An Inspiring Spectacle: Fleet Steaming up the Harbour.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19094, 12 August 1925, Page 14

An Inspiring Spectacle: Fleet Steaming up the Harbour.

From. out the mist and shadows of the gulf the great American battle fleet swept majestically yesterday into the broad reaches cf the Waitemata, eight silver ships upon a shining sea.

Early morning rainstorms left a heavy swathe of haze and cloudbank over the northern horizon; all the beautiful islands of tho gulf were blotted out, and tho skyline was lost in tho murk and shadows that lay out beyond Tiri. By the time the first of Auckland's great army of welcoming citizens reached vantage points of cliff and hill-top, the morning had cleared, and skies brightened 'with silvery, cumulous clouds and seas still and shining as a polished steel mirror provided the setting for tho first scene in the pageant that was unfolded through the hours of the long-awaited morning..

Strange indeed was the first glimpse of the fleet, gained by eager thousands who climbed the hill-tops of Mount Victoria and North. Head, , peerless vantage points.for the following-up of. any great sea-pageant such as this. Over the northern shoulder of Rangitoto, their outlines dimmed in the grey shadows.of the gulf, .eight little grey pyramids , appeared, like tiny islets suspended between sea and sky. , So iag .out - were they thai they to be motionless, yet inch by inch they crept forward out of the haze, each one in straight line behind the other, moving onward with the orderly precision that is the way of the navy,' : _ . , , . „ , .

By 11 o'clock, an hour and a-hslf hefore the ■time set for the fleet to anchor, Aucklauders wero preparing a great wel-

come by sea and by land. From the summit of Mount Victoria the scene was one of unique beauty and interest. Shoreward every hill-top, every harbour headland, all the length of wharves and foreshore, was thronged with tiny black figures; seaward, the excursion steamers and launches, gaily flagged and crowded from end to end, moved out on their friendly mission. Not a breath of wind stirred the silvery waters of Rangitoto Channel, and the reflections of the slowmoving ferries, the white radiance of a great cumulous cloud, striking deep into the heart of the sea, made a picture of quiet, shining beauty. Shortly after half-past eleven the sun broke through the heavy cloudbank over the summit of Rangitoto, and in a dazzle of silver and grey the great ships could be seen plainly, malting steadily for the beacon. And now the shape of them became visible, the great steel lattice masts giving height and dignity to their vast fighting bulk. They straightened out in lino as they neared the beacon, and even as all eyes were fastened on them a' shout went up suddenly • from the watchers—"tho seapiaties!" ■

Straight out of the heart of a shining cloud 'they came, three stately planes, flying close together. Up the channel, over. North Head, they flew swiftly and within a moment or two were headed up the harbour, within full view of the waiting multitude. Over toward Northcpte 'they sped, then with tho sun glinting on their wings, they swooped and dived, and took the. water in dazzling smother of spray. Soon thres more

planes camo sailing down the sky, and for over an hour this unique air fleet held the fascinated interest of the crowds by sea and shore, as they circled tho sky in graceful evolution. a

It soon became evident that the ships would make anchorage considerably later than had been anticipated, but interest never for a moment waned. By midday a nippy southerly breeze had raised a little ripplo on tho quiet waters, and up toward tho city the hai bour was bright with changeant opal tints of green and blue, with sweeping shadows throwing into relief the high lights of yellow cliffs and the white towers and spires of the city. '

It was well after 12 o'clock before tho first ship of the oncoming fleet, the flagship California, took tho turn at Rangitoto Beacon. For a moment the full imposing breadth of her was revealed, •then, with the sun shining on her pointing guns, and a dazzling glint on the white wave that rose from her beautiful clipper-bow, she swept round into tho channel, and the full imposing outline of her was for the first time made visible.

Most impressive and beautiful was tho scene as the flagship steamed up chunnel, unhurried, majestic in- gait, not so vast and rugged_ a shape as those, great fighting units of Britain's naval force that visited Auckland a year ago, yet a grim and striking manifestation of the might of one of the world's great seaPowers.

Precedesd by the seaplanes, followed at a respectful distance by tho fleet of excursion stoamers and launches, the Cali-

fornia moved steadily onward toward North Head. For a moment she was lost to view to the watchers on tho hilltop, then, with tho dazzle of the midday sun turning her grey, formidable bulk to shining silver, she turned into a wido swatho of sunshine, and Auckland got its first glimpse of tho glory of tho United States Navv.

A moment later there was a puff of white smoke, then the thunder of tho salute boomed out, answered by the guns of the fort at North Head. From tho fighting top of the foremost mast, the White Ensign of Britain fluttered for a moment, a glorious emblem of might and power, made more glorious for the moment by the fact that the other flag waving so proudly from tho other mast bore the Stars and Stripes of a sistercountry's nationhood. Tho other ships, as they followed, raised and lowered their

flags in recognition of tho welcoming salute.

Slowly the great ships moved up the harbour to their anchorage. Tho sunglint had faded from their bows, and to tho watchers on the shore they became dim, grey shapes silhouetted against the darker shadows of North Shore. But from the hilltops tho sceno was still one of brightness and beauty; tho sound of band music came floating across the waters, mingling with tho drono of tho seaplanes that still swooped and circled overhead. By half-past one tho last unit of the mighty armada had rounded North Head. Shortly afterwards the eight ships of the American Fleet were swinging gently at anchor, honoured guests come safely to a waiting city's welcome.