zone, which he urged the United States naval authorities to induce to return to the Italian zone prior to an inevitable clash of arms with the Serbian military authorities. Arriving at Trau disembarked a landing force of 101 men and officers, all lightly equipped. The mission having been accomplished the landing force returned to the ship, which returned to Spalato the same evening.

February 14, 1920, underway for New York, and arrived February 17.
March 22, 1920, underway for Gibraltar, arriving April 5.

November 7, 1920, assisted in the delivery to the Italian Government of the ex-Austrian battleship Radetzsky and ex-Austrian battleship Zrinyi. These two vessels, held in trust by the United States after the armistice, were towed out to sea and delivered to the Italian authorities as per agreement.

June 29, 1921, underway for New York; arrived next day.

July 11, 1921, underway for southern drill grounds, 50 miles off Cape Charles Light Vessel; arrived next day at Lynnhaven Roads.

July 14, 1921, underway to sea; made several trips between Lynnhaven Roads and drill grounds preparing for destruction of ex-German ships Frankfort and Osterfriesland.

October 3, 1921, underway for Plymouth, England, and arrived October 14.
October 23, 1921, underway for Le Havre, France, arriving next day.

October 25, 1921, at 2.20 p. m., officers and crew were assembled on deck to take part in the ceremony of receiving the "unknown warrior." At 2.30 p. m. the escort and body of the "unknown warrior" arrived on dock, and ceremonies were rendered by the French and American Expeditionary Forces, after which the "unknown warrior" was placed on board. At 3.28 p. m. got underway with an escort of 6 French destroyers, which parted company at 4.50 p. m., and the Olympia proceeded, bound for Washington, D. C.

November 7, 1921, reached the Virginia Capes, proceeded up Chesapeake Bay, and anchored near the mouth of the Potomac River.

November 8, 1921, at 8 p. m., underway steaming up Potomac River. November 9, 1921, arrived and anchored at Indianhead at 2 a. m. At 12.38 proceeded up Potomac River. At 1.47 p. m. passed Fort Washington, which fired 21 minute guns' salute. At 2 p. m., passed Mount Vernon and rendered prescribed honors. At 3.01 p. m., moored to navy yard dock, Washington, D. C. At 4 p. m., began moving body of "unknown soldier"; started salute of 21 guns. At 4.06 p. m. the body was placed on Army caisson and was officially delivered into the custody of the Army by Admiral Chandler. At 4.08 p. m. the cortege was formed and the body left the dock followed by the officials.

June 5, 1922, having received on board midshipmen from Naval Academy, underway with U. S. S. Florida, U. S. S. North Dakota, and U. S. S. Delaware on

cruise.

August 31, 1922, having completed summer cruise midshipmen were returned to Annapolis and Olympia got underway for Philadelphia, Pa.; arrived September 1, 1922.

December 9, 1922, placed out of commission.

When the Olympia was inspected last summer by the board of inspection and survey of the Navy Department, it was recommended that it be disposed of, which means junked, unless the Congress provides by law for its preservation.

The preservation of historic treasures has received little attention at the hands of the American people. The historic relics which are preserved in the large cities of Europe are what make these cities so interesting to American visitors.

A wave of resentment, especially among the veterans of the Spanish war, followed in the wake of the decision of naval officers to junk the Olympia.

This bill, introduced in the Seventieth Congress, as well as the Seventy-first Congress, authorizes the Navy Department to bring the ship to the Capital of the Nation, where it is to be turned over to the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and the commission is directed to select a suitable site for the permanent location of the vessel on, or abutting on, ground owned by the United States, and the location selected shall be one that will enable the public to board such a vessel. It provides for its use as a memorial to the men and women who served in the military and naval forces of the United States during the war with Spain. There is no such memorial in Washington.

Hearings were held, and the author of the bill read the following letter to the committee:

Hon. JOHN J. COCHRAN,

WASHINGTON, D. C., October 4, 1929.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. COCHRAN: In reply to your letter of October 1, 1929, I inclose a copy of my reply last session to Hon. Thomas S. Butler in regard to your bill, H. R. 12238. After writing the said letter, I was advised by the Director of the Budget, May 16, 1928, "that this proposed legislation would be at this time in conflict with the financial program of the President."

I need not say that the proposition appeals to me very strongly. I had occasion this summer to notice with what great interest the public visited an old whaler, which has been preserved by Colonel Green at Salters Point in Buzzards Bay. Nevertheless the question of cost in making the Olympia and other ships of historic interest accessible to the public naturally arises and has to be considered. I do not feel at liberty to recommend any particular way of accomplishing this purpose unless assured that it is not objectionable to the Navy Department and is in conformity with the financial policy of the President; that is to say, I can not very well take up the matter until the problem is passed on to my office by the proper authorities. On the other hand, you will find me interested in doing whatever I can to help in making this addition to the historic sights of Washington accessible to the public in whatever way it is decided best to do it.

Respectfully yours,

U. S. GRANT 3D, Director.

The following letter from the Secretary of the Navy, addressed to the chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee, sets forth the views and recommendations of the Navy Department thereon, and is hereby made a part of this report:

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 12, 1929.

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to the committee's letter of April 23, 1929, transmitting the bill (H. R. 1204) to provide for the use of the U. S. S. Olympia as a memorial to the men and women who served the United States in the war with Spain, and requesting the views and recommendations of the Navy Department thereon, I have the honor to inform the committee as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Navy to cause the U. S. S. Olympia to be brought to the District of Columbia; it authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of War to carry

out the recommendations of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in locating the U. S. S. Olympia in a permanent location, on, or abutting on, ground owned by the United States; and after the vessel has been permanently located the control of the vessel shall be transferred to the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, which shall provide for the proper care and maintenance of such vessel.

The U. S. S. Olympia has recently been inspected by the board of inspection and survey of the Navy Department. As a result of the inspection the board recommended that the Olympia be disposed of.

Should the bill H. R. 1204 become a law the sum of $25,000 would probably be required for cleaning and painting and towing the vessel to the District of Columbia. Without knowledge of the site to be selected, it is impossible to make any estimate as to the cost of locating the vessel in such site. After the vessel had been so located a force of 10 or 12 men would probably be required for cleaning and as watchmen, which cost would, according to the bill, be borne by the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks.

The bill H. R. 1204 was referred to the Bureau of the Budget with the above information. Under date of December 6, 1929, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget advised the Navy Department that the expenditure contemplated by this legislation would not be in accord with the financial program of the President. In view of the above, the Navy Department recommends against the enactment of the bill H. R. 1204.