St. Leo the Great Church (Baltimore, Maryland)

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St. Leo the Great Church

The historic St. Leo the Great Church, designed by renowned Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin, is located in the heart of the neighborhood of Little Italy. Its cornerstone was laid on September 12, 1880 and the church was built with brick with stone trim and dedicated in September 1881.

The church’s interior

Combining Italianate, Romanesque and Classical elements and a good example of High Victorian eclecticism, it features a high entrance porch, a turret with conical roof on the north wall, a square bell tower at the northeast corner, a large rose window in the main façade, and a variety of decorative brickwork.

The altar

It was the first church in Maryland, and among the first in the nation, founded and built specifically for Italian immigrants. In 1983, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The organ at the choir loft

St. Leo’s Church: 227 S Exeter St., Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Tel: +1 410-675-7275. Email: saintleos@msn.com. Website: www.saintleorcc.com. Mass schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (8 AM), Saturday Vigil (4:30 PM), Sunday (9:30 & 11:30 AM)

Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building

The landmark Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, an annex of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is a focus for learning, connoisseurship, and sheer enjoyment of works of art and an important catalyst for the Philadelphia region’s ongoing cultural renaissance. Its style reflects the moment of transition from early twentieth-century historicism to the geometric Art Deco design of the 1920s and 1930s.

Skylit Walkway

Set within a lively urban neighborhood and occupying a trapezoid-shaped, two-acre site bordered by Pennsylvania and Fairmount Avenues and 25th and 26th Streets, it faces the main building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art across Kelly Drive and is among the most distinctive architectural structures along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Julien Levy Gallery

The Perelman Building, one of the finest Art Deco structures in Philadelphia, was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Zantzinger, Borie and Medary (together with architects Horace Trumbauer and Julian Abele, they also designed the Museum’s main building) to be the headquarters for Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company which occupied the building until 1972.

The Valley (2006, Kelli Connell) – Julien Levy Gallery

Its color advisor was the scholar Leon Solon who also advised the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the color scheme of its celebrated glazed terra cotta decoration and pediment. Its decorative scheme was created by sculptor Lee Lawrie (1877–1963) whose work also adorns the Rockefeller Center, the Library of Congress and the National Academy of Sciences.

The Mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty (1866, carbon print, Julia Margaret Cameron) – Julien Levy Gallery

Construction of the building began in 1926 and, upon completion in 1928, was called “the Gateway to Fairmount Park.”  The original structure had 125,000 sq. ft. of interior space. In 1973, the structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1980 in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

Call and I Follow, Let Me Die (1867, carbon print, Julia Margaret Cameron) – Julien Levy Gallery

In 1982, the building was acquired and restored by the Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company which, in turn, relocated in 1999. That same year, the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired the building through the City of Philadelphia. In 2000, in recognition of the US$15 million contributed by the Perelmans, the annex was renamed the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building.

Collab Gallery

In anticipation of the museum’s 125th anniversary in 2001, Gluckman Mayner Architects was selected for the restoration and renovation of the historic building, In October 2004, following a groundbreaking celebration for its donors (US$240 million in donations were collected), the major construction began in earnest and the original building was expanded by a 5,500 m2 (59,000 sq. ft.) addition (a library; a café overlooking a landscaped terrace; a new bookstore; a soaring skylit walkway; etc.).  The Perelman Building was opened on September 15, 2007.

The elaborate polychrome façade, the most elaborately sculpted facade of any twentieth-century building in the city of Philadelphia, is built with Indiana limestone highlighted with color and gilding and lavishly decorated with Egyptian-inspired sculpture of flora and fauna symbolizing attributes of insurance – owl (wisdom), dog (fidelity), pelican (charity), opossum (protection) and the squirrel (frugality). There are also numerous other reliefs such as the Seven Ages of Man and the Perils of Land, Sea, and Air on the Earth’s Four Great Continents. 

Joan Spain Gallery

The building’s north and south pavilions are joined by a soaring, cathedral-like arched main entrance facing the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a celebrated example of Philadelphia’s inspired urban planning of which the building was designed to be an integral part. It also has gleaming rows of windows and a bright interior.

The Perelman Building has now been dramatically recast in a new role as the gateway to the future for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the first phase of a master plan to expand and modernize the Museum. The new six galleries, totaling 190 m2 (2,000 sq. ft.) of exhibition space, and study centers showcase some of the Museum’s most comprehensive, colorful, and cutting-edge collections. The galleries are:

  • The Julien Levy Gallery – dedicated to photographs from the museum’s collection of over 150,000 prints, drawings, and photographs.
  • The Joan Spain Gallery – dedicated to exhibition of the museum’s costume and textiles collection, which has over 30,000 works.
  • The Collab Gallery – shows modern and contemporary design art ranging from furniture to ceramics.
  • The Exhibition Gallery – hosts changing special exhibitions.
  • Two study galleries provide resources to art scholars (available to the public by appointment) and an educational resource center for teachers.
  • The museum library – holds collections of art books and periodicals on the first floor and a reading room on the second floor

Monument to Victor Hugo (Auguste Rodin)

Like the main museum building, the Rodin Museum, and two historic houses in Fairmount Park (Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove), the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building is owned by the City of Philadelphia.

Cafe

Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building: Fairmount and Pennsylvania Aves., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pierce’s Park (Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.)

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This one-acre downtown urban park in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, completed in 2012, is located on what had once been an underutilized and largely paved pass-through space along the city’s Inner Harbor.  Developed to satisfy a need for a children’s play area in Downtown Baltimore, this unique open space, located on Pier 5 (between Columbus Center and Eastern Ave.) in Baltimore’s Inner Harbors, just across the street from the Pier 5 Hotel, is a short walk from the National Aquarium and other attractions.

Check out “Baltimore’s Inner Harbor“

Pierce’s Park

It was loosely designed by landscape architects Mahan and Scott Rykiel as two unstructured, oval-shaped open play areas (for younger and older children), each ringed by planted earth berms and connected by a “Ribbon Walk,” a ribbon-like pathway that meanders through the site.  Funded with help from the family of the late Baltimore businessman and community leader Pierce John Flanigan III, for whom the park is named, it also contains indigenous trees, native plantings, a living “willow tunnel” and a modern playground.

The whimsical, 36 ft. long “Homophone,” with its “Seussian” quality, is a custom stainless steel double horn  and slide, two interactive, multi-sensory sculptures that were designed, fabricated (with 3/8” alloy 316 stainless steel plate) and installed by David Hess.  It was designed for children to crawl, slide and listen to the sounds collected by and emanating from the sculpture. Hess also designed the over 800 pavers, the fence that produces musical sounds when tapped, signage and musical instruments for the park.

The “Homophone”

To celebrate Pierce’s love for language, hundreds of homophonic words are also inscribed along the intricate serpentine walkways to encourage children and adults to learn about wordplay and some of the anomalies of language. The curvilinear seating was built using recycled wood placed atop an eco-friendly gabion base made from cobblestone salvaged from an old city street buried beneath the site. A local Maryland quarry also donated the large boulders added to the park.

Listening to the sounds collected by and emanating from the sculpture

Wanting to make a statement about cleaning the water and thus emphasized storm water capture, treatment, and filtration in the park design, the landscape architects created four micro-bioretention facilities, beautifully planted bio-swales and rain gardens that treat storm water.  Interpretative signage explains the landscape processes as well as educates children about the benefits of capturing runoff for the additional wildlife habitat.

