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Decision coming soon on USS Orleck's future as naval museum

The USS Orleck could become a floating museum docked at a pier in the Shipyards.
Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association
The USS Orleck could become a floating museum docked at a pier in the Shipyards.

A "yes or no" announcement by a group hoping to bring a retired U.S. Navy destroyer to Jacksonville as a floating military museum is planned for Tuesday.

TheUSS Orleck, which was launched in 1945 and later earned the nickname "The Gray Ghost of the Vietnam Coast," has been undergoing a seaworthiness inspection in Texas. Results of the inspection will be announced Tuesday.

The ship was transferred to the Turkish Navy in 1982, where it was rechristened as the TCG Yücetepe and finally retired in 2000. It had been berthed in Lake Charles, La., where it broke loose from its moorings during 2020's Hurricane Laura and suffered about $250,000 damage.

Read the rest of this story at WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union.