NYC Fleet week is back and we are running a selective number of Military History Tours to take you to these amazing ships in NY Harbor! 

Highlights along the way:

• Get up close with ships docked all over the city! This tour is a great way to get a waterside view of all of them. There’s also an exciting lineup of ships visiting this year, including the large-deck amphibious ship USS Wasp, as well as ships from allied navies of Italy, Canada, and the UK. 

• This tour is about the impact of the military on the harbor and the city, past and present.

• We visit parts of the harbor that most tours don’t, especially the working waterfront in New Jersey, Staten Island, and Brooklyn. One of the big highlights is seeing the Bayonne Dry Dock, built in WWII and still used today to repair ships for the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command. 

• We will also feature a few historic ships in the harbor, most notably Intrepid, which this year will celebrate its 80th birthday. But there are also several retired Coast Guard vessels and fire boats around the harbor that we will highlight.

• We will visit a number of historic military landmarks, most notably the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Today the Yard still plays an important role for the Sea Services, as it remains NY Harbor’s largest shipyard, doing repair work for working ships like tugboats and barges, as well as ships of the US Coast Guard. 

Grab your tickets for our NYC Military History Tour below!

Military History Tour of New York Harbor

In honor of our National Holiday Weekends, Classic Harbor Line and Turnstile Tours have teamed up to offer a special series of Naval Harbor History Tours! Join us on Memorial Day Weekend for a special, in-depth tour of our rich harbor-related war history.  This special 2.5-hour tour will explore the military history of New York Harbor from the Revolutionary War to today, with special emphasis on the role of the port in World War II. We will visit historic military sites, monuments, fortifications and see historic and modern fighting ships up close (especially during Fleet Week).

Duration: 2.5 hrsBoat: ManhattanCost: Adult $96 – $112

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It’s Fleet Week in NYC! New York Harbor hosts a number of special Navy Ships and sailors. Join this livestream tour in honor of our veterans! Learn about New York City’s extensive military history on this fully narrated tour by Turnstiles Tour Guide Andrew Gustafson. We’ll cruise by the visiting ships, historic military sites, monuments and fortifications including Staten Island Navy Pier, Brooklyn navy yard, Brooklyn Army terminal and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Questions and stories are welcome and we look forward to hearing from our Vets onboard and through the livestream event.

HRMM Executive Director Lisa Cline and fellow Hudson River historians, Ann Loeding and Gary Matthews co-host a tour. For nearly 400 years the Hudson River has served as a major commercial thoroughfare. We’ll be focusing this tour on the history of commercial towing and industrial transportation as we cruise from the Erie Basin to the Kill Van Kull. We’ll discuss the impact of the Erie Canal and why New York Harbor has been central to the global economy for centuries.

Join us on June 8th to watch our Livestream Series:

Join us alongside the Billion Oyster Project and learn about their vision for NY Waterways! Meet BOP Executive Director Pete Malinowski along with faculty including Katie Mosher, Anna Weiss, Charlotte Boesch and Ann Fraioli. Cruise past the Statue of Liberty and around the south side of Governors Island to the Buttermilk Channel to see BOP setting tanks in action at Atlantic Basin and discuss their restoration work with re-establishing our oyster reefs. We’ll end the tour at One 15 Brooklyn Marina where we’ll pull up oyster baskets alongside New York Harbor School students.

This adventurous livestream will take us to the Bronx River with Rocking the Boat! Take to the water with Rocking the Boat Founder and Executive Director, Adam Green, and learn about their hands-on student programs including boatbuilding, sailing and environmental science, along with their immersive summer boat camp for all school age groups! Weather permitting, see middle school students in action as they row boats, constructed and assembled by students in their wooden boatbuilding program, out to meet us at the mouth of the Bronx River. Rocking the Boat is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year!

Join the National Maritime Historical Society (NMHS) on a cruise down the Hudson River and learn about NY Harbor’s past and future in an exciting tour of important historical sites including Little Island and Pier 57, notable for its submerged concrete caissons and long steel girders resembling structures similar to those built as a part of the American military effort in World War II. Dennis Maika, Senior Historian at the New Netherland Institute will discuss how the Dutch shaped NY’s waterfront today. Architect Susannah Drake of Sasaki International, will discuss the New Urban Ground MoMA project that addresses how the city can cope with increased flooding due to climate change. Hear from Rick Scarano of Scarano Boat Building, designer and boat builder of the Classic Harbor Line fleet, and learn about 1920s commuter yacht history.