Interpretive signage

Maintained by the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore (which is focused on developing a “Healthy Harbor”), the park was the recipient of the 2013 Honor Award, Maryland/Potomac ASLA Best in Class Award for Landscape and Paving, Brick in Architecture

Pierce’s Park: 701 E Pratt St,  Baltimore, Maryland 21202.  Tel: 443-743-3308.  Website: www.piercespark.org.

Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

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Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor

Aside from paintings, the Philadelphia Museum of Art  also houses the arms and armor collection bequeathed by the celebrated collector, distinguished connoisseur and scholar Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch (1884–1976) to the museum in 1976, the Bicentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution. The city was the host of the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, and a selection of presentation firearms and ammunition was sent from the exhibition to the Smithsonian Institute, where is still remains.

Check out “”Philadelphia Museum of Art”

House Armor of Duke Ulrich of Wurttemburg (1507), a German duke and supporter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I of Austria.

Incidentally, Philadelphia was home to English and German gunsmiths of the 18th and 19th century, as well as the Frankford Arsenal ammunition plant. Whilst Philadelphia took a secondary role in the industrial production of firearms, it did provide the gunsmiths who built the prototype guns.

A display of crossbows

The comprehensive Von Kienbusch holdings of arms and armor, among the finest of their kind in the world and the last great East Coast collection of pre-percussion arms and armor, include European (Germany, France, Spain, Austria, England, Italy, Scotland, etc.) and Southwest Asian (Iran and Turkey)  arms and armor spanning several centuries.

European swords

A new baronial hall was built for the complete horse and human armors and armor elements, crossbows, swords, thrusting pikes, staff weapons, edged weapons and related accessories drawn, for the most part, from the princely armories of Europe that brought together figurative and decorative artistry with technically demanding metallurgy and lock work.

A collection of helmets

Additionally, the collection includes rare shooting accoutrements such as princely match lock, wheel lock and flint lock pistols; rifles, and smooth bore muskets, many from Kienbusch’s native Germany.

A complete cuirassier suit of armor (Northern Italian, artist/maker unknown)

A small but epicurean collection of pistols from France, Spain, England, Italy and Scotland, from the sixteenth to eighteenth century, include steel and silver stocked Scottish pistols, a pair of French Napoleonic Empire dueling pistols made by Nicolas-Noel Boutet, a Spanish wheel lock pistol embellished with the finest silver filigree, and an Italian flintlock with a solid ivory stock.

A collection of flintlock muskets

Hunting rifles, once belonging to Emperor Ferdinand III and Emperor Charles VI of Austria, are embellished with gold, ivory and silver, some with allegorical hunting scenes and others.

Etched, partially russeted and gilded steel half armor for use on field (Milan, 1600 CE)

Other highlights include a Hungarian hauberk (shirt) of mail for ceremonial use; armor, made by Pompeo della Cesa (Italian, active  Milan, c. 1537 – 1610) for use in the tourney fought on foot over the barriers; a wheel lock gun made by Stephan Klett (German, active Suhl, recorded 1578 – 1612); a ceremonial mace; a lantern shield; a rapier blade made by bladesmith Clemens Meigen (German, active Solingen, late 16th century); a gorget; a staff weapon ( langdebeve or ox tongue spear); powder flasks carved from deer antlers; petite priming powder flasks made of mother-of-pearl inlaid with silver, and a bandolier of seven wooden powder flasks dangling on cord from a velvet shoulder belt.

Von Kienbusch Galleries of Arms and Armor: Gallery 347, 3/F, Kretzschmar , Main Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Open daily (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays), 10 AM to 5 PM (8:45 PM on Fridays).  Admission: $25  (adults),  $23 (seniors,65 years old and over), $14 (students with valid ID0,  $12 (member guests) and free  for members and youth (18 & under).  Tel: +1 215-763-8100 . Website: www.philamuseum.org. Coordinates: 39°57′57″N 75°10′53″W.

Second Bank of the United States Building (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) 

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Second Bank of the United States Building

The Second Bank of the United States, the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States during its 20-year charter (February 1816 to January 1836), was modeled on Alexander Hamilton‘s First Bank of the United States and was chartered by President James Madison in 1816.

National Historic Site Plaque

The Second Bank of the United States was designed by architect William Strickland (1788–1854), a former student of Benjamin Latrobe (1764–1820), the man who is often called the first professionally trained American architect.

Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States

Like Latrobe, Strickland was a disciple of the stylistic Greek Revival style, designing this building (in essence based on the Parthenon in Athens, Greece) as well as other American public buildings in this style, including financial structures such as the New Orleans, Dahlonega, Mechanics National Bank (also in Philadelphia) and Charlotte branch mints in the mid-to-late 1830s, as well as the second building for the main U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1833.

The hallmarks of this  significant early and monumental example of Greek Revival architecture can be seen immediately in the north and south façades, which use a large set of steps leading up to the stylobate, the main level platform, on top of which Strickland placed 8 severe Doric columns, which are crowned by an entablature containing a triglyph frieze and simple triangular pediment.

In the center of the north façade is an entrance hallway, leading into two central rooms one after the other (spanning the width of the structure east to west), flanked by two rooms on either side. The east and west sides of the first large room are each pierced by large arched fan window.

Carved Pine Statue of George Washington (William Rush, 1814)

Built from 1819 to 1824, Pennsylvania blue marble was used in the building’s exterior.  Due to the manner in which it was cut, the weak parts of the marble has begun to deteriorate from the exposure to the elements, most visible on the Doric columns of the south façade.

Tayendanegea – Joseph Brant (Charles Wilson Peale, Oil on Canvas, 1797)

The bank began operations at its main branch in Philadelphia on January 7, 1817, managing 25 branch offices nationwide by 1832. After the bank closed in 1841, the building changed hands and function.  It eventually became the Custom House in Philadelphia resulting in some changes to the interior and exterior of the building.

John Witherspoon (Charles Wilson Peale, Oil on Canvas, 1783-1784)

Except for the barrel vaulted ceiling, the marble columns in the main banking room and the side flue fireplaces, little remains of the building’s original interior design.  Still, for its architectural and historic significance, the building was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Marquis De Lafayette (Thomas Sully, 1825-1826)

The edifice, now part of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, houses the Portrait Gallery, an art gallery housing the large, permanent “People of Independence” exhibit, a collection of over 150 portraits of prominent 18th and 19th century political leaders, military officers, explorers and scientists, all worthy Personages” who, according to noted artist Charles Willson Peale (his more than 100 portraits form the core of the collection), exhibited the republican virtues of public-spiritedness, self-sacrifice, and civic virtue.

George Washington (Rembrandt Peale, Oil on Canvas, 1848)

These portraits, as well as other works by his son Rembrandt and his brother James, were once exhibited in Peale’s Philadelphia Museum, located on the second floor of Independence Hall. Peale died in 1828 and his museum was struggling financially.

Bust of Benjamin Franklin

In 1848, at auction, the City of Philadelphia purchased 86 of Peale’s portraits. Through the years, additional portraits have been added to the collection including a number by British pastel artists James and Ellen Sharples.

James Peale

Second Bank of the United States: Chestnut Street, between 4th and 5th Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.  Admission is free.  Through September 3, 2018, open daily 11 AM – 5 PM; September 4 – 30, 2018, open Wednesday – Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM; October 1 – December 31, 2018, open Saturday – Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM.

