thedrifter
05-20-09, 08:31 AM
May 20, 2009 7:36 am US/Eastern
NYC Kicks Off Fleet Week 2009 With Parade Of Ships
After a two-year absence for renovation, the museum ship Intrepid is
again ready to play host to Fleet Week, the annual naval review that brings an array of warships to New York Harbor.
But unlike recent years, the visitors' lineup for 2009 is short on numbers -- and pizzazz.
Among the 13 vessels slated to parade up the Hudson river on Wednesday, the largest and most familiar silhouette is that of the 40,500-ton assault helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima, which was here in 2002 and 2004.
The group also includes the missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf and missile destroyer USS Roosevelt, both first-time visitors. The three comprise the smallest contingent of major U.S. combat ships in the 22-year history of Fleet Week.
"The Navy is saving money, trying to reduce costs," explained Lt. Lesley Lykins, a Navy spokeswoman.
Rounding out the assemblage are five Canadian entries -- a destroyer, three frigates and an oiler; three U.S. Navy coastal patrol craft; and two Coast Guard vessels -- a cutter and a buoy tender.
Two of the patrol craft have been on loan to the Coast Guard and all are veterans of duty in the Persian Gulf, Lykins said.
Both Iwo Jima and Vella Gulf returned in March from a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf region, where the powerful cruiser took part in operations against Somali pirates off East Africa -- aiding in the release of hostages aboard a Ukrainian cargo ship seized by pirates, and later helping in the capture of 16 pirates itself.
The latter operation was achieved "without so much as a paper cut," Vella Gulf's skipper, Capt. Mark Genung, told reporters on the ship's return to the naval base in Norfolk, Va.
The austerity effort is not entirely new.
At one time a dozen or more ships from several nations took part in Fleet Week, but the numbers have shrunk in recent years, with smaller vessels, as well. No full-size aircraft carrier has taken part since 2005.
Despite the relatively lackluster lineup, Intrepid President Bill White insisted that this year's Fleet Week will be "bigger and better," with an estimated 100,000 visitors during the six-day event. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the scheduled guest of honor at a dinner on Thursday.
The retired nuclear-launch submarine Growler, a fixture of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, will reopen to the public after its own extensive overhaul.
In addition, White said, the Iwo Jima will host several dozen Marine Corps veterans of the deadly 1945 battle for which the ship is named. "These men are all now in their 80s and having them come from all over the country is pretty amazing," White said.
Some 2,500 military veterans are expected for Memorial Day ceremonies May 25.
As usual, events will include free tours of the ships moored at docks in Manhattan and Staten Island, military band performances, and tactical demonstrations by Army Special Forces troops and Marines.
The latter will include a Fleet Week debut for the V-22 Osprey, the Marines' tilt-rotor aircraft designed for vertical takeoff and level flight, but troubled by technical and other problems during development.
Ellie
NYC Kicks Off Fleet Week 2009 With Parade Of Ships
After a two-year absence for renovation, the museum ship Intrepid is
again ready to play host to Fleet Week, the annual naval review that brings an array of warships to New York Harbor.
But unlike recent years, the visitors' lineup for 2009 is short on numbers -- and pizzazz.
Among the 13 vessels slated to parade up the Hudson river on Wednesday, the largest and most familiar silhouette is that of the 40,500-ton assault helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima, which was here in 2002 and 2004.
The group also includes the missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf and missile destroyer USS Roosevelt, both first-time visitors. The three comprise the smallest contingent of major U.S. combat ships in the 22-year history of Fleet Week.
"The Navy is saving money, trying to reduce costs," explained Lt. Lesley Lykins, a Navy spokeswoman.
Rounding out the assemblage are five Canadian entries -- a destroyer, three frigates and an oiler; three U.S. Navy coastal patrol craft; and two Coast Guard vessels -- a cutter and a buoy tender.
Two of the patrol craft have been on loan to the Coast Guard and all are veterans of duty in the Persian Gulf, Lykins said.
Both Iwo Jima and Vella Gulf returned in March from a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf region, where the powerful cruiser took part in operations against Somali pirates off East Africa -- aiding in the release of hostages aboard a Ukrainian cargo ship seized by pirates, and later helping in the capture of 16 pirates itself.
The latter operation was achieved "without so much as a paper cut," Vella Gulf's skipper, Capt. Mark Genung, told reporters on the ship's return to the naval base in Norfolk, Va.
The austerity effort is not entirely new.
At one time a dozen or more ships from several nations took part in Fleet Week, but the numbers have shrunk in recent years, with smaller vessels, as well. No full-size aircraft carrier has taken part since 2005.
Despite the relatively lackluster lineup, Intrepid President Bill White insisted that this year's Fleet Week will be "bigger and better," with an estimated 100,000 visitors during the six-day event. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the scheduled guest of honor at a dinner on Thursday.
The retired nuclear-launch submarine Growler, a fixture of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, will reopen to the public after its own extensive overhaul.
In addition, White said, the Iwo Jima will host several dozen Marine Corps veterans of the deadly 1945 battle for which the ship is named. "These men are all now in their 80s and having them come from all over the country is pretty amazing," White said.
Some 2,500 military veterans are expected for Memorial Day ceremonies May 25.
As usual, events will include free tours of the ships moored at docks in Manhattan and Staten Island, military band performances, and tactical demonstrations by Army Special Forces troops and Marines.
The latter will include a Fleet Week debut for the V-22 Osprey, the Marines' tilt-rotor aircraft designed for vertical takeoff and level flight, but troubled by technical and other problems during development.
Ellie