Over the weekend begininng Saturday, April 7th, 2012, myself and my wife were down in southern California, in San Diego. We were there for my daughter's wedding on Monday, April 9th, in Coronado, California on the beach at the Hotel del Coronado.
Beautiful setting, but also the home of the Naval Base Coranado and a lot of the Amphibios Warfare Command on the West Coast. Across the strait was the anchorage for many of the vessels.
We took some time to visit and photograph the vessesl we could see, and there were a lot of them, a real delight for any naval enthusiast.
First of all, off the coast of the island, either doing exercises, or standing as an ABM sentinel, we immediately saw an Arleigh Burke Class AEGIS Destroyer. She was very well defined with very sleek lines and very squared away. This was a Flight IIA Burke, with the full helicopter hangar on the aft end.
While we were watching and photographing these vessels a US Marine Sea Hawk helicopter flew over and I got a picture of it. There were numerous helo overflights throughout the times we were there.
Across the strait were the anchorages for many ships of the US 3rd Fleet. I tried to get pictures of as many as I could:
Driving across the Coronado Bridge, we were treated to a close up view of a new, San Antonio Class LPD undergoing maintenance while docked there. This is the USS Green Bay, LPD-20.
All along the line were more Burke destroyers, a Tconderoga Class Cruiser, another Wasp Class and other support vessels.
ANOTHER OVERFLIGHT, THIS TIME A US NAVY SH-60 SEA HAWK
US NAVY SUPPORT AND LOGISTICAL SUPPLY VESSELS & ANOTHER BURKE DDG
On the beach, during the wedding ceremony, we had another SH-60 helicopter overflight.
FINAL US NAVY SH-60 OVERFLIGHT
We counted seven Burke Class DDGs, One Ticonderoga Class CG, two Wasp Class LHDs, one San Antonio Class LPD, one Hospital Ship and two support vessels. Pretty good assemblage of vessels right there.
All in all it was a very enjoyable time, principally of course because of the wonderful wedding ceremony for our daughter (I have five kids, three daughters and two sons, this wedding now has all three daughters wed, and our oldest son is also married. We have eight grandkids so far, and are expecting more). But also as an opportunity to see, enjoy, photograph and contemplate the strong amphibious capabilities of the US 3rd fleet that are located in San Diego, California on the west coast of the United States.
The full article/journal can be read on my site,
Beautiful setting, but also the home of the Naval Base Coranado and a lot of the Amphibios Warfare Command on the West Coast. Across the strait was the anchorage for many of the vessels.
We took some time to visit and photograph the vessesl we could see, and there were a lot of them, a real delight for any naval enthusiast.
First of all, off the coast of the island, either doing exercises, or standing as an ABM sentinel, we immediately saw an Arleigh Burke Class AEGIS Destroyer. She was very well defined with very sleek lines and very squared away. This was a Flight IIA Burke, with the full helicopter hangar on the aft end.
While we were watching and photographing these vessels a US Marine Sea Hawk helicopter flew over and I got a picture of it. There were numerous helo overflights throughout the times we were there.
Across the strait were the anchorages for many ships of the US 3rd Fleet. I tried to get pictures of as many as I could:
Driving across the Coronado Bridge, we were treated to a close up view of a new, San Antonio Class LPD undergoing maintenance while docked there. This is the USS Green Bay, LPD-20.
All along the line were more Burke destroyers, a Tconderoga Class Cruiser, another Wasp Class and other support vessels.
ANOTHER OVERFLIGHT, THIS TIME A US NAVY SH-60 SEA HAWK
US NAVY SUPPORT AND LOGISTICAL SUPPLY VESSELS & ANOTHER BURKE DDG
On the beach, during the wedding ceremony, we had another SH-60 helicopter overflight.
FINAL US NAVY SH-60 OVERFLIGHT
We counted seven Burke Class DDGs, One Ticonderoga Class CG, two Wasp Class LHDs, one San Antonio Class LPD, one Hospital Ship and two support vessels. Pretty good assemblage of vessels right there.
All in all it was a very enjoyable time, principally of course because of the wonderful wedding ceremony for our daughter (I have five kids, three daughters and two sons, this wedding now has all three daughters wed, and our oldest son is also married. We have eight grandkids so far, and are expecting more). But also as an opportunity to see, enjoy, photograph and contemplate the strong amphibious capabilities of the US 3rd fleet that are located in San Diego, California on the west coast of the United States.
The full article/journal can be read on my site,
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HLS-31 hangar stands empty...HC-11 hangar is now home to the west coast HSC squadrons. And I do not know what the USN has in store for the VS squadron hangars. They should move the E-2s back to San Diego..They'd get better support there.