Another wholly inappropriate situation created by the Coast Guard and GSA. CGC ACUSHNET, the Queen of the Fleet after STORIS, was sold at auction following her 2011 decommissioning instead of being made available for museum use. ACUSHNET is the last of the US Navy Diver Class vessels from WWII and was determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places during her decommissioning surveys. The Coast Guard never completed the paperwork, just like they ignored STORIS.
She served at Iwo Jima and Okinawa for the Navy and was part of the tremendous dual rescues of the SS PENDLETON/SS FORT MERCER in February 1952 by CG 36500 and others. She also was a key player in the Mariel Boatlift of 1980.
The circumstances of ACUSHNET's sale are extremely shaky, whether it's the "PCB-free" status of the ship as presented by the government or the motivation of the buyer and his delusional plans. It's easy to dream when you're spending other people's money. ACUSHNET is in the hands of someone who is not in a position to respect her history and provide appropriate stewardship. In one breath, he publicizes the ship as "the most historic ship in America." In the next, he talks of all the upgrades he wants to do -- with other people's money, of course -- which will destroy the very physical and historic integrity that make ACUSHNET significant.
ACUSHNET is currently for sale at a ridiculous price of $10 million. "Reasonable offers will be considered."
Another joke propagated by our government, only it's not funny at all.
Link to ACUSHNET sale page
More about ACUSHNET in a later post.
HAER Photo by John T. "Jet" Lowe
(Originally posted Feb. 28, 2014)
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