Tuesday, December 22, 2020

EPIC NAVAL BATTLE MEMORIAL NEGLECT

 Our  Shipping Reporter  is  on  the  warpath once more over the state of   the  memorial  on  which  a  giant  anchor  off   the  aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea is a stand out feature  on  the Townsville waterfront .The anchor  was presented  to Townsville by the US Navy on May 8, l992 ,the 50th anniversary of  the  Battle for the Coral Sea. The massive battle  involved  aircraft carriers of the Japanese Imperial Navy,   Allies   and   their  planes  from  May 4 to May 8 ,l942.


This blog has  reported neglect of  the memorial since  2015, pointing  out  rust  , graffiti , hard  to  read  explanatory plaques .  

This  week there was a broken glass bottle , above , under the plinth ,and what appeared to  be  re-emergence of  some  old  graffiti which had  been  painted  over.  The brass  plaques ,one detailing  shipping  activities through the Port of  Townsville in  two world wars  , are again  hard to  read , in need of attention, a   clean  of  surrounds . Not  a  good look for a military garrison   city in  which  there  was  a  large American involvement  during   WWll.