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Show To Junk Oregon For Its Metals WarshipThat Made History In Spanish-American War Is Doomed. WASKLCCiiON. The Datuesnip Oregon, famous for her dash around Cape Horn in 1898 in time to join in the destruction of the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Santiago, will be scrapped for metal to be used in this war. The cruiser Olympia, Admiral Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila, will be preserved as a permanent per-manent relic of the Spanish -American war. It was the Olympia which brought the body of the Unknown Soldier home for burial in Arlington. It is expected that the Oregon, a 10,288-ton vessel, will yield about 70 per cent iron and steel, with the rest of the metal copper, brass, lead and zinc. She will be sold by negotiation nego-tiation to a wrecker and then will be broken up under the supervision of the navy and the War Production board. Olympia Remains Relic. The Oregon has been at Portland, Ore., as a naval relic since 1925. The Olympia has been at the Philadelphia Phila-delphia navy yard since 1922. Some work will be done on the Olympia to bring her to proper condition for preservation, but it was said that this would not interfere with the war program. The Olympia will be the navy's only remaining vessel of the Spanish Span-ish - American war period. The Rochester, formerly the armored cruiser New York and flagship of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson of Santiago, had been among the three surviving vessels of the period, but she was reduced to a hulk in 1938 and was at the Cavite navy yard in the Philippines when that station was captured by the Japanese last December. The Oregon was built at the Union Iron works in San Francisco and was commissioned in 1896. She carried four 13-inch and eight 8-inch guns. She saw service in the Philippines Philip-pines during the insurrection there and in the First World war was successively flagship of the Pacific fleet, a training ship and one of the escorts of the Siberian expedition. Dewey's Flagship. After the Armistice she was decommissioned, de-commissioned, but in August, 1919, she was the reviewing ship for President Pres-ident Wilson on the arrival of the Pacific fleet at Seattle. The Olympia was built at the same plant and was commissioned in 1895. She has a displacement of 5,865 tons and her main armament consisted of ten 5-inch and two 3-inch guns. She led the ships of the Asiatic squadron into Manila bay under the command of Capt. G. W. Gridlcy, with Admiral Dewey on board, and it was her guns which spoke first when Admiral Dewey, standing on the bridge, turned and said: "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." After the Spanish war she served as flagship of the North Atlantic squadron and was placed, out of commission in 1906, but later was used for midshipmen cruises from the Naval academy. Then she was placed in reserve. |