Great+White+Fleet

​__Background__ The Great White Fleet was a group of 16 ships, 4 Destroyers and their escorts, that was dispatched by President [|Theodore Roosevelt] to circumnavigate the world and display the United States' Naval Power. The **Great White Fleet** was the popular nickname for the [|United States Navy] battle fleet that completed a [|circumnavigation] of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909. Their hulls were painted white except for the gilded scrollwork with a red, white, and blue banner on their bows. The operation is an example of Roosevelt's Big Stick foreign policy. He wanted to show the other nations what the United States was capable of and he succeeded. The fleet was welcomed warmly in Tokyo Bay.

__Voyage __ The Voyage started on December 16th, 1907 - February 22nd, 1909. It was also split into 4 legs.
 * First Leg || Virginia || Trinadad || Brazil || Chile || Peru || Mexico || California ||  ||   ||
 * Second Leg || San Francisco || Puget Sound || San Francisco ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Third Leg || San Francisco || Hawaii || New Zealand || Sydney, Austrailia || Melbourne, Austrailia || Albany, Austrailia || Philippines || Japan || China ||
 * Final Leg || China || Philippines || Ceylon || Egypt || Gibraltar || Virginia ||  ||   ||   ||

The first leg went from Hampton Roads to San Francisco and covered 14,556 nautical miles. The second leg of the voyage was from San Francisco to [|Puget Sound] and back. The third leg went from San Francisco to Manila and covered 16,336 nautical miles. The final leg went from Manila to Hampton Roads and covered 12,455 nautical miles.

