UPDATE: Seafair Parade of Ships 2026, sailing past West Seattle – and an encore

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

(USS Cincinnati, hoto by Gary Jones)

2:22 PM: The kickoff event for Seafair‘s two biggest weeks is happening now – the Parade of Ships, passing West Seattle on the way to the downtown waterfront, a few hours later than previous years. The participants weren’t announced in advance, unlike past years, and only one US Navy vessel is in view – USS Cincinnati, a littoral combat ship – with US Coast Guard (including USCGC Stratton, WSML 752) and Seattle Fire boats accompanying it.

(USCGC Stratton, photo by David Hutchinson)

Tomorrow and Thursday, ship tours will be offered at Pier 66 downtown, 10 am to 7 pm each day – here are the details on how that works.

(Photo by Gary Jones)

2:38 PM: The Navy confirms that USS Cincinnati is the ship on which they’ll offer tours. Here’s a Navy info-sheet about it. It’s homeported in San Diego; the Stratton is based in the Bay Area.

6:03 PM: As discussed in comments, a cruise ship was at Pier 66 this afternoon so the Fleet Week ships couldn’t dock immediately after the “parade.”

That photo sent by Ian shows USS Cincinnati is headed back in right now, and VesselFinder shows USCGC Stratton is also eastbound in Elliott Bay.

ADDED: From the afternoon “parade,” Wyatt sent theseviews from Pier 62:

This one includes the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that demonstrated search-and-rescue procedures:

Margelyn Carpenter July 21, 2026 (3:41 pm)

What happened to the parade? We only saw the two ships pictured in your photos so far…

WSB July 21, 2026 (3:53 pm)

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Last year it was two Navy ships plus Coast Guard. It’s been shrinking in recent years, and as a result so has the number of ships available for Seafair tours, plus the number of days for tours; the Navy attributes that to “limited pier space in Seattle.”
- True North July 21, 2026 (3:54 pm)
  
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  Do you know why they cruised past the waterfront and then left about an hour ago?
  - WSB July 21, 2026 (4:03 pm)
    
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    Probably because there’s a cruise ship at Pier 66 today – Oceania’s Riviera – I’d guess USS Cincinnati will be back to dock once it departs. Thanks for noticing, I’m back out of downtown waterfront view.
- Eddie July 21, 2026 (4:45 pm)
  
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  The Coast Guard Vessel was anchored off Port Townsend this past weekend.
- Francis Parkman July 22, 2026 (1:37 pm)
  
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  WHAT. A. JOKE! Comes from pissing off and acting like a deranged bully to our neighbors!

Wyatt July 22, 2026 (8:33 am)

Thank you!

Chelle July 22, 2026 (9:05 am)

Do you know what time they are scheduled to leave on Friday? I thought the ship parade was next week, so I missed it. But it might be fun to go down to the waterfront and watch them depart. I searched online and the Seafair official site, but can’t find any info on it.

WSB July 22, 2026 (9:44 am)

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I’ll ask; information on this has been remarkably difficult to obtain this year – they didn’t announce the Navy ship until it was here; last year they at least gave a few hours heads-up, and in past years, it was a few days!