The Ship in the Desert

1 week ago

The Ship in the Desert

Larry Seaton, SHGTUS Historian

14th Tomb Guard Reunion

We are all familiar with the connection between the USS Olympia and the WWI Unknown Soldier. The Unknown Soldier’s voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1921 has been dramatically described by J.R. Neubeiser in his narrative, “With The Hand Of God He Will Be Delivered Home”. We also know that the ship is currently docked at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, but where did the story of the Olympia begin?

About three weeks ago, I was contacted by our Quartermaster, Dave Hathaway, who had spoken with Tim Frank, one of the historians at Arlington National Cemetery. Tim had a problem. He had been contacted by a woman living in Utah who wanted to donate a 1/44 scale model of the Olympia to Arlington. The Cemetery’s legal counsel said that they could not accept the ship because the Cemetery is not classified and insured as a “museum”. I’m not going to bore you with the depths of legalities about the issues but the cream that floats to the top was, “Arlington can’t take it".

I believed that SHGTUS could not walk away from this opportunity, so I asked Dave to send me everything he had on the ship. Turns out that the donor, Joyce Gibbons, is the widow of Ralph Gibbons who built the ship at their home between 2011 and 2013 (he worked on multiple models at the same time). Ralph’s hobbies were military history and model building. He primarily built ships and planes – from scratch. To build the Olympia, he secured copies of the Olympia’s plans and reduced the dimensions down to 1/44 scale. The result was a model around 5’ long, 10” wide, and 23” tall.

In 2014, the model was donated to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard Museum where it was displayed until 2022. The museum was closed because of seismic issues with the old building, and the ship was returned to Joyce since Ralph had unfortunately passed during the ship's stay at Mare Island. Photos of the model were taken after its removal from its display case before being packed for its trip back to Utah.

Why was the model displayed at Mare Island you ask? The history of the Olympia began in San Francisco Bay. The ship was built by Union Iron Works at Portero Point. The July 1890 contract with the US Navy specified a cost of $1,796,000 with completion by April 1, 1893, and offered a bonus for early completion. The ship was launched in November 1892. After the completion of sea trials, the ship was commissioned in February 1895. The ship then steamed inland to Mare Island where outfitting was completed. The Olympia would visit Mare Island again during its lifetime for repairs and upgrades, usually berthed in Drydock 1.

I contacted Joyce to arrange a date to come pick up the ship and on November 20^th, I flew from Palm Springs to Salt Lake City. The ship was sitting in the same shipping crate that was used for its journey from Mare Island to Joyce’s home. I rented a minivan, loaded up the Olympia, and the next day had an 11-hour drive from Salt Lake City to my home here in Rancho Mirage. It is now berthed in my garage, “The Ship in the Desert”.

What are the future plans for the USS Olympia? Well, since the Tomb Guard Platoon Quarters are already scheduled to be remodeled in the next 1-2 years or so, it is our expectation that the ship will end up being docked in the Quarters, permanently.