Navy League councils from the Seattle area teamed up in mid-May to support the U.S. Navy's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Great White Fleet's visit to Puget Sound, an event marked by a parade of ships in Elliott Bay, parades in several towns, and the presentation of special centennial plaques to mayors of six of the ports the fleet visited a century ago and to the crews of locally based "namesake" ships. The dock landing ship USS Rushmore and guided-missile destroyer USS Preble, accompanied by Landing Craft, Air Cushions, paraded around Elliott Bay May 20 while Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and other dignitaries stood at Pier 66 and saluted. The visiting ships were later made available for public tours, and the Museum of History & Industry hosted a lecture about the Great White Fleet May 22. Nickels and Bill Larson, president of the Seattle Council, presented a golden key to the city to Navy officials during the commemoration, which was attended by about 120 people, a substantially smaller crowd than what greeted 12 of the Great White Fleet battleships when they entered Elliott Bay in May 1908.
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