Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Great White Fleet


On this date in history 1909, The Great White Fleet returned to Norfolk, Virginia, from an around-the-world show of naval power.


The "Great White Fleet” sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt consisted of sixteen new battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. The battleships were painted stark white except for gilded scrollwork on their bows.
The fourteen-month long voyage was a grand show of American military sea power. The squadrons were manned by 14,000 sailors and made twenty port calls on six continents covering approximately 43,000 miles.

1 comment:

Queen Bee said...

Enjoyed your post - I always like today in history articles. Adding the search feature for the sailors was a nice touch as well.