Article today in local San Diego rag about the new Navy ship "San Diego" and how the USS Green Bay is outclassing it..... (one wag said they should call the USS San Diego the "ship of no rings.")
Anways, here is a portion of the article. If you click on the link, they also have a photo tour of the Green Bay.
"The people of San Diego face a challenge to their civic pride.
The Navy named a $1.3 billion warship for the city and stationed it in San Diego Bay, the first city-named ship to be assigned to its namesake town.
According to unofficial Navy tradition, a ship named for a place carries local memorabilia.
It’s not the Navy’s job to provide it. The task falls to the citizenry. And the clock is ticking on the debut. The San Diego, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, is scheduled to be commissioned May 19 at the downtown Navy Pier.
The competition sits in plain sight. The Green Bay, a sister amphibious ship, enjoys some fame around the waterfront for its abundant sports memorabilia. The Green Bay Packers football team adopted the ship, allowing it to use the Packers “G” logo on board.
The ship’s helicopters sport the green G painted on the side. On the bow, two giant G’s festoon the capstans, which pull up the anchors. When the Packers won the 2011 NFL championship, the ship flew a team-signed Super Bowl flag on the front mast. One former skipper, a Wisconsin native, ordered Green Bay games to be shown in the hangar bay.
The 360 sailors on the San Diego crew don’t want to be outdone by a town of 100,000 people on the frigid edge of Lake Michigan.
“They have a lot of stuff. I guess the city of Green Bay really did a tremendous job on that ship,” said Sr. Chief Klaus Moser, a San Diego crewman who graduated from Chula Vista’s Castle Park High School.
“But I want to be better than Green Bay.”
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders feels it, the stir of competitive spirit.
When he thinks of San Diego style, he thinks: SeaWorld. San Diego Zoo. Rubio’s fish tacos. He thinks Chargers lightning bolts, Padres gear and Aztecs paraphernalia.
Other ideas from around town: Dr. Seuss. Balboa Park. Sportfishing. Surfboards. Comic-Con. San Diego’s fine craft beers (though sailors don’t drink aboard ship.)
“I’d tell San Diegans that, No. 1, we’re a Navy city and we’re proud to be a Navy city,” Sanders said Thursday. “We’d love people to come forward as quickly as possible, with as many items as they can, so we can sift through them and outfit the ship so everybody in San Diego can be proud.”
As for the Packers’ gear adorning the other ship?
“That’s all Green Bay has to offer,” the mayor said."
More here:http://www.utsandiego.com/news...ego-for-a-navy-ship/
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