Fleet Week is an annual event on the San Francisco Bay that started in 1981. This year’s event, the largest in 20 years, started Thursday and runs through Monday. Last year’s event only had one Navy ship in attendance. This year, thanks to the efforts of newly appointed event chairman, General Mike Myatt and his team, there will be six U.S. Navy ships, a Coast Guard Cutter, two Canadian warships and a lot more Navy sailors and Marines. Additionally, two museum vessels, a vietnam-era fast patrol boat and the World War II Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien will be on hand.
The main attraction is the air show that takes place over the bay. The headliner of the show is the Navy’s elite precision flying team, the Blue Angels. Flying at high speeds over the bay, in formations (i.e. traditional diamond and delta) where they are as close as 18-inches, six F/A-18 Hornets painted in Blue and Gold, lead by Captain Greg McWherter put on a spectacular show. The Blue Angel C-130 transports plane, “Fat Albert” starts off the Blue Angels segment. Other segments of the air show include H-60 CSAR (Combat Search & Rescue) helicopters, Lt. Colonel John Klatt of the Air Guard in his first Fleet Week appearance flying a Panzi, a United Airlines Boeing 747, Sean D. Tucker and Team Oracle and many others.
Other events include the parade of ships and ship tours.
More photos will be posted in the coming weeks in my gallery at http://cchinstudios.zenfolio.com/2010fleetweek.
For more information, go to the offical San Francisco Fleet Week website, http://www.fleetweek.us.
Nicepictures. Thanks for the heads up, I’ll be going to see them today.