Fleet Week San Diego

We think of what it means to be free and what it takes to maintain that freedom. We thank you for your service, your dedication and the sacrifice you and your families have made on behalf of us, our country and for Freedom. - Anonymous
 
How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!
 ~Maya Angelou
 
 According to Thomas Shess, (writer of an article in San Diego home / Garden Lifestyles magazine), Fleet Week San Diego , Honoring all things Navy happens this month and dovetails with the USMC Miramar Air Show . Fleet Week's theme "A Salute to San Diego, Birthplace of Naval Aviation 1911-2011" runs September 19th through October 2nd.
 
The Navy's presence in San Diego goes back to July 26, 1846, when the 22-gun light frigate U.S.S.Cyane dropped anchor off of what is now Ballast Point. She had been sent to capture San Diego during the Mexican American War (1846-1848) Two longboats were dispatched ashore. Encountering no resistance from the locals, the sailors and marines officially hoisted the Stars & Stripes atop an Old Town flagpole. San Diego has been a proud Navy town ever since.
 
Dispite notable visits by other U.S. Navy warships, including the ships of the Great White Fleet in 1908 and the battle cruiser Saratoga, San Diego did not have an official Navy base until 1919.
 
To allow bigger pre-WW11 ships to use San Diego harbor, sea-lanes were dredged from the mouth of the bay to various installations. The silt from the dredging operations created prime new land such as Shelter Island, the north side of North island and the area  west of the Santa Fe Depot. Shelter Island's success led to the creation of Harbor Island
(home of Yacht Vacation Rental) in later years.