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

The beautiful and historic Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul,  the head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia (raised to the rank of an archdiocese in 1875), was built from 1846-1864. The cathedral was the site of two papal Masses

The grand Palladian facade

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this cathedral:

  • The cathedral is the largest Catholic church in Pennsylvania
  • It is the largest brownstone structure and one of the most architecturally notable structures in the city of Philadelphia.
  • Presented in a Roman–Corinthian style of architecture, the cathedral was modeled after the Lombard Church of St. Charles (San Carlo al Corso) in Rome.
  • It is 250 ft. long, 136 ft. wide and approximately 156 ft. high from the floor to the top of the dome (209 ft. from the floor to the top of the 11-foot gold cross atop the dome and  314 ft. from the pavement).
  • It was designed by Napoleon LeBrun (a native Philadelphian born to French-Catholic parents) from original plans by the Rev. Mariano Muller and the Rev. John B. Tornatore.
  • The brownstone facing, now atmosphere and weather-worn and pinkish in color, originally came from quarries in Connecticut and northern New Jersey.
  • The cathedral’s pipe organ, one of the largest in Philadelphia, has 75 ranks of pipes, 90 stops and 4,648 pipes on 4 manuals and pedals.
  • According to local lore and the parish’s history, the Philadelphia Nativist Riots, which represented the height of Anti-Catholicism and Know-Nothingism in Philadelphia, greatly influenced the design of the building. The light-colored, tinted clerestory  windows were built very high to inhibit vandalism from possible future riots (Legend has it that the architect and construction workers would throw stones into the air to determine the height of where the windows would be placed).

Here’s the historical timeline of the cathedral:

  • On September 6, 1846, it, the cornerstone of the cathedral, a gift of Mr. James McClarnan, was laid in the presence of some 8,000 persons.
  • From 1846 to 1851, LeBrun supervised the project
  • In 1851, by John Notman (noted for his Philadelphia ecclesiastical architecture) took over the supervision of the project
  • In 1857, LeBrun’s again supervised its construction.
  • On November 20, 1864, the cathedral was dedicated and solemnly blessed, with Bishop James Wood officiating.
  • On July 6, 1877, the altars, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart, were blessed.
  • On June 30, 1890, it was solemnly consecrated.
  • From 1914-1915, Arch. Henry D. Dagit completely renovated the cathedral interior under the direction of Archbishop Edmond F. Prendergast, adding the apse behind the High Altar, while D’Ascenzo Studios executed the apse’s stained glass windows and mosaic murals.
  • During the 1955-1957 renovation and expansion, semicircular apse was built to extend the sanctuary to its present depth of 54 ft.; lower stained glass windows were added to the new sanctuary apse (added with a stained glass window, from Conmick of Boston, depicting the Baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist and Sts. Peter and Paul baptizing prisoners in the Mamertine prison in Rome with water from a miraculous spring) and baptistery; and cast bronze doors (leading from the main façade into the narthex, or vestibule) and bronze handrails (along with the doors of the Race Street entrance to the cathedral) were installed.
  • On June 24, 1971, the cathedral was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
  • On October 3, 1979, Pope John Paul II celebrated a Papal Mass here.
  • On September 26, 2015, Pope Francis celebrated a Papal Mass here.

The cathedral’s aqua oxidized-copper vaulted dome, rising 156 ft. above the floor, and grand Palladian facade, designed by Notman in the Italian Renaissance manner, were added after 1850.

Commemorative Plaque of Pope John Paul II Visit

The old chapel on the north side of the basilica that was built in 1856 was replaced the Chapel of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament which was dedicated on October 11, 1955, the Feast of the Maternity of Our Lady.

The cathedral’s doors

The building’s main façade, graced by four massive, 60 ft. high (6 ft. in diameter) Corinthian columns, has niches with bronze statues of the Sacred Heart (to whom the diocese was consecrated by Bishop Wood on October 15, 1873); Mary, the Immaculate Conception (proclaimed patroness of the United States at the First Council of Baltimore in 1846, it was sculpted at the Joseph Sibbel Studios and installed in 1918); and Saints Peter and Paul, (the patrons of the Cathedral Basilica) both sculpted in the Gorham Studios.

The spacious interior

The spacious interior, largely decorated by Constantino Brumidi (a Greek/Italian-American painter best known for his murals in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.), features an oversized apse of stained glass and red antique marble in proportions reminiscent of Roman churches. The two large paintings, The Ascension of our Lord and the Adoration of the Kings from the East, decorate the ends of the transept.

Painting of “Adoration of the Kings from the East”

The 50 ft. wide and 192 ft. long great nave, lighted by bronze chandeliers weighing a half ton each, has a vaulted ceiling rising 80 ft. above the floor. The nave and transept are separated from the side aisles by massive pillars (which give way to arched recesses for altars and the baptistery) while a white marble altar rail, with three bronze gates, separate them from the sanctuary.

Painting of “The Ascension of Our Lord”

The Assumption of the Virgin into Heaven (1868), the striking oil on canvas ceiling mural in the dome, the pendentives and the portraits of St. Matthew (Angel), St. Mark (Lion), St. Luke (Winged Ox) and St. John (Eagle) in the medallions on the spandrels at the base of the dome, were painted by Brumidi. At the dome’s next level are panel paintings entitled Angels of The Passion (with each group of angels is an emblem of the Passion).

The dome

The ornate main altar, built with Botticino marble with Mandorlato rose marble trim, and the three altars, on each of the side aisles, point to an Italian Renaissance flavor. The front of the main altar is decorated by 3 gilded bronze discs, the central one bearing the HIS, the Greek inscription of Jesus Christ.

The High Altar

The 38 ft. high baldachin (or canopy) over the altar, of antique Italian marble, is surmounted by a semicircular bronze dome, the underside of which is a marble mosaic whose central figure is a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit.

The baldachin

The mosaic carries in Latin an inscription which translates: “In every place there is offered and sacrificed in My Name a clean oblation.” White, 10 ft. high, Italian marble angels, its decorative rosettes of Botticino marble, stand at the corners of the baldachin.

Two side altars are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel

The shrines dedicated to St. Katharine Drexel and St. John Neumann have 7-ft. high sculpted marble statues of these recent saints.

St. John Neumann Altar & Shrine

St. Katharine’s shrine retains the original altar donated in the 19th century by St. Katharine herself, along with her sisters, Elizabeth and Louise, as a memorial to their deceased parents, Francis and Emma Drexel.

Memorial altar to Archbishop Ryan

The memorial altar to Archbishop Patrick John Ryan, to the right of the altar dedicated to St. Katharine Drexel, was designed with the ancient Celtic Cross, to the left of which is the statue of St. Patrick while to the right is the statue of St. John the Evangelist.

Altar dedicated to the Holy Souls

The altar on the south side, between the Shrine to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and the baptistery, is dedicated to the Holy Souls and was modeled after the Blessed Sacrament altar in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, installed in December 2009, was the thought of Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali.

Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe

The choir stalls and the Cardinal’s chair, both of American black walnut, have wooden screens inspired by the famous metal rejería found in many cathedrals in Spain. The octagonal pulpit, opposite the Cardinal’s chair, has a carved walnut canopy and was constructed with marble matching the altar.

Mural of Blessed Mary’s Assumption

The baptistery, enclosed by a bronze screen inspired by a similar one in the Cathedral of Toledo in Spain, has the coat-of-arms of Cardinal John Francis O’Hara (carrying his motto in Latin “If you follow her you shall not go astray”) set into the top center of the screen.

