Almost 4,000 thousand servicemen aboard twelve ships are ready to take part in the 2017 Fleet Week New York Parade of Ships in New York Harbor.
Five U.S. Navy ships, four U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) Yard Patrol boats (YPs), two U.S. Coast Guard cutters (USCGC), and one Royal Canadian Navy ship will be present for the opening ceremony on May 24.
Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), from Norfolk, Virginia, will be stealing the show, with several hundred Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, embarked.
As flagship, Kearsarge is scheduled to render a 7-gun salute as the ship passes Fort Hamilton on Long Island. Fort Hamilton will conduct a 15-gun salute in return.
Other ships in the review will include Legend-class cutter USCGC Hamilton; Kingston-class coastal defence vessel HMCS Glace Bay; four USNA YPs, from Annapolis, Maryland; oceanographic research ship RV Neil Armstrong; Ticonderoga-class cruisers USS San Jacinto and USS Monterey (CG 61); Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Lassen; Keeper-class cutter USCGC Katherine Walker; Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship USS Zephyr and Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport USNS Yuma.
The ships can be seen along the Hudson River from Battery Park to just south of the George Washington Bridge.
Now in its 29th year, FWNY is the city’s time-honored celebration of the sea services. It is an opportunity for the citizens of New York and the surrounding tri-state area to meet Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, as well as witness firsthand the latest capabilities of today’s maritime services. FWNY will be commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Naval Construction Forces’ “Seabees.”