Dewey on the Olympia at Manila Bay
I am not sure if it is irony or merely a confirmation that Faulkner was right – the past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past. Not long after the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia announced that it didn’t have the money to care for the cruiser Olympia, (or even the money to dredge the channel to tow her away,) the US Navy has commissioned a new USS Dewey. This is the third Navy ship named in honor of Admiral of the Navy George Dewey, hero of the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. Admiral Dewey’s flagship during the battle was, of course, the USS Olympia.