One of the highlights of Seafair is the return of the Navy ships for fleet week, but not everyone is excited about it.
In addition to three ships from the Royal Canadian Navy and a couple from the United States Coast guard, the U.S. Navy destroyer, the U.S.S. Barry is over from its home port at Naval Station Everett to join them. The U.S.S. Barry is named for Commodore John Barry, who is considered “the father of the American Navy.”
U.S. Navy Admiral Mark Sucato tells Northwest Newsradio they are always grateful for the reception they get from Seattle. “It means everything. Seattle is very much a maritime town. The Puget Sound is the Navy’s 3rd largest fleet concentration in the world. There’s well over 45,000 sailors in the area,” Admiral Sucato says, “but we go out of our way to really not be seen. We’re in various places on the Sound, and Fleet Week is one of those times where we stop trying to not be seen, and we go out of our way to meet, in this case, the Seattle public.”
Those at this event are often joined by protesters from Veterans For Peace, like Navy veteran, Marty Kunz, who says the Navy’s participation in Seafair is about drumming up support for what he says is an over-inflated military. Kunz says, “We supposedly do it under the name of protecting freedom and democracy, but freedom and democracy is one of the last thing that’s going on. It’s all about profit, and it’s mainly protecting oil. Kunz says Veterans For Peace is also concerned about the military’s impact on climate change. The U.S. military is the largest consumer of fossil fuel in the world, and one report says if it were a nation-state, it would be the world’s 47th largest producer of carbon emissions.
Fleet week includes opening up the ships for visitors Thursday through Sunday. The hours vary, and Admiral Sucato says they’re subject to change so check before you go. You can find the schedule and locations here.
