National Maritime Day is a United States federal observance created to recognize the maritime industry. It is observed on May 22, the date in 1819 that the American steamship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. The holiday was created by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933.
On May 22, 2002, the Military Sealift Command observed National Maritime Day with a memorial service held in Washington, DC. Rear Adm. David L. Brewer III, Commander, Military Sealift Command, and Gordon R. England, Secretary of the Navy, tossed a wreath into the Anacostia River at the Washington Navy Yard in honor of fallen mariners. [1]
In 2013, National Maritime Day was celebrated with family picnics and boat tours at the Port of San Diego, and with maritime career fairs in Seattle and the Port of Baltimore, as well as with traditional memorial ceremonies. [2]
On May 22, 2016, the Baltimore events were held at the NS Savannah , Pier 13 of the Canton Marine Terminal in Baltimore, Maryland. Boy Scout Explorer Post # 0438, a re-enactment group representing the First Baltimore Sharpshooters, a.k.a. Aisquith's Sharpshooters, was there in replica uniforms. Battle of North Point Many other groups, both businesses, non-profit groups, and educational groups were present. Docked alongside the NS Savannah was the Golden Bear (ship) , a training ship from California that was built nearby in Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Maryland, in 1986.
MV Virginian, formerly named the MV Strong Virginian (T-AKR-9205), is a combination container, heavy lift, and roll-on/roll-off ship. Owned and operated by Sealift Incorporated of Oyster Bay, New York, the ship is one of seventeen container—roll-on/roll-off ships in use by the Military Sealift Command, and one of 28 ships assigned to that organization's Sealift Program Office. The ship was previously known as the MV Saint Magnus and the MV Jolly Indaco.
USS Wyoming was the second ship of the United States Navy to bear that name, but the first to bear it in honor of the 44th state. The first Wyoming was named for Wyoming Valley in eastern Pennsylvania.
NS Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship. She was built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million and launched on July 21, 1959. She was funded by United States government agencies. Savannah was a demonstration project for the potential use of nuclear energy. The ship was named after SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic ocean. She was in service between 1962 and 1972 as one of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built.
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
The New York Shipbuilding Corporation was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United States Coast Guard, and other maritime concerns. At its peak during World War II, NYSB was the largest and most productive shipyard in the world. Its best-known vessels include the destroyer USS Reuben James (DD-245), the cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), the nuclear-powered cargo ship NS Savannah, and a quartet of cargo-passenger liners nicknamed the 4 Aces.
USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) is a United States Navy submarine tender and the lead ship of her class. She was named for Admiral Emory S. Land.
USS Thor was a cable repair ship that supported Project Caesar, the unclassified name for installation of the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). Originally the Artemis-class attack cargo ship Vanadis (AKA-49) which was briefly in commission from 9 July 1945 to 27 March 1946, it was converted in 1955 after nine years in the reserve fleet.
USS Sherburne (APA-205) was a US Navy Haskell-class attack transport, built and used during World War II. She was of the VC2-S-AP5 Victory ship design type. Sherburne was named for Sherburne County, Minnesota. She was later converted and renamed USS Range Sentinel (AGM-22), a missile range instrumentation ship.
USNS Vindicator (T-AGOS-3) was a United States Navy Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship that was in service from 1984 to 1993. Vindicator then served in the United States Coast Guard from 1994 to 2001 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3). From 2004 to 2020, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Hiʻialakai.
USS Stewart (DE–238) is an Edsall-class destroyer escort, the third United States Navy ship so named. This ship was named for Rear Admiral Charles Stewart, who commanded USS Constitution during the War of 1812. Stewart is one of only two preserved destroyer escorts in the U.S. and is the only Edsall-class vessel to be preserved. She is on display in Galveston, Texas as a museum ship and is open to the public.
MV Shughart (T-AKR-295) is the lead ship of her class of cargo ships operated by the United States Navy. She is a 'roll-on roll-off' non-combat vessel designated as a "Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off" (LMSR) ship.
USNS Apache (T-ATF-172) was a U.S. Navy Powhatan-class fleet ocean tugboat that was operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) from 1981 to 2022. She spent the bulk of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
USNS Mohawk (T-ATF-170) was a United States Navy Powhatan-class tugboat operated by the Military Sealift Command from 1980 to 2005.
MV Maria Reina is a Panamanian container ship. The 100-metre (330 ft) long ship was built at Wuhu Shipyard in Wuhu, China in 1997 as Steamers Future. Originally owned by Singapore's Keppel Corporation, she has had three owners, been registered under three flags, and been renamed ten times.
USNS Sgt. Joseph E. Muller was a C1-M-AV1 cargo ship completed 9 June 1945 and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) as Check Knot. After operation by WSA's agent Waterman Steamship Company June 1945 – November 1946 and being placed in reserve the ship was transferred to the U.S. Army and renamed USAT Sgt. Joseph E. Muller. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1950 after the establishment of the Military Sea Transportation Service under Navy and assigned to Korean War supply and transport operations. She was again place back in service in 1962 as one of the civilian crewed, Auxiliary General (AG), technical research ships working on National Security Agency/Naval Security Group missions, based out of Florida. She was finally declared surplus to needs in 1969 and struck.
USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) was a T3 Ashtabula class replenishment oiler tanker that served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1975, then transferred to the Military Sealift Command to continue in non-commissioned service with a civilian crew as United States Naval Ship USNS Pawcatuck (T-AO-108). She was the only United States Navy ship to bear the name Pawcatuck.
The SS Chesapeake is a transport oiler that was in service with the United States Navy from 2000 to 2009. She was operated by Military Sealift Command.
MV Gary I. Gordon, formerly USNS Gordon (T-AKR-296), is a Gordon-class roll on roll off vehicle cargo ship of the United States Navy. She was originally built as a merchant vessel, acquired and converted by the Navy, and was assigned to the United States Department of Defense's Military Sealift Command. As of April 2023, the ship was part of the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force (RRF).
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1),, the lead ship of her class of Expeditionary Transfer Docks (ESD), is a ship named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949. After $115 million was allocated for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts, in late 2010 General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company was awarded the contract, worth approximately $500 million, to build the first of three planned vessels.