Book excerpt: "Until now there has never been a comprehensive ship's biography of the last survivor of America's new steel navy of the Spanish-American War era. The protected cruiser Olympia was constructed as part of a congressionally-mandated program to build a modern fleet prior to the turn of the century. Designed for the Asiatic Squadron, she became famous as Adm. George Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay and later returned the body of the Unknown Soldier from France after World War I. Today the Olympia displays her traditional garb of buff and white as a naval shrine at Penn's Landing on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved