When President Teddy Roosevelt decided in 1907 that the U.S. needed to flex its growing naval might, he did it by painting 16 new Atlantic Fleet warships white and sending them on a voyage around the world lasting from December 1907 to February 1909. Today's Annual Armed Forces Day Parade and Celebration in Torrance commemorates the 100th anniversary of the arrival of what later came to be known as the Great White Fleet in Southern California in April 1908, which caused a sensation.
The Great White Fleet Website celebrates the voyage in thorough, colorful detail, including biographies of the captains, original postcards and other memorabilia.
The U.S. Navy's site contains text from original newspaper accounts of the fleet's arrival in various cities, as well as a brief film with rare footage of the ships.
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