Joe Follansbee at the Fyddeye Guides has compiled a list of America’s 10 Most Endangered Historic Ships of 2011 to help raise awareness of the risk that these historic treasures may not be around much longer if something isn’t done.  One might argue over whether the schooner Spirit of South Carolina is more endangered than the schooner Ernestina or whether the barque Elissa is at greater risk than the barque Peking, but then that is the value of a such lists, to remind us of the ships we would all prefer not to lose to indifference and time.  The Fyddeye Most Endangered List:

1. Steam schooner Wapama (Richmond, Calif.) –  the last surviving example of a fleet of west coast ships that carried cargo and passengers along the west coast.
2. The schooner Equator  (Everett, Wash.) once carried poet and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, who sailed from Honolulu to the Gilbert Islands aboard the 1888 vessel. His voyage inspired the story, “The Wrecker” in his book, “Tales of the South Seas.”
3. Kalakala (Tacoma, Wash.) – The 1935 ferry, designed in the art deco style, is a one-of-a-kind treasure that carried hundreds of thousands of Seattleites across Puget Sound for more than 30 years.
4. The oldest steel U.S. warship afloat, the 1895 cruiser USS Olympia (Philadelphia) played a key role in the Spanish-American War. The ship saw action at Manila Bay, participated in World War I, and brought home the remains of the Unknown Soldier to Arlington National Cemetery.
5. Built in 1952 for the luxury transatlantic passenger market, the SS United States  (Philadelphia) is the fastest liner ever built, and retains the speed record for the eastbound Atlantic crossing at three days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes. Since 1996, the ship, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has sat on the Philadelphia waterfront, and this year, it was nearly sold for scrap.
6. Launched in Scotland in 1878, the iron-hulled, four-masted Falls of Clyde (Honolulu) is the only surviving oil tanker powered by sail in the world.
7. Kula Kai (Honolulu) – Developed by Hawaiian fisherman for local waters, the “aku” or “sampan” type fishing boat is one of only two boat designs indigenous to Hawaii (the other is a canoe), and the Kula Kai is last remaining boat in this style.
   
8. Built in 1943 to replace a namesake ship sunk by the Imperial Japanese navy, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown  (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) played a significant role in the U.S. space program as a recovery vessel for the Apollo 8 command module, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.
9. The barque Elissa (Galveston, Texas) is one of the oldest operating sailing ships in the world. Owners of the 134-year-old iron-hulled vessel were shocked this year when the U.S. Coast Guard found severe hull deterioration and declared the ship unseaworthy.
10. Built in 2007 as a replica of a 19th century schooner, the schooner Spirit of South Carolina (Charleston, S.C.) has taken nearly 10,000 young people on educational excursions over its service life.