It’s launch day! Today’s harbor tour is co-hosted by the founders of Brooklyn Boatworks, local naval architects Carl Persak and Jeremy Wurmfeld. We are cruising with them to Pier 2 in Brooklyn Bridge Park for one of their biggest days of the year! Join us alongside more than 100 middle school students in the Brooklyn Boatworks boatbuilding program and watch as they launch 12 handcrafted Optimist sailing dinghies for the ultimate sea-worthy test!

Join us alongside the John J Harvey Fireboat team as we cruise around lower Manhattan. Hear stories about their heroic efforts on September 11, 2001. Now a museum and education center, the Harvey previously served 6 decades as an active FDNY steam fireboat since she was built in 1931. The boat is history afloat in NY Harbor playing an integral role in protecting our waterways throughout her active years, and also since then when she was called back into service to aid FDNY fireboats on 9/11. Weather permitting, we’ll cruise to meet the boat docked at Pier 66 and climb aboard for an exciting behind the scenes tour with Captain Huntley Gill. If time allows, we’ll watch as Harvey starts her engines and prepares for a truly spectacular full water cannon display from the Hudson River.

Meet the modern sail freight company delivering goods from the Hudson River Valley to New York City while netting zero emissions. Engage with Apollonia team members Brad Vogel, Supercargo, and Climate Strategist, Pat Nason, and learn about the team’s vision for a sustainable, resilient waterfront. Be inspired by Apollonia’s history and future. Hear from Brad and Pat about how climate resilience, green jobs, equity and justice are interrelated through Sail Freight operations as we tour NY Harbor passing by South Street Seaport, Governors Island and the entrance to the Gowanus Canal.

As we cruise along Manhattan’s West Side to the Hudson River Community Sailing docks, we’ll learn about the history of HRCS as they celebrate their 15th year! Meet Executive Director, Robert Burke along with Program Directors Don Rotzien, Mwenye Seville and Maeve Gately, and learn about their youth and adaptive sailing programs. We’ll also meet with student participants and learn first-hand what it’s like sailing in NYC as we embark on a sailing adventure aboard a J/80 sailboat. Launched in 2021, the HRCS Adaptive Sailing Program provides sailing education and recreation for youth and adults with disabilities.

We’re celebrating the Coast Guard cutter, LILAC, in her 90th year! Learn about this historic steam-powered lighthouse tender that once carried supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys from the 1930s to early 1970s. LILAC is now a museum ship owned and operated by the LILAC Preservation Project, celebrating its 17th year. Cruise from Chelsea Piers out to a channel marker in NY Harbor with LILAC founder Gerald Weinstein and Museum Director Mary Habstritt. We’ll then cruise to Pier 25 at Hudson River Park to board LILAC for storytelling and a tour on the buoy deck.

This livestream sailing event benefits the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI). Join us on this day during PRIDE month for an exciting 2-hour sail around New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty with fellow members and supporters of the community. We’ll raise our 400 square foot PRIDE flag from our mainsail on Schooner America 2.0. HMI is the nation’s oldest LGBTQIA+ youth organization serving queer and trans youth, primarily of color, between the ages of 13 and 24. Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals, the organization fosters healthy youth development. HMI’s staff promotes excellence in the delivery of youth services and uses its expertise to create innovative programs that other organizations may use as models. HMI serves a diverse community, the vast majority of whom identify as Black or people of color. The youth organization is dedicated to building its approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels, throughout its operations and functions.

Join us live from Yacht Manhattan II on the busiest and most exciting night in New York Harbor: The Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Show! Gain an exciting firsthand look at what it’s like being a captain and crew working on board, learn about Coast Guard security zones, safety on the water and city planning that goes into organizing such a grand event. Then as the sky darkens and the city skyline lights up, enjoy the best views of the Macy’s Fireworks Show!