U.S. Fleet Forces announced on April 24, 2025 that USS New York (LPD-21), a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship, would participate in Fleet Week New York 2025, according to the Navy's April 2025 announcement. The 37th Fleet Week New York ran from May 21 to May 27, 2025, opening with the Parade of Ships into New York Harbor and offering public ship tours the following weekend. Coast Guard participation included USCGC Calhoun (WMSL-759), a Legend-class National Security Cutter, alongside additional cutters and Naval Academy yard patrol craft.
What was open to the public?
Public ship tours ran Friday and Saturday, May 23-24, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with vessels moored at Manhattan piers including Pier 88, according to the event schedule published by the Navy and the city's tourism office. The week's program also carried ship tours, military demonstrations, and community events across the five boroughs and Staten Island. Fleet Weeks function as the Navy's principal public-facing port visits on the East Coast, and tour availability is set per ship by each vessel's commanding officer based on operational commitments.
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Why an amphibious lineup?
Both headline warships are amphibious ships assigned to the East Coast, and their selection reflects what can be spared from training schedules and maintenance windows during the spring deployment cycle. USS New York carries 7.6 million pounds of World Trade Center steel in her bow, a detail the Navy emphasizes in New York appearances, and the ship has made repeated Fleet Week visits since commissioning in 2009. Dock landing ships like USS Oak Hill carry landing craft and Marines, and their presence at a public pier gives visitors access to a ship type rarely seen alongside a city waterfront. The Navy has not published attendance figures for the 2025 edition.
How port visits are announced
Port visit lineups typically appear six to eight weeks before the event through the sponsoring fleet command, in this case U.S. Fleet Forces in Norfolk, followed by per-ship pages and host-city schedules. Ships must be in an availability window that permits public access, and security requirements for waterfront access shape which piers are used. Final lineups can change close to the event date if operational demands intervene, which is why fleet announcements describe participating ships as scheduled rather than confirmed until the Parade of Ships.
What about 2026?
For 2026, New York's summer maritime calendar is built around the nation's 250th anniversary, with a large international naval review and tall-ship program announced for July 2026 in place of the traditional late-May format, according to event organizers' announcements made in 2025. Sailors and ships from foreign navies are expected to join the U.S. fleet for the anniversary review. Fleet commands were expected to announce participating ships in the months before the event.