Pinned post for Q&A :) As noted in the video, some weird EM interference was going on above decks (and also happened aboard NJ on the other side of the river) but vanished once we were behind enough steel within the ship. Anyone familiar with the area got any ideas?

I'm a big ocean liner fan and when I was over in the States I went to Philadelphia to see whats left of the SS United States. On the way to the harbour I happened to see the USS New Jersey on an ad in the taxi, looked out the window and the battleship was right there across the river. Went onboard that and then spotted the Olympia moored nearby and checked that out as well as the Becuna and the Moshulu restaurant ship. Ended up visiting five ships in one day without knowing the last four were even in the city when I got there.

Was fortunate to go aboard the Olympia in 1972, being a Coast Guard Damage Controlman at the time I crawled my way through the entire vessel... Left with a deep appreciation of modern watertight integrity and damage control.

"And as we walked around to find how you access the ship, I was gratified to notice the Bolivian Navy had sent a representative!" - I burst out laughing at that, HARD

Awesome! Olympia is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting museum ships in the world because most museum ships are from WWII and she provides a completely different perspective.

The second indicator on the engine room telegraph is for the engine room to acknowledge the command given by the bridge. So if you set full ahead for example, the second indicator won't read full ahead until down in the engine room they see and acknowledge the command.

-The Philadelphia Experiment is working- I mean, the EM interference is really messing with the audio otherwise a fine tour of Olympia

I used to work in that area of Philly and we always had problems with our radios being interfered with by transmissions from aircraft, Pennsylvania University Security, and other high powered transmitters.

My great grandfather served on that ship. I saw it a few years ago. It’s definitely showing it’s age and needs a lot of work, but it is still a beautiful ship. Ships of that age are more a work of art than warship. Very classy.

One of the best photos I have ever taken is one of the New Jersey framed in an open porthole of Olympia. It was in the days before digital, so the almost perfect exposure of Olympia's interior and New Jersey in sunlight was nearly miraculous.

the 466 lbs was for just the breech mechanism. as you opened it you said about it being heavy chunk of metal, and i was thinking "yeah, like 466lbs of it."

The Engine Order Telegraphs aren’t disconnected, the lever and the arrow are two different things. The lever of one is connected to the arrow of the other and vice versa. The reason for this is so that the bridge can use their lever to give an order, which appears as the arrow and the bell in the engine room, and then the engine room can acknowledge that they have received the order and are able to comply by using their lever to match the arrow, which appears as the arrow on the bridge. That way, the bridge knows that the engine room has noticed the new engine order and is responding appropriately.

Hope you enjoyed your visit the Philadelphia area and thank you for highlighting this unappreciated piece of American Naval history. As the saying goes "You may fire when ready Gridley". Looking forward to your presentation on BB-62!

Glad to see USS New Jersey making a cameo appearance! Olympia is a gorgeous ship

She is THE ship that sparked my interest in naval history. Having been on USS Constitution and other tall ships and modern ships like Massachusetts, I was in awe at this odd confluence of old and "modern". She's such a steampunkish wonder to walk about and touch. Drach, do you have a script for the video you could publish so we can read some of the missing bits?

My favorite US ship, I am so grateful she has been preserved.

Drach thanks for the programs Hey I think regarding the engine room telegraphs the order gets acknowledged, that's why the arrow and levers are independent

Olympia is amazing. One of the 6pdr mountings near the bridge is from 1893. Really puts a perspective on the other museum ship just across the river.

Yay! A local ship to me! She is well worth the visit and there’s so many cool artifacts on board!! I actually got a personal tour of the boiler and engine room there is so much to see and talk about! My particular favorite fact is that these engines could turn at 140 RPM and I think it comes across in the video just how short these VTE's are compared to those on Texas and even on a Liberty ship, which couldn't turn must faster than 100 RPM. Plus all the bracing around the engine to stiffen it from the rotation, given that the crankshaft doesn't have counterweights.

The White Fleet color scheme is stately and magnificent. That was part of what made it "great". Solid content

The Olympia was the flagship of the US Navy Asiatic fleet under the command of Admiral George Dewey in the Spanish /American war. He had her equipped with a Ice Cream maker machine which was a first for a US Navy warship.

