Ukrainian Navy makes historic first U.S. port visit (09/22/96)

Ukrainian Navy makes historic first U.S. port visit

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

NORFOLK, Va. - Two Ukrainian naval vessels - the Hetman Sahaidachny and the Kostiantyn Olshansky - made history on September 11 as they sailed into the U.S. Naval Base at Norfolk.

They were the first ships of independent Ukraine to show the Ukrainian colors in a U.S. port.

As the frigate Sahaidachny and the landing ship Olshansky docked at Norfolk's Pier 5 in the drizzling morning rain, they were greeted by the commanders of the naval base, a large group of their countrymen from the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and some Ukrainian Americans, formations of U.S. seamen and a U.S. Navy band playing popular American march tunes.

During the official welcoming ceremony at the pier, Rear Adm. Bill Cole, commander of Norfolk Naval Base, praised the Ukrainian sailors for their courage. (The three-week voyage from Sevastopil included some stormy weather in the Atlantic.)

Adm. Cole also spoke about the importance of their mission: "It shows that the Ukrainian Navy has come a long way... to achieve a new partnership with the United States Navy," he said.

The admiral's assessment of the significance of this first port visit was echoed by Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yuri Shcherbak.

"This is a unique event, as we are witnessing a new dimension of our bilateral relations in the fields of defense and security," he said in his welcoming remarks.

Ambassador Shcherbak noted that since Ukraine became independent, the relationship between the Ukrainian and American departments of defense "have served as an example for other U.S. and Ukrainian departments, ministries and agencies."

He pointed out that Ukraine was the first state of the former Soviet Union to join NATO's Partnership for Peace program and has become an active member of that grouping.

"Today," he added, "we are forging a new partnership, a trans-Atlantic community stretching from the Black Sea to the Atlantic, to which both our nations belong."

"Let Norfolk, Sevastopil and other U.S. and Ukrainian seaports become the havens of real partnership and friendship between our sailors and peoples," Ambassador Shcherbak said.

Addressing a wet but jubilant gathering, the deputy chief of staff of the Ukrainian Navy, Capt. Volodymyr Kuzmin, said that the achievement of Ukraine's independence made this first historic visit possible. He also expressed his gratitude to the U.S. Navy for helping organize and provide for what was the Ukrainian Navy's first trans-Atlantic voyage.

The weeklong visit by the Ukrainian ships included joint naval landing exercises, shore excursions for the sailors, a weekend open house for American visitors and an evening concert by the military band aboard the Sahaidachny.

On hand from the Ukrainian American community to welcome the Ukrainian officers and crewmen when they arrived were the Very Rev. Stefan Zencuch, pastor of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, in Silver Spring, Md., and Olena Boyko, a noted open-sea sailor, who worked with the Ukrainian Embassy in helping organize some of the local activities for the Ukrainian sailors. Other Ukrainian Americans, mostly from the Mid-Atlantic region, visited the ships during the weekend open house.

On Tuesday, September 17, on the eve of the ships' scheduled departure from Norfolk, the Ukrainian sailors got a treat from the Baltimore Ukrainian American community, courtesy of Taras Charchalis and Baltimore's Ukrainian credit union.

Mr. Charchalis decided that the visiting sailors couldn't leave without sampling some of the fresh produce from Baltimore's famous farmers' market. So he got an immigrant farmer to bring his prices down to an "acceptable" level and hauled the fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and the like (including some 50 pounds of bananas) to Norfolk.

He also convinced the SelfReliance Baltimore Federal Credit Union to buy up the stockpile of varenyky at St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church - enough to feed the officers and sailors of the two ships - and took them to Norfolk as well.

Volodymyr Shevchenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, made history of sorts by becoming the first Ukrainian politician to travel to the United States by ship. A naval officer himself, he made the voyage aboard the Sahaidachny.

In an interview aboard the frigate, Mr. Shevchenko said the voyage was important for two reasons:

"First: Ukraine has now made a serious statement about itself as a sea-going nation. And second: Ukraine has shown - as I have heard Americans say - that there is such a nation. Before, they would say, 'Ukrainians? What's that? You mean Russians.'"

"No, we are Ukrainians," Mr. Shevchenko stressed. "There is such a nation, such a country. And notwithstanding 300 years of oppression by a foreign power, it has freed itself and exists."

Mr. Shevchenko's conviction did not seem to be shared by the U.S. Navy - at least in one respect: while Ambassador Shcherbak's and Capt. Kuzmin's remarks were made in Ukrainian and translated into English, Adm. Cole's English remarks were translated by a U.S. Navy interpreter into Russian. Similarly, the Rev. Zencuch's greetings to the Ukrainian sailors was in Ukrainian; the U.S. Navy chaplain's prayer was in Russian.