Tuesday, September 25, 2012


I was notified on 22 September 2012 that the Senate passed an amended version of S.1665, the Coast Guard Re-authorization bill.  They have dropped Section 601, which is the “CONVEYANCE OF DECOMMISSIONED COAST GUARD CUTTER STORIS” out of the Senate bill.

However, a section in the House bill that contains the conveyance of the ship to the Storis Museum still remains.  Now the two (2) bills go to a joint House/Senate committee.  The Alaska delegation insures us that the final bill will have the conveyance in it.

For a little insurance I would suggest that you call your two (2) senators in their Washington office and advise them of your feelings of making the most historical ship from the Coast Guard or Revenue Cutter Service into a Museum and Education Center.  Be sure that you talk to someone knowledgeable about the Coast Guard Re-Authorization Bill.   Their phone numbers can be found on www.senate.gov .  It is my intention to call the two California senators weekly.

Again, thanks for the help.

 

Jim

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Letters for Nomination


11 September 2012

Our nomination of STORIS to the National Register of Historic Places is at Coast Guard Headquarters and the 45-day period for comments supporting this nomination will start on 15 September 2012.  We need as many letters sent in supporting this nomination as possible.  Please share your personal connection to STORIS, why you feel she should be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and why she should be preserved.
To make it easier we ask that you write one letter addressed as follows:

Admiral Robert J. Papp, Commandant
United States Coast Guard
2100 Second Street – Stop 7901
Washington, DC 20593-7901

Because of security measures and other steps necessary to send mail to U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, postal mail can often be delayed. Because of the urgent nature of our task, please mail your letter to:

Storis Museum
c/o Jim Loback
10436 Teal Circle
Fountain Valley, CA 92708

You can email the letter to storismuseum@verizon.net  if you prefer. We have a special email address to a contact at the Coast Guard to whom we can directly send letters of support to expedite the process.
The letter will be copied, formatted to .pdf and distributed to:
1.      United States Coast Guard
2.      Senator Begich’s Office
3.      Storis Museum Records
Hopefully you have read the Statement of Significance (Section 8) of the nomination and this should help with your comments.  Please do not delay with this, as we want all the letters turned over to the above offices by the first part of October.
Thanks for your help,
Jim

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Section 8 of NPS Nomination

Section 8 of the National Park Service National Register of Historic Places nomination can be viewed in PDF format on the History page of the STORIS Museum website. Section 8 is a comprehensive history of STORIS. We recommend every STORIS supporter sit back and enjoy every page!
http://www.storismuseum.org/main%20menu/history/index.html

Monday, August 27, 2012

STORIS NPS Nomination Update

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

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.