Boats/ships use very powerful radios, they tend to mess up consumer radio equipment when nearby. Also you are using a radio on a giant metal ship on the water, it could be interfering with your transmission. Try to keep the transmitter and receiver in line of sight. Most wireless mic systems can also scan for the best possible frequency to use. Your point of a backup wired mic is valid, usually run a shutgun mic on the camera in that case. Love your work, best of luck.

The phase alignment of the triple expansion steam engine is not for the distribution of output power but becuase the pressure from #1 can move to #2 and so on whilst maintaining a somewhat continuous rate of expansion. Great video BTW, these of ships are like works of art.

I was fortunate enough to be stationed in Philadelphia in 1998 when I re-enlisted and was able to do so onboard the USS Olympia! Great ship with lots of cool history. Thanks again.

As a former Naval Officer, 1975-82, I was amazed how ornate and luxurious the Olympia’s Officer wardroom was, compared to the modern Cruiser I was serving on. The mahogany wood paneling was indeed impressive.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit! I first saw the Olympia 40 years ago and again 12 years ago. She has been kept up quite well and my hat is off to the volunteers who keep her looking great! I know it doesn't matter to a Brit, but a visit to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell is something every American must visit. It's the birthplace of our Republic and it should be on every American's bucket list of places to see.

You look SO HAPPY in the engine room! Awesome job. Keep up the good work.

As a child, I would see “Olympia” quite by surprise, usually on the way to the Philadelphia Art Museum, an usually stuck in traffic. Olympia would take me by surprise,looking quite incredible. I am so glad she has been saved, and is on display.

Lord it's been ages since I visited the Olympia as a kid when my family lived in NJ. Still it was exciting for a young fellow who's parents were both former Navy.

Thank you Drach for another terrific review - you have a real facility for clearly explaining the history of ships, and their engineering, in a manner that even non-engineers (like me) can follow and enjoy. Great job!

And to this very day, engine orders are still called bells, and the throttleman's log is called the "bell book".

I have loved this ship since I built the Revell model kit in the early 1960's. I hung onto this model and in the 1980's I broke it down and rebuilt it but didn't finish it . During the COVID lockdown I finally finished it employing better materials and far better skills. So it has been 60 years in the making . An excellent kit for it's time.

Acktchewally Jingles...errrr, Drachinifel! Philidelphia is a city, and the state it is in is known as Pennsylvania

Born in Camden - have been through Olympia many times - hope she continues to get the support and maintenance she deserves!

Another great program, I am proud to have been aboard all these years as a patron. As I’ve noted before, I grew up in this area and was hanging around the Navy Yard, doing odd jobs as a boy not much more than eight. I got to climb over around and through each of the ships still active and more importantly, those coming in to be mothballed and then , for secure storage, after the war. My uncle, who was a supervisor at the yard and cared for me during the summer months, often remarked that I had probably spent more time on board more World War II battleships than anyone else. I was there in 1958 when I met Admiral Halsey, and that cemented my career as a naval officer, for 25 years. This ship, and it’s accompanying story, was part of my upbringing. Therefore, I was always attuned to any information or commentary regarding USS Olympia. I had received so much training as a young man about US Navy ships, that, after my release from the United States Marine Corps as a platoon leader candidate, due to a back injury, I was commissioned almost immediately, on board a warship as a U.S. Navy, lieutenant, junior grade. Being well known to even the Flags staff at the Navy Yard, a board was convened, I was given an examination, and assigned for practical training as a ship driver. I never attended OSC , SWO school or even the knife and fork course but did lecture at SWO , west coast detachment, USNA and War College. My love was always the Iowas, and during my studies, I learned about the several models, made of various materials, each more than 21 feet long, that were used on maneuvering tables, and for other studies, such as radio and electronics transmission and interference. I recall, from all those years ago, there was a discussion about the tin clad Olympia being the type of ship that would create a great deal of interference with modern day electronics. I’m too old and too ill to go do any research on it, but here in may be your answer.

Absolutely love that Drach finally got to visit this ship. I remember the video he did on her all those years ago. Fantastic work as always Drach.

Been to Olympia, amazing ship. So strange to see the mating of warships passing into history and a view of the future.

