2024 Fleet Week – New York City
Story by Bill Sarama, photos by Bill Sarama and Howard German
“Fleet Week” was held in New York during Memorial Day weekend from Wednesday, May 22nd, when the “Parade of Ships” entered New York Harbor starting at 9 AM and ended on its Departure Day one week later on May 29th. The arriving ships docked either at the “Homeport Pier” in Staten Island, a name derived from when this massive pier was built by the Navy in the 1980’s for the refurbished battleship USS Iowa (BB-61), or docked at the Cruise Ship Passenger Terminal Piers on the Hudson River on Manhattan’s West Side near the USS Intrepid (CVA-11), now a WW2 aircraft carrier museum ship. Before the 9-11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September of 2001, the Parade of Ships was a major event in New York with over 40 international naval vessels including usually a full-deck US aircraft carrier such as the USS John F. Kennedy, in addition to sometimes even an LHD helicopter carrier. Accompanying the line of naval ships was usually a mass flyover of military aircraft sometimes with as many as 30 aircraft flying in-trail up the Hudson River, certainly a sight to see. People would leave their offices in Downtown Manhattan at 10am and walk to the edge of the Hudson River just to see this display of international naval vessels travel up the Hudson River. They would head upriver and turn south at the George Washington Bridge and berth at either the East 48th Street piers or go further south downriver to berth at the Staten Island piers. The 9-11 Terrorist Attack changed everything. The days with lots of ships are long gone. The ship totals for the NYC Fleet Week were reduced drastically over the years. This year in 2024 the total ship count was only 11 ships with some smaller Navy and Coast Guard vessels picking up the slack. But we still had a US Aircraft Carrier, per se, the Amphibious Assault Ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) as the last ship in-trail, that docked at West 48th Street.
There were three ships that peeled off early and headed for the Homeport Pier in Staten Island. These included:
1) The Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Marinette (LCS-25) from Mayport, FL;
2) The Legend-class cutter USCGC Calhoun (WMSL-759) from Charleston, SC;
3) The Keeper-class coastal buoy tender USCGC Katherine Walker (WML-552) from Bayone, NJ; The eight ships that berthed in Manhattan included:
4-7) Four small US Naval Academy Yard Patrol boats YP-class;
8) A Bay-class cutter USCGC Sturgeon Bay (WTGB-109) also from Bayone, NJ;
9) The Baden-Wurttemberg class frigate FGS Baden-Wurttemberg (F-222) from Germany;
10) The Berlin-class replenishment ship FGS Frankfurt on Main (A-1412) also from Germany;
11) And finally, the “Piece de Resistance” for this Fleet Week, the only aircraft carrier here this weekend in New York, the 843 foot Amphibious Assault Ship, USS Bataan (LHD-5), from Norfolk, that arrived here with eight helicopters on deck for public and VIP special viewing, berthed at Pier 88 across from the USS Intrepid (CVA-11), at the foot of West 48th Street. Bataan was sight to see! A big ship!
Now in its 36th year, Fleet Week NYC is the City’s time-honored celebration of the sea services. It offers an unparalleled opportunity for citizens of New York and the surrounding Tri-State area to meet Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen and witness the latest capabilities of todays maritime services, AND YES, TO SEE SOME MILITARY AIRPLANES UP CLOSE!
Besides having public viewing of the flight deck aircraft on the USS Bataan, there were some off-site aviation activities in Long Island, flyovers down the Hudson, and air-sea SAR rescue demonstrations off the stern on the USS Bataan. At Eisenhower Park in LI, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard helicopters probably staging out of nearby Teterboro Airport in NJ, landed in a park field and were open for viewing. At Liberty Park overlooking the Statue of Liberty, Navy and Marine Corps helicopters landed and were open for viewing. Fleet Week also gave the 2,500 visiting service members a chance to see “The Big Apple” — New York!
The USS Bataan (LHD-5) amphibious assault ship just returned to Naval Station Norfolk on March 21st after departing Norfolk last July 10th of last year, for an extended 8 month deployment to the 6th and 5th Fleet Areas of Responsibility (AOR), including the Med and later the volatile Red Sea, protecting the international sea lanes from ship-killing missile and drone attack from the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The 4,000 Sailors and Marines that were part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the USMC’s Embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) MEU-SOC were involved in various combat missions off of Yemen. This kinetic fight included the Houthis using reportedly a wide range of maritime attack drones and missiles. It was reported that the Bataan’s AV-8B Harriers were also involved in the fight. The Bataan ARG not only included the USS Bataan but also the Dock Landing Ship USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) and the Amphibious Transport Dock Ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19), all with flight decks for helicopters and AV-8B flight operations.
The USS Bataan aviation group had an unusual makeup. All deployed squadrons on board were under the operational control of the MV-22B Osprey-equipped Marine Medium Tilt-Rotor Squadron 162 (Reinforced) – MVM-162 (Rein) – for the Med and later for the combat missions in the Red Sea. Several different aircraft types were on board besides the MVM-162 Ospreys including: AH-1Z Viper cobra attack helos; AV-8B Harrier jump jets; CH-53K King Super Stallion heavy lift helos; the MV-22B Ospreys; and UH-1Y Venom huey helos. In addition to these, there were MH-60S Seahawks from Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26 (HSC-26) on the Bataan for this combat deployment for what ultimately became an extended combat operation in the Red Sea. All of these embarked aircraft were assigned to VMM-162 (Rein) “Golden Eagles”, including the detachment of AV-8B Harriers which were drawn from Marine Attack Squadron 231 (VMA-231) “Ace of Spades” out of MCAS Cherry Point. Previous squadron markings, including the cool “Ace of Spades” playing card logos nose artwork, were removed for the Red Sea missions.
