Feb. 4, 2003 – Sailors from a Navy ship anchored off St. John have been wandering up and down the streets of Cruz Bay this week, heading for the beach, hanging out at bars and taking in the sights as most visitors to the island do.
Others have been doing pretty much the same thing on St. Thomas, where a second Navy ship is in port.
The USS Gonzalez dropped anchor Sunday off St. John. On St. Thomas, the USS Philippine Sea is tied up at Crown Bay.
For both vessels, "this is a port visit for rest and recreation," Lt. Cmdr. Kim Dixon said from her office at Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Puerto Rico.
While the bars seem to get the biggest infusion of business from Navy visits, Holly Stein at Low Key Watersports in Cruz Bay said her shop had four sailors go on a scuba dive tour on Tuesday morning.
"I think they had a late night the night before," Stein said, noting that they showed up late.
Citing security reasons, Dixon declined to say when the ships would depart or where they would be headed. She did say they are in the region for training exercises and that they will be visiting St. Thomas and St. John for a few days.
The Gonzalez, a destroyer in the Arleigh-Burke class based at Norfolk, Virginia, is 466 feet long and carries a crew of about 326 people.
The Philippine Sea, a cruiser, is 567 feet long. It homeports in Mayport, Florida, and has a crew of about 364 people.
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