Went for a visit of the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a Liberty Ship in San Francisco but stayed for the day because it was a steaming day. Watched the volunteer crew of yes "old guys" fire up her boiler, ended up having lunch in the galley and latter watching her steam plant turned over a few revolution ahead and astern. Service in the engine room, nothing between the hull plates and the ocean, anything happy and you are going down. Hats off to snipes everywhere.

Your video was first rate. You did this great fighting ship proud. On my bucket list is to visit every military museum ship here in the United States. We are so blessed to have these wonderful pieces of history.

Hell yeah! I love the Olympia. What a beautiful vessel. Visited it last year!

Excellent Video!! It's amazing that there is such a contrast in warships over time in the same general viewing area. Thank you so much

Beautiful woodwork inside. The difference between the Officer and enlisted quarters is eye opening.

Living in the area, I can confirm that there are plenty of areas with radio and electronics interference throughout the 30 mile radius. Usually it is in industrial areas or the borders of cell or radio tower ranges.

I don't think i've gotten to a Drac video this early before

Thank you Drach for visiting my favorite historical warship. I've visited her many times and regularly donate to her upkeep. You got to see her engine room and boilers which I've never been able to do. Still, having you give detailed descriptions while visiting those spaces is probably more informative than my own presence on scene without a Drach voice-over.

I had the very good fortune to visit this Lady during a port visit to Penn's Landing in 1986, we moored just about where that small harbor tug is tied up. As we had just come from our little 'dust up' with Libya where we did take part in the combat operations, some of us manning the rail ducked, eyes wide when Olympia fired a saluting charge unexpectedly, from that saluting gun you leaned against. I remember my tour as fascinating, impressed by all the beautiful woodwork in Officer's country and the crowded boiler and engine rooms. Those were a far cry from the gas turbine powered destroyer I was serving in. I'm glad to hear that Olympia is undergoing hull preservation, I had heard at one point she was actually resting on the bottom of the river due to flooding of magazines and tanks through the hull though I don't know if that was true.

I love visiting those ships, been all over them many times! Awesome staff there. Those windows around the casemates in the Captain's and Admiral's quarters are original, they would be replaced with metal versions before going into combat. So grateful the decision to toss all that beautiful wood before going into combat at Manila wasn't given so we still have it now.

Ahh! The one I have been waiting for! Drach was there the week before I got there. The crew said he was fantastic and they thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Its a shame Drach wasn't able to get the USS Becuna as well; the guides are excellent on that tour if anyone visits, you will not be disappointed. I am grateful that they let him down into the engine room and the boiler rooms because those areas aren't generally open. It was fantastic to see what I missed out on in the tour but I really would have like to see the engine room for myself. Those triple expansion vertical (as well as, inclined and horizontal) ship's engines of the day are really quite impressive to see in person. Anyway, if you haven't been to the USS Olympia, you really should, there is a lot more to see aboard her and her mooring sister the USS Becuna.

The father of my grand father was an major spanish army in Manila in 1898. He see USS navy to bomber city. The Olympia is only survivor the war.

can someone pretty please make a meme template with the section drach said “ i wasn’t asking” with the big ass rench, he pretty much did the meme for us, and I would really love to see that as a meme. I don’t know, Drach holding a giant ass rench and casually saying, “ I wasn’t asking” is the funniest thing I have seen all day.

These in-depth tours are awesome! Thank you so much. Enjoyed every minute!

Philly is a unique port. While it's not tops on the list of any particulate type of maritime activity, it is one of busiest in terms of overall confluence of traffic types. It has several major transatlantic ports, along with being the center point of a couple of inland and coastal barging networks, along with still having a fairly busy naval facility. Add in Philly airspace being not only for it's own airport, but is fairly close of an approach area for several major coastal airports. A lot of radio traffic going on there. To add, Philly is also fairly dry and has a lot of natrual static electricity, in no part also because of the confluence of sea water and fresh water. I used to haul containers out of Chicago. We had a fairly regular run from the ADM plant in Bushnell to Packer Marine in Philly hauling frozen natrual ingredients for shipment to Puerto Rico for pharmaceuticals. Spent a fair amount of time at the Walt Whitman in those days. Philly was always a very noisy place on the radio, needing a high squelch to get above the static noise due to the natrual static air of the place. So while I'm surprised at the *amount* of interference you got, I'm not surprised at all you getting some. The naturally dry and static environment coupled with a massive amount of radio traffic from several transport and telecom's makes Philly a very noisy place, signal wise.

