I have been following Juneau's attempt to land the venerable U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Storis, a WWII vessel, as a museum ship. The Storis would be Alaska's first museum ship, excluding the riverboat Nenana. I wish Juneau well in its endeavor.
Another ship associated with Alaska faces scrapping. The ship is the SS Tongass, a former Alaskan Transportation Co. steamer better known to those in the Lower 48 as the SS Wapama museum ship in San Francisco.
It is the last wood screw steamer with Alaska associations. The Tongass's steward, the National Park Service, has declared its charge beyond saving and that it must be dismantled. They left their charge perched on a barge. The Tongass has become an embarrassment for NPS bureaucrats.
Can the Tongass be saved? Can it be brought inside a climate-controlled building like the St. Roche in Vancouver or the Fram in Norway?
Perhaps there are better stewards. Maybe in Alaska. The Tongass is the last of its type in the world. It should be commemorated in a meaningful way.
-- Steven Lindsey
Keene, N.H.