The choir loft

The altar dedicated to the Holy Souls, to the left of the baptistery, is modeled after the Blessed Sacrament Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The main sanctuary and eight side chapels can comfortably seat approximately 1,240 worshippers (1,500 with added temporary chairs) in pews of walnut wood. The confessionals, their privacy secured by red velvet curtains, have a walnut finish while the floor is of white and black marble tiles.

The pipe organ

The choir loft, at the rear of the cathedral, has a richly ornamental organ screen (or casing) designed by Otto R. Eggers (who also designed the Jefferson Memorial, the Mellon Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Art, all in Washington, D.C.) and built with carved walnut. The casing which encloses the pipes is one of the most outstanding in the country. High above the screen is a majestic stained glass window of the Crucifixion. The case enclosing the organ was most likely built by Edwin Forrest Durang, one of the cathedral architects and builders.

A mural (north), designed by Leandro Velasco, depicts people and events in the Church’s involvement with Pennsylvania history. At the top are the coats of arms of Pope Paul VI and John Cardinal Krol, and the bottom is the symbol of the 41st Eucharistic Congress, Philadelphia, 1976. The historic scenes are of George Washington and members of the Continental Congress at Old St. Mary’s Church; St. Katharine Drexel, Sisters of St. Joseph caring for the wounded on the Gettysburg battlefield; and Commodore Barry, founder of the United States Navy.

The statues of St. Peter (south side/rear) and St. Paul (north side/rear), the patrons of the cathedral, were moved from the now closed Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament and installed inside the cathedral in August 2009.

Another mural (south) by Leandro Velasco

In the bowels of the building, under the main altar of the cathedral, is the compact “Crypt of the Bishops” with the remains of most of the bishops and archbishops, as well as several other clergymen, of Philadelphia. The crypt, reached by stairs behind the main altar, is the final resting place of:

  • Michael Francis Egan, O.S.F. – the first Bishop of Philadelphia, he was consecrated on October 28, 1810 and died in 1814.
  • Henry Conwell – second Bishop of Philadelphia, he was consecrated 1820. He died on April 22, 1842.
  • Francis Patrick Kenrick – the third Bishop of Philadelphia, he was elevated to Archbishop of Baltimore in 1851. He died in 1863.
  • James Frederick Wood – the fifth Bishop, he became the first Archbishop of Philadelphia in 1875. He died on June 20, 1882.
  • Patrick John Ryan the sixth Bishop, he was the second Archbishop of Philadelphia. He died on February 3, 1911.
  • Edmond Prendergast – the seventh Bishop, he was the third Archbishop of Philadelphia. He died on February 26, 1918.
  • Dennis Joseph Dougherty – the eighth Bishop, he was the fourth Archbishop of Philadelphia and the first to be elevated to Cardinal. He died on May 31, 1951.
  • John Krol– the tenth Bishop, he was the sixth Archbishop of Philadelphia and the third to be elevated to Cardinal. He died on March 3, 1996.
  • Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua – the eleventh Bishop, he was the seventh Archbishop of Philadelphia and the fourth to be elevated to Cardinal. He died on January 31, 2012.
  • Ames J. Carroll – bishop who died in 1913.
  • Francis I. Clark – bishop who died in 1918.
  • Cletus Benjamin – bishop who died on May 15, 1961.
  • Gerald P. O’Hara – bishop who died on July 16, 1963
  • Gerald V. McDevitt – bishop who died on September 29, 1980.
  • Francis Patrick O’Neill – pastor of St. James, Philadelphia, 1843–1882, died 1882.
  • Maurice Walsh – pastor of St. Paul’s Philadelphia (1832–1888) who died in 1888.
  • James Corcoran – professor at Saint Charles Seminary who died in 1889.
  • Francis Brennan – Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments,he was the first American to receive an appointment to the Roman Curia. He died on July 2, 1968.
  • John Patrick Foley – President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, he was the seventh Philadelphia priest to be elevated to Cardinal. He died on December 11, 2011.

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul: 18th St. & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (opposite Logan Square) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.  Tel: (215) 561-1313. Open daily, Mondays to Fridays,  7:30 AM to 5 PM; Saturdays, 9 AM to 5:15 PM; Sundays, 8 AM to 5 PM.

The Moshulu (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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Moshulu

After our visit to the Independence Seaport Museum and the museum ships USS Olympia and USS Becuna, Jandy and I, our curiosity piqued, hopped over to the adjacent Moshulu which was also docked at Penn’s Landing.  We discovered it was a floating restaurant and, as it wasn’t officially opened yet (it opens at 5 PM), asked permission if we could explore this  four-masted steel barque, a first for both of us.

Check out “Independence Seaport Museum,” “Independence Seaport Museum – USS Olympia” and “Independence Seaport Museum – USS Becuna“

We weren’t here to try out its food but the Moshulu’s dining rooms and outdoor decks do take full advantage of the unparalleled views of the city skyline and waterfront.

The author at the upper deck of the Moshulu

Jandy

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this ship:

  • The Moshulu is the largest remaining original windjammer in the world. Whilst windjammers exist and sail the seas to this day, the last windjammer carrying cargo was the Peruvian Omega (ex Drumcliff) which was in use until her loss in 1958.
  • She was built by William Hamilton and Company, on the River Clyde in Scotland and, along with her sister ship Hans, was one of the last four-masted steel barques to be built on the river (Archibald Russell was launched in 1905).
  • Moshulu is the world’s oldest and largest square rigged sailing vessel still afloat.
  • She is the only restaurant venue on a tall ship in the world.
  • The Moshulu was originally named Kurtafter Dr. Kurt Siemers, director-general and president of H. J. Siemers & Co, a Hamburg shipping company.
  • She was built at a cost of £36,000.
  • The Moshulu was built for G. H. J. Siemers & Co. and originally used in the nitrate trade.
  • Moshulu was made famous by the books of famous travel writer  Eric Newby who, at the age of 18, was apprenticed aboard the Moshulu, joining the ship in Belfast in 1938. The journey was documented in Newby’s books The Last Grain Race (1956, refers to the last grain race before the outbreak of World War II) and Learning the Ropes: An Apprentice in the Last of the Windjammers (1999, contains more than 150 of the photographs Newby took while aboard).
  • Moshulu’s route to Australia took her around Cape Horn a remarkable 54 times without incident.
  • On June 10, 1939, Moshulu wins the very last race of square-rigged sailing ships between Australia and Europe while carrying 59,000 bags of grain, weighing 4875 tons with a record speed of 16 knots in 91 days (15,000 miles) from Australia to Queenstown Cobh Ireland, a faster passage than that of any of the other sailing ships making similar passages that year.
  • Its restaurant has gained recognition as an award winning, AAA 4 Diamond rated Restaurant, Bar and Deck.

