PREVIOUS VISITS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20507, 18 March 1941, Page 2

PREVIOUS VISITS

THE GREAT WHITE FLEET Previous visits of warships of the United States Fleet to Auckland are well remembered. The first notable occasion was in 1908, when, on August 9, under the command of RearAdmiral Charles S. Sperry, in the flagship Connecticut, 16 warships of America's Great White Fleet steamed into Auckland Harbour, remaining a week.

Eight battleships of America’s battle fleet, under the command of Admiral S. S. Robison, arrived at Auckland on August 11, 1925. The ships were the California, West Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Tennessee, Maryland, Idaho and Mississippi, Simultaneous visits were paid to the other main ports by other units. The fleet left New Zealand on August 25. ' More recent was the visit of two American destroyers, the Preston and the Smith, on a preliminary "shakedown” cruise, on February 27, 1937. The largest American warship to call at Auckland since the visit in 1925 was the heavy cruiser Louisville, which arrived on March 3, 1938. The last visit was made on October 31, 1938, by the destroyer Maury.