27 Aug 2012
We should have the nomination proofing (which is being done by the State of California) completed this week and the final copy sent to the Coast Guard next week. Hopefully our 45 day period for comments to be made will be started then.
Please watch this blog for updates on the letters we want you to write, which will accompany the nomination to the National Park Service (NPS). We will brovide the mailing address shortly. Please send a copy to either myself or Jon Ottman so that they can be forwarded to the U S Senate to further show that STORIS is a very historical cutter and needs to be saved.
Thank you, Jim
Monday, August 27, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Nomination of Decommisioned USCGC STORIS Accepted
On July 31, 2012 we were notified that our Nomination of the decommissioned USCGC STORIS, W-38, which is currently in storage with the U. S. Maritime Administration’s National Defense Fleet, aka “Ghost Fleet”, at Suisun Bay, California, was accepted by the State of California. This will be processed and reviewed by state historical personnel and if found to meet the qualifications for registration will be forwarded to the National Park Service for final review and acceptance. We still have a long way to go but hopefully it will be easier from here on in to the final approval.
Considerable work was done on this project. We were extremely fortunate to have found Mr. Jon Ottman, Historian and Writer, of Warren, Michigan. Mr. Ottman had recently submitted the nomination of BRAMBLE. Mr. Ottman, with the assistance of those below, produced a document for the nomination we should have no trouble with.
David E. Bitterman, CWO4 ENG, STORIS, March 1988-June 1991
Charles L. Cashin, CAPT, U.S. Coast Guard, CO USCGC Stratton.
Bob Dick, BM3, U.S.C.G. Vet
James D. Johnson, CDR, U.S.C.G (Ret).
Michael Lewis, EM2, U.S.C.G. Vet
James L. McCauley, CAPT, U.S.C.G.
Brenton S. Michaels, LCDR, U.S.C.G. Ret).
Greg Papineau, BMC, U.S.C.G. (Ret).
Rene Plante, SK2, U.S.C.G. Vet
Scott Rutherford, BM2, U.S.C.G. Vet
Thank You!
We would like to express our gratitude to each of those who helped and also all of those who helped in the back ground by providing the bits of information and/or leads to insure the accuracy of the nomination.
Evaluation of the USCGC Storis for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places
USCGC Storis
is eligible for the
National Register of Historic Places under criteria A and C, supported by the
pre-decommissioning study performed for the U.S. Coast Guard in compliance with
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
The oldest active
cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard fleet at the time of her decommissioning, under
National Register Criteria A, Storis is nationally significant in defense
and maritime history for her role as the last surviving major vessel to have
participated in the Greenland Patrols during World War II and for her long
career as a law enforcement and SAR platform in the rugged ocean patrol areas
of the Bering Sea and Northern Pacific Ocean near the State of Alaska. Storis is nationally significant for her
social/humanitarian activities in providing medical, dental and judicial
services to remote villages, disaster relief in time of natural catastrophe,
and for performing icebreaking and maintenance of the country’s Aids to
Navigation system.
Under the
obvious maritime theme, Storis’ association with the 1957 Hydrographic Survey Unit of the
U.S. Military Sea Transportation Service Western Task Force is the most
significant event associated with the ship. She is significant as one of the
first American vessels to successfully circumnavigate North America through the
Northwest Passage. The Hydrographic Survey Unit’s mission to determine the
feasibility of the Northwest Passage as a route for cargo vessels was as
potentially dangerous as it was economically important. It was ultimately
determined that the passage was not practical for commercial shipping. However,
hydrographic surveys conducted by Storis and the two smaller Coast Guard cutters accompanying
her on the mission did produce the first reliable chart of the depths of the
Northwest Passage. Because of the nature of the mission, Storis is eligible under the categories
commerce, exploration and science.
Under
National Register Criteria C, Storis is nationally significant. Though the only vessel of her
class ever constructed, Storis proved over her 64 years of faithful and remarkable service
to the U.S. Coast Guard the exceptional durability and versatility of her design
as a multi-mission platform. She is a sturdy and seaworthy vessel able to
travel great distances across open ocean to perform military support, armed law
enforcement, SAR and icebreaking duties. Capable of carrying support aircraft, Storis was also very proficient at
servicing lighthouses and other Aids to Navigation (AtoN) or providing critical
supplies, relief services and replenishment for remote villages and military
facilities. Despite working in vast, freezing saltwater ocean environments
often swept with hurricane-force winds and mountainous waves, Storis’ ultimate obsolescence took decades
to arrive. In an era where typical naval vessels are considered “old” after a
service life of ten to fifteen years, a useful and productive military career
of over six decades is exceptional. Under Criteria C, the vessel must retain “integrity of
location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.”
Her proposed return to Juneau and the Alaskan waters in which she patrolled for
almost fifty years will restore the ship’s integrity of location, context and
sense of place. Although Storis underwent major overhauls in 1972 and 1986, the vessel’s
integrity as a 1940s ship design has been maintained. Outwardly, the ship has
undergone a variety of minor modifications since her construction; however, the
ship evokes a sense of historic design.
USCGC Storis is nationally significant.
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