Fortress Australia Outpost: Great White Fleet -100th Anniversary 1908-2008

HD image of the USS John. S. McCain

USS McCain in Sydney for anniversary

Aug 20, 2008 6:18 PM

A US warship intends to hold on to its crew after arriving in Sydney Harbour to mark the 100th anniversary of the Great White Fleet - the US Navy's first voyage around the world.

The original fleet lost 300 sailors to the harbour city the first time round, when they jumped ship to stay put in the relatively new nation of Australia.

The armada of 16 US battleships and 14,000 men was sent around the globe by former US president Theodore Roosevelt between December 16, 1907 until February 22, 1909.

The controversial mission, which worried some Americans who thought it left the US defenceless, was the first time the US fleet had sailed around the world.

USS John S. McCain

PACIFIC OCEAN (March 18, 2008) The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) fires her five-inch gun system during a live-fire exercise. McCain is one of seven Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Byron C. Linder

The voyage, a show of military prowess and a chance to deter aggression throughout the Pacific, took in 20 ports across six continents.

More than 500,000 Sydneysiders greeted the fleet 100 years ago, one third of NSW's entire population in 1908.

The arrival of the USS John S McCain - named after the father and grandfather of current US presidential candidate John McCain - may have drawn fewer crowds, but was still accompanied by military fanfare.

As the destroyer sailed into Woolloomooloo Bay, it was flanked by two Australian warships, HMAS Darwin and HMAS Sirius, and a flotilla of vessels from the Royal Motor Yacht Club and Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

On board the ship, navy officers manned the rails, or stood hands-behind-back in a traditional naval pose which honours the country of port.

At the Australian navy's fleet base on Garden Island, members of the Royal Australian Navy Band and the US Navy's Pacific Fleet Band welcomed the ship together.

Captain Mark Montgomery, commodore of the destroyer's squadron, said the ship's arrival in Sydney was emotional for the crew.

"When you come round the bend and see the Sydney Opera House it's really a unique experience for a mariner," he said.

"This really is a unique port, so well preserved ... The Rocks, the area around the park and Lady Macquarie's Chair, it's very different from most ports we pull into."

The original fleet famously lost 300 of its 14,000 sailors in Sydney, who never returned to the ship.

Captain Montgomery said he hoped he wouldn't lose too many naval officers to Sydney this time around.

"We only have 300 with us (this time) so we hope the numbers are lower," he joked.

"All things being equal, I'd like to leave with the number I came with."

Garden Island (Sydney Australia) 23 August 2008.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the original fleet's arrival was highly significant for Australia.

"Hundreds of thousands of people lined these shores to welcome our American friends," he told reporters today.

"It was the beginning of a very, very important friendship and alliance.

"Today's visit is, of course, symbolic of the strength and the endurance of that relationship. A relationship we know will continue for a long, long time to come."

The USS John McCain, which has sailed from Brisbane, will stay in Sydney for five days before heading to Melbourne.

Link:

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/2020036