I was honored to participate in the Parade of Ships 2015, the kickoff event for Fleet Week.
Fleet Week is an annual event by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the city of New York for community outreach and as a way to celebrate the sea services.
But let me first give special to thanks to my sponsor, Dennis Hall. The selection process can take from three months to three years starting from the time of nomination to vetting by the Navy and finally selection and embarkation to a ship at sea. Dennis Hall, founder of Avere Group LLC, made my embark possible via his nominating me the US Navy. He is neither an employee of nor contractor with the military. He does this as a pay-it-forward in tribute to service members, veterans, allies and their families. Dennis Hall initially submitted my nomination to the Public Affairs Officer of the US Navy Commander, Naval Air Forces, US Atlantic Fleet. The Public Affairs Officer selected me for the Distinguished Visitors Program. Dennis Hall may be e-mail contacted at: ContactDennisHall@gmail.com. Note that the word “Contact” is part of his e-mail address. His mobile phone number is 916-430-5263. His blog for Avere Group LLC is www.AvereGroup.Wordpress.com. On Twitter he is @averegroup.
Early on May 20, 2015, we assembled at Pier 86, which is on the west side of midtown Manhattan. Docked next to the pier you can see the submarine USS Growler.
Among other things, Pier 86 is home to the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11). The Intrepid served in World War II, the Vietnam War, and as a recovery ship for the Mercury and Gemini space missions. Now she hosts the Intrepid Museum.
That angular pavilion on the deck of the Intrepid holds the space shuttle Enterprise.
There were many different types of ships participating in the Parade of Ships. I was a guest on YP707, which is a Yard Patrol Craft. This is a picture of YP705, who joined us in the Parade of Ships.
In addition to myself, there were four other guests aboard YP707. Here we are listening to the Commanding Officer tell us about Yard Patrol operations.
Our course down the Hudson River to our rendezvous point was plotted out in careful detail.
This is the view of our course from the bridge.
Here’s another view of the bridge.
Being in the middle of the Hudson river, we witnessed a rather unique view of Manhattan.
While I had to get up at 4AM in order to make it to the pier on time, the early morning light did create some rather interesting scenes.
Here’s another pic of us talking with the CO. Photo Credit: Robert Coombs.
The YP707 has one classroom/meeting room used for a variety of functions. Here we see the midshipmen relaxing before the duties of the day.
New York slowly receded from view as we made our way down to the bay where the Hudson flows into the Atlantic.
Also note the cloudy weather. In addition to the wind, this made things rather chilly. More on this in a moment.
We passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
The wind, and our speed of 12 knots, kept the flags at full attention.
Finally we reached open water.
Once we reached our rendezvous point, we turned around and fell into formation with the other ships in the parade. Here you can see another Yard Patrol Craft immediately aft of us. In the distance on the right you can barely make out some of the other ships just coming over the horizon.
As we sailed back towards New York the other ships, including two Navy destroyers, caught up to us.
And a Coast Guard Cutter.
From this article, in addition to the Yard Patrol Craft:
Participating ships included the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio (LPD 17), the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Barry (DDG 52) and USS Stout (DDG 55), U.S. Coast Guard cutters Sturgeon Bay (WTGB 109) and Spencer (WMEC 905), and FDNY Fireboat 343, named in honor of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Once the parade flotilla had fully assembled, midshipmen manned the rails for the rest of our trip.
In the distance you can see the other Yard Patrol’s crew also manning the rails in their dress whites.
I’ll point out that standing at attention on the deck this day was particularly challenging due to the cold and wind (gusts up to 47 knots).
I know how miserable they were because I was silly enough to wear a short sleeved shirt and not even bring a jacket. But unlike them, I was able to move out of the wind, at least, and savor hot coffee.
Here we are approaching the city. The midshipmen at attention on the bow had to bear the full force of the wind and cold.
Behind us, the other ships can be seen passing under the bridge.
I mentioned it was windy, right? To the left of my head you can see the Statue of Liberty. To the right, One World Trade Center.
Here’s another view of the Statue of Liberty just as FDNY Fireboat 343, spraying jets of water, passed in front.
It was a somber and memorable moment when we passed by the World Trade Center and everyone on the ship saluted.
We continued up the Hudson and turned back around at the George Washington Bridge.
Here an officer salutes as we pass by a Navy destroyer.
The Parade of Ships complete, we docked back at Pier 86.
And thus ended a very memorable time spent with the US Navy during Fleet Week 2015.
#FWNYCPoS #FleetWeekNY #fleetweek