The Moshulu had the following general characteristics:

  • Length: 121 m. (396 ft., overall), 109 m. (359 ft., on deck), 102.2 m. (33.5.3 ft., between perpendiculars)
  • Beam: 14.3 m. (46.9 ft.)
  • Height: 65 m. (212 ft., keel to masthead truck), 56 m. (185 ft., main deck to masthead truck)
  • Draft: 7.4 m. (24.3 ft.) at 5,300 tons
  • Depth: 8.5 m. (28 ft., depth molded)
  • Depth of Hold: 8.1 m. (26.6 ft.)
  • Displacement: 7,000 ts (1,700 ts ship + 5,300 ts cargo)
  • Sail Plan: 180 m²; 34 sails: 18 square sails, 3 spankers, 13 staysails
  • Depths: 2 continuous steel decks, poop, midship bridge and forecastle decks
  • Installed Power: no auxiliary propulsion; donkey enginefor sail winches, steam rudder
  • Propulsion: wind
  • Highest Recorded Speed: 17 knots(31 kms./hr.)
  • Complement: 35 crew (maximum)
  • Crew: 33 (captain, 1st & 2nd mate, 1 steward, 29 able seamen)[
  • Boats & landing craft carried: 4 lifeboats

Here’s a timeline of the ship’s history:

  • On April 18, 1904, the Kurt was launched with Captain Christian Schütt as her first master.
  • Between 1904 and 1914, under German ownership, Kurt shipped coal from Wales to South America, nitrate from Chile to Germany, coal from Australia to Chile, and coke and patent fuel from Germany to Santa Rosalía, Mexico.
  • In 1908, under the command of Captain Wolfgang H. G. Tönissen, she made a fast voyage from Newcastle, Australia, to Valparaíso with a cargo of coal in 31 days.
  • In 1914, upon the outbreak of World War I, Kurt was sailed to Oregon, under the command of Captain Tönissen, then laid up in Astoria.
  • In 1917, when the United States entered the war, she was seized as prize booty, kept in commission and  temporarily renamed the Dreadnought (“one who fears nothing”) but, as there was already a sailing ship of that name registered in the US, she was renamed the Moshulu (which had the same meaning in the Seneca language) by Edith Wilson, the First Lady of the United States and wife of President Woodrow Wilson (who was of Indian extraction herself).
  • Between 1917 and 1920, Moshulu was owned by the U.S. Shipping Board and carried wool and chrome between North America, Manila and Australia.
  • From 1920 to 1922, it was owned by the Moshulu Navigation Co. (Charles Nelson & Co., a lumber firm) of San Francisco
  • In 1922, Moshulu was sold to James Tyson of San Francisco and, that same year, was repurchased by Charles Nelson.
  • From 1920 to 1928, the big four-masted barque ran in the timber trade along the U.S. west coast to Australia and South Africa.
  • In 1928, after her last timber run to Melbourne and Geelong, Australia, Moshulu was laid up in Los Angeles.
  • Later on, she was kept in places in or near Seattle, Washington: Lake Union, Winslow on (Puget Sound), and Esquimaltin British Columbia, Canada 190 kms. (100 nautical miles) northwest of Seattle.
  • In 1935, the Moshulu was bought for $12,000 by Gustaf Erikson of Finland, a successful ship owner of 25 vessels, 11 four-masted barque windjammers, who had found profits in bringing grain from Australia.
  • On March 14, 1935, when the contract was signed, Captain Gunnar Boman took over the ship and sailed Moshulu to Port Victoria. Gustaf Erikson had her operate in the grain trade from Australia to Europe. During the period of Erikson ownership the working language of the ship was Swedish, even though it sailed under the Finnish flag. The ship’s home port at the time, Mariehamn, is in the Swedish-speaking Åland Islandsof Finland.
  • At the end of 1938, the ship left Belfast, under the command of Captain Mikael Sjögren, sailing to Port Lincoln, in South Australia, with a load of ballast stone, arriving there in 82 days, a good passage for a windjammer. In Port Victoria, Moshulu took 4,875 tons of bagged grain on board and began her return voyage to Ireland. She had a crew of 33, which included two Americans, J. Ferrell Colton of Molokai, Hawaii (publisher of “Windjammer Significant”) and John W. Albright of Long Beach, California (who would become a square rigged ship captain himself).
  • On June 10, 1939, Moshulu arrives in Queenstown (Cobh, Ireland) winning the very last race of square-rigged sailing ships between Australia and Europe.
  • In November 1942, when she returned to Kristiansand, Norway, again under the command of Captain Mikael Sjögren and with a cargo of wheat from Buenos Aires, the ship was seized by the Germans and, step-by-step, stripped of her mast and spars.
  • in 1947, after breaking her mooring and capsizing in a storm close to shore at a beach in Østervik near Narvik,  she was demasted by a salvaging company
  • On July 1948, she was re-erected, stabilized and towed to Bergen. The ship’s hull was sold to Trygve Sommerfeldt of Oslo.
  • A few months later, the ship was transferred to Sweden
  • From 1948 to 1952, she was used as a grain store in Stockholm.
  • She was then sold to the German ship owner Heinz Schliewen, who wanted to put her back to use under the name Oplagas, a merchant marine training ship carrying cargo. Schliewen already used the four-masted steel barques Pamir and Passat (both former Flying P-Liners) for that purpose, but before Moshulu was re-rigged, Schliewen went into bankruptcy.
  • In 1953 Moshulu was sold to the Swedish Farmers’ State Union (Svenska Lantmännens Riksförbund) of Stockholm
  • Beginning on November 16, 1953, she was used as a floating warehouse.
  • In 1961, the FinnishState Granary bought the ship for 3,200 tons of Russian rye.  She was towed to a small and picturesque bay in Naantali, a town near Turku, and she continued to be used as a grain warehouse.
  • In 1970, the ship was bought by David Tallichet of the American Specialty Restaurants Corporation, who rigged her out in Scheveningen, Netherlands with machine (not hand) welded masts, yards, standing rigging and lines, of lighter materials. Other sources have it that The Walt Disney Company bought the ship but soon transferred it to the American “Specialty Restaurants Corporation.”
  • In 1974, she was towed to South Street Seaport, New York City.
  • In 1975, the Moshulu was opened as a restaurant
  • In 1989, the she closed after being damaged by a four-alarm fire.
  • In 1994, the Moshulu was purchased by HMS Ventures, Inc. and, under Mrs. Dodo Hamilton of the Campbell’s Soup family, was painstakingly restored in Camden to her original glory
  • In 1996, it was docked at Pier 34 on Philadelphia’s waterfront and opened as a restaurant on the Delaware River.
  • In 2002, the Moshulu was relocated to its current location under restaurateur Martin Grims.
  • On May 2003, its current owners, SCC Restaurants LLC, reopened the restaurant. 

Reception

The Moshulu was featured in the following movies:

Moshulu: Penn’s Landing, 401 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 (Click here for map). Tel: 215.923.2500. Fax: 215.829.1604.  E-mail: info@moshulu.com.  Website: www.moshulu.com. Open Mondays– Thursdays, 5 to 9 PM; Fridays & Saturdays, 5 to 10PM; Sundays 10AM to 2:30PM and 5 to 9PM.

Rodin Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

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Rodin Museum

The Rodin Museum, an art museum containing one of the largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin‘s works outside Paris, is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Our entrance ticket to the Philadelphia Museum of Art also included entry to this museum but it just so happened to be closed, it being a Tuesday. However, the Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden, just outside the Museum displays eight of Rodin’s works.

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The author in front of the Meudon Gate

The only dedicated Rodin Museum outside France, it houses a distinguished  collection of nearly 150 objects containing bronzes, marbles, and plasters by Auguste Rodin, representing every phase of his career.

The elegant Beaux-Arts–style building and garden, nestled between the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s main building the Free Library of Philadelphia (opened its central Logan Square location in 1927), was the gift of founder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Jules E. Mastbaum (1872–1926) to the city of Philadelphia.

This movie-theater magnate began collecting works by Rodin in 1923 with the intent of founding a museum to enrich the lives of his fellow citizens. Within just three years, he had assembled the largest collection of Rodin’s works outside Paris, including bronze castings, plaster studies, drawings, prints, letters and books.

