The Arrival of the Americans

jasonnewman

Here Kitty! This cat's a monster

July 5, 2007 - 2:43PM

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk has arrived in Sydney Harbour.

The super carrier, accompanied by four other US navy ships, berthed at the Garden Island naval base and will remain in Sydney until Tuesday.

Prime Minister John Howard  addressed about 300 sailors on board the carrier, offering them a warm welcome to Sydney.

Standing in front of a large US navy flag, The Navy Jack, Mr Howard spoke of the US navy's long association with Sydney.

"Australians and Americans have fought together in defence of freedom and against threats to our way of life on many occasions,'' he told the sailors.

"We continued to do it today and work together around the world defending our way of life and fighting terrorism.''

Directly after the speech, Mr Howard spoke with a number of the sailors who surrounded him and responded to his speech with an enthusiastic round of applause.


The US ships,  part of the joint Australian-US military exercise Talisman Sabre in Queensland, attracted the attention of anti-war protesters.

Acting NSW Premier John Watkins  extended a warm welcome to the Kitty Hawk's 5000 "cashed-up" sailors.

"We hope they have a great stay while they are here until next Tuesday," Mr Watkins told reporters.

The Kitty Hawk is no stranger to Sydney, having berthed here before in 2005 and 2001.

Its familiarity has done little to dampen the enthusiasm for its arrival with talkback radio callers charting its course into the harbour.

Sydneysiders wanting to catch a glimpse of the mighty craft have been urged to catch public transport to the harbour.

Sydney's CBD traffic was chaotic when thousands of people flocked into the city to see the Queen Elizabeth 2  and Queen Mary 2 as they docked in Sydney in February.

In a bid to avoid a repeat of those scenes, extensive clearway and no-parking provisions have been put in place around the Woolloomooloo area.

The Stop the War Coalition is using the visit of the Kitty Hawk to stage protests at Woolloomooloo Bay to demand an end to Australia-US military ties and the withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Watkins said  the visit of the Kitty Hawk came on a bumper weekend for Sydney, with the Live Earth concert being held in Moore Park as well as a rugby union Test, an AFL match and the World Youth Day Cross and Icon travelling through the CBD.

AAP

From: http://www.smh.com.au/news/natio ... /1183351338991.html

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 15:23 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

It was a sunny but windy day. Yet some arrived hours early to caputre the first moment as the Kitty Hawk sails into the Sydney Harbour.

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 15:48 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

Australian Navy battleship

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 15:52 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

This US ship must have arrived the night before.

jasonnewman

police boat

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 15:58 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

choppers

suosuo

anybody know how long will it stay here? wanna go and have a look, but not sure if it is still there after 2 days

bulaohu

Do you know can the public board Kitty Hawk this time? I was on Constellation last time it visited Sydney.

jasonnewman

原帖由 suosuo 于 2007-7-5 16:04 发表
anybody know how long will it stay here? wanna go and have a look, but not sure if it is still there after 2 days

The super carrier, accompanied by four other US navy ships, berthed at the Garden Island naval base and will remain in Sydney until Tuesday.

jasonnewman

原帖由 bulaohu 于 2007-7-5 16:06 发表
Do you know can the public board Kitty Hawk this time? I was on Constellation last time it visited Sydney.

Someone who knows please tell me too.

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

How many choppers did you find?

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

Hey! What are you guys looking at??!!! Haven't you seen a bird dry her wings under the sun??

bulaohu

The answer seems to be NO. It came from an unreliable source so I'd rather not giving the link here, but I do vaguely remember that ever since 911 the Yankees has disallowed any public visit to its aircraft carriers due to security concerns.

当年我在星座号上的时候有一阵比较混乱，结果俺摸到一架FA-18的尾喷口那里去了。。。要知道喷口的合金叶片可是全世界多少国家梦寐以求的东西。。。不过那玩意儿也结实的很，俺实在想不到有啥民用的家伙能把它切下来一片的。。。

jasonnewman

Come, Kitty, play with us!

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 16:28 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

原帖由 bulaohu 于 2007-7-5 16:21 发表
The answer seems to be NO. It came from an unreliable source so I'd rather not giving the link here, but I do vaguely remember that ever since 911 the Yankees has disallowed any public visit to its ...

Yeah, judging from the tight security there, it seems rather unlikely. I saw a Visitor's Checkpoint at Garden Island. But it appeared that only authorized persons are allowed access.

jasonnewman

All units of the authority are mobilized.

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

The wait is over…

jasonnewman

At a distance Kitty Hawk is almost the same size as the Aussie warship.

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 16:46 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

Under the watchful eyes of the police, Navy, Port Services and hundreds of spectators, Kitty Hawk moved almost unnoticeably into the Harbour.

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 16:51 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

Gigantic as they look, aircraft carriers are vulnerable to attacks especially by torpedoes and therefore always carry out missions with escorts.

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

Who’s this bloke? Seems to have chosen to do some water sports at the wrong place at the wrong time. Look more closely…..it’s police on patrol!!!

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 17:02 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

jasonnewman

You can get closer to Kitty…if you have your own yacht!

jasonnewman

You can’t stay here, mate.

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-7-5 17:25 编辑 ]