Presidential Ship Visits

Naval Historical Center ^

[Keith_Yorktown]

This list includes ship visits by presidents, during their terms as president, presently known to the Ships History Branch. There have undoubtedly been others; any additional information would be appreciated. Commissioned presidential yachts are included though these were not, strictly speaking, "visits to Navy ships" since these yachts were not part of the operating forces. The yacht Sequoia is listed under F.D. Roosevelt only, the only period during which she was in commission. Small craft, such as the motor boats used by a number of presidents after World War II, are not included. Individual ship histories are included in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. John Tyler (1841-45) Steam sloop Princeton (1844)

Franklin Pierce (1853-57) Steam frigate Wabash (1856)

William McKinley (1897-1901) Yacht Sylph (1898-1901)

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) Yacht Sylph (1901-09) Battleship Illinois (1902) Yacht Mayflower (1905-09) Submarine Plunger (1905) Battleship Louisiana (1906) Battleship Connecticut (1907; 1909) Battleship Mississippi (1907)

William H. Taft (1909-13) Yacht Sylph (1909-13) Yacht Mayflower (1909-13) Battleship Arkansas (1912)

Woodrow Wilson (1913-21) Yacht Sylph (1913-210 Yacht Mayflower (1913-21) Transport George Washington (1919)

Warren G. Harding (1921-23) Yacht Mayflower (1921-23)

Calvin Coolidge (1923-29) Yacht Mayflower (1923-29) Battleship Utah (1928) Battleship Texas (1928)

Herbert C. Hoover (1929-33) Battleship Maryland (1928-29) Battleship Utah (1928-29) Battleship Arizona (1931)

F. D. Roosevelt (1933-45) Yacht Sequoia (1933-36) Cruiser Houston (1934; 1935; 1938; 1939) Yacht Potomac (1936-45) Cruiser Indianapolis (1933; 1936) Destroyer Phelps (1937) Cruiser Philadelphia (1938) Cruiser Tuscaloosa (1939, 1940) Cruiser Augusta (1941) British battleship Prince of Wales(1941) Battleship Iowa (1943) Cruiser Memphis (1943) Cruiser Baltimore (1944) Destroyer Cummings (1944) Cruiser Quincy (1945)

Harry S. Truman (1945-53) Yacht Williamsburg (1945-52) Cruiser Augusta (1945) Battleship Missouri (1945, 1947) Destroyer Lansdowne (1945) Submarine U-2513 (1946) not yet identified (1946-47)

Dwight D.Eisenhower (1953-61) Yacht Williamsburg (1953) Carrier Saratoga (1957) Submarine Seawolf (1957) Cruiser Des Moines (1959) Cruiser Saint Paul (1960) Submarine (unidentified) Submarine Patrick Henry (year?)

John F. Kennedy (1961-63) Destroyer Joseph P Kennedy Jr (1962) Coast Guard training ship Eagle (1962) Submarine Chopper (1962) Submarine Thomas A. Edison (1963) Missile test ship Observation Island 1963) Carrier Kitty Hawk (1963) Carrier Oriskany (1963)

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) Carrier Enterprise (1967)

Richard M. Nixon (1969-74) Carrier Hornet (1969)

James E. Carter (1977-81) Submarine Los Angeles (1977) Carrier Dwight D Eisenhower (1978)

Ronald Reagan (1981-89) Carrier Constellation (1981) Battleship New Jersey (1982) Battleship Iowa (1986)

George H. W. Bush (1989-92) Carrier Forrestal (1989) Guided Missile Cruiser Belknap (1991)

William J. Clinton (1992-2001) Carrier Carl Vinson (1993; 1995) Carrier George Washington (1994) Carrier Independence (1996) Carrier Harry S. Truman (1998)

George W. Bush (2001- ) Carrier Abraham Lincoln (2003)

[Keith_Yorktown]

Interesting that we haven't heard much about these visits in the press, or from other Senators.

[UB355]

[MEG33]

It's all about President Bush ..nothing else matters!(The flight suit and the smiles from the crew were too much to bear,poor darlings)

[MEG33]

A lie.

[UB355]

I know, but that's the stuff our local Newspaper is famous for

[MEG33]

Does any one refute them?!

[January24th]

At Instapundit.com you could get great links to great web-based research that refutes all this. In fact, InstaPundit is hands-down the best clearing house for information and links to the most serious journalists (you know, ones that actually RESEARCH and ask questions---).

[MEG33]

My visits to other great sites seemed to halt during the war! I shall return to cruising the net!

[aristeides]

Taft only visited a ship of war once, and no president after that visited one until the end of Coolidge's presidency, not even Wilson during wartime? What was up with that? Were they consciously distinguishing themselves from Teddy Roosevelt?

[mondonico]

Good post. It would also be interesting to see how many Senators have taken photo ops aboard Navy vessels.

[Congressman Billybob]

I dealt with the precise subject of prior presidential speeches (and ships) being dropped down the "memory hole" by critics of President Bush, in my latest column. Click below, or visit the FR thread for "Brave New Moment."

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, now up FR, "Brave New Moment."

[Howlin]

Bill Clinton also visited the U.S.S. Hue City on July 4th, 2000, for July 4th celebration in New York City harbor, along with his lovely wife, who, as it happened, was running for senator from New York.

[PUGACHEV]

It's odd that the list doesn't include Clinton's visit to the Theadore Roosevelt. It's remembered for fact that he and his staff stole all the towels and ashtrays that they could smuggle off the ship. What a class act Clinton was. Could you imagine anyone in Bush's White House doing anything as low-rent as that?

[kitkat]

Clinton's "lovely wife"??? Shouldn't that be, "lowly life"?

[Howlin]

I should have just left a (blank) and let people fill it in with their favorite descriptor for her.......LOL.

[repubmom]

and they know that if things continue to go as well as they have been for Pres. Bush that he will get re-elected in a landslide and they won't be able to cry about the "illegitimate" or "stolen" presidency! They can't stand it that he is so loved by the soldiers and 70% of the country!

[dread78645]

Add another for Johnson:

Feb 1968 USS Constellation

[LiteKeeper]

lest we forget...!