Free Republic

A history of Roosevelt's (the good one) Great White Fleet and the voyage that announced America's emergence as a major world power.

....With the exception of the few highest ranking naval officials, nobody was aware of Roosevelt's intention to send the fleet around the world. Even the President's own cabinet didn't know about it. All anyone knew was that the fleet would be steaming from the east to West Coast in a training exercise. Once the plans for the cruise became public, not everyone was impressed.... Senator Eugene Hale from Maine, chairman of the Naval Appropriations Committee, threatened to withhold money for the cruise. But this didn't bother Roosevelt, who replied in his typically brusque and forthright fashion that he already had...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- One hundred years ago on Dec. 16, 1907, the Great White Fleet departed Hampton Roads, Va., marking the first global naval voyage in America's young history. The U.S. Navy is honoring the anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet deployment over the next year to underscore the Navy's commitment to sustaining a Navy and Marine Corps responsive to the challenges of the 21st century. To kick-off the commemorative period, the Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, is hosting a ceremony from that very home port on board USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Dec. 15. In 1907,...