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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Related Content
Topic
  • Boats-Ships--Cruisers
Document Type
  • Artifact
Wars & Conflicts
  • World War I 1917-1918
  • Spanish-American War 1898
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  • Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Location of Archival Materials

USS Olympia (C-6) Ensign 

Ensign flown aboard the Olympia during the Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898


Full sized view of the USS Olympia National Flag flown at Manila Bay May 1, 1898

Title: Ensign, National, US, USS Olympia (C-6), Battle of Manila Bay 
Accession #: NHHC 1963-318-A
Circa: 1898
Size: 90 x 42
Medium: Fabric
Location: Headquarters Artifact Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command

One rectangular cotton flag of the United States of America. The flag consists of seven red and six white stripes with a blue canton in the top left corner containing 36 white stars. The reverse of the hoist is stamped in black ink "U.S.S. OLYMPIA MANILA BAY MAY 1 1898."

This 36-star national ensign of the United States of America was flown aboard the USS Olympia, Commodore Dewey’s flagship, during the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898.

The Battle of Manila Bay was the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War. The American squadron, under the command of Commodore George Dewey, defeated the Spanish fleet in a matter of hours.


Hoist marked U.S.S. OLYMPIA MANILA BAY MAY 1 1898.
Published: Tue Apr 14 09:46:27 EDT 2020