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A Naval Review is an event where select vessels and assets of the United States Navy are paraded to be reviewed by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Navy. Due to the geographic distance separating the modern U.S. Navy and the deployment rotations of a various ships within a fleet, it would be exceedingly difficult to imagine a situation where even an entire numbered fleet could be presented at one event, to say nothing of the physical cost and logistical requirements to support over 460 ships exceeding 3.4 million tons displacement.
A naval review can also include warships and delegates from other national navies. The largest modern maritime exercise regularly being conducted by the US Navy is the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), held biennially during the summer on even-numbered years off the coast of Hawaii. It typically sees the participation of around 50 ships and 200 aircraft, from 2 dozen nations with some 25,000 personnel, culminating in a massive naval review often attended by the Secretary of the Navy, joining the Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and other invited dignitaries.
Following is a list of select past Naval Reviews, by President. Each was reviewed by the President, unless otherwise noted.
Nineteenth century
Grover Cleveland
- Apr to June 1893, at Hampton Roads – International Naval Review, part of the Columbian Exposition – President on board the despatch vessel USS Dolphin, with the following other U.S. naval vessels present:
Before World War One
Theodore Roosevelt
- 1903 at Oyster Bay, New York – Presidential Fleet Review
- 2–4 September 1906, Oyster Bay, New York – U.S. naval vessels included:
- 10 June 1907 – Presidential Review, from Fort Monroe as part of Jamestown Exposition which laid the groundwork for Naval Station, Norfolk – U.S. naval vessels included USS Georgia, from which 11 June was proclaimed "Georgia Day"
- 16 December 1907, Hampton Roads – Send-off for the Great White Fleet, which included USS Georgia, 15 other battleships, a torpedo boat squadron and transports, USS Truxtun[2]
- 6–8 May 1908, San Francisco Bay, reviewed by Secretary of the Navy, which included the following units of the Pacific Fleet:
- USS California
- USS Georgia
- USS Washington
- USS Wisconsin
- 22 February 1909, Hampton Roads – Return of the Great White Fleet, which included the following vessels:
William Howard Taft
- 2 November 1910 – Before departure for France
- early November 1911, New York – U.S. naval vessels included:
- USS South Carolina
- USS Washington
- 1 April 1912, off Yonkers, New York, which included USS Wisconsin
- 14 October 1912, North River – USS Delaware and USS E-1 passed before the President and the Secretary of the Navy George von L. Meyer
- 10–15 October 1912, Philadelphia – USS Iowa (BB-4)
1914–1919: Woodrow Wilson
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- May 1915, New York Harbor – inc. USS G-4
- 26 December 1918 – New York – reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels from the deck of the yacht USS Mayflower and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt from USS Aztec, which also included USS Wisconsin
- September 1919, San Francisco, including USS Crane (during which she was visited by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 4 September) and USS Dent
- 12 September 1919, Seattle, Washington – U.S. naval vessels included USS Seattle
- late December 1919, North River – Victory Naval Review – U.S. naval vessels included USS Florida
Inter-war
Warren G. Harding
- 28 April 1921, Hampton Roads – Reviewed by President Warren G. Harding, which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
- USS Delaware
- USS Dickerson
- April 1921, Norfolk, Virginia, which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
- 1923, Seattle, Washington, which included USS Arizona[3] and USS Chase
Calvin Coolidge
- June 1927, Hampton Roads – Naval vessels included:
- USS Seattle
- USS Concord
- USS La Vallette
- USS Somers
- USS Camden
- USS Coghlan
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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- 31 May 1934, New York Harbor, which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
- September–November 1935, San Diego, California which included the following U.S. naval vessels:
- USS Philip
- USS Crowninshield
- USS Concord
- 12–14 July 1938, San Francisco, California – USS Houston carried President Roosevelt and also included USS Concord.
1940 to 1945
USS Texas, 1940 review
USS Missouri in the Panama Canal en route to the 1945 review- Truman, 1945 review
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USS New York at the 1945 review
- Navy Day, 27 October 1940
Harry S. Truman
- Navy Day Fleet Review in New York Harbor, 27 October 1945
Post-war to present
Dwight Eisenhower
11–13 June 1957, Hampton Roads – International Naval Review on 350th anniversary of founding of Jamestown, Virginia, which involved 113 ships from seventeen nations, including the French anti-aircraft cruiser De Grasse and the following U.S. naval vessels:[4]
- USS Saratoga
- USS Iowa (BB-61)
- USS Canberra – Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson embarked
- USS Macon
- USS Albany
- USS Northampton
- USS Norfolk – Flagship for Admiral Jerauld Wright, Commander-in-Chief U.S. Atlantic Fleet and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic
- USS Forrest Royal
- USS Charles H. Roan
- USS Hyman
- USS Hunt
- USS Donner
- USS Ray
- USS Cavalla
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USS Iowa_in_Hampton_Roads_on_12_June_1957_(NH_98389).jpg.webp)
USS Canberra
26 June 1959, USS Lake St. Louis reviewed by the President and by Queen Elizabeth II, which included USS Forrest Royal and USS Forrest Sherman
Gerald Ford
1976 - New York Harbor – Fourth International Naval Review in honor of the United States Bicentennial. Set to coincide with Op Sail 1976, which included USS Forrestal as host ship on whose flight deck on 4 July the President rang in the Bicentennial.[5]
American ships were joined with vessels from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, West Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Soviet Union, Israel, Egypt, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, South Africa, The Netherlands, & Romania.[6][7]
"On 3 July, 23 US Naval vessels, and 30 foreign naval vessels began a ship parade from the Verranzano-Narrows Bridge into NY Harbor. This fourth International Naval Review included the first visit in 10 years of a US aircraft carrier to NY."
