A Naval Review is an event where select vessels and assets of the United States Navy are paraded to be reviewed by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Navy. Due to the geographic distance separating the modern U.S. Navy and the deployment rotations of a various ships within a fleet, it would be exceedingly difficult to imagine a situation where even an entire numbered fleet could be presented at one event, to say nothing of the physical cost and logistical requirements to support over 460 ships exceeding 3.4 million tons displacement.

President Harry S. Truman (waving his hat) with his party on board USS Renshaw during the Navy Day Fleet Review in New York Harbor, 27 October 1945. USS Missouri is in the right background, and Navy planes are flying in formation overhead.

A naval review can also include warships and delegates from other national navies. The largest modern maritime exercise regularly being conducted by the US Navy is the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), held biennially during the summer on even-numbered years off the coast of Hawaii. It typically sees the participation of around 50 ships and 200 aircraft, from 2 dozen nations with some 25,000 personnel, culminating in a massive naval review often attended by the Secretary of the Navy, joining the Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and other invited dignitaries.

Following is a list of select past Naval Reviews, by President. Each was reviewed by the President, unless otherwise noted.

Nineteenth century

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Before World War One

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1914 – 1919: Woodrow Wilson

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USS Arizona at the New York City review, 26 December 1918. She was the first of ten dreadnoughts to parade past Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.

Inter-war

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USS Maryland during the June 1927 review
 
USS Chicago (CA-29) underway off New York City, during 31 May 1934 fleet review.

1940 to 1945

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  • Navy Day, 27 October 1940
  • Navy Day Fleet Review in New York Harbor, 27 October 1945

Post-war to present

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International Naval Review – 1957

11 – 13 June 1957, Hampton Roads – International Naval Review on 350th anniversary of founding of Jamestown, Virginia, which involved 113 ships from seventeen nations, including the French anti-aircraft cruiser De Grasse and the following U.S. naval vessels:[4]

26 June 1959, USS Lake St. Louis reviewed by the President and by Queen Elizabeth II, which included USS Forrest Royal and USS Forrest Sherman

1976 - New York Harbor – Fourth International Naval Review in honor of the United States Bicentennial. Set to coincide with Op Sail 1976, which included USS Forrestal as host ship on whose flight deck on 4 July the President rang in the Bicentennial.[5]

American ships were joined with vessels from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, West Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Soviet Union, Israel, Egypt, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, South Africa, The Netherlands, & Romania.[6][7]

"On 3 July, 23 US Naval vessels, and 30 foreign naval vessels began a ship parade from the Verranzano-Narrows Bridge into NY Harbor. This fourth International Naval Review included the first visit in 10 years of a US aircraft carrier to NY."

US Ships Participating in the 1976 Naval Review

USS Wainwright - Flagship
USS Austin
USS Dale
USS Edenton
USS Farragut
USCGC Firebush
USS Forrestal
USS Fort Snelling
USS Harlan County
USS Hoist

USS Julius A Furer
USS Kalamazoo
USS La Moure County
USCGC Mahoning
USCGC Manitou
USCGC Morgenthau
USS Mount Whitney
USS Nashville
USS Papago

USS Pharris
USCGC Red Beech
USS Richard L. Page
USS Richmond K. Turner
USS San Diego
USCGC Sauk
USS Savannah
USS Spartanburg County
USS William V. Pratt

Foreign Ships Participating in the 1976 Naval Review

HMAS Hobart (Australia)
D-35 Sergipe (Brazil)
HMCS Iroquois (Canada)
HDMS Peder Skram (Denmark)
DOMR Separación (Dom. Rep.)
ENS El Horreya (Egypt)
FS Drogou (France)
FS Duperré (France)
HMS London (UK)
HMS Bacchante (UK)

HMS Lowestoft (UK)
INS Tarashish (Israel)
INS Yaffo (Israel)
ITS San Giorgio (Italy)
JDS Katori (Japan)
JDS Nagatsuki (Japan)
HNLMS Holland (Netherlands)
HNLMS Tromp (Netherlands)
HNLMS Zeeland (Netherlands)
HNoMS Trondheim (Norway)

