Navy Week Los Angeles 2011

While not ocean liners, warships are still beautiful and evoke strong feelings of power, patriotism and pride. They are hard-working ships as well: from the mighty aircraft carrier to the humble minesweeper. They have a very serious job to do, and they remain vigilant at all times. I think it will surprise few that they are another keen interest of mine (it doesn't help either that my grandpa and uncle both served in the US Navy). So when I found out that several ships were coming to the Port of Los Angeles this week, I had to write about it!

This is the first time that Los Angeles has had a Navy Week. The program was started five years ago in order to inform the American public about the services rendered by sailors and aviators by inviting them to tour these ships. This is completely free to the public and has been incredibly popular.

Four ships sailed into the Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) for the event: the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, the cruiser Princeton, the destroyer Chafee and the minesweeper Champion.

On Thursday, July 28 I visited the Abraham Lincoln. For size and security issues, she was docked at nearby Cabrillo Beach instead of at the cruise terminal. I waited in line for two hours as a small fleet of buses took people to and from the carrier. But we finally made it over and aboard.

"Wow!" That's all I could think, and it's still all I can say when people ask me about it.

The other ships were closed for tours by the time I returned. I'm planning to go back on either Saturday or Sunday in the hopes of getting aboard the Princeton and the Champion (Chafee left earlier today).

For more information about Navy Week, go here: U.S. Navy Weeks