— Stewart B Milstein, NY Fleet Reviews, http://www.uscs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DS19_New-York-Fleet-Reviews-.pdf
| Foreign Ships Participating in the 1976 Naval Review | ||
|---|---|---|
|
HMAS Hobart (Australia) |
HMS Lowestoft (UK) |
BAP Independencia (Peru) |
"On 4 July, naval vessels representing 21 foreign nations and the United States will form an anchor line of review for more than 225 sailing ships marching up the Hudson in the Operation Sail 1976 parade. Leading the parade will be 16 magnificent anachronisms, tall ships with masts reaching so high that they could not navigate the 127-foot clearance of the lattice worked Brooklyn Bridge."
— Jim O'Doherty, Operation Sail 1976, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0204/7347976.pdf
| Participating Tall Ships in order of Review | ||
|---|---|---|
|
USCGC Eagle (United States) |
FGS Gorch Fock (Germany) |
ROS Mircea (Romania) |
Ronald Reagan
1986 - On July 3–4, the Fifth International Naval Review commemorating the rededication of the Statue of Liberty was held in New York Harbor. Repeating the model from 1776, the warships came in on July 3 and anchored along the channel and the Tall Ships sailed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge past USS John F. Kennedy, where Reagan and other VIPs gathered to review the fleet.[8]
| US Navy Ships Participating in the 1986 Naval Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| USCG & NOAA Ships Participating in the 1986 Naval Review | ||
|---|---|---|
|
USCGC Bollard |
USCGC Penobscot Bay |
USCGC Red Beech |
| Foreign Ships Participating in the 1986 Naval Review | ||
|---|---|---|
|
F-44 Independência (Brazil) |
HMS Sirius (UK) |
JDS Nagatsuki (Japan) |
| Tall Ship Participants in the 1986 Parade of Ships | ||
|---|---|---|
|
USCGC Eagle (USA) |
BAE Guayas (Ecuador) |
ESPS Juan Sebastián de Elcano (Spain) |
Bill Clinton
3–9 July 2000, New York City – Sixth International Naval Review, set to coincide with Op Sail 200, included the following U.S naval vessels:[10]
Reviewing Ships
- USS Hue City (Clinton's flagship)
- USS John F. Kennedy
- USS John Hancock
- USS Nassau
Parading Vessels
| Participants in the 2000 Parade of Ships | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Eagle (USA) |
Bak'tivshchyna (Ukraine) |
HMS Rose (United States) |
RIMPAC
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First held in 1971, RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. Hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard. It is described by the US Navy as a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.[12]
Although the 2020 RIMPAC exercise was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 25,000 naval personnel and 52 ships and submarines from 26 countries participated in the 2018 exercises, with forces representing Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.[13][14][15]
SecDef Esper with CINCPACFLT Aquilino at RIMPAC 2020
SECNAV Richard Spencer meets with RIMPAC 2018 commanders
Chilean defense minister Alberto Espina participates in RIMPAC 2018
SECNAV Mabus departs Hickam to review the RIMPAC 2012 fleet
References
- ↑ "Bennington I". DANFS.
- ↑ "International naval review, Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1907". www.loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
- ↑ Paul Stillwell, Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991), 303. ISBN 0-87021-023-8. OCLC 23654474.
- ↑ USS Albany Web Site
- ↑ Nessen, Ron. "International Naval Review" (PDF). Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
- ↑ Operation Sail 1976. Official Program Book by Intercom Interrelated Communications Corp. 1976.
- ↑ Middleton, Drew (4 July 1976). "Warships in Naval Review Form a Fearsome Armada". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ↑ Milstein, Stewart. "NY Fleet Reviews" (PDF). uscs.org. Universal Ship Cancellation Society. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ↑ McFadden, Robert D. (6 September 1986). "Crew Saved 3 Days After Ship's Sinking". New York Times. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ↑ Blair, Jayson (29 June 2000). "The Millennium Arrives in the Harbor by Sail and Steam".
- ↑ NYT June 30, 2000 page E42 ship#17
- ↑ "RIMPAC 2014". Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ↑ Garamon, Jim (27 August 2020). "Secretary Meets Sailors, Observes Ops During RIMPAC Visit". Department of Defense. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ↑ "Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2020 begins". US Navy. U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs. 17 August 2020.
- ↑ Werner, Ben (26 June 2018). "47-Ship RIMPAC Exercise Kicks Off Tomorrow". US Naval Institute.
External links
- The short film GATHERING OF MEN AND SHIPS, THE (1977) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.