She has been awarded a $169,000 grant for hull and other repairs. From their Facebook page. "Great news! The OLYMPIA has been awarded a part of the National Maritime Heritage Grant! The ship has been awarded a $169,850.00 grant for use on interim hull repairs and restoration of historic structures such as our damaged skylights and decks! Thank you for all of your continued support!"
The decks are a major issue, they were replaced with concrete many years ago. The concrete traps water and hastens the rusting of the hull.
I have to remember that and bother you at the next event, I might go home with more money than I came to MD with.
FYI, I'm not disparaging the Olympia's rescue and fund raising efforts but these old ships in the hands of private non-profits have not faired very well in the USA. The Constellation in Baltimore nearly broke in half from all the hogging before massive amounts of money was thrown at it. Even the ships in San Francisco under the care of the NPS aren't looking all that great. Luckily the Constitution is the beloved flagship of the USN so gets most of the care she needs. IMO, the other in-water museum ships like the North Carolina, Independence, Texas, New Jersey, etc, are going to end up as bad as the Olympia at some point. If the US really cares about these old ships, their care and preservation needs to be taken over by the Smithsonian or other worthy and well funded institution. The States and City's that have these ships only see them as tourist attractions and don't budget for long term care or preservation. They need to be treated as historic artifacts instead of Disney rides.
I get the impression that some people in the US hate paying taxes for that sort of thing though. I remember when I went to see the Missouri they stressed how no tax dollars were used on its up keep. Here in Canada, a couple of years ago they spent some 5-6 million just painting the hull of HMCS Haida and I can't remember anybody complaining about that.
That's about it. For the cost of a couple of cruise missiles the Olympia could be practically rebuilt to original spec. It's the military/industrial mindset that Eisenhower warned us against all those years ago.
Beggin' trhe Admiral's pardon, but it wasn't too long ago that the Constitution was in sh** shape, hogging by more than 13"... it was change donated by schoolchildren across the country that paid for the 1992-1996 overhaul in drydock that saved her and restored her original hull strength (measured hogging post-refit was less than 2"). I find it utterly absurd that Congress can blow millions on stupid sh** and not find pocket change to restore Columbia. As Herr Tyng states... for the price of a couple TLAMs we could have her operational, not just floating.
While I certainly wish we could trade a few launch vehicles and warheads for a restoration of the Olympia, I'm happy to see them pick up a grant, even if it is far less than what they need.
I've literally spent that much money killing one guy and his toyota Hilux in 2007. Sent a B-1B Lanceer Winchester on Ammunition, twenty 155HE and some WP, a dozen 120MM HE/WP, Lord knows how many 60MM, fifteeen hundred rounds of 50 BMG API, and a thousand rounds of SAW just to be sure. My Battalion Commander called it "sending a message". too bad they can't "send a message" to more philanthropic endeavors.
The good thing for Old Ironsides is that she was built with diagonal supports to fight hogging back in 1797. If she was built with more traditional methods, she would have hogged herself to death already. Calling her a frigate is laughable--she was the original battlecruiser.