USS Hartford remained in service until 1926 and could have survived as one of the United States' most important museum ships. Franklin D. Roosevelt supported a Washington naval museum centered on Hartford, USS Olympia, and First World War four-stack destroyers. After Roosevelt's death the proposal was abandoned, Hartford was classified as a relic at Norfolk Navy Yard, and maintenance gave way to deterioration. She sank at her berth and was dismantled in 1956. Institutional inaction had erased a major piece of naval heritage.
Notable Point · 18:36-20:45
How USS Hartford was lost after preservation plans failed
A proposed Washington naval museum would have preserved Hartford, but the plan died and the historic flagship deteriorated beyond salvage.