BAP Independencia (Peru)
NRP Alfonso Cerqeria (Portugal)
NRP Honório Barreto (Portugal)
SAS President Kruger (South Africa)
ESPS Asturias (Spain)
HSwMS Älvsnabben (Sweden)
TCG Peyk (Turkey)
ARV Zulia (Venezuela)
FGS Glücksburg (West Germany)
FGS Hessen (West Germany)

"On 4 July, naval vessels representing 21 foreign nations and the United States will form an anchor line of review for more than 225 sailing ships marching up the Hudson in the Operation Sail 1976 parade. Leading the parade will be 16 magnificent anachronisms, tall ships with masts reaching so high that they could not navigate the 127-foot clearance of the lattice worked Brooklyn Bridge."

Participating Tall Ships in order of Review

USCGC Eagle (United States)
Danmark (Denmark)
Christian Radich (Norway)
ARA Libertad (Argentina)
BACH Esmeralda (Chile)
ARC Gloria (Colombia)

FGS Gorch Fock (Germany)
ITS Amerigo Vespucci (Italy)
JS Nippon Maru (Japan)
Dar Pomorza (Poland)
NRP Sagres (Portugal)
ESPS Juan Sebastián de Elcano (Spain)

ROS Mircea (Romania)
USSRS Tovarishch (Soviet Union)
Kruzenshtern (Soviet Union)
Gazela Primeiro (United States)

1986 - On July 3–4, the Fifth International Naval Review commemorating the rededication of the Statue of Liberty was held in New York Harbor. Repeating the model from 1776, the warships came in on July 3 and anchored along the channel and the Tall Ships sailed up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge past USS John F. Kennedy, where Reagan and other VIPs gathered to review the fleet.[8]

US Navy Ships Participating in the 1986 Naval Review

USS Bonefish
USS Boulder
USS Dahlgren
USS Emory S. Land

USS Iowa
USS Mount Whitney
USS Nashville
USS Platte

USNS Range Sentinel
USS Scott
USS Yorktown

USCG & NOAA Ships Participating in the 1986 Naval Review

USCGC Bollard
USCGC Cape Horn
USCGC Dallas
USCGC Evergreen
USCGC Gallatin
USCGC Hawser
USCGC Line

USCGC Penobscot Bay
USCGC Point Bataan
USCGC Point Francis
USCGC Point Franklin
USCGC Point Herron
USCGC Point Knoll
USCGC Raritan

USCGC Red Beech
USCGC Red Wood
NOAAS Researcher
USCGC Sorrel
USCGC Vigorous
USCGC Wire

Foreign Ships Participating in the 1986 Naval Review

F-44 Independência (Brazil)
HMCS Iroquois (Canada)
FS Jeanne d'Arc (France)
FS Jeanne De Vienne (France)
FS Tourville (France)
HMS Ark Royal (UK)
HMS Cleopatra (UK)

HMS Sirius (UK)
FNH Copan (Honduras)
FNH Tegucigalpa (Honduras)
INS Godavari (India)
Eithne (Ireland)
HMJS Paul Bogle (Jamaica)
JDS Katori (Japan)

JDS Nagatsuki (Japan)
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (Netherlands)
HNoMS Horten (Norway)
FGS Braunschweig(West Germany)
FGS Deutschland(West Germany)
FGS Offenburg (West Germany)

Tall Ship Participants in the 1986 Parade of Ships

USCGC Eagle (USA)
Ernestina (United States)
Danmark (Denmark)
Christian Radich (Norway)
ARA Libertad (Argentina)
Zenobe Gramme [nl] (Belgium)
Bluenose II (Canada)
Esmeralda (Chile)
ARC Gloria (Colombia)

