Fleet Week Kicks Off in NYC

New York City begins the 31st Annual Fleet Week, when 2600 members of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard converge on the city for the Memorial Day weekend.

The festivities kicked off with an 11-gun salute, and throughout the morning the Parade of Ships traversed New York harbor for the weeklong citywide celebration. The ships are visible along the Hudson River on the West Side, from Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan until south of the George Washington Bridge in the north.

The ships anchored in New York harbor include four Navy ships, three Coast Guard cutters, four Naval Academy Yard patrol boats, and a pair of Royal Canadian Navy vessels. The USS New York, which contains steel recovered form Ground Zero, is among the vessels.

Ship tours will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum at Pier 86, as well as at Pier 88. The Navy band will perform at the South Street Seaport, Washington Square Park, Union Square Park and the Military Island pedestrian plaza in Times Square. Spectators can catch Navy divers plunging into a dive tank Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. The ships will depart on Tuesday, May 28.