Cruiser or Battleship? US Navy: *Yes*

An excellent video depicting a warship and technology of a bygone era; this period is particularly interesting.

That was brilliant! Thank you so much. What a wonderful ship.

Philly Drachism 25:14 "the expoldy stuff goes in there"

The condition and presentation of the ship is impressive.

Toured the ship several times. Awesome to see that transition period in history.

IIRC. Some of the "modern" 5/51 cal guns were recovered from USS Nevada when she was scrapped and donated by the Navy for the mids 50's "restoration" prior to being towed to it's current museum position. Prior to that it sat downriver, in mothballs, in the Philadelphia Navy yard where it was reputed to be haunted by Adm. Dewey's Ghost. Also, the "Ice maker" refrigeration unit was the first to be installed on a US Navy vessel and is a historical artifact in it's own right.

I have had the pleasure of touring it a few times. It really needs drydock time but it's still a beautiful ship.

I grew up not far from there, Drach, wish I'd known you were coming by. I've been aboard Olympia a few times, but I've never been to the engine or boiler rooms. Those steam engines are absolutely beautiful things, what I'd give to see them in action again someday. If I had Musk/Bezos/Gates money I'd make good and sure that Olympia was taken care of. She's the only one of her type and era left in the world, and she's a much-overlooked important link in the history of the US Navy.

Great Video Drach. Best shots of an interrupted screw breach I have seen anywhere.

Great video Drac, just out here in the shop cutting cylinders down and had to take a break to check out your newest content. Thanks a bunch for all your hard work.

I am not sure if Drach mentioned it, but both Olympia and Becuna are part of the Independence Seaport Museum complex. The Museum itself is very much worth visiting as well as the two vessels. Here is the wiki en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Seaport_Museum Of course, the New Jersey is right across the river. I was in the area for two weeks of training several years ago and spent a day visiting the museum and vessels. For the noise interference, I don't live in the area, but that is a busy area. I think part of it could have been radar (hear a short bzzt in some cases) and it could have also been radio transmissions (intermittent interference for a period of time). I hated when radar was running in port when I was on a ship (wasn't often) but it would mess with all sorts of stuff and be a timely bzzt as the radar would sweep around. Drach was able to see a lot more than we did when visiting. The engine and boiler rooms were not available for viewing. Besides the Victory and Constitution, I think the Olympic is one of the oldest capital ships still around in the world. I don't think you missed a lot with the Becuna. She is a guppy conversion, so doesn't really bear any resemblance to her WW2 version. The other thing is there are number of US subs as museum exhibits all over the country, so I am sure you had the opportunity to run into another in your journey around the states. :)

Love this ship! And she's a very important part of history and must be saved. And she needs to be added to world of warships

Live a couple of blocks away and never had any issues with electronics But your are between the USCG HQ and PPD HQ. My dad took me there almost 50 years ago. I have visited it several times over the years. But never got to see the engine room and boilers before and was stunned to see how good of shape they were in. Thanks!

I found this one quite relaxing. April spring sunshine, Drach having mostly the run of the ship, almost the ideal way to tour it.

I had a weird experience roughly 10 years ago. I was building an upgraded USS OLYMPIA from Revell at the time. I had to drive my truck to S. Lawrence St. in Philly to one of the frozen food warehouses. My next stop was in Delaware, so I hit I-95 south & over to my left ? There's the OLYMPIA !!! Trust me; in the modelling world ? THIS NEVER HAPPENS- to drive past a subject you are currently building. Never, ever happens.... 🚬😎

The engine room was fascinating with all the steam-punk looking machinery and the oversized tools.

Thank you very much for the guided tour. I'm glad she was still afloat for your visit. I just subscribed.

I love your content dude, perfect amount of information and a real variety of stuff

I served in the Bolivian navy for 4 years. We used to stay up all night telling each other stories.

