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Eastport continues its tradition of hosting a U.S. Navy ship in its harbor during the Fourth of July festival.
U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe arranged for four U.S. ships to visit Maine this summer for festivals. The USS Ramage’s arrival on Friday afternoon in Eastport for the Fourth of July celebration leads off the schedule.
Navy ships have docked for Eastport’s Independence Day celebrations for all but three festivals since 1982.
The Ramage is Maine-made, built at Bath Iron Works.
Snowe commented on the ships coming to Maine.
“Given our seafaring tradition and history of shipbuilding, I am especially pleased that four Navy ships will visit Maine this summer,” she said. “Having these ships participate is an honor and a wonderful addition to the festivals that will host them.”
The festivals and visiting ships are:
. Eastport’s 4th of July Celebration, July 1-5, USS Ramage, a destroyer.
. Belfast’s Bay Festival, July 20-24, USS Leyte Gulf, a cruiser.
. Bucksport’s Fort Knox Bay Festival, July 29-Aug. 1, USS Nashville, an amphibious transport dock.
. Rockland’s 58th Maine Lobster Festival, Aug. 2-7, USS Gunston Hall, a dock landing ship.
The public will be able to board and tour the Ramage in Eastport on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Eastport’s Fourth of July celebration is part of the city’s Old Home Week, which has attracted as many as 20,000 people at its height. The parade is on the 4th.
The USS Ramage is the first U.S. Navy warship named to honor World War II hero Vice Admiral Lawson Paterson Ramage, USN, (1909-1990) Construction began in November 1991, and the keel was laid in January 1993. In February 1994, the USS Ramage floated free for first time.
In March 1997 the Ramage provided logistic and communications support for Marines in Albania during Operation Silver Wake.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Ramage provided extended radar coverage to the east coast of the United States and to New York City in particular.
The Ramage deployed with the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group to the Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Ramage also deployed as part of a Surface Strike Group on April 30, 2004, in support of the global war on terrorism.
More information on the ship’s history may be found on its Web site, www.ramage.navy.mil.
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