Great White Fleet Ceremony

Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Donald C. Winter enters hangar bay two for the start of the Great White Fleet Ceremony aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Hundreds of guests gathered aboard the Norfolk, Va.-based aircraft carrier for a formal ceremony marking the centennial anniversary of the launching of the Great White Fleet. President Theodore Roosevelt sent 16 battleships and 14,000 Sailors on an around-the-world cruise to demonstrate the nation's emergence as a world power, Dec. 15, 1907. The ceremony was the first in a series of events to mark the landmark achievement. (U.S. Navy photo / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Snyder)