2019-01-LR-Final

FLEET WEEK by Norman A. Graf
San Francisco’s
Military
Celebration
T
aking place over three consecutive days in the skies above
San Francisco’s waterfront, the San Francisco Fleet Week
Air Show attracts over 1.5 million people around the Bay.
But Fleet week is more than just an airshow, it is a weeklong,
multi-faceted event designed to celebrate the men and
women who serve in our armed forces.
San Francisco’s annual Fleet Week was started in 1981 by then-
Mayor Dianne Feinstein, and in the 37 years since has grown to
become the largest and most significant event of its kind in the
nation. Fleet Week celebrates the rich naval tradition in the Bay
Area, honors the nation’s service members, and facilitates annual
disaster preparedness training between the Navy, Marine Corps,
Coast Guard, and local first responders. But from the beginning,
the airshow has been an integral part of the week’s activities.
FLEET WEEK HISTORY
The U.S. Navy, and naval aviation in particular, has a long and
storied history in San Francisco. President Theodore Roosevelt’s
“Great White Fleet” stopped off in 1908 during its trip around the
world. Parades, balls, and other festivities welcomed the Sailors,
and the waterfront was jammed with the largest crowd of Californians
ever assembled at that time.
Three years later, naval aviation was born when Eugene Ely
made the first successful landing and take-off from a naval vessel.
On January 18, 1911, thousands of spectators watched as Ely
landed his Curtiss Pusher aircraft on the deck of the armored
cruiser USS Pennsylvania which was anchored in San Francisco
Bay. After lunching with the ship’s captain, Ely took off and flew
past the cheering crowd before landing.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated the first official
Navy Fleet Week in 1935 during the California Pacific International
Exposition in San Diego, California. More than 100 warships
docked in the port and 400 military aircraft arrived to put
on airshows. Tens of thousands of Sailors and Marines descended
on the city. Since then, Fleet Week celebrations have spread
around the country.
The modern San Francisco Fleet Week was established in 1981
by Mayor Feinstein as the city’s celebration of the nation’s sea services.
An airshow featuring the Blue Angels was included in that
first Fleet Week, and the airshow and the Blue Angels have been
almost synonymous ever since.
Today, San Francisco Fleet Week’s mission continues to be as
“an annual public event that honors the contributions of the men
and women of the United States Armed Forces while advancing
www.airshowmag.com 22 January/February 2019