In 2025, the organization found greater alignment and a clearer focus on our next stages of growth. We weathered significant impacts to the Los Angeles tourism economy and made necessary operational adjustments. Earned revenue struggled for much of the year at levels we had not experienced since COVID. Encouragingly, December 2025 appears to mark a turning point, with admissions more closely aligned with 2023, strong event and food & beverage revenue, and early indications of solid overnight bookings heading into 2026.

In December, development revenue continued its positive trajectory, highlighted by the award of a $500,000 engineering career track grant, the launch of the Admirals Barge project led by Della Rose and Philip Browning, and strong year-end annual giving.

As we move into early 2026, we look forward to welcoming our first paid Security Manager in several years, advancing more focused and aligned Pathways program activities, initiating planning for LA Fleet Week, and continuing progress on our capital campaign and infrastructure priorities. As the LA Waterfront continues to evolve, we must remain adaptable to the impacts—both positive and challenging—that come with that growth. Parking will undoubtedly be a challenge requiring creativity and flexibility, but I view it as an opportunity to engage new audiences—whether through luggage storage, Vicky’s Doghouse Café, or visitation. Converting just 5% of those visitors would have a transformational impact.

As we launch our new Broadside as an internal communications tool, I want to thank our Marketing and Communications team for leading the charge, and our management team for their support. We encourage everyone to help share our story with friends and family, inviting them to support our mission—whether as visitors, volunteers, or advocates. Thank you for your commitment!

2) It is possible that your account exists in Google Workspace but has not yet sync’d with Keycloak (our Single Sign On software that links with Google for authentication)  We are working to automate this process, but some accounts have fallen through the cracks and we need to add them manually.  If this is the case for you it will throw an error that reads something like “Account does not exist”  Please let us know if this or any error occurs

 

I hope you enjoyed a Merry Christmas.

As we approach the end of the NFL Season, we must first say goodbye to 2025.  I’d love to recite all the wonderful and fantastic things the Accounting and Finance Department achieved during the year.  How ‘bout I condense it to “Phew!  We survived”.

By way of reminder, the Accounting and Finance Department is responsible for:

• • Properly recording all financial transactions and preparing monthly and annual financial statements.
  • Depositing cash/checks/credit cards, issuing all payments to vendors, and processing payroll for our employees.
  • Work/coordinate with our PEO and internally within the organization regarding HR, employee benefits, and workers comp insurance matters.
  • Manage all legal matters.
  • Work with our outside auditors regarding our annual audited financial statements as required by California law.
  • Design, monitor, and enforce all policies and procedures related to financial reporting and transaction handling.
  • Manage risk and risk assessment (read “insurance”, primarily).
  • Filing of annual tax returns and Attorneys General filings in 40+ states.
  • Filing of other tax returns, including sales tax and property tax.
  • Prepare the annual budget, as required by California law.

I’m sure we do lots of other stuff, but this list is long enough.

I want to take the opportunity to thank Nui and Lana, the only employees in our department, for their hard work throughout 2025, and George, our newest volunteer, who did outstanding work on our 2026 budget.

Next week Nui will be back with her Monthly Controller’s Report.  In the meantime, I hope you have a Happy New Year.

Many Thanks,
Ross

From the desk of the Chief Engineer,

Another exciting note from the world of engineering and capital projects!

Continuing the good news…we are fully submitted for permits at LADBS for the Freedom of the Seas Pavilion! The department has acknowledged the receipt of the construction documents (Known in the industry as CD’s) and now we wait. Plan checking usually takes from 6 to 12 weeks in my experience, after which we will receive comments or requests for corrections, followed by a resubmittal for plan check again. In a perfect world, this occurs with one iteration, but it may take several. Competence, patience and professionalism are usually rewarded in these situations.

Also in this category, the Port of Los Angeles Board of Commissioners has provided EIR approvals for the project. And later this month, they are scheduled to approve the associated Coastal Development Permit (CDP) which will be the last step in this process. As mentioned previously, the land in the port is held in trust by the Port of LA on behalf of the state, so they are the approving agency.

Once the CDP is approved, the Building & Safety team will likely approve our demolition permit for the site. Although this is not the full building permit, it will allow us to begin the cleanup and removal process which will require complete fencing of the entire area to the south. At this point, it will be a construction site with all the rules consistent with that designation, including requirements for wearing hard hats and other PPE. We’ll publish those rules soon enough.

Work on the NMSN exhibits down on 3^rd deck have slowly restarted this week with relatively modest work on one of the spaces on the starboard side. Interacting with the designers, we now have a color “palette” for the space, something which is very common in architectural design work. This usually includes a “spec” or specification for the paint or other coatings. This requirement of paint spec and color coding is used throughout the institution to include the Pavilion work as well as virtually every coated surface aboard the ship. Good preparation and high-quality coatings systems are the rule rather than the exception in the maritime world. And as the National Museum that we are, we set high expectations for the internal work that we do.

In regular matters, the Engineering team is working on cofferdam repairs for the last “easy” section of hull work on the starboard side, and continuing work on the relocation of material from the south yard. We still have outstanding queries regarding crane work for the moving of large items, which we will work through in the coming week.

Adding a little personal history…I essentially grew up in the construction industry with a father who had been a cement finisher since his 16^th birthday. I learned a handful of construction trades in my early years before moving into Diesel Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, Licensed Marine Engineering, and ultimately to General Engineering Contracting. Jonathan has enjoyed similar extensive experience in the General Building Contracting category, which has allowed us to form a General Contractor License on behalf of the battleship. Yes, we are the contractor for the Pavilion which will save us money while providing close oversight into the entire project. And let’s not forget Larry Olson who is a long-time General Building Contractor too. This is an amazing team to be a part of.

Now that I’ve shared the above, you might understand my general excitement at being able to attend a huge construction-related conference the week of the 19^th. I hope to come back with new ideas for the surface finishes in the Pavilion, along with new product knowledge, relationships and connections within the overall industry.  I should be back aboard the ship on the 24^th or 25^th.

Richmond reminiscing…

As I approached the ship this weekend in 40-degree Los Angeles morning weather, I was reminded that this week, 14 years ago, we were COLD. How cold were we? Well, let me explain…

During our first three-plus months in Richmond, we had no shore power whatsoever. We ran, instead, on gasoline powered portable generators with extension cord distribution, all hastily conceived and installed. For all of us living aboard the ship, the extremely limited capacity of this arrangement had a twofold effect…first and most obvious was the inability to plug almost any form of heating appliance into the admittedly jury-rigged system without overloading it. The other, less obvious issue is that the heat which is generated by normal shore power within the structure of the vessel from transformers and other equipment was clearly missing, and without that, the ship sheds energy quickly and in a profound manner.

I was fortunate to have the XO stateroom as my office and sleeping quarters throughout the Richmond experience and I recall some extremely cold nights in that room, many in the mid 30-degree range. Coupling the temperature and lack of heaters with the famous Bay-area humidity, it could be miserable indeed. We bundled up pretty much 24-7, especially inside our sleeping bags at night. We took warm showers at the local yacht club every 3 days to warm up, which became the only time I recall being warm at all during that experience. No glamping aboard battleships for us.

We’ll discuss the “Armored Icebox” more in our next missive. We do have some humorous stories along with the misery of being constantly cold.

I am grateful to be here,
Mike

Engineering from Chief Moser
2025 was a busy and productive year in the Engineering Department. Aside from the usual list of everyday tasks to keep the ship off of the bottom, two major projects were completed by the Engineering Team and volunteer groups.

The first one was the replacement of the 01 level decking aft of turret 2. The completion of this work was very welcome and brought joy to the crew as the noise from banging, grinding and dust clouds finally ceased. Oh yah, the deck looks good too.

The second major accomplishment of the year consisted of many layers as we restructure the guest experience and accessibility. This included cutting holes in the main and second decks for new access ladders, modifying a container to shelter the new access, and replacing the Lost at Sea exhibit with a Great Ships exhibit which is awe-inspiring. Cutting new holes in the ship was not too popular amongst the crew, just don’t look at them and you will be fine.

Development from Kyle Aube
We remain grateful for our crew and donors as we close out another strong philanthropic year for the organization. We faced ups and downs as shifting markets, social climates, and perceptions created an unpredictable landscape, but your support helped us weather the storm with minimal contraction.

We received notice of a $500K award to expand the Engineering Career Track and inspire career awareness. This investment will provide direct benefits to both our tour experience and core programming.

Thank you to all who continue to support the various efforts related to Greg Bishop’s estate.

Events from Marguerite Mohney
In 2025, we were able to host a variety of events from community (movie nights, high school proms and senior breakfasts), corporate parties and meetings to military ceremonies. We are slowly growing the awareness of our event venue rental space and hope to increase our rentals in event volume in the next year.

Tours with VJ Alcomindras
Increased guided tours even with less general attendance, Built an even stronger dedicated team in Tours.

Tech from Troy Vail
SIM Plot, Great Ships support.

IE&T from Gary Lopes
Major projects completed:

– Installation of three automated signal lights
– Launch of the Mk38 Battleship Simulator

Programs with Anna Borough
What happened in 2025:

• The Merging of Military and Veterans Affairs with Education to give Veterans and Youth Purpose and Connection
• Youth Groups served in 2025 (to date)
  • Scouts – 72 groups, 1,943 visitors
  • Cadets / JROTC / ROTC / Young Marines – 2 groups, 52 visitors
  • Youth Clubs / Nonprofits – 1 group, 81 visitors

Sales from Catherine Moreno
Attended new travel trade shows (Go West- Specific to West Coast suppliers and SYTA- Student and Youth Travel Association)

Curatorial with Dave Way
1. Installation of President Roosevelt’s Boatswain’s Chair in the Captain’s In-Port Cabin.
2. Donation of former IOWA CO RADM Entwistle’s Naval memorabilia, including a personal painting from Naval artist Arthur Beaumont, conserved and ready for display.

Communications with Marann Fengler
2025 comms wins:

• With help from LA Film School students, knocked LAFW out of the park
• Hit and passed 30K subs on YouTube
• Discovered all sorts of new ways to create eye-catching content by adding Canva Pro to the arsenal (thanks, Mike Nguyen!)
• Just completed the Battleship 12 Days of Christmas, which was successful in that it achieved the goals of consistent engagement on socials, crew involvement, and good numbers on socials

Crew Services from Hershell Hardimon
Hiring of new Director of Crew Services

Accounting & Finance from Nui Valletta
2025 Accomplishments:
– Fully integrated vendor management system
– Accounting Policies
– Cash flow/investment/treasury management

Volunteering with Sue Schmidt

Hard to believe it’s the end of 2025.  What a year!  Even though it’s going out with rain, it sure beats the hell out of fires and landslides.

Here’s snapshot of 2025 by the numbers:

700+ volunteers donated roughly 52,000 hours.  Of those, 300+ were repeat, individual volunteers, and over 400 participated as volunteers in groups.  There were 25 Group volunteer events including 12 military, (mostly Chief Petty Officers), 8 youth, and 5 corporate/civic groups.    To date, volunteers have donated approximately 782,000 hours. Think about it.  That’s over ¾ of a million hours of volunteer service.

Each year, the Independent Sector publishes “the value of volunteer service” for that year.  This is a rate calculated on averages from pro-bono to unskilled labor and everything in between.  I believe they also look at what the actual cost would be to hire volunteer replacements, so that would include the many hidden costs we tend not to think about.  In that light, the numbers are quite reasonable.  Most importantly, it is recognized nationally, so non-profit organizations can compare apples to apples.  The 2025 National rate is $34.79/hr, and the 2025 California rate is $40.14/hr.  If you do the math, that means our volunteers have donated $27,205,780.00 at the National rate, or $31,389,480 at the California rate.  (To clarify – since 2012.) That’s impressive!

In 2025, volunteers pulled off stunning accomplishments, and supported multiple events, but most importantly, they – YOU – kept the engine running.  I can’t stress that enough.  Whether it’s greeting our guests and giving tours, making sure our ship is safe, dry, open, and secure, facilitating parking and mail distribution, helping with our bills and accounts, adding value to our guest experience, reaching unseen audiences across the globe, telling our story, maintaining inventory, and supporting our essential IT infrastructure, fixing, moving, renovating, and building – we truly can’t do it without our hard working, quirky, talented, passionate, wonderful volunteers.  We are so lucky to have this ship and each other.  Thank you!!

Engineering from Chief Moser
2026 is upon us already and that means a new year of accomplishments to keep everyone busy achieving.

Our biggest task this next year is the beginning of hull preservation on the port side, which will be quite an adventure. Swimming is not allowed so keeping the team safe and out of the water will be a fun challenge. We are planning a minimum of 12 cofferdam moves throughout the year as we perfect our process. We will also donate whatever sea critters get caught in the cofferdam to enhancing Vicky’s menu.

As with any steel ship, preservation is key to maintaining structural integrity and looking pretty. We will be chipping, grinding, needle-gunning rust and repainting bulkheads with a lovely shade of hazy gray. Please be mindful of marked off areas until the paint dries. Should you get our quality paint on your clothing, your garments will be preserved for a good 100+ years.

Development from Kyle Aube
Jonathan, Kevin, and I will be joining members of our Board, PAB, and Ambassador Corps at the Surface Navy Association National Symposium in DC the week of Jan. 12th. This is one of the largest conferences hosting Navy and defense industry leaders, and provides a great opportunity for us to raise awareness of our organization and cultivate supporters of the Freedom of the Seas Campaign.

We hope to host a few donor cultivation and stewardship receptions to garner more support and show appreciation to donors to the Great Ships Showcase and FOTS Pavilion projects. If you know someone interested in sponsoring an event like this, please let me know!

Events from Marguerite Mohney
In January, events season is very slow. We are doing a collaboration and hosting a virtual concert for attendees from Anime Los Angeles 21 on Sat Jan 10 along with a Gun Shoot.

Events team will take advantage of January lull to focus on repairing and/or replacing faulty equipment that we need to support our work throughout the year. We will need support from Engineering team with either knowledge or manpower for cart repairs (chair carts and table carts).

Tours with VJ Alcomindras
We’ll be working on all our new projects: Rerouting the tour path, new signage, admirals gigs, fancy work, new vending machines for the gedunk.

Tech from Troy Vail
Salesforce Rollout, Security Camera Upgrades

IE&T from Gary Lopes
Major projects in the works:

• Completion of Communications Tour
• Implement Stand Light Automation

Programs with Anna Borough
What is coming up in January 2026:

• We are making a big push to finish up and support new curriculum development for grades K-12. This project has been underway for some time, and we expect to complete it by the end of January.
• The E-Gaming Team unites Veterans and Youth around a shared passion. We’d love your support in bringing together Veteran Gamers and Students who are interested in joining our team on board the ship.

Sales from Catherine Moreno
Will be attending American Bus Association (ABA) for the first time in January. Will be meeting with motorcoach tour operators.

Curatorial with Dave Way
Renovation of Tour route signs in conjunction of the new tour development.

Communications with Marann Fengler
January 2026 aims:

• Update branding materials into a viewer-friendly format 
• Solidify plan for socials posts
• Get into a rhythm of one podcast episode and one high production quality video per month
• Prep for another LAFW
• Start to push content around Life of a Sailor that teases the opening of at least some portion of the NMSN

Hey, shipmates: be ready for opportunities to jump into skits, vignettes, and other content, and be prepared for the comms team to come talk to you about your thoughts on fun things around the ship, unique aspects of working here, and elements of our culture that keep you coming back for more.

Crew Services from Hershell Hardimon
Hiring of a new Safety Manager, upgrades to the training center,

The first week of January two-cruise ship days are:
Sun 01/04
Mon 01/05
Thu 01/08

Accounting & Finance from Nui Valletta
2026:
– Restricted funds reporting transition into out Accounting system (Quickbooks)
– Continue upgrade Quickbooks and upgrade the vendor management system

Volunteering with Sue Schmidt
2026 will bring new challenges.  The big one that will affect volunteers is that our old database, Volgistics will be going away.  We’ve been talking about this for years, but the time has finally come.  If you can’t access your data, your assignments and schedules, or even the system to find them in, don’t panic.  Your data is safe, we will help you get into the system, and the ship isn’t going anywhere.  You will get instructions, but not everything will roll out immediately, and there will be some bumps.  Here’s a rule of thumb – or two.  When in doubt, show up (unless you get an email saying that the ship is closed for filming.  I mention this specifically because there is a possibility that we may have some filming in January – we will keep you posted.)  If you can’t log your hours in the new system yet, write them down in a notebook, or spreadsheet, or somewhere they won’t get lost, and we will input them for you.  You know – old school!  Ask questions and give feedback, but be patient.  At the end of the day, the ship is here, we need help – your help, and we will continue to be ever-so-appreciative of that help.  That will not change.  Administrivia, while sometimes complicated and important, doesn’t change all of those things I mentioned earlier.  And complications are like these rain clouds.  The sun still rises, the earth still turns, but even if it takes a while, the clouds will lift, and the sun will be visible again.  So take a deep breath and come down to your favorite battleship.  It will take a couple of months to get things sorted out, but we will.  We’ll have more information for you tomorrow.  It’s going to be fine.  Happy New Year!

Our new programs manager is no stranger to the Navy. Her grandfather retired as a senior chief after serving 27 years – many of them as a submariner. Her uncle spent twenty years in intel. And her hubby went to the Naval Academy, then drove “God’s chariot” – the MH-60 Seahawk – doing search and rescue missions.

Don’t let that smiling face fool you. Anna sports some pretty serious chops.

After more than thirteen years as a gymnast, she spent 2 1/2 years in Madagascar with the Peace Corps. She combines a strong STEM foundation with extensive experience in strategic partnerships and a deep commitment to service. Raised in a three-generation Navy family, she is guided by values of duty, integrity, and community.

Professionally, Anna has managed large-scale clinical trials with Duke University and FHI360 and has mentored researchers through the North Carolina International Research Institute. Her research experience directly supports the future development of our STEM programs by strengthening curriculum design, ensuring learning experiences are evidence-informed, and improving how we measure outcomes and impact.

She later transitioned into client relations and partnership strategy, leading high-touch stakeholder engagement and collaboration efforts for boutique agencies. Anna currently serves as a founding board member of The Starting Grid Foundation and an executive board member of the Cabrillo Beach Boosters, supporting sponsorship development, fundraising, and event planning.

Anna holds a Master of Science in Global Health from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and International Relations from San Diego State University.