TS Empire State VI Returns 2021

Welcome back from Summer Sea Term this year.  An FDNY boat provided a water display welcome on the far side of Governors Island, but my vantage point, as suggested by a SUNY grad, was Brooklyn Heights.  This was the view from the Esplanade and Pierrepont.  To see my perspective on previous occasions, click on the tag above.   From the Heights, the overcast and almost precipitating morning dimmed the many gantry cranes in the distant port.

When she was delivered in 1962 as a break bulk freighter SS Oregon, she would have been typical of freighters on the high seas.   Since 1990, returning aboard from summer sea terms has been a rite of passage for thousands of SUNY grads.  I hope I have my dates right;  if not, I’m sure you’ll correct me.

Passing the ferry terminals at the tip of Manhattan must have looked quite different back 30 years ago; the sight from 100 years ago would have differed dramatically. . . 

as would any FDNY or NYPD escort vessels.

Back then, in the foreground, there would be commercial activity and warehouses, not

parkland with

an ever-growing cover of urban forest

almost obscuring the training ship as it passes beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

Welcome back. 

All photos, WVD, with thanks to Steve Munoz to try out this view.

Another training ship came through here just a week or so ago.   Here are a few more from other maritime academies.