WASHINGTON: The first Fleet Week in Los Angeles is underway at the city’s port in San Pedro. Military ships have docked at the port over Labor Day weekend, giving the public a chance to tour naval vessels and meet some of the 1,500 sailors and other military personnel. On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard held search-and-rescue demonstrations as the public toured the battleship Iowa, the guided missile destroyer Wayne E. Meyer, and the amphibious assault ship America.
The free event also includes aerial demonstrations by military aircraft, including the World War II-era Boeing-Stearman Model 75, nicknamed the “Yellow Peril.” Fleet Week is a tradition for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marines that dates from the 1930s. San Diego, New York, San Francisco and other port cities have long hosted Fleet Weeks.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and military officials announced last year that the Port of L.A. would be included in the Navy’s Fleet Week lineup starting this year. Officials have called it a “new end-of-summer tradition” for the one of the nation’s busiest container ports.
