Legal distance when in vicinity of Naval Vessels

Hi,

I am not sure there is an exact distance but even without such a number situational awareness should prevail.

If you come speeding towards a military vessel in something deemed as a threat and do not respond to any call or signal to stop the best signal to stop you is a mass of large calibre rounds fired directly at you.

This is what happens when you speed up to a ship in a well armed ship in a skiff.

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I found this which might be useful: U.S. Navy, Coast Guard Reach Out to Mariners to Improve Boater Education

Basically, w/in 500 yards requires minimum safe speed by the recreational vessel. W/in 100 yards and you'll know about it in no uncertain terms. These vessels all monitor VHF-16 (and in our area, VHF-13).

Made the edits, thanks for the catch!

500 yards. Speaking of which, I happened to overtake both a destroyer and aircraft carrier leaving Norfolk this morning.......I would highly recommend calling them on the VHF before doing such maneuver....."my overtaking of the aircraft carrier on it's starboard side was approved" other boats got chased way away from the channel by the coast guard escorts. It's much better that they know your intentions. I overtook them both with a very wide berth.

How do you identify navy ships in the dark? I frequently deliver private pleasure cruisers to the Seattle area and sometimes have to travel after sunset. I don't want to innocently stay into the 500 yard boundary but there are so many large vessels it's difficult not to get within 500 yards.

Adding the word "legal" to the question makes it a bit tricky to answer. So far as I have been able to find, the authority to claim the water around a US ship is limited to US waters.

I guess in reality it is a "might makes right" sort of thing. It would be interesting to see if a foreign government would ever try to extradite the master of a US Naval vessel for international criminal charges ... somehow I don't think we will see that for another few years yet.

We have the rules of the road but the two most important unwritten rules are the same as they are on the African plain or the underwater world #1) Size = power #2) Never get injured.

If you are intruding on the comfort zone of a military vessel they will let you know in no uncertain terms about what actions you need to take; you have little choice but to comply. You should have a GPS position in clear view as someone may identify you by your position, heading and speed- and you need to know if they are calling you.

Some years ago I was out for a day sail when USS Enterprise CVN-65 appeared out of a fog. She was slow, just maintaining steerageway, and we stood off 3 nm. What appeared to be a MacGreagor 26 came within one nm when the ship hailed the boat on the PA to stand off. The bow wave almost swamped the boat. By the time the bow wave overtook us it was a good bounce and stuffed our bow. We were 65' steel sloop.

The best place to get close to Navy Ships without getting shot out of the water is Norfolk, VA.



As you head North out of Norfolk you really have no choice as the channel goes right by the Norfolk Naval Base where the channel markers are only 410 feet from the end of the pier.



They have erected a floating fence along the length of the channel about 80 feet from the ends of the piers to keep the riff raff out.



Since the water between the channel markers and the end of the piers is deep enough for Navy Ships you can probably get close enough to the fence to read the little white signs which probably say something like "If you are close enough to read this, you are too close!".

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This would easily put you within a couple of hundred feet of any ship or sub in the fleet.

When I was a kid I remember going in between the piers in my buddy's Whaler to get a really close look at the ships without anyone even blinking an eye.

My how times have changed!

"They have erected a floating fence along the length of the channel about 80 feet from the ends of the piers to keep the riff raff out."

You will probably find that under that floating fence is a reinforced net to keep divers, mini subs etc., out too!