National Historic Landmark-USS Olympia (C-6)
National Historic Landmark -USS OLYMPIA (Cruiser)
The oldest extant steel-hulled warship in the world, OLYMPIA served as Commodore Dewey's flagship in the Battle of Manila Bay (1898), which marked the emergence of the U.S. Navy as one of superior power.
The cruiser was born out of a program of ships for the New Navy of the 1880s and 1890s designed to correct the deficiencies of a weakened and neglected naval force.
She is the last remaining ship built during that program and the sole surviving combatant of the Spanish-American War.
In 1921, she brought home the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Olympia is also a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark; the first vessel to be built featuring state-of-the-art vertical triple-expansion steam engines.
These were supplemented with a sail rig for a two-masted schooner so that OLYMPIA featured both masts and steam funnels, representing passage from the days of sail to steam power.
