USS Olympia: Herald of Empire

by Benjamin Franklin Cooling III

The USS Olympia is the oldest extant steel-hulled warship in the world. Constructed as part of a congressionally mandated program to build a modern fleet prior to the turn of the 19th century, she became famous as Adm. George Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay. Today she is part of a naval shrine at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. This is a flesh-and-steel history of a pivotal warship that straddled the eras of commerce raiding and battle fleet confrontation in naval warfare. From her conceptual beginnings on drawing boards in Washington to the battle to protect her against age, scrapping, and the advent of big-gun battleships, this landmark study celebrates one of America's classic historic ships.

Genres: Military History, History

296 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Alternate names:
B. Franklin Cooling
Benjamin F. Cooling

Benjamin Franklin Cooling III served as Chief Historian and Research Director with the Department of Energy and as a historian with the Army, Air Force, and National Park Service, and elsewhere. He has taught at numerous universities and is currently a Professor of History at the National Defense University in Washington DC. Cooling has authored or edited 16 books on the Civil War and modern warfare and has written several hundred articles, essays and reviews on aspects of military, naval and other history.

Reviews

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve toured a few museum ships. Of them Olympia is the most important, but also the saddest. There were two people aboard: myself, and a disinterested tour guide sitting in one of the side cabins. Buckets were scattered beneath leaks, and there was the continuous hum of dehumidifiers, and fans. The very bottom decks were cordoned off but not so securely that a determined individual couldn’t disregard them. The upper deck had the consistency of a rotting log and I was concerned I’d put my foot through in some places. She isn’t the sleek ship that Cooling shows her at the beginning of her career, nor the proud veteran as he has her post-World War I, and not even the unkempt relic that he concludes with. She’s coming to pieces at the dockside and it’s like watching a hospice patient decline.
I picked up Cooling’s book at the gift shop along with a few of the coins made from her propeller. The book is a tad boring at times especially between Olympia’s Spanish-American War service and her use in transporting the Unknown Soldier back from France. But, it does contain some great photographs and anecdotes. As a modeler and wargamer I’d have appreciated some line drawings illustrating her initial layout versus subsequent refits but, overall a useful volume for all that.

[Al Sumrall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a narrative history of the Olympia, it is not a technical study. So many readers today get uhappy when there are not a lot of bells and whistles in a book. However, when you take the book for what it is and what it stands for, and not what you might have hoped it would be, it is a very good introductory history for a very great ship that we are about to lose through our ignorance and apathy, so it gets a five from me. The technical study on the USS has yet to be written. It probably will get written after the Olympia is scrapped or scuttled (which, by the way should be a national disgrace).

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty dry book, but very informative. The author throws around a lot of names of captains and admirals of little importance to this story, which adds words and nothing else. But he does go into some detail and anecdotes from ordinary seamen, which adds life to the story. I'd prefer additional technical material regarding the design, construction, and all the subsequent retrofits for the rapid technical advancement that occurred.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty dry read, a lot of general information. A day to day story of the Olympia, its officers, and crew. I was aware of its role in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American war, but never realized the role she played as an emissary of American policy, before and after WW1.

[char · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was written by the chief curator of the ship for about 10 years in the 1960s-70s, and it shows in the loving descriptions of the ship's story. This is a biography of the Olympia and it's treated like a character in itself at times. However, this book is such a triumphalist presentation - even issues like American imperialism are presented relatively uncritically. I'm sure the book being published by the Naval Institute Press plays a large role in that... Maybe I'm just not used to reading military histories. Most of the histories of the Olympia (that I've found/read) have military origins, which is quite unfortunate, as you get a lot of texts condoning the ship's interventions and other actions. (Not that I have any less bias, on the anti-military end...!)

[Mark]

Interesting book about an important part of the story in the transition from 19th Century naval warfare to the 20th, and the coming of age of American navalism and world influence. Not incidentally... the ship is still afloat at Philadelphia and needs your help!