In 1926, Mastbaum commissioned French architect Paul Cret (1876–1945) and French landscape designer Jacques Gréber (1882–1962) to design the unique ensemble of Beaux-Arts building and formal French gardens.  The murals inside the museum were executed by the painter Franklin C. Watkins.

Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden

However, Mastbaum did not live to see his dream realized, but Etta Wedell Mastbaum, his widow, honored his commitment to the city, and the Museum opened on November 29, 1929. It was immediately embraced and celebrated and, in its first year, drew over 390,000 visitors, including poet and dramatist Paul Claudel, the French Ambassador to the U.S..

Adam, a bronze cast of an 1880-81 statue made by Rodin

In 2012, the museum re-opened after a three-year, US$9 million renovation that brought the museum back to its original vision of displaying Rodin’s works. Today, the Rodin Museum is one of the defining icons of Philadelphia.

The Gates of Hell, standing at 6 m. high, 4 m. wide and 1 m. deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft.), contains 180 figures, several of which were also cast as independent free-standing statues, and depicts a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.

Visitors once entered through The Gates of Hell, a massive 5.5-m-tall bronze doorway (which is no longer used) that was originally created for the Museum of Decorative Arts (which was to have been located in Paris but never came into existence).

The Thinker. Its pose is one of deep thought and contemplation. The statue is often used as an image to represent philosophy.

From 1880 until his death in 1917, Rodin sculpted more than 100 figures for these doors. This casting is one of the three originals; several others have been made since. Several of his most famous works, including The Thinker (1880–1882), the best-known of Rodin’s worksfirst seen as an independent work in 1883, are actually studies for these doors which were later expanded into separate works.

The Three Shades(Les Trois Ombres) are a sculptural group of three identical figures gathered around a central point, produced in plaster in 1886 for his The Gates of Hell, .

For the first time since 1963, recent advances in conservation, undertaken by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, have permitted the return of Adam and The Shade to their original places within the arches of the Meudon Gate.

Meudon Gate, the museum’s portico, with Adam and The Shade located within the arches.

The Age of Bronze  (Rodin’s breakthrough sculpture) and Eve has also returned to the niches they once occupied on either side of the museum’s portico overlooking the reflecting pool. A version of the monumental The Three Shades, a generous loan from Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, sits on the building’s west side in a space that was vacant for most of the last eighty years.

The Burghers of Calais (1895). This bronze figure group commemorates six merchants of Calais who offered themselves as hostages to Edward III after he besieged the city for almost a year in 1347.

The museum’s several rooms house many more of the artist’s works, including The Kiss (1886), Eternal Springtime, which Rodin had presented to Robert Louis Stevenson in 1885, The Age of Bronze (1875–76), and The Burghers of Calais, a monument commissioned by the City of Calais in 1884.

NOTE:

In 2019, the Rodin Museum mounted a two-year special exhibition titled Rethinking the Modern Monument.  Curated by Alexander Kauffman, it paired 16 works from the Philadelphia Museum of Art with selected Rodin sculptures. The special exhibition featured bronze sculptures by Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Jacques Lipchitz, Marino Marini, Chana Orloff, and Alberto Giacometti, among others.

 

Rodin Museum: 2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway (at 22nd Street), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Open Wednesdays –Mondays,, 10 AM.–5 PM. Tel: (215) 763-8100.  Website:
www.rodinmuseum.org.  Coordinates: 39.962°N 75.174°W. 

How to Get There:  SEPTA bus: 7, 32, 38, 48, 49, Philly PHLASH; Suburban Station.

Independence Seaport Museum – USS Becuna (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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USS Becuna

After exploring the exhibits of the Independence Seaport Museum, Jandy and I went out to the waterfront and boarded the World War II/Cold War submarine USS Becuna, anchored next to Admiral George Dewey‘s flagship the USS Olympia, to check the innards of the submarine, a first for both of us, and get a glimpse of all aspects of a submariner’s life.

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National Historic Landmark Plaque

Jandy at the conning tower

Both boats are very good static displays and kept in pretty good condition. The USS Becuna (SS/AGSS-319), a Balao-class diesel-electric submarine of the United States Navy nicknamed “Becky,” was named for the becuna, a pike-like fish of Europe.

Forward Engine Room

Forward Torpedo Room

The author at the crew’s berthing area

Exploring the full length of the sub, from stem to stern, requires going into tight spaces (the small hatches, requiring a degree of flexibility, could be tough to maneuver through) and using ladders and steps, so it not a good attraction for those needing accessibility as well as those who are extremely claustrophobic.

After Engine Room

Control Room

Maneuvering Room

You can rush through the tour in only a few minutes but, if you take the time, you can spend the time looking at all of the pipes wires and valves and really feel what it was like to live and work in the extremely tight quarters on this sub.

Captain’s Stateroom

Chief Petty Officer’s Stateroom

The Captain’s stateroom was tiny. We weren’t able to see the conning tower and periscopes as it’s only included in the highly recommended “Behind the Scenes” tour which we were too late for.

Junior Officer’s Stateroom

Senior Officers Quarters

Officers’ Wardroom

Here’s the timeline of the submarine’s operational history:

  • On April 10, 1942, the order to build submarine Becuna was issued.
  • On April 29, 1942, the keel of submarine is laid down
  • On January 30, 1944, she was launched by Electric Boat Company (Groton, Connecticut) and sponsored by Mrs. George C. Crawford, wife of Cmdr. George C. Crawford.
  • On May 27, 1944, The USS Becuna (SS-319) was commissioned with Lt.-Cmdr. H. D. Sturr in command.
  • On July 1, 1944, she departs New London, Connecticut
  • On July 7, 1944, the USS Becuna detects a hostile submarine in the Atlantic Ocean and fires four torpedoes at the target; all torpedoes missed and contact with the enemy submarine was lost.
  • On July 27, 1944, she arrives at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii
  • On August 23, 1944, the USS Becuna departs Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol
  • On September 1, 1944, she comes across a Japanese soldier in a small boat. After taking the soldier prisoner, she sinks the boat with machine gun fire.
  • On September 24, 1944, she fires three torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the Luzon Strait south of Taiwan but all torpedoes miss.
  • On September 25, 1944, the USS Becuna fires three torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer in the Luzon Strait south of Taiwan but all torpedoes miss.
  • On October 8, 1944, she damages the Japanese tanker Kimikawa Maru in the South China Sea with two of four torpedoes fired.
  • On October 9, 1944, the USS Becuna attacks a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, claiming two sunk and two damaged; ten torpedoes were expended, seven of them made contact.
  • On November 16, 1944, she departs Fremantle, Australia for her second war patrol.
  • On November 17, 1944, the USS Becuna damages four Japanese ships – the tanker San Luis Maru, tanker Tokuwa Maru, a transport and cargo ship.
  • On January 2, 1945, she sinks two small vessels between Malaya and Borneo in two separate engagements with her deck gun.
  • On February 22, 1945, the USS Becuna fires ten torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, with one torpedo making contact and sinking the Japanese tanker Nichiyoko Maru.
  • On May 22, 1945, she departs for her fourth war patrol, on lifeguard station for carrier air crews.
  • On June 21, 1945, USS Becuna departs for her fifth war patrol.
  • On July 15, 1945, she attacks a Japanese Otori-class torpedo boat without effect.
  • On July 27, 1945, the submarine arrives at Subic Bay, Luzon
  • On September 22, 1945, she arrives at San Diego, California and is assigned to the Submarine Force of the US Navy Pacific Fleet.
  • On May 6, 1947, the USS Becuna enters Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States, for a scheduled overhaul.
  • On September 22, 1947, she completes her scheduled overhaul.
  • On April 1949, she is ordered to Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet, as a unit of Submarine Squadron 8.
  • Between May 1949 and May 1950, she conducts refresher training exercises and also assisted in training of student officers and men at New London, Connecticut.
  • In November 1950, she returned to Electric Boat Co. for a complete modernization overhaul, being refitted as a GUPPY-type submarine, with sophisticated radar and torpedo equipment including nuclear warheads.
  • On August 1951, the submarine’s overhaul is completed and the Becuna sails to the Caribbean for post-modernization shakedown.
  • On September 1951, she returns to New London. Becunaoperates with the Atlantic Fleet trailing Soviet submarines with eavesdropping equipment aboard, making two cruises with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and one to Scotland. Other than these extended cruises, the majority of Becuna‘s service was at New London as a training submarine.
  • In 1969, she is reclassified as an Auxiliary Submarine, AGSS-319.
  • On November 7, 1969, the Becunais decommissioned and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
  • In 1971, she reverts to SS-319
  • On August 15, 1973, she was struck from the Naval Register
  • On June 21, 1976, the Becuna was placed on permanent display adjacent to the cruiser USS Olympia (C-6) at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.
  • On August 29, 1986, she was designated a National Historic Landmark for her service in World War II for which she received four battle stars.
  • On January 1, 1996, she becomes a museum ship at the Historic Ship Zone of the Independence Seaport Museum.
  • In 2001, Becuna receives the Historical Welded Structure Award of the American Welding Society.

