warships of fleet week 2009

20 may 2009 around 1100h. Presenting, in numerical order, northbound:

PC3 USS HURRICANE (Coastal Patrol Craft)

PC12 USS THUNDERBOLT (Coastal Patrol Craft)

CG72 USS VELLA GULF (Guided Missile Cruiser)
(notice the red coast guard boat fending off the friendly boater)

DDG80 USS ROOSEVELT (Guided Missile Destroyer)

DDH282 HMCS ATHABASKAN

FFH336 HMCS MONTREAL

her identical twin, FFH337 HMCS FREDERICTON
(sorry, Folks, our revered Colgate clock is off. This photo was taken at 1121h.)

FFH340 HMCS ST JOHN’S

Fireboats Governor Alfred E. Smith and er, red and white Fire Rescue:

Coast Guard Cutters Chinook 87308, Morro Bay 106, Katherine Walker, Sturgeon Bay 109, and a few others were out, announcing to all vessels to maintain a 500 yard safety zone and a 100 yd security zone around all warships.

Hawk-eyed researcher Tugster identified these flying birds: ospreys!

1214 on VHF channel 14: “The southbound navy vessels are coming down North River…the first one is just going under the GW bridge. They are headed for the Stapleton Anchorage and there will be a 500 ft security zone around them.”

And, then, to one working boat: “Yes, cap, they’re going to be in the Stapleton Anchorage. You will not be able to go into Miller’s Launch (Staten Island). You’re going to have to make that crew change within the next 45 minutes.”

“This is the CG Cutter Sturgeon Bay, you will not be able to cross the Hudson River. Please contact the CG cutter Sturgeon Bay, on 13, 16 for any overtaking or meeting of these warships.”

However, it’s still a working day, and on 13, in a very doleful voice: “…taking off lines at KMI Carteret (Arthur Kill), heading out to sea.”
“Chin up, Lambert!” piped in an anonymous tug.

“Yeah, to the CG Cutter Chinook, we’re done with our day here, we’d like to return to the Morris Basin (Jersey City).”
“Ok, please be aware there is a 500 yd no wake—I mean, 500 yd security zone…”

PC12 USS THUNDERBOLT

CG72 USS VELLA GULF

DDH282 HMCS ATHABASKAN

FFH336 HMCS MONTREAL

FFH337 HMCS FREDERICTON, looking the same, except for the helicopter.

Many thanks, Jed, for the names and research done on the vessels (please see his comments, below!)

Only one Canadian ship had AIS:
1320H
IROQUOIS CLASS
Flag: Canada
Ship Type: Military Ops
Status: Underway
Course/Speed: 185˚/ 8.2 kn
Length x Breadth: 130 m X 15 m
Draught: 7.5 m

Thank you, Mage: all photos are taken from the Manhattan side of North (Hudson) River looking across at Jersey City. That beautiful old building is the old station of the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company. Also in view are Liberty State Park and the marinas in Morris Canal, New Jersey.

Bon Voyage! 28 may 2009 1400h:

USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)

1435h: Destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG80), Schooner Pioneer, see you on two…

7 Responses

1. Buck said, on 2009/05/21 at 08:54 (Edit)

   Beautiful photos, thanks for these!

2. tugster said, on 2009/05/21 at 22:05 (Edit)

   bowsprite . . . i go upriver on assignment and return to find you’ve gone all gray and grey (for the canadians) on me . . . nice and thanks but all GRAY! not red green or blue or cyan or magenta . . . but gray!

   • bowsprite said, on 2009/05/22 at 17:15 (Edit)

     Ah, TugsterLove! but WHAT greys they are! the US ships are a ‘I-mean-business’ grey, a ‘Get-out-of-our-way’ grey. The Canadians have a soothing marine grey, a ‘Of-course-we-will-navigate-around-this-whale’ grey. They’re a ‘have-a-good-day’ grey, a ‘Light-karma-easy-conscience’ grey.

3. Mage Bailey said, on 2009/05/22 at 09:27 (Edit)

   Fascinating stuff. You’ve got far better pictures than I ever get. Maybe this year I should go sit on the stern of the Midway. That’ll get me a bit higher than the docks. Great shots. Could you tell us San Diegans what is in back of the ships? Which of course reminds me to do this in the future with my shots.

4. Jed said, on 2009/05/22 at 18:09 (Edit)

   If I may…

   PC3 USS HURRICANE (Coastal Patrol Craft)
   PC12 USS THUNDERBOLT (Coastal Patrol Craft)
   From Wiki-
   The Cyclone class is a class of United States Navy and United States Coast Guard coastal patrol boats. The primary mission of these ships was coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance, an important aspect of littoral operations outlined in the Navy’s strategy, “Forward…From the Sea.” These ships also provided full mission support for Navy SEALs and other special operations forces. The Cyclone class ships are assigned to Naval Special Warfare.

   CG72 USS VELLA GULF (Guided Missile Cruiser)
   From Wiki-
   The Ticonderoga class of missile cruisers is a class of warships in the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in FY 1978. The class uses phased-array radar; the increased combat capability offered by the Aegis combat system and the AN/SPY-1 radar system justified the changing of the classification of Ticonderoga and Yorktown from DDG (guided missile destroyer) to CG (guided missile cruiser). Vincennes and Valley Forge may or may not have been authorized as DDGs; regardless, the DDG sequence continued with USS Arleigh Burke as DDG-51.

   DDG80 USS ROOSEVELT (Guided Missile Destroyer)
   From wiki-
   The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers, one of the destroyer classes of the United States Navy. It is the first destroyer built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The first ship was commissioned on 4 July 1991. After the decommissioning of the last Spruance-class destroyer, USS Cushing, on September 21, 2005, the Arleigh Burke class ships became the U.S. Navy’s only active destroyers.

   DDH282 HMCS ATHABASKAN
   From Wiki-
   Iroquois-class destroyers, also known as Tribal class, are a class of four helicopter-carrying, guided missile destroyers of the Canadian Forces. Launched in the 1970s, they were originally fitted out for anti-submarine warfare, but a major upgrade program in the 1990s overhauled them for area-wide anti-aircraft. The Iroquois-class were the first military ship design to employ gas turbines exclusively, using two turbines for cruise power, and another two fast starting “boost” turbines for speeds of up to 29 knots (such an arrangement is known as COmbined Gas Or Gas, or COGOG). The design was highly influential, and had a major impact on the design of the US Navy’s first modern post-war destroyers, the Spruance-class.

   FFH336 HMCS MONTREAL
   FFH337 HMCS FREDERICTON
   FFH340 HMCS ST JOHN’S
   From Wiki –
   The Halifax-class frigate (hull designation FFH) is a class of multi-role patrol frigates that have served the Canadian Forces since 1992.

   Hope it wasn’t too dry OR too much.

   JED sends

5. tugster said, on 2009/05/23 at 06:28 (Edit)

   to bowsprit: and i assumed that gray was just gray or grey . . . i stand mightily corrected; humble pie shall be my penance. to jed: i know this isn’t my blog BUT i feel this is perfect tech/cult info. i especially like the info on DDH282 HMCS ATHABASKAN . . . and the COGOG arrangement.

6. tugster said, on 2009/05/23 at 17:12 (Edit)

   oh and another thing . . . “hawk-eyed” tugster . . . .?? make that parrot-eyed at very least.