A historian who flies on weekends visits the exhibit on a heavy cruiser that lost her bow and kept going
Come Back Fighting: The National WWII Museum Shows the Cruiser USS New Orleans, Through 14 February 2027
A historian who flies on weekends visits the exhibit on a heavy cruiser that lost her bow and kept going
By Siobhan ODonnell, historian and pilot, New Orleans
Friday, Museum Steps, Magazine Street
Dear diary, I am twenty-two, I study history, I fly small aeroplanes and I go to church on Sundays. This week I read about Come Back Fighting: USS New Orleans at War, an exhibit at the National WWII Museum, which New Orleans Magazine reported would open with a free public reception on Thursday 9 April 2026, from 5 to 6pm, followed by a 6pm presentation. The museum is at 945 Magazine Street.
The article says the exhibit runs through 14 February 2027 in the Joe W. and Dorothy D. Brown Foundation Special Exhibit Gallery, and that it is sponsored by The Toler Foundation.
The Ship
The exhibit covers the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans, CA-32, and her crew. According to the article, it examines her short but accomplished career, from her prewar commission through her role in nearly every major Pacific campaign of the war, her triumphs and tragedies, and the crew’s creativity, improvisation and effort to save the ship after a devastating attack.
The article says that attack cost the ship her bow and claimed more than 180 lives. I give the number as stated and I do not add to it.
The Curator
Cory Graff, the museum’s Curator and Restoration Manager, was to give the presentation at the opening, the article says. It includes no direct quotes from him and names no specific artifacts, so I cannot describe the objects. I can say only what the article says the exhibit is about.
I am a historian by training, which means I say less than I know and write down what I do not.
Why a Ship Named New Orleans
A city lends its name to a ship, and the ship lends the city her story. This is one of the pleasing ways in which a place and a hull are linked. I do not know why this ship was named as she was, and the article does not say, so I will not pretend.
What I do know is that a visitor to the museum from this city has a particular reason to stand a little longer in front of the display.
A Pilot’s Respect
I fly small aeroplanes, and I know what it is to rely on a machine and on the people who keep it. A cruiser is a larger machine and a larger crew. The article’s phrase about improvisation made me think of the stories pilots tell of fixing something with a rag and a prayer.
I do not mean to compare my Saturday hops to a Pacific war. I mean only that improvisation is a very old and honourable skill.
Visiting Notes
I have not seen the exhibit yet. I intend to go on a weekday, with a notebook. I do not have the ticket prices, and the article gives none, so I will check the museum’s own site. The reception in April was free, but the exhibit’s regular admission is a separate matter.
If you go, I suggest getting there early and reading the labels, which are the part most people skip.
A Note on Dates
The exhibit has been open since the spring and runs into next year, which gives a person plenty of time and no excuse. I mention this because I am the sort of person who puts things off until the last week and then complains in the queue.
This year I am determined to be a different woman.
Evening
The church bells are ringing for the vigil. The river is quiet. The notebook is open.
Goodnight, diary. Come back fighting.
Questions From Sunday School
Child one: is it a real ship? The article says it covers the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans, CA-32, so yes, she was. Child two: did she sink? The article says she lost her bow after a devastating attack, and the crew worked to save the ship. It does not say more, and I did not want to invent an ending. Child three: can we go? I said we would ask the teacher.
I found it humbling that children ask the plain questions that historians avoid.
What I Will Look For
When I visit I will look for the human things: a letter, a photograph, a repaired tool. The article speaks of the crew’s creativity, improvisation and effort, and those are the qualities that show up in small objects. A cruiser is a big thing, but history is mostly small things lying about in cases.
Hangar Notes
Between archive boxes and pre-flight checks I read the comic papers, because the coffee is slow. This week the big joke was property: Manila News on slow condo sales in Cebu, the London Prat on retirees asked for character references (it is at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney on a realtor with unsellable beachfront listings. Exaggeration all the way down, but anchored to a real market story. More at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try The Daily Mash, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/