NEWS UPDATE MAY 4, 2013

TRIPLE ADAMS REUNION IN JACKSONVILLE

Adams Class Veterans and their families from the CHARLES F. ADAMS, TATTNALL and WADDELL reunited together at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida from April 14-17, 2013. Over 150 people came together to share their service and to catch up with old shipmates over days that included a tour of St. Augustine and the Naval Station in Mayport where they toured the USS Farragut DDG-99. Each of the ships had meetings and dinners and were briefed on the latest status of the effort to Bring the Adams home to Jacksonville as a ship museum for the class.

A memorial service for shipmates was held at the USS Stark Memorial on the Naval Station with a chaplain and the Naval Station commander and honor guard participating.

On Monday April 15th over 70 veterans and family members of USS Charles F. Adams DDG-2 from new construction to decommissioning crews attended a dinner and meeting at the hotel. The great occasion was enjoyed by all and Capt. Bob Branco, USN (Ret) reviewed the history of the ship's service and briefed all on the efforts in the past six years to restore the ship as a museum. On Wednesday night, JHNSA President Dan Bean came to the three ship dinner and recounted the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association's tremendous efforts to Bring the ADAMS Home.

USS Tattnall veteran Dick Harmon who lives in North Florida worked hard for months to organize this great multi-ship reunion and did a fantastic job. Thanks so much, Dick for your dedicated work. The Crowne Plaza staff worked with us to make all of the veterans and their families very happy with them.

NEWS UPDATE DECEMBER 30, 2012

Jacksonville Shipyard Site

Recently JHNSA and ACVA have focused on the concept of using a concrete fascia fronted bulkhead on the North Bank of the St. Johns River that was part of the former Jacksonville Shipyard. This idea has been discussed with NAVSEA in previous discussions and reports over the past year. The interim/temporary use of this mooring location would greatly reduce the cost of providing a mooring location for the ship museum in Jacksonville while fundraising for Acosta Bridge mooring site continues. The engineering design requirements for preparing the bulkhead pier at the site for the mooring of ADAMS have been defined by our long term mooring and environmental engineers Sandy Rice and Gary Howalt. This location would reduce the overall initial museum cost by over $5 million.

Left - 450 ft Bulkhead Pier facing South Bank	Shipyard site facing Downtown

The north bank mooring at the former Jacksonville Shipyards property has stimulated the recent and acute interest in the area business community for the project and has buoyed our belief that the fundraising goals will be met in 2013. Jacksonville City Council President, Bill Bishop (instrumental in the passage of city Ordinance 2010-675-E that approved the ship museum site adjacent to the east side of the Acosta Bridge on the south bank) is introducing a modification to the city Ordinance to allow the ship museum to be placed at the bulkhead at the Shipyard site on the North Bank in a temporary moor for at least three years after the ship is donated by the Navy. This modification will allow the use of approximately 3 acres of the 23 total acres at the former shipyard site as a temporary location that could lead to a long-term/mooring location, while fundraising continues.

Mr. William “Bill” Gay, Sr. (Chairman, W.W. Gay Mechanical, principal supporter of the JHNSA); and John H. Rutherford, the elected Jacksonville Sheriff in Duval County, have joined forces to co-chair the JHNSA Executive Board to lead the community fundraising support for the Adams Class Naval Ship Museum (ACNSM). JHNSA leaders have been working closely with Chris Flagg of Flagg Design Studio LLC. Mr. Flagg is the chairman of DVI (www.downtownjacksonville.org). DVI is Jacksonville’s Business Improvement District and is owned by all of the property owners of Downtown Jacksonville, including the COJ. DVI’s mission is to build and maintain a healthy and vibrant Downtown community and to promote Downtown as an exciting place to live, work, play and visit. DVI’s board unanimously endorsed the ship museum project.

Another positive step for the museum came in early November 2012; the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge experts issued their Jacksonville Report for downtown revitalization and economic growth. The ship museum project was specifically mentioned in “Recommendation 2-2: Another example is the USS Adams Naval Ship Museum initiative. Interviewees suggest it is of low cost to the City, sustainable with funded exit strategies if it did not succeed, may reuse City property that is currently under-utilized and is likely to create significant draw.”

In October, 2012, several prominent direct descendants of the Charles F. Adams family were briefed and have enthusiastically engaged in supporting the project through introductions to financial support within their personal and business relationships. In the short term, LCDR Charles F Adams, USNR traveled to Jacksonville from Tampa on very short notice to support and speak at the JHNSA Fourth Annual Gala and Silent Auction. His father, Peter Boylston Adams, is a US Army helicopter pilot veteran of the Viet Nam era who worked in Boston financial world. He and his family are now strong supporters of our effort to save this historic naval ship, since his cousin was Charles F. Adams, the namesake of the USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2).

Introduction

The Adams Class Veterans Association is an IRS registered 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization.

Our Mission

• Work with all Adams class groups and organizations to Save, Restore and Preserve the USS Charles F. Adams DDG-2;


• Educate the public on the rich naval heritage of the Adams class DDG ships;


• Document the roles of Adams class DDG ships in United States history;


• Show the importance of preserving historic naval vessels and memorabilia for future generations to appreciate.

What is a ship, really?

Most people look at a ship as nothing more than a bunch of iron and steel. A sailor sees it as a living being conceived in a shipyard; the hopes, dreams and pride of those who built her - from the grandmother who helped assemble her electronics to the welders and pipe fitters who turn her into something recognizable. Eventually the day comes when she is commissioned and her crew breathes life into her hull. Her radar and lookouts are her eyes, sonar her ears, radios her voice and engines her heart. She reflects her crews attitude, their hopes and dreams. In her life time she will see about 10-15 complete crews man her, until that sad day when Uncle Sam says 'Thank you for your service" and she is retired.

The ships of this class were, in the tradition of the Navy, named for famous men; from Revolutionary War heroes and Civil War admirals to former statesmen. It is our dream and goal to save the last of this proud class of ships.

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