Fleet Week thunders into SF, drawing crowds and scaring pets

Big gray warships — the kind of ships that don’t have swimming pools and shuffleboard on them — are coming to town this week for the annual strutting of stuff known as Fleet Week.

It will be loud. Dogs don’t much care for Fleet Week, but most of dogs’ best friends do.

On Tuesday, the celebration kicked off with public tours of one of the great gray ships, the Essex, an 844-foot-long amphibious assault Navy vessel. Tours were free to taxpayers and their children.

After passing through metal detectors and being sniffed by guard dogs, visitors toured the vessel in small groups. Each and every person had a chance to hold a portable missile launcher, aim a howitzer, sight a machine gun and crank a mortar into firing position. The sailors and Marines said the ammunition — the stuff that goes into the weapons — was all locked up somewhere safe and far away.

Marines from the USS Essex wait for transportation as they get set to tour the city as fleet week kicks off with their ship, (background) docked at Pier 30-32 in San Francisco, Ca., on Tues. Oct. 3, 2017. Marines from the USS Essex wait for transportation as they get set to tour the city as fleet week kicks off with their ship, (background) docked at Pier 30-32 in San Francisco, Ca., on Tues. Oct. 3, 2017. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 150 Caption Close Fleet Week thunders into SF, drawing crowds and scaring pets 1 / 150 Back to Gallery

“I’m a peaceful person, but it’s good to have an understanding of how these things work,” said Kelly Anderson of Walnut Creek, after hoisting a missile launcher on her shoulder for the first and only time in her life.

Chief Petty Officer David Cabucana, who led one of the tours, said the ship’s main job is to “carry Marines and all their cool stuff” to battle and drop them off lickety-split.

The Essex has been doing that since 1992, with a slight mishap when it bumped into a supply ship five years ago off the Southern California coast. Nobody was hurt but the captain lost his job, a snippet of information that was not included in the six-page brochure handed out to visitors.

“Every time a ship hits something,” Cabucana said in a low voice, “somebody loses his job. That’s the way it works.”

On the flight deck, visitors also got a chance to climb into the turret of an armored vehicle and push a bunch of buttons (they didn’t work), at least until one visitor bumped her head.

“No more visitors in the turrets,” barked a Marine sergeant, and that was that.

Fleet Week continues with more free ship tours, concerts, shows and the traditional parade of ships and air show.

The parade of ships, led by the San Francisco fireboat St. Francis, takes place Friday from 11 a.m. to noon. Air shows will occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at noon, weather permitting. The Blue Angels precision jet team is the big draw, but its warm-up acts include biplanes, parachutists, stunt pilots and a low-flying commercial jumbo jet.

Ship tours of the Essex, the Navy ships Dewey and Champion, the Coast Guard cutter Midgett, and the Canadian frigate Halifax continue on a staggered schedule through Monday. For times and places, consult www.fleetweeksf.org. Visitors must bring identification and leave behind backpacks, weapons and any substances likely to be sniffed out by Navy guard dogs, who don’t miss much.

The best place to watch the parade and air show is along the northern waterfront. A spot on the lawn is free, a seat in the grandstand costs $55 to $75, and a place beneath the tents with a catered lunch costs $250 to $275 (and, according to the website, “includes dedicated upscale restrooms”).

The Angels will be done on Sunday around 4 p.m., at which time an unknown number of Bay Area dogs will emerge from beneath their owners’ beds.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com

Events

Tours of the Essex amphibious assault vessel at Piers 30-32 will be given from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Honor Our Fallen Tribute Concert will be held on Thursday at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter St. in San Francisco 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is free to the public.

The Fleet Week Air Show, featuring the Navy’s Blue Angels, will take flight off the Marina Green on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.