SSV Oliver Hazard Perry Dedication Ceremony and Public Viewing This Weekend

For the first time in three years, the public will have viewing access to Sailing School Vessel (SSV) Oliver Hazard Perry this weekend at Ford Adams State Park in Newport.  

The ship will be made available immediately following a public dedication ceremony scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. that will be attended by lawmakers, educational leaders and members of the public.

In 2014, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will sail as a 196-foot, three-masted, square rigged tall ship, designated by the legislature and the Governor of Rhode Island as the state’s official “Sailing Education Vessel.”

Upon completion it will be the largest civilian training vessel in North America and the first oceangoing full-rigged ship to be built in the U.S. in over 100 years.

Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) is the non-profit organization behind the project. Its education platform will be used by students throughout Rhode Island to study a wide range of subjects onboard the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry as she sails in New England and the Canadian Maritimes in the summer and south to Florida and the Caribbean in winter.

The public may view the ship

• Saturday, July 5, between 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. 
• Sunday,  July 6, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m

Public Dedication Ceremony

Saturday, July 6th at 11 a.m.
Alofsin Pier at Fort Adams State Park

Speakers:

• Bartlett Dunbar (OHPRI Chairman)
• Deborah Gist (R.I. Commissioner of Education)
• Hon. Jack Reed (U.S. Senate)
• Hon. M. Teresa Paiva-Weed (President, R.I. Senate)
• RADM Walter Carter Jr., USN (President, Naval War College)
• Larry Mouradjian (Associate Director of DEM)
• Harry Winthrop (Mayor of Newport, R.I.)
• Richard Bailey (Captain of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry)