Fleet Week Begins in New York Harbor

The mother of maritime events started today (Wednesday May 23rd)- fleet week in New York Harbor- will be a small display this year with a display of six American warships, USS Hue City, a powerful Aegis-type missile cruiser, and the helicopter carrier USS Wasp were brought in for the event. The customary "parade of ships'' up New York Harbor signals the start of the 20th annual event, which will bring around 3,000 sailors, Marines and Coast Guard members to the city for a week. The ships will be open to public visitors for the week and the sailors will get to enjoy the town.

These events have been scaled way back from the events held in years past. The Navy will not allow too many of their ships to be in port at the same time and consider the event to be a security risk. Similar events take place in other cities, such as the Rose festival in Portland, OR where vessels from the Navy, Coast Guard, Canadian Navy and Coast Guard, and the Army Corps of Engineers Dredges- all have been scaled back in the recent years. Concerns for the possibility of a terror attack at an event with a high military presence is a major reason for having a lower number of vessels tied up for the event.

Hopefully the Fleet Week is a successful event for our Sailors. The low number of vessels in attendance is a sign of the times- hopefully we will see a larger show of force in years to come- something to show our enemies that we are not afraid.