OLYMPIA IX 40

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Olympia Class Protected Cruiser Keel Laid June 17 1891 - Launched November 5 1892 USS OLYMPIA Protected Cruiser No. 6 Commissioned February 5 1895 - Decommissioned November 8 1899 Recommissioned January 1902 - Decommissioned April 2 1906 Recommissioned for Midshipman Training May 1906 Decommissioned August 26 1907 Recommissioned for Midshipman Training June 1 1908 Decommissioned September 1 1908 Recommissioned for Midshipman Training May 14 1909 Decommissioned August 28 1909 Reclassified as a Barracks Ship, Charleston SC 1912 - 1916 Recommissioned 1916 USS OLYMPIA CA-15 Designated Heavy Cruiser (CA) July 17 1920 USS OLYMPIA CL-15 Reclassified Light Cruiser (CL) 1921 Decommissioned December 9 1922 Reclassified Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX) June 30 1931, While in reserve Struck from Naval Register September 11 1957 Transferred to the Cruiser Olympia Assn. on September 11 1957 Designated as a National Historic Landmark January 29 1964 Transferred to the Independence Seaport Museum January 1996

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Olympia C-6 / CA-15 / CL-15 Covers Page 1     (1899-1922, 2008)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Double Ring Postmark MIL. STA. NO. 1, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS SAN FRANCISCO CAL

1898-11-16

Picture postcard of the battleship USS Olympia.

 

Double Ring Postmark MIL. STA. NO. 1, PHILIPPINE ISLS SAN FRANCISCO CAL REGISTERED

1899-01-23

Registered mail from the battleship USS Olympia.

 

Duplex Postmark MIL. STA. NO. 1, MANILA PHIL ISL

1899-05-07

Sailors Letter from the battleship USS Olympia.

 

Locy Type 2 USS Franklin

1900-04-21

Picture postcard of Cunard Steamship Ivirnia and the battleship USS Olympia. Year date is unreadable but 1909 is probable.

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Post office established January 21 1909 - Disestablished June 9 1915

 

Locy Type 1

1909-08-07

As C-6

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Post office reestablished June 25 1917 - Disestablished December 9 1922

 

Locy Type 3 (AC)

1919-04-30

As CL-15

 

Locy Type 3a

1920-06-24

As CL-15
Picture postcard from Austria-Hungary .

 

Locy Type 3s

1922-01-27

As CL-15

 

Locy Type 3s

1922-02-02

As CL-15
Real-photo postcard, Hauling sugar cane Guantanamo Bay Cuba

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. O-24

1919-12-22

As CL-15
Overstruck with a machine cancel from Charleston SC (Navy Yard SC)

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. O-24

1920-01-03

As CL-15

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Locy Type 3 (AC-BTT) "MOTHER DAY / PHILA.P.A." USS Aylwin DD-355

1935-05-12

No Image

Mother's Day, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS
The cachet commemorates the visit of the Cuban Cruiser "Patria" to Philadelphia PA to salute the "USS Olympia"

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USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "USS Olympia Station" Philadelphia, PA

1985-07-20

90th Anniversary, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "US Flagship Olympia Station" Philadelphia, PA

1995-02-05

100th Anniversary, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Centennial Postal Station" Philadelphia, PA

1998-05-01

100th Anniversary of the Battle of Manila Bay, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Centennial Postal Station" Philadelphia, PA

1998-05-02

100th Anniversary of the Battle of Manila Bay, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "USS Olympia C-6 Station" Philadelphia, PA

2008-05-01

110th Anniversary of the Battle of Manila Bay, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "USS Olympia Sta." Philadelphia, PA

2021-10-25

100th Anniversary of World War I and the Return of the Unknown Soldier, cachet by Michael Brock

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Named for the capital city of The State of Washington
Beginning in 1957 she was modified back to her 1898 configuration and became a museum ship at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she remains today as the sole floating survivor of the U.S. Navy's Spanish-American War fleet.

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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