The Bataan’s aviation complement usually includes: six AV-8B Harrier jump jets; four CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helos; eight MV-22B Osprey assault support tilt rotors; four AH-1Z Viper Super Cobra attack helos; three or four UH-1Y Venom huey utility helos; three to six MH-60R, SH-60F ASW and/or HH-60H SAR multi-mission Seahawks. This aircraft mix can change for the particular mission profile. If it’s a dedicated Assault Support Mix, it would have 22+ MV-22B Ospreys. If it’s a Sea Control Mix, it would have up to 20 AV-8B’s (or F-35B’s) and 6 SH-60F Seahawk “Ocean Hawk” ASW helos and/or HH-60H SAR Seahawk “Rescue Hawk” or special ops configured Seahawks. Future changes for the Bataan include switching to F-35B Lightning II VTOL attack jets after a future refurbishment and structural strengthening of the flightdeck to take on this new aircraft type.
On Thursday morning of Fleet Week, I participated in a Navy League VIP Tour of the USS Bataan, including seeing the display flight deck helicopters. Due to new security measurers, our 10-person tour group. was highly restricted and had to stay tightly together. On entry after walking up the gangplank, we first saw the Upper Vehicle Deck that had displays and sample USMC combat vehicles that would be landed on the beach in a combat or humanitarian mission. Next we saw the stern Well Deck that could be flooded with about 19 feet of water that would allow contained landing craft to depart after they were up-loaded with combat vehicles or troops. The landing craft would egress from the stern after the large watertight stern ramp door was lowered and the Well Deck flooded and head out into the outside seawater and “head for the beach” to unload. The USS Bataan can accommodate three types of landing craft. It can house either three (3) Landing Craft Air Cushion (typically called LCAC’s); or two (2) Landing Craft Utility boats (LCU’s) or twelve (12) Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM’s) tracked vehicles also provided with props and rudders to use while at sea. On display in the far rear of the Well Deck was a single LCAC. The LCAC is a large 87 foot by 47 foot air-cushioned landing craft that is really a large hovercraft that rides to the beach and even over the beach on a cushion of air generated by huge vertical lift fan props under its load platform. A large air filled pontoon surrounds the load platform that allows it to float on water. Direction, speed and forward motion is controlled and generated by two large 10 foot stern propellers on the deck that give it the look and sound of being an airplane. The right side has a watertight control booth for the 5-person crew. The Craft-Master is in charge and “Pilots” the LCAC almost like an airplane. We were told that the LCAC is extremely loud and special ear protection must be worn. For troop transport, a Personal Transport Model (PTM) can be assembled on deck to house as many as 180 troops. Surprisingly, it can even transport one M-1 Abrams tank to the beach at speeds over 40 kts. On our tour, we could not get close to the single LCAC on display. Still, even from afar, it is a sight to see!
Next we went up a very steep ramp to the Hanger Bay, then up another steep ramp to get to the flight deck and we were briefly taken to five of the eight helicopters on display. Each aircraft had squadron crew members that briefly described each helo and and its mission. The flight deck display aircraft included:
1) An MV-22B Osprey from Marine Medium Tilt-Rotor Squadron 162 (Reinforced) (VMM-162) “Golden Eagles” from MAG-26, 2nd MAW, from MCAS New River, NC, here with full tails painted up in a large US flag taking up the entire tail fin.
2) A CH-53K King Super Stallion from Marine Heavy Lift Helicopter Squadron 461 (HMH-461), MAG-29, 2nd MAW, out of MCAS New River, NC.
3) A Bell AH-1Z Viper super cobra attack helicopter from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773, (HMLA-773) “Red Dogs”, MAG-49, 4th MAW based out of JB McGuire, with a tail code of “WG”, in honor of the ex-NAS Willow Grove, PA, the squadron’s previous home.
4) A Bell UH-1Y Venom utility Huey helicopter also from HMLA-773 out of JB McGuire also with a “WG” Willow Grove tail code.
5) A Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk from Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26 (HSC-26) “Chargers” out of NAS Norfolk, Chambers Field. The squadron is also known as the “Desert Hawks” for its Det 1 that has been stationed at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in the 5th Fleet AOR conducting combat support activity in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman.
We were not taken to the other three helicopters. All the helicopters had their crews out explaining their aircraft and trying to sell the usual squadron stuff but we had no time to “shop” while on deck. A fast tour but still fun to see some of the helos on deck, the LCAC in the Well Deck and parts of the other three decks inside this massive ship.
After the tour, some Navy Leaguers made their way over to the USS Intrepid (CVA-11 ) to see some of their historic planes on its flight deck. It was a great day!
Thank you Howard German for the supporting photos of the Osprey and the full shot of the LHD-5 and to the NLUS-NYC for arranging this great tour of the USS Bataan and also to the USS Bataan crew guides who took us around.
See you all next May for Fleet Week 2025 in New York!
Bill Sarama
July 27, 2024