Crew’s Mess

Crew’s Washroom

Main Galley

Here are some specifications of this ship:

  • Displacement: 1,500 long tons (1,500 t) surfaced, 2,080 long tons (2,110 t) submerged
  • Length: 95.02 m. (311 t., 9 in.)
  • Beam: 8.31 m. (27 ft., 3 in.)
  • Draft: 5.13 m. (16 ft., 10 in.) maximum
  • Propulsion: 4 × General MotorsModel 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators, 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries, 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears, two propellers, 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced, 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged.
  • Speed: 38 kms./hour (20.25 knots) surfaced, 16 kms./hour (8.75 knots) submerged
  • Range: 20,000 kms. (11,000 nautical miles) surfaced at 19 kms./hour (10 knots)
  • Endurance: 48 hours at 3.7 kms./hour (2 knots) submerged, 75 days on patrol
  • Test depth: 120 m. (400 ft.)
  • Complement: 8 commissioned officers, 5 chief petty officers, 67 enlisted men
  • Armament: 24 torpedoes, 10 × 533 mm. (21 in.) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft), 1 × 127 mm. (5 in.)/ 25 caliber deck gun, Bofors 40 mm. and Oerlikon 20 mm. cannon.

Yeoman’s Shack

Pump Room

Radio Room

Independence Seaport Museum: 211 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, U.S.A.  Tel: +1 215-413-8655. Website: www.phillyseaport.org.  Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM. Closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day but open on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day (January 15) and President’s Day (February 19). Admission: US$16 (adults), US$12 (seniors, 65 & over), US$12 (children, 3–12 years old), free for college students, military (active & retired) and children 2 years old & under. Seafarin’ Saturday and Citizen Science Lab programming are included with regular admission. Group visits are available at reduced rates for a minimum of ten people. Reservations must be made in advance.

Independence Seaport Museum – USS Olympia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

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USS Olympia

After exploring the USS Becuna, Jandy and I now went out and boarded the USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40), a protected cruiser famous, during the Spanish–American War, as the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the May 1, 1898 Battle of Manila Bay.  There was a semi-permanent exhibit opened last June 16, 2017, featuring the Olympia, entitled “World War I USS Olympia.” to commemorate the World War I centennial. The World War I USS Olympia exhibit highlights the Ship’s humanitarian and peace-keeping role in World War I Europe. The exhibit also explores the everyday life of sailors aboard the ship, as well as, the Olympia’s final mission of transporting the remains of the Unknown Soldier from France to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.

The author at the upper deck

Turret of two 8 in. (203 mm.) 35 cal. Mark 4 guns

The design of the interior of the USS Olympia was not that far off from the old sailing ships of the line, with an enormous amount of deeply polished wood at the sumptuous officer’s quarters (called the “Officers’ Country).  The beautifully paneled staterooms of the officers contrasts with the tiny hammocks of the enlisted men.

Beautifully paneled Officers Berth Deck (Officer’s Country)

Hammocks of the enlisted men

Before the USS Olympia retired in 1922, most of its original guns were removed in refits but, amazingly, one of the original guns survives today, a 6-pounder forward on the port side.The captain’s cabin also mounted a gun. 

Stateroom and cabin of Commodore George Dewey. At left can be seen the muzzle of a 5-inch gun

The Commodore’s bathroom

Voice pipes lead from the bridge to various stations, including the emergency steering – a triple-wheel made of wood, out on deck towards the stern.

Jandy manning the ship’s emergency steering

Ammunition hoists, sitting close by coal chutes and ash hoists, look like china cabinets. It’s an amazing step back into history.  All throughout, great signs describe life on the ship and its history. We weren’t able to see the engine room (to see the big old steam engines, the giant crankshaft and connecting rods and the cramped boiler room) as it’s only included in the highly recommended “Behind the Scenes” tour which the we were too late for.

Officer’s Quarters

Junior Officers’ Mess

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this ship:

  • She saw service in the United States Navy from her commissioning in 1895 until 1922.
  • She was twice decommissioned and recommissioned.
  • For several months after her commissioning, she was the largest ship ever built on the western coast of the US, until surpassed by the battleship Oregon.
  • Admiral George Dewey and Olympia became famous as the first victors of the Spanish-American War.
  • She is the sole floating survivor of the US Navy’s Spanish–American War fleet.
  • Olympiais the oldest steel US warship still afloat in the world.
  • She is the sole survivor of the U.S naval shipbuilding program from the 1880s and 1890s and the only surviving pre-dreadnaught protected cruiser in the world.
  • It is one of only four warships representative of the time period that exist worldwide.

Officers Dining Room

Here is the timeline of the ship’s history:

