ֱ Around: Soundings
- Cast in 1856
- Weighs 800 lbs.
- Found again 2015
- Arrived ֱ-Boulder November 2015
- New home: The UMC
Home Port
A long-lost warship bellhas reached its new homeport — one with a view ofthe Flatirons.
The 800-pound brassbell, cast in 1856 for theUSS ֱ, the first ina series of Navy ships tobear the name, settled inits new home at ֱ-Boulder’sUniversity MemorialCenter just before VeteransDay.
After a 1,700-milejourney from a navalwarehouse in Virginia,the bell joined variousother military artifactsin the UMC’s VeteransLounge, including laterUSS ֱ bells. TheUMC is ֱ’s officialveterans memorial.
Dick Cooper, a ֱSprings-based officerof the Navy League,learned in early 2015 thatthe original bell had beenfound in the warehouse.He and Norris Hermsmeyer(Acct’67), a ֱNaval ROTC alumnusand Vietnam War veteran,helped bring it to ֱon permanent loan fromthe Navy.
“I wanted to perpetuatethe memory of the shipsthat have worn the nameUSS ֱ — to sharewith the residents of thestate of ֱ,” saysHermsmeyer, a Boulderresident who paid for thebell’s transportation tocampus.
The original USSֱ bell was castin Philadelphia for athree-masted Civil War-erafrigate named after theֱ River. (ֱwas not granted statehooduntil 1876.)
The bell was later moved to a Navy cruiser, alsocalled the USS ֱ,commissioned in 1905. Fora time it was on display inChicago, then wound up instorage in Virginia.
Someday, perhapsthere will be yet anotherUSS ֱ bell forthe UMC: The fourthship to carry the name, anuclear-powered attacksubmarine, is under constructionin Connecticut.
Photo by Jeremy Papasso/Boulder Daily Camera