For the first time since 2008, Alaska’s capital city will welcome a U.S. Navy warship.
On Saturday, the destroyer USS O’Kane and its 281 crew will arrive for a five-day stay in Juneau.
The O’Kane is in Alaska waters alongside the destroyer USS Hopper and the oiler USNS Guadalupe for Northern Edge 2017, a joint military exercise in the Gulf of Alaska and at military ranges in the Interior.
The O’Kane’s 505-foot gray length will arrive about noon Saturday, said U.S. Navy spokesman Sean Hughes, and moor offshore.
Because the ship won’t be pierside, public tours are not available. Juneauites will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the O’Kane’s sailors during their stay, however. Hughes and City and Borough of Juneau spokeswoman Lisa Phu said Juneau residents turned out in droves for the “Adopt-a-Sailor” program, and no more hosts are needed to show visitors around the city.
“Wow, the community came out strong on that one,” Hughes said of the reaction.
He added that “even though the ship can’t come pierside, this is really an opportunity to speak with sailors who are going to be in town.”
For those who’d rather listen than talk, the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band’s Harbor Brass ensemble will conduct music clinics with the Juneau-Douglas High School band and perform a concert from 4:15-5 p.m. Friday.
The quintet will also perform from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at Marine Park and 3-4 p.m. at the Hangar Ballroom.
The O’Kane, homeported in Pearl Harbor, is the second U.S. Navy ship to call in an Alaska port as part of Northern Edge. On May 1, the Hopper visited Homer in that city’s first Naval visit since 2011. Juneau’s last visit was from its namesake ship, the USS Juneau.
ABOUT THE O’KANE
Commissioned: Oct. 23, 1999
Homeport: Pearl Harbor, HI
Length: 505 feet
Beam: 66 feet
Draft: 31 feet
Top speed: Greater than 31 knots
Crew: 248 enlisted, 33 officers
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 419-7732.
