Contrary to my previous post, I did get a chance to enjoy some of the Fleet Week, 2022 festivities. Friday morning I went over to Fisherman’s Wharf to watch the Parade of Ships as they sailed into the Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge. I took pictures of the procession, and as I did a few posts back, I looked for vintage pictures later that made a reasonable comparison to my pictures. Now and thens are always more challenging to do than then and nows, but still fun to try. (Thumbnail images)
I headed over to the World War Two Liberty Ship, Jeremiah O’Brien, seen here in the top picture looking through the old Pier 43 Arch. The bottom photo in the above set is another picture I took looking toward Fisherman’s Wharf from Pier 43.
The above photo from opensfhistory.org is looking toward Pier 43 and Fisherman’s Wharf in 1983, when the old sailing ship, the Balclutha, was moored at Pier 43. The actual pier of Pier 43 is gone now, as well.
The fog was moving out of the Bay as I approached the Jeremiah O’Brien. This 1962 picture of Pier 45, taken from Pier 43 where my picture was also taken, makes a pretty good line up. The section of Pier 45, where the cargo ship in the vintage picture and the Jeremiah O’Brien are berthed, was destroyed by a fire in May of 2020. (opensfhistory.org)
Like a scene from an old war movie, the ships broke through the fog and headed into the Bay….. followed closely by Godzilla. Oops, wrong movie.
It wasn’t quite the fleet that sailed into San Francisco Bay in 1908, but it was still pretty impressive. (ibiblio.org)
It’s always great to see some of the crew standing at attention while the ships sail past. Alcatraz Island is in the background. An old steamship passes by not far from the same spot in 1930. (opensfhistory.org)
One of my favorite views in San Francisco is looking toward the city from the Jeremiah O’Brien. Looking over the World War Two submarine, the USS Pampanito, from left to right can be seen the Bay Bridge, Telegraph Hill with Coit Tower, Downtown San Francisco, and the slope of Nob Hill. The bottom picture is from an old postcard from the 1960s that I have looking in the exact opposite direction from the picture above.
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
#3 and #6 line up impressively well, even without the pier in #3. Godzilla is out of line though. Did you get an exterminator? My colleague remembers that billboard for Western Exterminators on Highway 101 near Burlingame or so from his first trip to Foster City and the San Francisco Bay Area in about 1988. Well, not that it is relevant to Godzilla or Fleet Week.
Yeah, these are more “in the area” comparisons. I threw Godzilla in because I was in a silly mood; while waiting for the ships to come out of the fog engulfing the Golden Gate Bridge I was reminded of a picture from the Godzilla, 2014 movie of him coming out of the fog after destroying the bridge.
What?! Well, I am glad to have missed that movie.