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PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

YOUNG PATRIOTS. Members of the Hornet Division of U. S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps presented the colors during the ceremony.

Ceremony marks visit of Great White Fleet

By John Larson

Local history buffs gathered at Jack Hyde Park on Armed Forces Day, May 17, to recognized the centennial of the Great White Fleet’s visit to Tacoma.

The fleet consisted of 16 new U.S. Navy battleships. President Theodore Roosevelt sent them on a 14-month voyage around the world. They arrived in Tacoma on May 27, 1908.

Roger Olsen, secretary of the Tacoma Council Navy League, explained how the fleet fulfilled Roosevelt’s goal of increasing the size of the U.S. Navy and making America a modern sea power.

Mary Olsen, president of the council, delivered a brief history of the fleet. It left Hampton Roads, Virginia, on Dec 16, 1907. The ships were painted white, except for gilded scrollwork on the bows. After reaching the West Coast, they sailed north toward Puget Sound. The fleet split up into four groups at Port Angeles. Eight of the ships continued on to Tacoma.

Mayor Bill Baarsma called the fleet’s journey a display of America’s “power, pride and prestige.”

The fleet powered into Commencement Bay led by its flagship, the U.S.S. Connecticut. “Tacoma wanted to be ready and at its best,” Baarsma said. Downtown businesses did not open until 1 p.m. so employees could watch the grand spectacle. “It was quite an extraordinary event.”

The fleet’s journey marked the first use of wireless communication by the Navy, which Baarsma said did not work as well as hoped for. Despite that small setback, the Great White Fleet did much to further America’s standing in the world. After it arrived in Egypt, word was received of an earthquake in Sicily. The sailors went to the aid of the Italians in their time of need.

“It was widely considered one of the greatest peacetime achievements of the U.S. Navy,” Baarsma said of the worldwide journey.

Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Thomas, executive officer on the U.S.S. Maine, presented Baarsma with a commemorative coin. The mayor gave him a print of some of the ships of the fleet.

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