That is the ‘Pennsylvania’ / New Jersey border. As for the electromagnetic interference, everyone knows it is because of the Philadelphia Experiment. 😊

Excellent upload, thanks. I first saw the Olympia in the 1993 Tom Hanks film "Philidelphia," Upon arriving home from the theatre, I accessed all the information I could find. I believe I used the keywords Philidelphia and museum ship. I was totally taken by surprised that one of these old ships still existed.

Thanks for the great tour. Your vids are fantastic. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Philly and the Olympia has been a favorite visit of mine since the mid 1960's

The small pointer is what the engine room uses to acknowledge an order. For example, the main lever is at 1/3 ahead and the small pointer is aligned - that means that the bridge called for 1/3 ahead and the engine room acknowledged receiving the order and adjusted the propulsion plant to achieve that speed. Now the bridge calls for ahead standard. The outer lever is moved to the ahead standard position, but the inner pointer remains at the 1/3 ahead location. When the engine room moves their lever to ahead standard to acknowledge they received the order and are acting on it, the inner pointer moves to ahead standard and aligns with the outer pointer again. It's just a way of transmitting an engine order and providing a response so the bridge knows the engine room is doing what it has been told to do.

Beautiful example of a protected cruiser, wish we had preserved one of ours in the UK. We have the HMS Belfast of course, but there is a certain look to these victorian era warships, perhaps stately comes to mind. HMS Powerful or Terrible?

This was amazing. I love older ships like this, there are few left and fewer good tour videos of them.

Those old steam engines are gorgeous. All that polished brass and steel with decorous gages and labels. Sure they can kill or maim you in an instant of inattention but nobody said they’re perfect.

Thank you, I'll take this as a sign the Phillies are going to win again tonight

Oooo that means USS New Jersey is up soon!!

Our old neighbor in the 70s in Florida served on the USS Olympia, Henry Miller. He has been gone for a long long time, but what an absolute character. An amazing ship for sure!

Awesome tour of one of my favorites, thank you.

Yeah it is and it wasnt modernized in the 40s either so you get to see the ship the way it was intended when built

Great video, despite the mysterious interference...microwave transmitter towers? The Olympia has always interested me although I've never visited her. This is definitely a trip I should make with my two sons. Thanks.

Olympia is in serious need of dry docking for repairs to her hull, hope she gets there soon. She is too important to lose her. Only a decade ago there was serious talk about taking her out to sea and sinking her as an artificial reef. Glad that she was saved.

Ryan Szymanski was using the ECM on USS New Jersey to jam you.

I love this ship. I am glad she is still around.

Sounds like occasional interference from the search radar from the nearby Philadelphia Airport.

Hi Drach, lovely video but its "Manila" not "Manilla".

Was here in May, loved getting to check it out and relax on one of the hammocks

Manila, the city in the Philippines, has ONE L.

Ah yes, the ship that got an equally historic ship (BB-3) scrapped. FDR had a choice between Oregon and Olympia, and for some reason he chose Olympia. The rest is history.

Thanks for coming to Philly to see our ship, have a nice day and thumbs up.

Thank you for helping preserve these ships

The Olympia is more or less used as the de facto symbol of US Imperialism and Colonialism in the Philippines, akin to that of the "Blackships" forcing Japan to open it's ports. The historical movie "Heneral Luna" (General Luna), has the most recent iteration of this iirc.

Having lived about ten miles away across the river, I have visited Olympia a few times in the last six years and looked forward to your tour. Sorry you had the frustrating experience but enjoyed it none the less. Now awaiting the USS Bacuna and of course the USS New Jersey!

It's funny you put this up today. I was just looking at information on Olympia earlier this morning.

Very well done! I love ships, mostly liners and had never heard of this one being saved as a museum. The classic lines of the bow is beautiful. I’ve been to the Queen Mary twice and even spent the night on her. My father and his younger brother were in the navy. Dad served in WW2 and Korea as signal man and helmsman on DE’s and others. My brother served on the Pegasus class in he 70’s. Very fast with jet engines that coupled with the diesels. You should check them out.

I was just on the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien for Fleet week. To see the triple expansion engine at work is something you never forget. Fuel for the Liberty Ship was fuel oil vs. coal. Thank you for posting such a comprehensive tour of this iconic Navy ship.