BAE Guayas (Ecuador)
Belem (France)
Dewaruci (Indonesia)
Galaxy (Israel)
ITS Amerigo Vespucci (Italy)
ARM Cuauhtémoc (Mexico)
Sørlandet (Norway)
Shabab Oman (Oman)
NRP Sagres (Portugal)

ESPS Juan Sebastián de Elcano (Spain)
Svanen of Stockholm (Sweden)
Calida (Scotland)[9]
Capitan Miranda (Uruguay)
Simon Bolivar (Venezuela)
Elissa (United States)
Gazela of Philadelphia (United States) Roseway (United States)

3–9 July 2000, New York City – Sixth International Naval Review, set to coincide with Op Sail 200, included the following U.S naval vessels:[10]

Reviewing Ships

Parading Vessels

Participants in the 2000 Parade of Ships

Eagle (USA)
Amerigo Vespucci (ship) (Italy)
Danmark (Denmark)
Spirit of Massachusetts (USA)
Harvey Gamage (USA)
Esmeralda (Chile)
Libertad (Argentina)
Capitan Miranda (Uruguay)
Guayas (Ecuador)

Bak'tivshchyna (Ukraine)
Gloria (Colombia)
Dar Młodzieży (Poland)[11]
Gorch Fock (Germany)
Edna E. Lockwood (United States)
Clipper City (United States)
Californian (United States)
Ernestina (United States)
Pride of Baltimore II (United States)

HMS Rose (United States)
Maryland Dove (United States)
Niagara (United States)
Simon Bolivar (Venezuela)
Oosterschelde (Netherlands)
Bowdoin (United States)
Cisne Branco (Brazil)
Søren Larsen (New Zealand)
Dewaruci (Indonesia)

2026 Review

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In honor of the United States Semiquincentennial, the United States Navy will host a naval review on 4 July 2026 in New York Harbor.[12] It is planned for more than 80 ships from 30 countries to be taking part. It wall also coincide with OpSail 2026.

 
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) leads the RIMPAC 2010 fleet

First held in 1971, RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. Hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard. It is described by the US Navy as a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.[13]

Although the 2020 RIMPAC exercise was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 25,000 naval personnel and 52 ships and submarines from 26 countries participated in the 2018 exercises, with forces representing Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.[14][15][16]

42 ships & subs from 15 nations in close formation during RIMPAC 2014

References

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  1. ^ "Bennington I". DANFS.
  2. ^ "International naval review, Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1907". www.loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  3. ^ Paul Stillwell, Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991), 303. ISBN 0-87021-023-8. OCLC 23654474.
  4. ^ USS Albany Web Site
  5. ^ Nessen, Ron. "International Naval Review" (PDF). Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
  6. ^ Operation Sail 1976. Official Program Book by Intercom Interrelated Communications Corp. 1976.
  7. ^ Middleton, Drew (4 July 1976). "Warships in Naval Review Form a Fearsome Armada". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  8. ^ Milstein, Stewart. "NY Fleet Reviews" (PDF). uscs.org. Universal Ship Cancellation Society. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  9. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (6 September 1986). "Crew Saved 3 Days After Ship's Sinking". New York Times. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  10. ^ Blair, Jayson (29 June 2000). "The Millennium Arrives in the Harbor by Sail and Steam". The New York Times.
  11. ^ NYT June 30, 2000 page E42 ship#17
  12. ^ https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Messages/NAVADMIN/NAV2023/NAV23163.txt?ver=o3b0kPwHGha5nrwZDFDHVQ%3D%3D#:~:text=In%202026%20the%20U.S.%20Navy,nation%20its%20independence%20in%201776. [bare URL]
  13. ^ "RIMPAC 2014". Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  14. ^ Garamon, Jim (27 August 2020). "Secretary Meets Sailors, Observes Ops During RIMPAC Visit". Department of Defense. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2020 begins". US Navy. U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs. 17 August 2020.
  16. ^ Werner, Ben (26 June 2018). "47-Ship RIMPAC Exercise Kicks Off Tomorrow". US Naval Institute.
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