Fleet Week is a time-honored tradition in several major cities across the U.S., and especially in NYC. Fleet Week is a yearly celebration in which active military ships dock in a city, and the crews visit tourist attractions and hold festivities. This year, due to lingering concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic, NYC Fleet Week was held virtually from Wednesday, May 26th to Monday, May 31st.
The first official NYC Fleet Week was held on Memorial Day Weekend in 1982. Ships traditionally dock at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal on the Hudson River, as well as on Staten Island. Beginning in 1988, tourists could visit the most famous and exciting ships docked in NYC, such as the USS America and the USS Iowa. To celebrate the bicentennial of George Washington’s inauguration, the 1989 NYC Fleet Week featured the AEGIS cruiser, USS Ticonderoga.
Over the years, NYC Fleet Week expanded to include ships from other countries, such as Russia, Poland, Canada, Denmark, India, and Mexico. You can find a full list of the ships that have made an appearance at NYC Fleet Week by visiting Fleet Week’s Wikipedia page.
NYC Fleet Week has gone largely uninterrupted since its inception, except for a cancelation in 2013 due to federal budget cuts, and in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
