Fleet Week begins for New Yorkers to meet the military and vice versa
MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- It's the largest influx of men and women in uniform in our region, and along with it is the largest display of military ships, aircraft, and other machinery in the Northeast.
Fleet Week 2024 has begun, and with it come many opportunities to interact with thousands of sailors, marines, and Coast Guardsmen.
The vessels on which they're deployed are also available for interaction, through public tours. It's a chance for taxpayers to see firsthand what they're paying for.
Leading the Fleet Week Flotilla of 11 vessels is the U.S.S. Bataan. It steamed into New York Harbor Wednesday morning in the Parade of Ships, and now that it's docked at Pier 88, it's accessible for the public every day except Memorial Day Monday.
All of the other ships are available for tours as well, both at the piers on the West Side of Manhattan between 45th and 49th Streets, and at the Homeport Pier, on Staten Island.
The Bataan, an amphibious warfare vessel, is about three-fourths the length of an aircraft carrier. Its flight deck is about the length of three football fields, back-to-back. It's the approximate height of a 10-story building -- it's basically the dimensions of a New York City high-rise, on its side, in the water -- a true feat of engineering.
On board is a landing craft that's roughly the size of three subway cars side by side. The Bataan can easily handle three of the hovercraft landing vessels, no problem.
Also on the ship are helicopters, vertical take-off and landing Osprey aircraft, and lots of public spaces to explore.
The 3,000 or so sailors, marines, and Coast Guardsmen who are deployed for Fleet Week are mostly out-of-towners, who've never been here before.
Their commander -- and indeed, the commander of some 190,000 U.S. Navy personnel who make up the Atlantic Fleet -- was on hand for an on-deck news conference on Wednesday afternoon, along with a Marine Corps lieutenant general and a Coast Guard rear admiral.
Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said that he wants sailors to "Storm the city of New York and get really immersed" in all the city has to offer.
Lt. Krystal Bibbins, who's deployed on the U.S.S. Bataan, said that she's taking the order seriously.
"I really love art," she said. "I want to go to the Met," as well as to see the Broadway hit show "Six."
"I'm that type of person," she added.
Another person on board the Bataan, Lance Corporal Jameson Baldwin of coastal South Carolina, said that he'd never seen a city as big as ours. In fact, he said, when he was on board, steaming into the harbor, and saw the separate skylines of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, he made assumptions that were misguided.
"I was like okay, I thought there were multiple cities, but they told me there's just one," he said. "The towers are really high."
A full schedule of Fleet Week activities from the U.S. Navy can be found here.