CONTACT US
On September 2nd, downtown St. Petersburg received quite the exciting guest- the United States’ newest naval warship, the USS Independence. The ship stayed docked at the St. Pete Pier through Labor Day and 3,000 patrons that snagged a free ticket from Mahaffey Theater were able to tour the ship. These tickets were quite the hot commodity, said to be accounted for in under an hour! That is 3,000 lucky ducks!
Although the massive vessel is 418 feet long, weighing in at over 2,700 tons, it is said to be one of the smaller naval warships. She can function in under 20 feet of water and prepare for mine, undersea or surface warfare which makes her extremely unique. The ship also features not ONE but TWO helicopter launching pads.
According to Bay News 9′s interview with Commander Kenneth Coleman, “[The Navy] took a commercial design and put some military requirements on top of it and has come up with something revolutionary.” So basically we have a cruise ship ready to go to war. I wonder if you can enjoy a breakfast alongside Mickey Mouse & the Disney crew? If so, I think I may enlist!
I don’t want to get into the politics of whether or not going to war is the best choice or a moral decision, however, I salute the honorable sailors aboard that ship and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them in full uniform exploring downtown St. Pete.
While I didn’t get to see the ship up close & personal, thanks to Smith & Associates’ President/CEO Bob Glaser‘s handy dandy iPhone, I got to see a pretty awesome photo (pictured above left). Were you one of the lucky ones that snagged a ticket to tour USS Independence? What did you think? I would love to see more pictures, so please send them my way!
Follow us on