Great White Fleet

On December 16, 1907, 14,000 sailors on 16 ships set out on a voyage. These 16 ships were collectively called the Great White Fleet, for the fairly obvious reason that the boats were painted white. President Roosevelt sent these ships to sail across the world in order to showcase America's naval capacity. And boy did they. According to the Theodore Roosevelt Center, the Great White Fleet "covered 43,000 miles and made twenty port calls on six different continents." The journey was split into two parts, with the first departing from Virginia and stopping at "Trinidad, British West Indies, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Mexico." (TR Center) When some ships had to leave in order to report elsewhere, the Fleet made a port call in San Francisco. The Fleet set sail about two months later, stopping in "Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, Ceylon, and Egypt." (TR Center) After hearing of an earthquake in Italy, they changed course to assist in damage control. The final stop before reaching Virginia was Gibraltar, and on February 22, 1909, the Fleet found itself right back where it started, in Hampton Roads. This voyage was an amazing naval achievement, and it wasn't such a bad thing for Roosevelt's reputation either! In fact, it only heightened public perception of him.

                                             USS Connecticut, leading the Atlantic Fleet to Sea                                 

Theodore Roosevelt Center, "Great White Fleet"

Naval History and Heritage Command, "Cruise of the Great White Fleet", JO2 Mike McKinley, September 5, 2017