Shipdocking Extravaganza 2009 ... Local workboats helping Navy ships to ensure
The Fleet is "In"
Article & Images By Don Sutherland
They call New York City the great melting pot because of the diverse cultures converging there, but the town got the idea from its harbor. Diversity arrived by the boatload, and does to this day � Eastern Asians crewing this ship, Eastern Europeans crewing that. But once each year on New York Harbor, the cultural mix is less ethnic than professional, as warship commanders commingle with harbor hawspipers. Like all cultural groups, both arrive with traditions, customs and expectations of their own. Like everyone on the harbor, they have a brief span of time to work it all out. In the annual event called Fleet Week, they might have just minutes to cross cultural lines and reach terms. "The flattop leads the parade of warships into the harbor," said Capt. Pat Kinnier, the McAllister Port Captain charged with the logistics and evolution of the proceedings, "or it has in the past, anyway." But docking a flattop at a North River pier, considering draft or the sail area of so much steel, plus the virility of tides and currents in those waters, is no simple matter. This year, the flattop, the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) came up the Narrows before sunrise. It was docked before most of Manhattan had its morning
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Latte, on Wednesday, May 20. A good six hours later, the procession of warships sailed past the flattop's stern, to the George Washington Bridge. There, with the assist of tugs, they turned around and passed the immobile flattop again, on their way to their berths for the week.
Synchronous events
"Highwater slack for the river was 0728," said Capt. Kinnier. "You always want to be a little early on it � you can always stall a little, but you can't make-up time. So we scheduled the Iwo to be off the dock at 6:30." Afternoon conditions would be favorable for docking the guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) at the dock opposite the Iwo Jima, near the Coast Guard's medium-endurance cutter Spencer (WMEC 905). Meanwhile, the guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) and four Canadian ships � one air defense destroyer, two multi-role patrol frigates, and an oiler � proceeded to the Stapleton anchorage, where they dropped their hooks and awaited the optimum moment. "Several were to be breasted-up at the Navy pier at Stapleton," said Capt. Kinnier. "We scheduled the north side of the pier on the flood, the south side on the ebb
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