Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1920-02-28
OLYMPIA PREPARING
FOR LONGEST CRUISE
THOUGH Is YRS. OLD

The cruiser Olympia, fgom whose
| bridge Admiral Dewey directed the
battle of Manila Bay. lies in brooklyn
Navy Yard. New York. in her twenty
sixth year, preparing for Il cruise that
vii probal ~ be the longesf in her
carer.
yice-Admiral Harry S. Knapp. who
i succeeded Rear Admiral William S
Sims in the job Of getting along with
the English" IN London. has asked for
Dewey's ship in which TO make a long
inspection OF the European ports in
/ which American vessels operated dur
ing the war The Olympia is an old
command Of Knapp's, too. for he few
the flag from her in 1916, when he was
ruling Santo Domingo for the Navy
Department So after being over
hauled, the Olympia viii sail late ia
March for London, TO be gone. per
haps. six months. perhaps a year.
She looks like tenement building
covered with fire-escapes.' said the
1
from the navy yard gate to the Olym-
pia's plank and takes them back again.
/" skipper? Good scout. He'll $3.50
with you If you're on the level with
him, and, what | mean. he can be
rough if you want to play that way.
Good quarters and feeds ped. TOO. III
puYin the rest of my cruise right here
unless somebody gets me shanghaied
Off"
"How's the Exec?"
The guide hedged little here,
"Oh, / guess all execs are all right
when they amt execs, he said, trying
to be as charitable as gob's tradi-
tional feeling for the executive officer
would let him be- When they get
them another job they're all right
again.hu YOU know how /. is--an exec
has got to be kind of hard-boiled, J
guess"
Capt r. l.. Wyman, L. S. NJ is the
skipper who'll go $3.50 when you're
on the level with him. He is to take
the Olympia to London for NiceAd-
miral Knapp, and on her long cruise
from London. perhaps even from Arch,
angel. TO Brest, Gibraltar, Spalato,
where the Olympia served as the sta
ton ship after the armistice, Corfu
and Constantinople.
The Olympia's 400 men are a new
generation, of gobs. for many hund.
reds have shouldered their bags and
hammocks and waddled down her
plank since the veterans of Manila Bay
were paid off Perhaps some Of those
enlisted men are still in the service.
but their places en- the old ship are
being capably filled by Youngsters, most
of them apparently not out of their
teens OF beyond their early twenties.
Some are of that type wal go INFO
tie navy to make il their s,lme for life
and Others ere the youngsteG enlisted
since the armistice or who didn't get
enough seafaring in the Naval Reserve
during the war.
Although the Olympia was almos,
up to the draft exemption age and her
speed is only sixteen knots, she did
her share in the great war. In the
summer of 1918 she went to Archangel
flying an admirals flag, and after one
short return trip to England she went
back. to remain in the North for
months directing the American sub
chasers that were operating on the
coast.
She is now being fitted with sa
luting battery so as to be able topper
form the appropriate courtesies on ell
tering foreign ports or when foreign
officials come aboard to meet Vice
Admiral Knapp. She also carries ten
5inch guns, taken from the Tennessee,
which makes her modern ship ID
armament. for all her 26 years.
Naval men believe Admiral Knapp
had several reasons for asking for the
OLYMPIA. He was in the service When.
she fought her great fight and may
now be reckoning on the impression
which her traditions will make with
the nations he is TO call upon as com
mander of the United States naval
forces operating in European waters.
She has been the flagship Of several
Knapp's illustrious fellow-admirals
and predecessors in flag rank.