I I 1 W I L - USS Williamsburg - BACK "ON AIR" !

A.R.I. Fidenza Radio Club ( A.R.I. affiliated , Italian Association of Radio Amateurs) of Fidenza (PR), Italy (JN54BU), realized a technical and cultural Event in La Spezia, Italy (JN44WC) on the 2^nd and 3^rd of June 2012.

Our aim is to highlight internationally the historical value of the United States Presidential yacht USS Williamsburg which was used by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and currently remains in appalling conditions at a shipyard in La Spezia , Italy . The historical Events the Ship witnessed and the fact that she now threatens to be demolished led us to raise awareness about its dramatic, undeserved situation.

For this reason, in conjunction with the international contest Museum Ships Weekend Event, the members of ARI Fidenza Radio Club will operate a short wave radio station nearby that Old Lady to bring ideally her voice throughout the world. We hope our action will enhance and encourage the struggle of the USS Williamsburg Preservation Society (Pasadena, MD) to promote the recovery and restoration of the Ship.

This will be a special, unique event : in fact, the participation to the Museum Ships Weekend Event is granted only for 2012 editon. A special QSL Card will be made for QSOs with the special call I I 1 W I L , assigned to the boat .

The initiative aroused the interest of the prestigious American radio and television broadcaster NBC, who sent a troupe to document the event.

The "Museum Ships Weekend Event" ( www.nj2bb.org ) is an international competition organized by the "Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station NJ2BB" gang , ARRL affiliated (American RadioRelay League). The event occurs every year and aims to enable worldwide radio stations on board or nearby naval merchant/leisure/military museum units (or units in state of pending musealization: this is our case , so they granted us a special permission and only for 2012 edition of the Contest).
The particularity of the contest is therefore that, in addition to the purely competition related to the contest itself, the boats are ideally "revived",even if only for a weekend a year enhancing the value of human history and technology.
The nature of the event will force the notification to amateur radio worldwide, but also to general media(national and international).

A great event that will combine the technical-amateur activity with the wider "historical-cultural" aspect, in perfect harmony with the "Amateur Radio Mission" which is essentially an educational and research activity aimed to bringing this brotherhood to peoples and nations beyond the barriers of languages, races, religions.