  • In 1889, the newly formed Board on the Design of Ships began the design process for Cruiser Number 6
  • On April 8, 1890, the navy solicited bids but found only one bidder, the Union Iron Worksin San Francisco, California.
  • On July 10, 1890, the contract was signed
  • On June 17, 1891, the ship’s keel was laid
  • On November 5, 1892, the ship was launched.
  • On November 3, 1893, Union Iron Works conducted the first round of trials.
  • On December 1893, she was dispatched from San Francisco to Santa Barbara
  • On December 15, 1893, Olympia sailed into the Santa Barbara Channel and began an official four-hour speed trial time.
  • On February 5, 1895, the new cruiser was ultimately commissioned.
  • Upon commissioning, Olympia departed the Union Iron Works yard in San Francisco and steamed inland to the U.S. Navy’s Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, where outfitting was completed and Captain John J. Read was placed in command.
  • In April 1895, the ship steamed south, to Santa Barbara, to participate in a festival. That same month, the ship’s crew also conducted landing drills in Sausalito and Santa Cruz.
  • On April 20, 1895, the ship conducted its first gunnery practice, during which one of the ship’s gunners, Coxswain John Johnson, was killed in an accident with one of the 5-inch guns
  • On July 27, 1895, the ship starts its last shakedown cruise
  • On August 25, 1895, the ship departed the United States for Chinese waters.
  • A week later, the ship arrived in Hawaii, where she remained until October 23 due to an outbreak of cholera. The ship then sailed for Yokohama, Japan
  • On November 9, 1895, the ship arrives in Yokohama.
  • On November 15, 1895, the Baltimore arrives in Yokohama, from Shanghai, China, to transfer command of the Asiatic Squadron to Olympia.  She was designated as the flagship.
  • On December 18, 1895, Rear Admiral F.V. McNair arrives to take command of the squadron.
  • The following two years, the ship joined training exercises with the other members of the Asiatic Squadron as well as goodwill visits to various ports in Asia, notably Hongkong and Kobe and Nagasaki in Japan.
  • On January 3, 1898, Commodore George Dewey raised his flag on Olympia and assumed command of the squadron.
  • On April 25, 1898, the Spanish-American War began and Dewey moved his ships to Mirs Bay, China.
  • On April 27, 1898, the Navy Department ordered the Squadron to Manila in the Philippines, where a significant Spanish naval force protected the harbor. Dewey was ordered to sink or capture the Spanish warships, opening the way for a subsequent conquest by US forces.
  • On the morning of May 1, 1898, Commodore Dewey, with his flag aboard Olympia, steamed his ships into Manila Bay to confront the Spanish flotilla commanded by Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón.  At approximately 05:40, Dewey instructed Olympia‘s captain, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” Newly assigned Capt. Charles Vernon Gridley ordered the forward 8-inch gun turret, commanded by Gunners Mate Adolph Nilsson, to open fire, which opened the battle and prompted the other American warships to begin firing. By early afternoon, Dewey had completed the destruction of Montojo’s squadron and the shore batteries, while his own ships were largely undamaged. Dewey anchored his ships off Manila and accepted the surrender of the city. Olympia remained in the area and supported the American expeditionary force by shelling Spanish forces on land.
  • On May 20, 1898, the ship returned to the Chinese coast, remaining there until the following month, when she departed for the US, via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
  • On October 10, 1898, the ship arrived in Boston. Following Olympia‘s return to the US, her officers and crew were feted and she was herself repainted and adorned with a gilded bow ornament.
  • On November 9, 1898, Olympia was decommissioned and placed in reserve.
  • On January 2, 1902, the Olympia was recommissioned into the fleet and assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron. Her first duty was to serve as the flagship of the Caribbean Division.
  • Over the following four years, the ship patrolled the Atlantic and Mediterranean, her voyages including a visit to Turkey.
  • In March through April 1903, she and four other U.S. Navy warships were involved in an intervention in Honduras.
  • Starting on April 2, 1906, she became a training ship for midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy. In this role, she conducted three summer training cruises – May 15 – August 26, 1907, June 1 – September 1, 1908 and May 14 – August 28, 1909. Between the cruises, the ship was placed in reserve, first in Norfolk, Virginia and later at Annapolis, Maryland.
  • On March 6, 1912, Olympia arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, serving as a barracks ship until 1916.
  • In late 1916, when it became increasingly clear that the US would eventually enter World War I, the ship was recommissioned into the fleet.
  • After the U.S. entered the First World War by declaring war on Germany in April 1917, Olympia was mobilized as the flagship of the U.S. Patrol Force. She was tasked with patrolling the eastern seaboard of the US for German warships. She also escorted transport ships in the North Atlantic.
  • On June 15, 1917, she ran aground in Long Island Sound, and put in for repairs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which, along with the replacement of her 8-inch and 5″/40-caliber guns with 5″/51-caliber guns, took eight months.
  • On April 28, 1918, Olympiadeparted Charleston, carrying an expeditionary force bound for Russia which had previously been a member of the Allied Powers but was in the midst of civil war and had signed a separate peace with Germany.
  • On June 9, 1918, Olympia arrived in Murmansk, Russia, and deployed the peace-keeping force. She subsequently assisted in the occupation of Archangel.
  • After World War I, participated in the 1919 Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and conducted cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas to promote peace in the unstable Balkan countries.
  • After the end of the war, Olympia sailed to the Mediterranean via Portsmouth, England.
  • On December 1918, the ship became the flagship for American naval forces stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. While on this assignment, she continued in her old role of showing the flag and conducting goodwill visits in various Mediterranean ports. This included a period of policing duty in the Adriatic Sea from January 21 to October 25, 1919 (the Dalmatian coast was in a state of turmoil following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the war).
  • On August 18, 1918, she steamed to the Black Sea to aid the return of refugees from the Balkans who had fled during the war.
  • By September 19, 1918, she was back in the Adriatic and four days later had to deploy a landing party to prevent an incident between Italian and Yugoslav forces.
  • On November 24, 1919, Olympia briefly returned to Charleston.
  • In 1920, she was reclassified as CA-15.
  • On February 14, 1920, she departed New York for another tour of duty in the Adriatic,
  • On May 25, 1921, the ship returned to Charleston.
  • On June 1921, she was made the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet’s training unit.
  • In July, 1921, she then participated in joint Army-Navy experiments, during which the ex-German warships Ostfriesland and Frankfurt were sunk off the Virginia Capes. She was again reclassified as CL-15 that year.
  • On October 3, 1921, Olympia departed Philadelphia for Le Havre, France, to bring the remains of the Unknown Soldier home for interment in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C..
  • On October 25, 1921, the cruiser departed France, escorted by a group of French destroyers for part of the voyage.
  • On November 9, 1921, at the mouth of the Potomac River, the battleship North Dakotaand the destroyer Bernadou joined Olympia as she sailed to the Washington Navy Yard. After transferring the remains ashore, the cruiser fired her guns in salute.
  • In the summer of 1922, she conducted a last training cruise for midshipmen.
  • On December 9, 1922, she was decommissioned for the last time in Philadelphia and placed in reserve.
  • On June 30, 1931, the ship was reclassified IX-40 to be preserved as a relic.
  • On September 11, 1957, she was released to the Cruiser Olympia Association, restored to her 1898 configuration and became a museum ship under their auspices. The main 8-inch guns and turrets, scrapped before World War I, were replaced with sheet metal fabrications.
  • In 1966, Olympia was designated a National Historic Landmark.
  • In January 1996, when faced with mounting debt and tremendous deferred maintenance, the Cruiser Olympia Society merged with the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. 

Battle Memorial

Today, Olympia is a museum ship at the Independence Seaport Museum in Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Midshipmen from Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania regularly work on Olympia, functioning as maintenance crew. Olympia’s stern plate and bow ornaments are on display at Dahlgren Hall at the United States Naval Academy.

National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark plaque

National Historic Maritime Landmark plaque

Here are some specifications of this ship:

5 inch gun

Driggs-Schroeder 6-pounder gun

Independence Seaport Museum: 211 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, U.S.A.  Tel: +1 215-413-8655. Website: www.phillyseaport.org.  Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM. Closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day but open on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day (January 15) and President’s Day (February 19). Admission: US$16 (adults), US$12 (seniors, 65 & over), US$12 (children, 3–12 years old), free for college students, military (active & retired) and children 2 years old & under. Seafarin’ Saturday and Citizen Science Lab programming are included with regular admission. Group visits are available at reduced rates for a minimum of ten people. Reservations must be made in advance. Visitors can also walk aboard, tour, and watch historical reenactments conducted by the Cruiser Olympia Living History Crew.